Anyone else excited about the Nintendo DS?

[Hoagie_one]

More info on it here
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/21/news_6107998.html

$150 price tag
includes a demo of the new metroid game (First level, limited features)
BAckward compatible with GBA games but not GB or GBC games.

[GGKoul]

Another Nintendo grab...

I mean, when they are finish copying all good games from the previous platform... they release a new platform and just remake the old games again.

[Hoagie_one]

Another Nintendo grab...

I mean, when they are finish copying all good games from the previous platform... they release a new platform and just remake the old games again.

Its absolutely brilliant actually.

on a side note, i dont plan on playing the redux games, only new and hopefully, future emulation on the portable

[MasTequila]

I am excited about it but that is a hefty price tag.  Anyway the DS is more to combat the PSP when it also gets released, but I still believe Nintedo will continue its hold on the handheld market.  The DS does have cool features though.

[DougHillman]

Why is it "absolutely brilliant"?  

It's not a bad idea, but so far I haven't seen any games previewed that seem to make particularly good use of the dual screens.  It's just fluff at the moment.   If the devs aren't gonna make serious use of the 2nd screen, I'll stick with my much more portable portable, the SP.

Sony's PSP, on the other hand, has enough of my interest that I'd be willing to take a step backwards to a larger form factor.  If the battery life is tolerable, I'll be purchasing one of those.

[shmokes]

Yeah...the PSP is too ambitious for a handheld.  I don't see how they will compete with the low price of the DS.  It'll be the Atari Lynx all over again.

[Hoagie_one]

Why is it "absolutely brilliant"?  

I meant re-releasing old games on new systems.  Getting paid again for the same work is absolutely brilliant.  New group of kids that never got to play the old school games...just to buy em again.

[Yander]

Finally RTSs can be done right on a portable.

[clanggedin]

I'll give you my views on it this weekend. I won tickets to the Nintendo Fusion Tour this weekend and get the opportunity to play with the DS while I'm there.

I'm hopijg that they will have Donkey Konga there too to mess around with.

[Hoagie_one]

cool

[Minwah]

I like it.  Not sure about the touch-screen thing tho, I don't really like touch screens much.  I do like the dual-screen idea tho, as long as the batteries can handle it - GameBoy's have always had decent battery life, which is very important IMO.

[Yander]

I like the dual srewns and they have already said it will have about the same battery life as the gba sp and the battery is rechargeable. I like the touch screen, i am just afraid every game they make is going to be touch screen dependent.  It also comes with 802.11b multiplayer capabilties and nintendo's own proprietery wireless tech. It comes with oictochat built in

[Darkstalker]

"It'll be the Atari Lynx all over again."

This has "Virtual Boy" written all over it to be more accurate.

The DS looks neat, but I don't see a reason to get one until I see the "killer app" that makes the upgrade worth it.  So far I haven't seen any compelling reason to drop $150 on it.

[Hoagie_one]

im just glad we have a powerfull portable.  the gba emulation scene is great and its gonna be greater now.

love playing Nes adn Snes games on my GBA

[MasTequila]

"It'll be the Atari Lynx all over again."

This has "Virtual Boy" written all over it to be more accurate.

The DS looks neat, but I don't see a reason to get one until I see the "killer app" that makes the upgrade worth it.  So far I haven't seen any compelling reason to drop $150 on it.

I believe the Atari Lynx analogy was actually aimed at the PSP.  The real killer for the PSP will be the thing brought up here already: Battery life.  It has a battery life of 2.5 when playing full games and then moves out if watching media or listening to just music and comes in around 10.  That ain't gonna cut it in the handheld market.

[maraxle]

I just wish Nintendo had waited a while to announce this, as I was considering getting rid of my GBA SP.  Now I'm not going to get much for it...

[GGKoul]

Don't for get the Sega Nomad & Game Gear.... just now is Nintendo surpassing the capabilites of the Nomad & Game Gear.

If it wasn't for Pokeman, Nintendo would have been done along time ago.

[Hoagie_one]

tHE tURBOEXPRESS WAS A GREAT PORTABLE TOO.


Expensive though

[Minwah]

love playing Nes adn Snes games on my GBA

Is SNES fully emulated at decent speed on the GBA nowadays?  I haven't used mine for ages...

[Hoagie_one]

limited # of games

http://www.gbafan.com/emu.html#emu-snes

[Snarbald]

Don't for get the Sega Nomad & Game Gear.... just now is Nintendo surpassing the capabilites of the Nomad & Game Gear.

If it wasn't for Pokeman, Nintendo would have been done along time ago.

Wasn't Gamegear and Nomad long gone by the time pokemon came out though?

[GGKoul]

Don't for get the Sega Nomad & Game Gear.... just now is Nintendo surpassing the capabilites of the Nomad & Game Gear.

If it wasn't for Pokeman, Nintendo would have been done along time ago.

Wasn't Gamegear and Nomad long gone by the time pokemon came out though?

I think Game Gear many have been still around...  Sega had a better gaming platform then Nintendo in terms of graphics & gameplay, but what killed Sega in the console market was that they did a poor job of marketing their consoles & supporting them with quality game releases.

[Hoagie_one]

lynx and game gear were both quality systems, but they were huge and not marketed toward the young kids.

GB has always been small and marketed toward kids.

[GGKoul]

You forget about the ill fated Sega "PICO" system for kids.

[Hoagie_one]

pico, consequently would probably work well today.  Those leapfrog learning games are cash cows.  Sega was ahead of its time

[GGKoul]

Sega was ahead of its time

They sure were:

Sega Genesis - Greatest system of the 80's
Sega 32x - Good add-on but lacked game support
Sega Saturn - lacked game support
Sega Dreamcast - lacked game support

[AlanS17]

I don't see how a game will make good use of a touch screen, but dual screens is a good idea. Bigger maps for real-time strategies and status screens for my RPG's would be nice.

I don't think Nintendo has another Virtual Boy on its hands, though. That thing was pretty much a disaster waiting to happen. Who wants to lean forward and stick their face into a box and nobody can even watch along? It wasn't exactly portable. It wasn't colorful (unless you like red). It wasn't big-screen. It was a cool concept, but a bad idea.