NINTENDO DS ANNOUNCED!
New handheld for 2004! GBA 2 also in development! Start wetting yourself now!
Nintendo has announced it intends to ship an innovative new games console in 2004, currently codenamed Nintendo DS. The 'DS' stands for 'Dual Screen' - which is the only clear fact in an extremely mysterious statement.
The DS will have TWO back-lit 3in TFT LCD displays, similar to the screen of the GBA SP. These will be aligned vertically and flush, so they can be used as one big screen. Nintendo, though, plans to use the screens separately in revolutionary games software.
The example it used was a football game showing a broad view for passing and a close-up for skill moves, but we think there's more to it than that.
The console will have two processors (the brains, basically). An ARM7 like the one that powers the current GBA and an ARM9 that's mostly used in high-end mobile phones and PDAs. The games will come on rewritable memory cards, which Nintendo claims are a s cheap to produce as DVDs. The unit will run on a rechargable battery like the GBA SP.
Nintendo expects to have two or three games ready for launch and has confirmed Miyamoto is eagerly working away. You can expect them to make use of their famous characters like Mario. Third parties such as Namco and Konami are also on board.
Crucially, the announcement also referred to "additional features and benefits" whic, once revealed, would show "the innovative advance in game interaction". This device is not the follow-up to GBA, as Nintendo of Japan's Yasuhiro Minagawa reiterated, "this machine will be completely different from anything that exists right now. The next generation of Game Boy is [also] well into its development. It will be a machine that competes directly with Sony's PSP."
Here at NOM UK, we think that it's these "additional features" that are the key. Nintendo has announced the twin screen, but that's not enough to distinguish it from a GBA in the way it intends.
What do we think is going on? Well, as always, we're willing to offer some educated guesses.
TILT CONTROL
Cryptic remarks from Nintendo prior to the DS announcement described the new machine as something gamers could use without having to look what their fingers were doing. This points towards some kind of unusual control system, possibly of the motion-sensor type that Nintendo pioneered with Kirby's Tilt'n'Tumble on GBC.
WIRELESS NETWORKING
Nintendo wants you to play together. They're giving away a wireless GBA adaptor in Japan with Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green and are committed to connectivity. Now they have the tecnology mastered, it's surely a must have for the DS.
A CAMERA
Sony's EyeToy is massive all over the world and Nintendo itself is looking into cameras for games in a big way. This was shown by the airing of the bizarre Stage Debut at last years' E3.
N64 GRAPHICS
With an N64 successfully miniaturised for the iQue, nintendo could use the same technology in the DS. The Nokia N-Gage manages to reproduce PSone games with its ARM9, so technically it sounds quite feasible. Maybe iQue was a stealthy testbed for the DS?
...found that while cleaning out my room, dated March 2004. Odd how they were just - not exactly, but just - short of the mark.
Nintendo has announced it intends to ship an innovative new games console in 2004, currently codenamed Nintendo DS. The 'DS' stands for 'Dual Screen' - which is the only clear fact in an extremely mysterious statement.
The DS will have TWO back-lit 3in TFT LCD displays, similar to the screen of the GBA SP. These will be aligned vertically and flush, so they can be used as one big screen. Nintendo, though, plans to use the screens separately in revolutionary games software.
The example it used was a football game showing a broad view for passing and a close-up for skill moves, but we think there's more to it than that.
The console will have two processors (the brains, basically). An ARM7 like the one that powers the current GBA and an ARM9 that's mostly used in high-end mobile phones and PDAs. The games will come on rewritable memory cards, which Nintendo claims are a s cheap to produce as DVDs. The unit will run on a rechargable battery like the GBA SP.
Nintendo expects to have two or three games ready for launch and has confirmed Miyamoto is eagerly working away. You can expect them to make use of their famous characters like Mario. Third parties such as Namco and Konami are also on board.
Crucially, the announcement also referred to "additional features and benefits" whic, once revealed, would show "the innovative advance in game interaction". This device is not the follow-up to GBA, as Nintendo of Japan's Yasuhiro Minagawa reiterated, "this machine will be completely different from anything that exists right now. The next generation of Game Boy is [also] well into its development. It will be a machine that competes directly with Sony's PSP."
Here at NOM UK, we think that it's these "additional features" that are the key. Nintendo has announced the twin screen, but that's not enough to distinguish it from a GBA in the way it intends.
What do we think is going on? Well, as always, we're willing to offer some educated guesses.
TILT CONTROL
Cryptic remarks from Nintendo prior to the DS announcement described the new machine as something gamers could use without having to look what their fingers were doing. This points towards some kind of unusual control system, possibly of the motion-sensor type that Nintendo pioneered with Kirby's Tilt'n'Tumble on GBC.
WIRELESS NETWORKING
Nintendo wants you to play together. They're giving away a wireless GBA adaptor in Japan with Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green and are committed to connectivity. Now they have the tecnology mastered, it's surely a must have for the DS.
A CAMERA
Sony's EyeToy is massive all over the world and Nintendo itself is looking into cameras for games in a big way. This was shown by the airing of the bizarre Stage Debut at last years' E3.
N64 GRAPHICS
With an N64 successfully miniaturised for the iQue, nintendo could use the same technology in the DS. The Nokia N-Gage manages to reproduce PSone games with its ARM9, so technically it sounds quite feasible. Maybe iQue was a stealthy testbed for the DS?
...found that while cleaning out my room, dated March 2004. Odd how they were just - not exactly, but just - short of the mark.
posted by Will Templeton at 6:47 PM
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