Nintendo DS Details Revealed

[John Crichton]

... but-fails-miserably-just-like-every-non-Gameboy-portable...

More seriously, I expect both the DS and PSP to be niche products at best; Nintendo will realize the DS is a little too weird to be the successor to the GBA, and Sony will figure out that Nintendo owns the portable space. And in 2006 or so Nintendo will launch a more traditional successor to the GBA that's more powerful than the PSP and costs half as much.

Hmmm. I think it depends on price and then exclusive games for the PSP. If Sony can get the retail price down on the PSP to a reasonable level (at or less than $200) then it should do well. It has the support of major developers and Sony has the marketing power to make people aware of it. I'll go out on a limb and say that it will do well. I'll probably be buying one, at least.

As for the DS, I don't really care about it at the moment. The price is good and the games look pretty good but I'll have to see the dual screen games in action to see if I'll buy one.

 

[mojo1701]

Now quickly say that ten times.

Sony's new portable-game-console-that-works-like-a-pda-but-takes-little-mini-discs-instead-and-is-designed-to-try-to-take-the-market-away-from-nintendo-man.
Sony's new portable-game-console-that-works-like-a-pda-but-takes-little-mini-discs-instead-and-is-designed-to-try-to-take-the-market-away-from-nintendo-man.
Sony's new portable-game-console-that-works-like-a-pda-but-takes-little-mini-discs-instead-and-is-designed-to-try-to-take-the-market-away-from-nintendo-man.
Sony's new portable-game-console-that-works-like-a-pda-but-takes-little-mini-discs-instead-and-is-designed-to-try-to-take-the-market-away-from-nintendo-man.
Sony's new portable-game-console-that-works-like-a-pda-but-takes-little-mini-discs-instead-and-is-designed-to-try-to-take-the-market-away-from-nintendo-man.
Sony's new portable-game-console-that-works-l-OW! I bit my tongue.

 

[Ranger REG]

As for the DS, I don't really care about it at the moment. The price is good and the games look pretty good but I'll have to see the dual screen games in action to see if I'll buy one.

Well, that depends on the game software developer, Nintendo and third parties. For now, at least from what I hear, the DS will include PictoChat, so you can doodle and write messages and send them wireless to other DS.

 

[John Crichton]

Well, that depends on the game software developer, Nintendo and third parties. For now, at least from what I hear, the DS will include PictoChat, so you can doodle and write messages and send them wireless to other DS.

That would certainly not make me buy one but I could see the kiddies liking it.

 

[WizarDru]

The wireless is one of the more compelling aspects of the DS. Being able to trade Pokemon or deathmatch across the playground or the classroom will certainly be an important aspect of the machine.

Each has a different audience and approach: the DS is intended to be a game device, something Nintendo is damn clever at producing. By and large, Nintendo's software for it's decks has a much better signal-to-noise ratio than any of the others. The DS is clearly designed to be solely a game appliance, and damn good at it.

The PSP, on the other hand, wants to be the replacement for most of your handheld devices: a portable media center, an MP3 player, a handheld game console, a messaging device and on and on. I personally think the PSP is going to have two major problems: UMD/AATRAC and price. The former is a mindless dedication to Sony's as-yet still unpopular and unaccepted formats, which try to supplant MP3...the same thinking that keeps them putting memory-stick technology in everything, even though Sony is the only one to use it (as opposed to the near universal acceptance of Flash and SDRAM). How much pain Sony is willing to swallow is anyone's guess, but I think they're seriously worried. The DS is slated out in a month or so for only $150...and the most liberal estimate puts the PSP at $200. Couple that with the fact that it's been delayed until Spring 2005, or possibly Summer 2005....and you've got a lot of lost ground. Nintendo has a plug-in audience and the Christmas advantage....Sony knows full well what that lead time can mean.

 

[Ferret]

He he, the DS will cost more then the G3! I spose they aren't in sync.... Actually I rarely use my console or hand held.... I should paly games more often.

 

[Ranger REG]

That would certainly not make me buy one but I could see the kiddies liking it.

Well, at least it will be included with the DS. Currently, GBA don't come with a game, not even an adapter for headphones.

As for PSP, if that's what Sony is going for, then they have also lost ground with TapWave Zodiac.

 

[WizarDru]

The Zodiac's been out a while, and so has the sidekick II .

But neither have Sony's name brand or software licenses, either. Sony's already pushing the PSP exclusive Metal Gear Solid game, among others. If you make the best games, people may eventually come to your system...but not in the droves of the Nintendo, because it's a much easier sell to a parent with it's backwards compatability and better selection of games (especially with more of them featuring more family friendly content).

I think, though, that the PSP is a victim of feature-creep. Someone probably noticed that it would sell for more than a PS/2 did when it was brand new, and decided they needed to re-engineer the thing, and fast. We'll see. If it's really good, I'll get one, I suppose...but I already plan on getting two Nintendo DSs.

 

[Arnwyn]

The wireless is one of the more compelling aspects of the DS.

Both the DS and PSP are wireless.

By and large, Nintendo's software for it's decks has a much better signal-to-noise ratio than any of the others.

Not on the GB side of things (common complaints are that the GBA library has been surprisingly lacklustre). In any case, the above statement is neither good nor bad, and not considered to be a very relevant point when it comes to software libraries (except for those completely uninitiated in the video game hobby) - and, in fact, was a considerable point of contention with the (now considered failed) N64.

The DS is clearly designed to be solely a game appliance, and damn good at it.

I'm personally waiting for the full consumer version and beginning software library playtests before I'd ever make such an assertion.

How much pain Sony is willing to swallow is anyone's guess, but I think they're seriously worried.

I've seen no evidence to justify such a conjecture.

I do agree with drothgery that both the DS and PSP are pretty much niche products, with a questionable future. In the land of portables, though, price point is king - the DS is on the right track in that regard.

 

[WizarDru]

Both the DS and PSP are wireless.

I was merely replying to someone's earlier point that the wireless feature wasn't a throwaway, which I disagreed with. In point of fact, the PSP has much better wireless capacity: it's supposed to be 802.1 compatible, which should allow it a full range of functionality the DS can't touch (since the DS can only work with...another DS, and only at range of 30-100 feet).

Not on the GB side of things (common complaints are that the GBA library has been surprisingly lacklustre). In any case, the above statement is neither good nor bad, and not considered to be a very relevant point when it comes to software libraries (except for those completely uninitiated in the video game hobby) - and, in fact, was a considerable point of contention with the (now considered failed) N64.

It's also my opinion, not a fact. I think the GBA library is quite good. That doesn't make me right or wrong...it's just my subjective opinion.

The N64 wasn't a collosal failure...but it didn't recapture ground lost to the Playstation. Nintendo's refusal to leave the inferior ROM cartridge behind, their terrible licensing practices and lack of acceptance because of them...those led to it not being a huge success. But I've never heard of it describe as a failure. The N64's DD, Virtual Boy, Sega Saturn, Atari's Lynx...now THOSE were failures. Heck, the N64 lasted 5 years in the market...I loved the Dreamcast, and it didn't last 3.

I'm personally waiting for the full consumer version and beginning software library playtests before I'd ever make such an assertion.

And that's probably a wise decision. For myself, Nintendo has never disappointed with a handheld game console, and I don't expect them to do so now.

I've seen no evidence to justify such a conjecture.

Recent articles in the WSJ, Forbes and Business 2.0 all discuss, at length, how Sony's dependence on it's video game unit has become critical (as well as the article I linked to earlier in the thread). Sony has made a serious misstep in the TV market (which it once dominated), failed to produce a timely hard-drive MP3 player and has serious investor concerns. They have a lot riding on the PSP. The fact that they're not releasing a great many details about it is a source of concern. On the one hand, they're saying that it will have 10 hours for games...but on the other hand, only 2.5 hours for music and movie playback. By missing the Christmas 2004 season, they're going to affect Sony's bottom line.

That doesn't mean it's going to fail, just that, as far as I can tell, Sony's obviously concerned. The same way that they were when the first iteration of the PS/2s had hardware problems and production shortages. That didn't stop it from being the single best selling game console in the world.

I think the DS has a plug-in audience...but if the PSP really is essentially a portable ps/2 with reasonable battery life and convergence features, then it'll sell like hotcakes. That is, unless they mess up the software library...and since they claim the delay is related to that, I doubt that's going to happen.

Me, I hope they both rock. I have a long train ride every day, and having two really cool handhelds to choose from each day would be pretty sweet.