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New Nintendo DS to Include Camera, Music

BobB-nw writes "Watch out Apple, here comes Nintendo. Nintendo plans to launch a new version of its popular DS portable gaming device with a camera and music player function, according to a report in the Sunday edition of The Nikkei Business Daily. The new version will have better wireless capability for connecting to the Internet and will cost under $189, the report said. It will be offered first in Japan, it said. The DS first went on sale in 2004, and a second version, called the DS Lite, debuted two years later in 2006. Both have sold extremely well, with worldwide sales of the DS products at 77.5 million units as of the end of June this year."

25 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. Everything has an MP3 Player by Aetuneo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Any piece of technology will advance until it has an MP3 player function. This includes household appliances, and, apparently, the DS.

    --
    Everything is subjective.
    1. Re:Everything has an MP3 Player by DreamerFi · · Score: 4, Funny

      Except for the Zune.

    2. Re:Everything has an MP3 Player by AioKits · · Score: 5, Funny

      I can't wait for the MP3 Blender. Then I can have it play You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) while I blend!

      --
      "Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
  2. Gameboy DS is a misnomer by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Calling the new DS "Gameboy DS" is incorrect. The GameBoy line of portables ended with the GameBoy Advance. The DS is known simply as the "Nintendo DS".

    1. Re:Gameboy DS is a misnomer by Ironchew · · Score: 5, Interesting

      They threw Game Boy Advance backwards compatibility in there, though. If they were trying to call it something besides a Game Boy (successor), they sure stirred up a lot of confusion with that move.

    2. Re:Gameboy DS is a misnomer by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The GameBoy line of portables ended with the GameBoy Advance.

      GameBoy Advance begat GameBoy Advance SP, which begat GameBoy Micro...

    3. Re:Gameboy DS is a misnomer by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Funny

      GameBoy Advance begat GameBoy Advance SP, which begat GameBoy Micro...

      from the Book of Nintendo, 1:17.

  3. I wonder if... by Darundal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...the camera will be useful for any games? Something along the lines of how it was used with some Gizmondo games, or that weird card game with the PS2 EyeToy? And what about the media player functionality? Could this herald the appearance of games like Audiosurf, games that react to the music playing, on the DS?

  4. I don't know why Apple needs to worry by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I own both a DS Lite & an iPod Touch (1st gen). I enjoy both of them, though I have been getting a lot more use out of my iPod Touch in the last month or so. Most DS games have music, so I really don't see myself listening to different music while playing a game on the DS. Likewise, unless the DS will include an address book, calendar, e-mail, scientific calculator and web browser on board, plus the ability to sync with my computer & download free apps wirelessly, Apple has nothing to worry about.

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  5. To kill demand for R4, SuperCard, M3, CycloDS, etc by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    adding all this extra stuff to a portable gaming console is just bloatware and evidence that the company doesn't have its priorities straight

    We've discussed rumors of this on gbadev.org and pocketheaven.com. Consensus was that Nintendo might do this to make it less likely that people will buy adapters like SuperCard DS One, CycloDS Evolution, or M3 Real for video and then end up using them to pirate games.

  6. Better wireless? by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hopefully that means WPA capability (finally...)

  7. DSOrganize much? by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    Most DS games have music, so I really don't see myself listening to different music while playing a game on the DS. Likewise, unless the DS will include an address book, calendar, e-mail, scientific calculator and web browser on board

    You just described the feature set of DSOrganize 3.1129, a very popular homebrew application for the Nintendo DS.

  8. Don't stop there... by argent · · Score: 4, Funny

    Any piece of technology will advance until it has an MP3 player function.

    And can send email, and run Linux.

  9. Re:Cool by Loibisch · · Score: 5, Funny

    [...] they all cite the same source: Nikkei Business Daily. No one has yet independently confirmed this. So take it with a very large grain of salt.

    Or considering the source maybe even a grain of rice.

  10. Arrr 4 by tepples · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since it market does not appear to have slowed significantly or run into serious competition, why would they refresh the hardware?

    To reduce demand for R4, as I mentioned.

    1. Re:Arrr 4 by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I somehow doubt that many people are buying these addon cards for Video. I mean, does anyone really watch movies on that tiny screen?

      The DS Lite's 3" screen is bigger than an iPod Nano's 2" screen.

  11. Rumor lacking details by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think most of us saw this one coming, but the article is completely devoid of any information. First it's still just speculation that this is going to be the new announcement. For all any of us know it could be another new device to interact with the Wii. The only evidence the article even presents is that another news publication carried the rumor yesterday.

    There's no mention of how they're going to add music and make it easy to put music on the device. There's no details on the camera either or even if the physical dimensions of the DS are going to be further reduced. Wouldn't it have been better to wait until Thursday when the product is actually announced and all of the details are released?

    I don't mind a little speculation, but this had absolutely no substance to it at all. It's just a rumor repeated from another publication without anything of value added. Without the rest of the fluff about sales figures and release dates this article would have been one or two lines at most. What a complete waste of time.

  12. Gameboy DS? by dancingmad · · Score: 5, Funny

    taco, you sound like my mother.

    --
    "There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
  13. Re:To be honest... by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know there is a homebrew group of people who are working on such things, but it seems like another giant pain. I don't have time to tinker.

    You don't have to tinker much to run homebrew:

    1. Go to dealextreme.com or another online electronics store carrying DS homebrew accessories.
    2. Buy a CycloDS Evolution, M3 Real, or other microSD-to-DS adapter. These are the size of a DS Game Card, and they usually come bundled with a microSD writer. You'll also need to buy a 2 GB microSD card.
    3. Download homebrew apps and unzip them to the microSD card.
    4. Put the microSD card in the DS adapter, put the adapter in the DS, and power on.

    As far as anyone can tell, this rumored product is Nintendo's attempt to kill the market for microSD adapters that are also capable of running unlawful copies of DS games.

  14. Re:Color me skeptical. by sapphire+wyvern · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If it has WPA support, I'll be upgrading my current DS the day that I can. I haven't yet used the online mode because I don't want to downgrade the security on my AP to WEP.

  15. Nintendo have already replied to the rumor by AndyboyH · · Score: 5, Informative

    with a 'no comment' style reply, here:
    http://kotaku.com/5056082/nintendo-on-that-new-ds-rumor

    --
    Baka Drew
  16. Re:Cool by razberry636 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From my knowledge, when you buy a game for your iPod, it's tied to that hardware unit, and you can't transfer it to a new iPod.

    Yes you can. The iPod/iPhone apps are tied to your iTunes account and not the devices themselves. You can sync multiple devices with one account.

    My wife and I each have an iPhone. Whatever apps I buy for my phone are also available on hers. Everything is a two-for-one deal!

  17. Re:Color me skeptical. by tzhuge · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I bought the little Nintendo WiFi USB adapter for this exact reason. I can just plug it in when I want to use my DS online, and pull it out once I'm done.

  18. Re:Cool by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You don't stay ahead of the game by standing still. If the DS wants to avoid competition springing up, it has to be a moving target.

    There are some critical flaws in the DS that I'm surprised they've done nothing to fix. The most major is the lack of WPA support, forcing anyone who wants their DS to be network enabled to use WEP WAPs. (Say that five times...)

    It's also not hard to see ways in which it could be improved while keeping within its mandate - the music feature seems more of a "me too" thing, but the camera sounds like something I can see Nintendo adding just to create another input device for DS developers to find new and original uses for. (If anyone has difficulty understanding what I mean here, then take the microphone on the DS. There's a subgame available for the DS where you inflate balloons by blowing into the microphone. Yeah. Now, think about that kind of lateral thinking applied to a camera.) Motion sensors would strike as obvious enhancements too.

    I'm disappointed that Nintendo isn't doing more to enhance their current offerings. Releasing a more advanced Wii for a slightly higher price, while keeping the current one in production, would do much to manage demand for the unit while keeping sales and profits high.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  19. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's not racist.

    It's riceist.