New Nintendo system revealed

L5

Nintendo Announces Dual-Screened Portable Game System; ``Mystery'' Product to Launch Later This Year




E3Expo 2004

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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(R) Advance portable system and Nintendo GameCube(TM) home console.

The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.8 billion video games globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid(TM), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

bizmark

A gig of memory ! jesus

L5

Tis probably mostly for the games, seeing as theirs no discs or cartridges.

Rabies

any chance of a link

DiscoStu

Originally posted by bizmark
A gig of memory ! jesus

1Gigabit, or 128Megabyte

still a hell of a lot of memory for a handheld. im not to sure about two screens. are there any design teams outside of nintendo that could use it for anything more creative than a screen to display scores? this seems like a gimmik to me.

anyway, i think i will wait for the backlit version

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

BluE-WinG

The first version better be back lit, and it better play GBA games - If so I'm all in.

This would be awesome for strategy games and RPGs which u could use the second screen for inventory etc.

honru

It sounds intriguing, but I hardly know anything about this new console. I'd have to see it running before giving a solid opinion about it, yet I'm sure Nintendo has some cool game ideas for this thing.

All I hope is that it is not a Virtual Boy in terms of, well, everything.

tman

Originally posted by f®eak s©enery
All I hope is that it is not a Virtual Boy in terms of, well, everything.

heh, 'virtual boy' sprang to mind as soon as i saw the words "Dual-Screened Portable Game System".
fair play for ninty for trying something daring again. i can imagine it flopping badly if they fail to make it backwards compatible

User45701

This is good news for those that are interested. I dont have much love the portable game systems.
Im happy with my small free at xtra vision tetris game.
Besides i souldent have much use for a N-game or gameboay adv or colour ect

monument

Originally posted by tman
i can imagine it flopping badly if they fail to make it backwards compatible

Looks as if they’re taking more of an independent approach to it?

"Nintendo DS will be marketed separately from the existing Nintendo Game Boy Advance portable system and Nintendo GameCube home console" from the press release.

Any way, err, this like should be helpfull... http://gamire.com/gamire/newsitem?id=545

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

Pugsley

Yet again its Ninty tryign something new, they have inveted virtually everything console

Wonder how well it will work, hopefully it will be comfortable to use etc.

Goodshape

concept design.

The most interesting thing, i think, is that they're planning to market it independently from the GBA. Which means theres going to be two nintendo handhelds on the market at the same time.

Prehaps they're just throwing this out to clog up the market before sony's UltraPalmStation or whatever hits the shelves.

anthonymcg

Originally posted by Goodshape
concept design.

monument

Originally posted by Goodshape
Prehaps they're just throwing this out to clog up the market before sony's UltraPalmStation or whatever hits the shelves.

Probably, they’ll at least take some E3 coverage away from the PSP.