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Next-gen Game Boy to Hit Stores This Year?
Jason writes "CNN's always enjoyable Game Over column has an interesting story up about Nintendo's plans to launch its next generation Game Boy in 2005, as opposed to the expected 2006 release. The column predicts official word on the new GBA will come during Satoru Iwata's keynote at GDC. As yet, no features are known, but author Chris Morris speculates this could just be an incremental step, rather than a full-fledged generational leap."
Nintendo is flooding the portable gaming market with their Original GBA, the flip GBA, and the DS.. The DS is a strong unit, but lacks games. The GBA has like 5 different flavors. There are only so many people who are willing to upgrade their game libraries for a new Gameboy unit every year or two.
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It was announced very early on that the DS was NOT meant to be a replacement for the GBA - reading between the lines indicates that it was intended almost solely to be a way for Nintendo to maintain their handheld hegemony in the face of the imminent release of the PSP. That being the case, it should be no surprise to anyone that Nintendo has another handheld in the pipeline. Again, they as much as said so when the DS was announced.
...but I wonder what the point is exactly. They should be targeting the DS to new customers (more market share for their new handheld is important vs. the PSP, especially with regard to attracting developers), and I don't think that they're selling this device to DS-owners.
I already have a SP and DS. If Nintendo expects me to buy their next system, too, they're going to have to give it some really nice features, and a really promising game lineup.
Or make it shiny.
It's an analyst.
This is based on nothing but an analyst making stuff up. This should be given as much credence as "some guy on the internet thinks there will be a next-gen game boy this year". Only less, because at this point, given the previous track records of video game industry analysts, when they say something I for one consider it automatically less likely. If analysts were to be taken seriously, Nintendo by now would have gone bankrupt, become a third party publisher, began selling internet-playable games, and been selling VoIP software for the Nintendo DS.
But anyhow. Even by itself this is incredibly unlikely. Nintendo tends to have a really really strong bond between its handhelds, both functionally-- the Gamecube was practically a peripheral for the GBA-- and from a marketing perspective. The Gamecube and GBA were released at nearly the same time, were they not? I am told developers got the dev kits for both at about the same time. But jumping the GBA2 way ahead of the Revolution, as this analyst predicts, would make it hard to establish "synergy" between the two, or whatever. Nintendo will probably be pushing the Revolution (their new console, which will be unveiled at E3 and probably ship sometime next year) and the GBA2 at the same time.
The prediction then becomes even less likely because Nintendo is still right now smack dab in the middle of a major promotional push for the DS, and will be continuing this push for most of the year. They've still barely begun building that brand, and the games they originally promised would be out by the end of Q1 won't be all out until like the end of the summer. Developers still aren't all the way on board, and I don't think consumers will consider the DS fully "here" until all that originally-promised stuff, plus Mario Kart are out. So putting out a new GBA before this process is done would totally undermine any attempt for the DS to truly take root. "Pillars" or no, Nintendo doesn't have the PR resources to sell the public on two new handhelds at the same time. They'll need to get the DS established before they can start pitching the GBA2.
Finally the specific plan this article is speculating on is way, way less likely than even the idea itself, since they claim the GBA will remain in stores after the GBA2 hits. Selling the GBA and GBA2 simultaneously would make no sense whatsoever. Among other things that would mean totally abandoning the "three pillars" whatsit they keep babbling about; they'd have four pillars.
What would not surprise me is Nintendo announcing the GBA2 at E3 this year. But I think we'll see it at earliest simultaneous with the Revolution, and probably a little afterward.
I think we might see it a little later than the Revolution for two reasons: first off, there's been vague and shadowy rumors about developers being shown the Revolution. Nothing about the GBA2. Second off, the GBA2 has a problem the DS doesn't. It has to justify itself. It's obvious why people with a GBA would buy a DS; it's got all this stuff, it's got the touchscreen and the 3D and it's just generally fucked up. It's obvious why someone buying a new handheld might choose a GBA rather than a DS; it's smaller and cheaper. What isn't obvious why anyone with a GBA or a DS would buy a GBA2. Nintendo is going to have to pull out a serious graphical update, something at least better than the PSP, while retaining both the small size and the position of best battery life, in order for the GBA2 to really make any sense (unless Nintendo's satisfied with just it being the GBA 1.1 and it almost entirely appealing to new purchasers rather than upgraders). I don't know how long it will take the technology to get where it needs to be for that to be possible.
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Minor typo: When I say "Nintendo tends to have a really really strong bond between its handhelds" above I meant "Nintendo tends to have a really really strong bond between its handhelds and its consoles". Meh.
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The posibilities for getting a good lineup for the DS will sink like a rock the minute the gba 2 gets announced. If they actually release it this year the DS pretty much would have finished before starting, No decent third party developer would even think to launch a title in a device that has competition by a newer one from the same company. (launch a psx title? when theres a ps2 available no way) the GBA however has a good shot because it has a huge market penetration world wide (unlike the DS)
.. well a bit less than a year (unless the DS and the GBA2 are compatible) Nintendo will keep throwing some DS titles to keep their fans calm , but not the size or quality that fans may have expected, unavoidably Nintendo will turn their attention to the new device sooner or later.
That would mean the DS lifetime is basically
I really hope this is not true, it will hurt all DS users and Nintendo fans alike. If it is true, then the rumors than the DS was just a PSP Place holder and The DS users where tricked by Nintendo into buying it just to keep their holliday sales up (for one holliday) is pretty much confirmed.
Even if you are an N-fan will you go running to buy one if this is true?
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More opinions here
Backwars compatability. The DS had it and its most likely the next Gameboy will have it. Nintendo has already started the trend of backwards compatable on handhelds and I dont see it going away because this is their biggest market in which they can't afford to fail.
But I do agree flooding the market with hardware is not the answer, this is exactly how Sega DIED. Sega CD, 32X, Saturn, etc.
Kotaku has the analyst's entire report. Check it out for all the nitty-gritty.
Needing an adapter to plug in a headset is really stupid. It's double-stupid that you can't do it while it's plugged into a gamecube because that goofy plastic crap covers up the whole back of the unit.
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The article claims that Nintendo will make their new game boy to compete with the PSP, but that's the DS's job. And while Nintendo doesn't exactly push out titles like Sony does, a new system would make the DS's life incredibly short. The DS sold extremely well, Nintendo has every reason to support their system (and I wish they would hurry up and do it), and if they just push out enough titles, they should be able to. The article's idea that the DS is aimed for an older crowd is the same song we've been hearing for ages. Nintendo's going to rely on their lucrative franchises, which happen to be cutesy. It's reasonable for handhelds to be aimed at kids. When's the last time you saw somebody's dad wandering around playing his DS, having to be pulled around by his wife? When's the last time you saw Billy the 8 year old engrossed in Half-Life 2 (yes, I know, he's only got a few years). In order from simple to complex, it goes Portables, Consoles, PC, and you can match up ages accordingly. It would be a terrible move to release another game boy. Nintendo fans have already bought their DS's and would be angered by the idea of having their systems dropped. Casual fans would stick with the DS they already have. Not to mention, nobody would even buy the DS, and it would forever be labeled as a gimmick, which somehow it has avoided up until now.
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The DS just came out, and while Nintendo is 'all about' the third pillar, throwing up the next-gen GB this year would really be disasterous. The DS is selling strong, partly because it can play the GBA games, so it's limited DS software offerings aren't as big of a hold back.
Plus, the GBA is still selling strong. Nintendo has no real reason to pop out the sixth itineration of the GB line this soon.
Regardless of what happens, where exactly can they go with the next GameBoy? Better graphics is an obvious answer, but then what happens to backwards compatability?
Will the next GameBoy have three chips to play next-gen, Advance, Color, and regular games? Or will Nintendo just say "No one plays color or below, so no more support for that!" After all, with the re-releasing of a lot of Gameboy games on the Advance system (such as FireRed/LeafGreen), the use of the regular carts has dwindled. Plus, if you can't use the regular carts, that will give Nintendo extra incentive to release anthology carts (similar to Super Mario All Stars for the SNES, or the Zelda bundle for the Gamecube) for the new system.
Aside from graphics, what else can be expected? We already have our 'backlight'. The chances of Nintendo going with a true backlight (ala PSP or GameGear) seem nill to me, as it eats up batteries fairly quickly. What they devised for the SP will stick around for some time.
What about buttons? D-pad is a given, and maybe we'll get a third (or four!) regular buttons. I doubt the shoulder buttons will change at all (well, maybe they'll stick on two extra ones, but don't bet on it.)
I think the big hurdle they'll have to work on for the next GameBoy is 3D games. The GBA can emulate 3D systems to an extent, and as '3D realistic' games become more and more popular, it would be good to have it on the next GameBoy as well. However, to do 3D well, they would definately have to have more buttons, as you have to worry about a z-axis now. If they could come up with one pad that accounts for all three axes, though, that would be very keen (and would likely be copied by many people.)
It's more likely that we'll see an upgraded DS than a GBA2. something like a GBA SP equivalent.
... a big screen, better graphics than the PSP and an analogue stick Sony are going to walk away with the handheld market. If as TFA suggests the next GB is just be a hardware bump then Nintendo are making a big mistake.
According to some analysis of the GBA2 rumours, combined with Nintendo licensing Palm OS software it looks bad for touch screen gaming.
If the GBA2 launches this year, what are the chances of publishes launching games for both the DS and the GBA2? Slim to none, and Nintendo knows this, so license Palm OS, turn the DS into a PDA and throw your weight behind the GBA2 as the gaming platform.
Paranoid? The DS launches in Europe next Friday and there has been no public advertising in the UK yet.
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I don't think that the lessons that Sega learned when you fill the channel with too many different kinds of hardware will be lost on Nintendo. If Nintendo does release a new GBA, it will most likely be an update along the lines of Sony's redesigned PS2. They add some things that people have wanted, like a standard headphone jack and take away things that no one uses or that cause problems. If a new GBA comes out, expect it to be harder or impossible to play pirated games and don't be surprised if GB Color compatibility is finally dropped. Finally, a newly tweaked GBA would probably be prettier (slimmer?), and perhaps cheaper for Nintendo to manufacture. If you see the SPs drop to $59 before the holiday season, then a redesigned GBA may well be around the corner coming out at $79.
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Nintendo would be suicidal to play it any other way. The new Game Boy should use the DS chipset without the frills (touch screen, microphone, wireless, second display) with the same cartridge form factor. That way, existing DS owners will have "forward" compatibility with the new Game Boy offerings and Nintendo doesn't end up segmenting their market.
I've been a loyal nintendo fan since the original NES days. I've owned almost all the iterations of the game boy (with the exception of game boy pocket and virtual boy) and now I own and love my DS. If Nintendo decides to release the next game boy this year I guarantee they will be losing a lot of customers. Yes, the DS was not intended to be the successor to game boy, but still we all just put down $150 for this little thing only to be outdated in 6 months? Last I checked consoles were not like PCs.
This all sounds like what Sega did back in the day. They released the Saturn. Saturn tanked. So they quickly released the Dreamcast. This alienated many customers and now Sega is a software company only.
I'd like to see the next version of game boy just as much as the next guy...but I'd like a little bit more of a return on my DS investment.
I have a diverse collection of GBA games. After having a DS since launch, I think it needs to be really clear: Nintendo DS is not completely downward compatible with GBA. It is disappointing that it can't play GB games, but many of the GBA games, past and present, simply don't work with DS. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the bug will prevent the game from playing. I spent about an hour playing Phantasy Star before realizing that it cannot save games. My GBA SP could, though. There are sound problems, graphics problems, animation problems, and DS features (sleep mode) can interfere with GBA games. It's so uncertain, I wouldn't advise anyone to sell their GBA's to buy a DS.
Previously, Nintendo had three major (non-software) strategies to maintain handheld dominance: size, price, features. The GBA SP is fairly small already, has a decent price, and features screen projection and a built in light (but minus the headphones). New features in Nintendo Systems are: More buttons, stereo speakers, wireless link, touchscreen, better graphics, and better sound. I expect the SP to drop to $50 in the third quarter of 2005, regardless of what's coming out. The touchscreen is interesting, but it's more of a novelty at the moment. If it's the next GB, it will most likely have built in wireless link, better graphics, sound, and more buttons. If they add a folding touch screen, it will be a "DS Complete," because the current one seems a bit rushed to the consumers.
After playing both the DS and the PSP, the PSP is so more advanced than Gameboy, Nintendo must evolve their handhelds to survive. Nintendo will continue the "Gameboy" line because of product recognition.
All this talk about GBA2 and backwards compatability started me thinking. What if instead of making a completely new system, they took there current console, the GameCube, and made it a handheld? The disks are already the right size, so conceiveably they could be played on a handheld no bigger than a PSP. And it would more than compete with a PSP. The system would have an enormous lineup of games at launch and this would therefore boost its compatabilty. Also it would help the Revolution's sales as people would not feel they were having to ditch the GameCube. Developers would save money by not having to develop for an entirely new system, just the same one in a separate package. This would be a good move for Nintendo in my opinion. They are in no way going out of business but they need to get it together for the next round in the console wars. This move might secure there place in the future.