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Nintendo's Busy Week
GameDev.net has a wrap-up from Nintendo's busy week. They touch on the release of development kits, production delays for the DS Lite, and the ongoing DS vs. PSP war. From the article: "It seems Nintendo, who have in the past tended to rely heavily on first-party games, are eager to elicit support from third-party developers. According to some big-name developers who have had their kits for some time there have already been several versions of the kit: the first was just the console and a wired controller, while the second had a few minor tweaks and the third a boost in CPU power."
But nothing beats the ol' 8 button NES gamepad! http://www.retrousb.com/
[Insert Witty Sig Here]
who have in the past tended to rely heavily on first-party games, are eager to elicit support from third-party developers
One consistent problem in video game reporting surrounding Nintendo is that Nintendo acts entirely different in the console and handheld markets.
Yeah, Nintendo largely shrugs off third party developers for their consoles like the N64 and Gamecube. But third party titles are the lifeblood of the Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo is treating the DS as if it ought to be in the same state.
I remember on my original 8 bit nintendo, most of the games I had were not made by nintendo..... Konami, Data East, Square etc...
Maybe I'm just a jerk, but nothing makes me smile more than the Xbox's Japanese sales figures. From TFA:
* Nintendo DS: 52,099 (403,901)
* Sony PSP: 27,430 (337,682)
* Game Boy Advance SP: 5553 (57,890)
* Game Boy Micro: 2941 (35,529)
* Game Boy Advance: 105 (1584)
* PS2: 23,433 (241,273)
* GC: 1814 (32,392)
* Xbox 360: 1314 (23,971)
* Xbox: 92 (762)
http://www.vidaextra.com/images/revones.jpg
Somehow I doubt that $2k figure is for a complete dev kit (including software libraries, compilers, documentation, etc.) considering that DS kits are in the $10k range. More likely that's for a debugging/testing rig that just gives you the ability to run unsigned code (Xbox testing kits are priced similarly).
It pretty much looks like an iPod.
The only thing holding me back from a definite DS Lite purchase (and preorder when they become available) is the fact that I just don't have much opportunity to game outside the house very often, and I feel a little silly playing a portable game console at home, when I could be playing games on my 21" TV or my 19" LCD monitor.
Although the unique games on the DS may make it worth it, I almost figure I might as well just hold out for the Revolution (which I am definitely preordering, barring the event that everybody who is privledged with a Revolution preview ending up saying the controller doesn't work well) which will surely offer many unique games of its own.
That, plus I just got an iPod for my birthday and I'm going to have enough trouble figuring out when I'm going to use it ... I'm not sure I want my DS Lite competing with it for my time! I wish my birthday were several months later, then I could have just asked for the DS Lite (I didn't ask for the iPod). :\
When exactly did this monopolistic past happen?
Nintendo had a monopoly on video game consoles in North America from roughly 1985 (end of the first 8-bit crash and release of NES) through early 1990 (rise of Sega Genesis). Nintendo had a monopoly on video game handhelds in North America from roughly 1989 (Game Boy) through early 2005 (rise of the PSP).
For what it's worth, Matt Casamassina from IGN seems to be hearing similar things, as he's posted on his blog. He is a Nintendo-focused journalist, but he's far from a Nintendo fanboy, and IGN has strong ties with the industry. I think it's safe to say that the reports of developer interest are indeed accurate.
From TA: "Software houses say that architecturally the system is very similar to the GameCube but roughly twice as powerful. One source elaborates, "At first, we were discouraged that it would be less powerful than Xbox 360, but once we got everything working with the controller, our concerns faded"."
Does God treat us as servants or friends? Check my homepage.
'If they wanted to say "DS is for DS games and not a replacement, go buy a GBA if you want GBA stuff", why include the support at all?'
The GBA slot is used as an expansion port for things like rumble packs and game expansion packs (Band Brothers has a GBA cart full of extra songs for example). Since one of the DS' CPUs is the same as the one in the GBA (although it runs double the clock speed in DS mode) it must have been fairly simple to recycle the cartridge port from the GBA and offer simple backwards compatibility. It was more likely a case of "hey we can make GBA games run" than a design goal to make the DS a fully functioning GBA.