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Nintendo DS Launches
The DS system has launched today, allowing everyone with a interest in dual screen action to get their fill. Gamespy has a Beginner's Guide to the system available, while Gamespot has a detailed page reviewing the system and some of the first games available. Bionic_Baboon wrote in with a press release about the sale of the system at EB Games on Businesswire.
Large for a Gameboy? I take it you've never seen the original Gameboy... :)
I'm not sure how you could make a DS much smaller without shrinking or removing a screen or controls. There isn't a whole lot of wasted space in the current design (with the exception of the lid, but that size is mostly dictated by the size of the bottom half, which is pretty well miniturized)
The only think I have agest it is that it looks in the pics to be quite large for a gameboy
I picked my DS up this morning, it's not that large. It's smaller than the original 1989 gameboy.
My biggest complaint with it is that Pictochat should've been internet-enabled.
Things should hot up a little [sic] when the PSP arrives on the scene which technologically blows the DS out of the water.
If by "technologically blows the DS out of the water," you mean, "will never be able to play the same kind of games as the Nintendo DS because of the DS's dual screens, dual networking options, and touch screen capabilities," you might be right. It's possible that the release of the PSP will get those who were on the fence about either system to jump out and grab a DS, due to the architectural limitations of the PSP.
Well well, isn't the unplayable stored mode what counts? The size only matters when carrying it around (except if it's too big to hold, of course).
A remote control has to be handy to change the channel whenever you want. Quick job.
A PDA can be treated just as handily, for jotting notes immediately. But plenty of people unfold their PDAs, or remove them from cases, etc.
A portable gaming system is something you're not going to using for a quick 2-second channel-changing session or a 15-second notation. You're going to be playing a damn game, killing (or investing, whatever) time. If you have trouble finding the time to unfold a gaming system (as GBA SP users have been doing for quite a while now, BTW), perhaps you have larger problems. Maybe a mental therapist can prescribe some medication for your ADD.
Nintendo could have given the DS better graphics, but they chose not to. This is not because they hate their customers as some people have suggested.
.24 x .24mm for each pixel and a 3" screen, better graphics would not necessarily look better anyway.
They had to make some choices. There were some constraints.
One was battery life. The Nintendo DS's 6-10 hour battery life is at full load. Sony has admitted that the PSP's 4-6 hour quoted battery life is at a certain brightness, using headphones, without using wireless, and playing games that are not that graphically taxing. Tokyo Game Show people were reporting 2 hour actual battery life.
Another was media. Optical media is less durable, and it takes more power to run, so they chose cartridges. 128 MB per cartridge will likely increase over the life of the system as it did with the GB and GBA, but you need a certain amount of space for the code for the better graphics.
There is the screen resolution itself. At
Then of course there is the cost--the cost to the company and the cost to the customer. Sony may be selling the PSP at $190 in Japan (without any memory card I might add), But it is costing them a lot more to make. Nintendo expects to make a profit immediately.
Other challengers have fallen to the Gameboy, because they were too power hungry, too costly, and simply too ambitious for the technology of the day.
The DS blows me away with what it gives me for the cost, battery life, and innovation. I knew going into EB this morning that the graphics would not be better than I had ever seen. It is the package that impresses.