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E3 - First Nintendo DS Pic
Ravi Hiranand writes "Steven Kent has a look at the Nintendo DS -- along with what appears to be the first picture of the unit (which doesn't look anything like any of the wild rumours suggested it might!). It's still unclear whether the game pictured (a Mario Kart title!) is really a DS game or whether the whole thing is just a render, but the image is credited to Nintendo, so it appears to be genuine..."
Now if only they still have that ear-piercing tone that nearly drove my parents insane, we're in business!
(better still have the alarm too!)
At least Nintendo finally decided to give their handheld four face buttons. I couldn't believe they chose to leave them out of the GBA design. Especially considering the mass amount of SNES ports it received.
Creator of the popular web game Proximity
This looks like a weird idea, but it could also be used to make a lot of really interesting games. The two displays have a lot of possibilities. In an RPG or something, one could display the dungeon map while another could contiunally montitor your characters' status, or give the player other useful information in some way. Is this idea really gimmicky? Sure. But it might lead to a couple of neat games...
It's worth pointing out that the DS is expected to be more powerful than the nintendo 64. That means 3d becomes not only a possibility, but a reality for this system.
Goldeneye on the tube via bluetooth anyone?
1) The article said there would be a separate
:)
cart slot for GBA games, dunno if they'll still
support GB/GBC games (there's no reason not too,
other than adding a Z80 somewhere...)
2) I would think that it would be around 10 hours
or so if they do it right. I for one liked the
SP scheme of recharging every once in a while
instead of having to find batteries (easier to
find an outlet).
3) If the leaked specs are to be believed, the
main processor will be an ARM9 (I forget the
speed, but much faster than the GBA's ARM7).
According to the same specs, there'll be a
ARM7 co-processor as well.
I can't wait to see it RE'd and homebrew tools
come out!
I googled after some specs for nintendo DS
[...] the system will have two processors, with an ARM-9 CPU running at 67MHz and an ARM-7 unit running at 33MHz. Retail DS devices will have 4Mb of main RAM (while debug development units will have double that), with additional chunks of cache and shared RAM for the processors and 656Kb of video RAM. [...] The system will possess decent 2D capabilities, but it also has a 3D graphics system which, the spec. claims, is capable of drawing 120,000 polygons per second, representing a fill-rate of 30 million pixels per second. [...] Wi-Fi [802.11] and, touch panel input device.
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
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Being a techie and a geek for a very long time I have to say I'm buying into this overall-consitency thing Nintendo and Apple like to emphasise.
I bought a GB SP earlier this year and just got a new iBook the other week. And their overall desing and feeling makes the extra money worthwhile. And that's a former Linux-only user saying this!
This dual screen thing seemed stupid, but now I understand what they where talking. It's not about a screen but about coping with the lack of GB buttons!!! That's why the bottom one is a touchscreen. And a touchscreen where you can change the writing size and amount of buttons instantly is the next best thing to a mechanical keyboard. IMHO this has all the chances of becoming a neat engineering/solution stunt.
For my part I can say that I'm sold. I'll definitely check this gadget out when it hits the shelves. I hope it has enough ooomph and controlability to get some neat RTS and FPS games on it. Duke Nukem GBA is neat but not really stunning.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
"Run faster, damn you! Faster! FASTER!"
*CRACK*
Congrats! Nintendo found another way to make you buy their handhelds more than once!