There have been rumours of a secondary DS with larger screens 12 months or so, and Reuters are now reporting a souped up version along those lines may be released before Christmas:
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE48R09X20080928
http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/main/20080928AT1D2701J27092008.html
The new features:
- larger screens
- built in camera
- sd card slot
- music player
- photo mode
- dual touch screens
- some kind of browser
- improved wi-fi (strength? wpa?)
With Reuters focussing on music playing and photo mode.
I'd love bigger screens if this is true, but the rest sounds like desperate pandering towards the PSP and iPhone market. Surely that would be a mistake? I always put down the general success of the DS to making it purely a games playing machine, not sure why it would need to be a half hearted PDA as well.
Dammit I just bought one! >_<
I'm all for the larger screens as I don't play games while I'm travelling around, the only time I play games on the DS/PSP is when I'm sitting in my yard. Although the rest of the list is of no use to me at all, I'll still end up picking up the machine asap...
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This went the publisher grapevine about 18 months ago and the feature set has been reduced a fair bit since then it seems, as they were really going for the PSP/iPhone angle as it was practically a Nintendo mobile phone. They most probably had a falling out with their service provider, which will probably mean we'll see a PlayStation-type blunder manifest itself in the next year or so?
Sounds like bollocks to me, totally counter the existing initiative.
Agreed, but the PSP consistently had Japanese sales throughout the summer. Maybe that will change with Phantasy Star Zero if there is no Monster Hunter Portable 3 on the way, but there must be more reasons than that for Sony's handheld doing well recently.
Nintendo decline to comment on the story more ambiguously than normal:
http://kotaku.com/5056082/nintendo-on-that-new-ds-rumor
Sounds a lot closer to a maybe than you normally get from Nintendo.
Except, the current initiative isn't that buoyant any more and Apple's popularity in Japan is suitably immense. They're trying to get in on that market. It's not a very clever thing to be doing in all honesty but games companies aren't always consistent in that regard, after all Nintendo have made some immense blunders in the past (VirtualBoy and PlayStation anyone?).
It really just is Monster Hunter that's turned the tide, as it's a very focal series in Japan and developers/publishers can see people buying more PSP's and as such they want to get in on the act. It happened the same way with the DS's brain training fad. You only need one big release to get everybody jumping on the bandwagon. All the new PSP games and hardware are a direct result of that. The new DS is a bad attempt at catching up with that (in that they shouldn't have bothered and kept doing what they do best). Still Dragon Quest IX is on the horizon, so that should be interesting for the DS.
When the Wii version of Monster Hunter hits the shelves that will produce a similar shift in terms of the number of games developed for the platform.
It is kinda flattening out, the whole White Plastic Nintendo Regime... I get the vibe they are getting fat, lazy and stodgy again. They do have a propensity for insular cock ups.
I kinda see the WiiMotion Plus as an indication of their new madness.
Basically, without a new FZero, or a rejigged FZero GX with tiltness I don't think I would be that happy... if only Nintendo were Capcom and they just pumped out a couple of GC releases with token Wii Gestures eh.
You mean... like Twilight Princess, Super Paper Mario, Smash Bros., and Mario Kart?
Mario Galaxy possibly as well.
Right
Right
Wrong
Wrong
Would've swapped Paper Mario for a Pikmin or a FZero
I'm not so convinced this is madness. Looking forward you can see a product like the iPhone taking a huge bite out of Nintendo's arse. Brain training could easily be done on the iPhone as could Nintendogs and all the other 'casual' games that have given the console its massive sales.
The mistake here is the same one Sony have made. They're trying to emulate the next mass market consumer device as opposed to designing it.
Mario Galaxy possibly as well.
They're all first party titles, which help hardware sales but don't engender third party publisher and developer support. Publishers have to see a third party game succeed before they'll invest.
The mistake here is the same one Sony have made. They're trying to emulate the next mass market consumer device as opposed to designing it.
Bingo!
I don't think this will turn out to be true at all. Multimedia gimmickry has never been Nintendo's "style", so to speak, and as others have pointed out, it's Monster Hunter that's helping the PSP (which is still a long way behind in overall sales) in Japan, not superfluous non-gaming features.
Overall, the DS is selling incredibly well worldwide and has lots of support. Making it obsolete by bringing out a new model would be madness.
And I think the iPhone operates in a different arena and isn't really a serious threat to the DS or any handheld for that matter.
DSi anyone? No?
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When's 'Wii Carlton' coming out?
Holy, \/\/Tf!!
http://gonintendo.com/?p=57999
OMG.
Is this Nintendo taking online more seriously? Downloadable apps? I can't get my head around this, but The hardware sounds good, me wants
NOOO!!!
I just bought a DS and now I need to buy this one! XO
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Shit. Looks like I was wrong.
I won't be getting one of these though. One DS is enough and the lack of GBA port is inexcusable.
Also, knowing Nintendo a new handheld is probably a year away anwyway, as was the case with the GBC/GBA...