nintendo DS

[unforgiven]

i know its late news but for those who havent heard yet





 Nintendo Announces Dual-Screened Portable Game System

Jan 20, 2004

"Mystery" Product to Launch Later This Year

          
REDMOND, Wash., Jan 20, 2004 -- An unprecedented approach to video game play-- holding two separate game screens in the palm of your hand-- hits the scene later this year when Nintendo introduces a new portable game system, code-named Nintendo DS.

From information made available today, players can look forward to being able to manage their game progress from two different perspectives, enhancing both the speed and strategy of the challenge. For example in a soccer game, users can view the whole game on one screen while simultaneously focusing on an individual soccer player's tackle or goal on the other screen.

Players will no longer be forced to interrupt game play to shift perspective, such as moving from a wide shot to a close up, or alternating between a character's ongoing battle and a map of the environment. Nintendo DS makes it possible to perform the tasks in real time by simply glancing from one screen to the other.

Today's announcement is but a glimpse of the additional features and benefits that will be shown in full at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in May. Once fully revealed, players will see innovative advances in game interaction.

"We have developed Nintendo DS based upon a completely different concept from existing game devices in order to provide players with a unique entertainment experience for the 21st century," explains Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president.

Nintendo DS features two separate 3-inch TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and semiconductor memory of up to 1 Gigabit. It's scheduled to launch worldwide before the end of 2004.

In addition to Nintendo-developed software, the company is in discussions with third-party game developers around the world.

Nintendo DS will be marketed separately from the company's existing Nintendo Game Boy Advance portable system and Nintendo GameCube home console.

Stay tuned to Nintendo.com for more details on the Nintendo DS system as they are announced.                    

[Nebuchadnezzar]

A pic would be nice                    

[unforgiven]

sorry i dont think there is any yet ...but the two screens should be one above and the other undernet                    

[Aka_Neo]

ok but i nah goin and study that cuz i sure ps2 will still be better and i think ps3 comin out so i rada save my money for that than de nintendo ds                    

[Cowsquad]

xbox badder than all ah dem buh it sounds like another system for me to collect lol                    

[Sephiriku]

I feel it have to be good,because for something to upstage the GBA SP then it hafta be bad.                    

[Junior]

haven't heaard about it but it sounds allright                    

[Osiris]

hmm sounds nice i goin an do some research !!!                    

[unforgiven]

The DS "will have a variety of exciting features," said Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo's vice president of marketing and corporate affairs. "Its other functionalities will be revealed in full at E3 in Los Angeles in May."

Interestingly enough, Nintendo's early announcement of the DS was intended to quell the Internet rumor mill, not spark it anew.

But the past few days have raised more questions than answers about what the DS might be hiding under its hood. This speculation goes beyond pure fantasy, however, as there's plenty of evidence to back up most of it.

Here are the leading theories, the cases for and against them, and the odds that they'll come true this spring.

The theory: The DS won't feature a standard control-pad-and-button setup -- rather, it will incorporate motion-sensor controls that determine which direction the player is tilting the system.

The evidence: Nintendo first experimented with motion control with a 2001 Game Boy Color release called Kirby's Tilt 'n' Tumble, and later expanded on the concept with a prototype GameCube title called Roll-O-Rama, which was shown at the E3 show in 2002 but never released.

The odds: 3-1. Legendary Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto always has put a high priority on new and interesting player interfaces, and motion control would be one of them. Perhaps the reason Roll-O-Rama didn't appear was that the technology was being reworked into the Nintendo DS. On the other hand, it's unclear what other types of games would benefit from this kind of control.

- - -

The theory: The DS will feature a built-in digital camera function.

The evidence: Like the motion controller, Nintendo showed off a seemingly complete camera attachment for the Game Boy Advance at E3 2002, but the attachment was never released. It worked with a GameCube prototype title -- also unreleased -- called Stage Debut, which mapped players' faces onto the in-game polygonal character models.

The odds: 4-to-1. Given the success of Sony's EyeToy, a Logitech-developed digital camera attachment for the PlayStation 2 home video-game system, it would seem that Nintendo would want to explore the possibilities of using a camera to control onscreen action. And if the DS could be connected to the Nintendo GameCube, that would open up even further possibilities.

- - -

The theory: The DS will feature built-in wireless multiplayer gaming.

The evidence: Nintendo has wholeheartedly embraced the wireless revolution -- its WaveBird wireless controller is fast becoming the standard input device of choice for GameCube owners, and the company's latest Pokémon games -- releasing this month in Japan -- will include a Motorola-powered, 2.4-GHz adapter for wireless monster battles.

The odds: 2-to-1. Given Nintendo's recent penchant for all things wireless, expect a similar adapter to be available for the DS if it's not built into the design. But there's no indication yet that the Nintendo DS will feature multiplayer games.

- - -

The theory: The two screens won't be placed next to each other; they'll be layered on top of each other to create a 3-D effect.

The evidence: Electronics giant Sharp is a longtime Nintendo cohort and the manufacturer of the LCD screens on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance SP handheld video-game system. Sharp is developing 3-D display technology, and Nintendo is listed as a member of the consortium for said technology.

The odds: 100-to-1. "You can use the two screens as one big monitor.... The developer(s) will have the freedom to do what they want to do," said Nintendo spokeswoman Beth Llewellyn in a recent interview. Llewellyn went on to add that the screens would be aligned vertically, which rules out any possibility of the two screens acting in tandem to create a 3-D image.

Some theories are just too far out to be true, it seems -- unless that's just what Nintendo wants us to believe.