Nintendo DS

[dog$]

Why surprising?

Because now there's no point for anyone to buy a GBA/SP. The DS's ability to use GBA software completely nullifies their theory of "three pilars" as well.

Funny how Sega's mishandling of three closely-released platforms is what many attribute to being the downfall of the company, yet Nintendo seems like they're going to very easily get away with people buying the GBA v 3.0.

Bad form for this thing to require a stylus, too.

[Mzo]

Why surprising? I don't see why Nintendo would want to break their tradition of backwards compatability now.

Anyways, four face buttons? I shouldn't be surprised but I am.

It's a shock because the SP's release made many people practically re-buy a GBA... and now, a year later, comes another handheld system that, with backwards compatibility, will probably replace the SP.

Too many systems.

[epmode]

i saw a few interesting things at http://opa-ages.com (surprisingly, the e3 thread is turning out to be very useful. reirom is quite the newshound)

word is that one of the two screens will primarily be used for interface functions. it'll be touch sensitive, and might have some kind of texture to it, so you'll know where to press without looking at it. this will be seperate from the face buttons, of course.

[Johnny Nighttrain]

how do you use buttons and a stylus at the same time?

maybe all the games just make use of the touch screen some way or another. no one said you use them at the same time.

[Wilykat]

It's a shock because the SP's release made many people practically re-buy a GBA... and now, a year later, comes another handheld system that, with backwards compatibility, will probably replace the SP.

Too many systems.

True, but I doubt Nintendo would even make the DS a factor this year had it not been for the annoucement of the PSP.

[Scourge]

True, but I doubt Nintendo would even make the DS a factor this year had it not been for the annoucement of the PSP.

You won't find this anywhere else. I'm pm'ing so you can post this in the forum if you want. I won't because if it came back to me, I'd be fired. Should it be of enough interest to you, I ask that it *not* end up on the front page. I'm going to be as non-descript as possible below so as to protect proprietary information marked "Internal Use Only". If you have any questions so as to verify the reliability of this information, feel free to pm me back.

An American semi-conductor company has a contract with Nintendo to provide a wireless networking system for the next-generation Gameboy. The wireless technology in question is made specifically for short distance communication and finds its application in Electronic Games as well as communication between Mouse, Keyboard and PC, among others. The main specific application for the next-generation Gameboy will be to allow multiplayer wireless gaming, but the networking system should allow for other applications as well. The semiconductor company has been working with Nintendo on this since Q4 last year, but has only begun shipping its product to Nintendo in Q2 of this year. Also of interest, beyond the wireless networking technology, the semiconductor company is supplying MRAM for both embedded and stand alone (memory cartridge) use for the next-generation Gameboy.

Sony announced the PSP in May of 2003. Nintendo had already been working on the DS since at the very latest December of 2002.

[Shin Johnpv]

i think what wilykat was saying was that the DS wouldnt be coming out so soon if it wasnt for the PSP not that it wasnt being worked on


in pretty much every interview Nintendo states how they start working on the hardware of their next gen systems the second the one they did last ships

so as soon as the GBA and GC shipped they were working on the hardware of their next systems

[Scourge]

i think what wilykat was saying was that the DS wouldnt be coming out so soon if it wasnt for the PSP not that it wasnt being worked on


in pretty much every interview Nintendo states how they start working on the hardware of their next gen systems the second the one they did last ships

so as soon as the GBA and GC shipped they were working on the hardware of their next systems

Right, except that the parts the semiconductor company was ramping up to ship were production parts and that was the plan from December of 2002, that they'd start shipping the production parts (meaning bulk assembly line stuffs) to Nintendo in q2 2003 (April/May/June) which is what they did.

[Ex Ranza]

For the past couple of months, I've been straining to come up with some enthusiasm for the DS. It hasn't been happening.

By tomorrow, just maybe that's gonna change..

[Mikey]

It's a shock because the SP's release made many people practically re-buy a GBA... and now, a year later, comes another handheld system that, with backwards compatibility, will probably replace the SP.

Too many systems.

That's the beauty of backwards compatibility: You can release systems frequently and people will buy them as long as the old systems' games are compatible. And remember: Sony make you re-buy systems as well, when the old one breaks. All the games you've bought for it still work and you want to play them so you just have to eat shit and buy a replacement. I don't think Sony's DVD players are that fragile, since all your DVDs would still work if you replaced it with another brand.