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Should we expect a DS upgrade next year?

C

CO_Andy

Member
Nintendo releases a new handheld every year, so it's a safe prediction that a DS upgrade is in the works.

All this hawt DS info lately has made me seriously want to pick up a DS (PSP? Forget that!).
 
Yes, and perhaps sooner.

Nintendo MUST be itching to adopt a smaller form factor and the new GBA SP v2 and GB Micro screens on the DS, already.

And, I think we had this same topic not a week ago. :)
 
Just bought a Micro, and I just hope the redesign will resemble that. They should re-release the current DS with their new improved backlit screen, and make a DS without GBA support so it can be smaller.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if we got a redesign within the next year. Hopefully we'll get an upgrade on the d-pad and buttons.
 
A DS without GBA support won't happen, for the simple reason that some games require the GBA slot either for bonus extras or Rumble Pack support. (A GBA cart for the DS featuring rumble support is rumored to be in the works.)
 
Mejilan said:
A DS without GBA support won't happen, for the simple reason that some games require the GBA slot either for bonus extras or Rumble Pack support. (A GBA cart for the DS featuring rumble support is rumored to be in the works.)
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Yeah, supposedly that rumble cart is going to be included with Metroid Pinball. That should probably be the first game to use it.
 
Mejilan said:
Nintendo MUST be itching to adopt a smaller form factor and the new GBA SP v2 and GB Micro screens on the DS, already.
Click to expand...
Another GBA? They'd be a real nutty situation.
 
I'm also waiting for the re-design before getting a DS. It'll probably be out fall 2006 but I really hope sooner. Maybe with DS under performing in the US Nintendo will bring it out spring 2006.
 
I think a significantly smaller DS is in the works. I hope Nintendo releases the new DS with COMPLETE GameBoy support (GB, GBC, GBA) and complete compatibility with link cables, GBA Wireless Adapter, etc. Add a nice rechargeable battery, the brand new screens from the GBASP+ and micro, a sleek form factor with swappable faceplates and improved buttons and D-Pad, and Nintendo will have released the best handheld system ever.
 
CVXFREAK said:
I think a significantly smaller DS is in the works. I hope Nintendo releases the new DS with COMPLETE GameBoy support (GB, GBC, GBA) and complete compatibility with link cables, GBA Wireless Adapter, etc. Add a nice rechargeable battery, the brand new screens from the GBASP+ and micro, a sleek form factor with swappable faceplates and improved buttons and D-Pad, and Nintendo will have released the best handheld system ever.
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Yer crazy. :)
 
CVXFREAK said:
Alternatively, Nintendo could go for something the size of two GB micros.
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I would take that.. if the screens were the same size or slightly larger than they are now, that is. The way it is, there's too much unused real-estate, quite graceless next to a GBA SP, much less the PSP.
 
CO_Andy said:
Nintendo releases a new handheld every year, so it's a safe prediction that a DS upgrade is in the works.

All this hawt DS info lately has made me seriously want to pick up a DS (PSP? Forget that!).
Click to expand...
I'm expecting it anywhere between august to september 2006, if you go by the GBA->GBASP trend.
 
blackadde said:
Er, it's going to be a lot harder to use the touchscreen as it physically shrinks.
Click to expand...

That's true, but i think the unit itself could probably be shrunk if the insides are reconfigured to make a slimmer DS. The case could be metallic like the Micro and the screen could be kept the same size.
 
I think they won't release a new DS next year.. I think they will just milk colors in the first 2 years of a new handheld life.. if anything they will just make the case smaller with nothing new..
 
If they want to avoid the "bad name" of an early re-release, they can still upgrade the screens stealthily, ala the GBA PS v2.
 
Mejilan said:
If they want to avoid the "bad name" of an early re-release, they can still upgrade the screens stealthily, ala the GBA PS v2.
Click to expand...

I think they might upgrade the screen, but it won't be stealthy. It might come in a new series of color cases.
 
Scrow said:
uh, isn't that a new DS?
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Not really... with the GBA it has been new screens... things that can effect play. Not just shells...

And I said if anything... I don't think they will do anything at all this year to the DS line.. colors..
 
the year 20XX said:
Screw you guys. I just got a DS like two weeks ago.

No rerelease or remake or upgrade or update, ever.
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you need a new hobby then.. hahah because you know that is the nature of the beast..
 
Blackace said:
Not really... with the GBA it has been new screens... things that can effect play. Not just shells...
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eh? the most obvious change from GBA->GBASP was the case redesign. That's all I'm looking for in the next DS. Smaller and slicker case.

Blackace said:
And I said if anything... I don't think they will do anything at all this year to the DS line.. colors..
Click to expand...
of course nothing will come out this year... you'd be foolish to think nothing will come out in the second quarter of next year though.
 
Scrow said:
eh? the most obvious change from GBA->GBASP was the case redesign. That's all I'm looking for in the next DS. Smaller and slicker case.

of course nothing will come out this year... you'd be foolish to think nothing will come out in the second quarter of next year though.
Click to expand...

Umm.. the front lighting of the screen was the bigest change.. all of Nintendo's upgrades have been tech based to some degree.. and I don't see them adding anything to the DS in order to keep the price of the unit as low as they can.. and no I don't think I am foolish for thinking that... Because the GBC didn't go through a yearly cycle.. so if we want to look at trends we can't just look at the last 2 years of the company...They don't need to make anything to improve sales.. I guess we will see after xmas how the PSP sold and where they both stand.. that would prompt them to do something more than anything else...
 
Blackace said:
you need a new hobby then.. hahah because you know that is the nature of the beast..
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know, but I don't have to be excited about it. I like to buy each console once per generation and save my money for games. (crazy, I know) and it irritates me when a better version comes out a year later.

I guess technically I do need a new hobby, because I don't make enough money to keep up.
 
Blackace said:
and no I don't think I am foolish for thinking that... Because the GBC didn't go through a yearly cycle.. so if we want to look at trends we can't just look at the last 2 years of the company...They don't need to make anything to improve sales.. I guess we will see after xmas how the PSP sold and where they both stand.. that would prompt them to do something more than anything else...
Click to expand...
Considering that the Rev will probably launch in the last quarter of next year, I think Nintendo will want to release a DS upgrade late in the third quarter so as to get their brand in the forefront of people's minds before the Rev is launched and also to help push the inevitable wireless connectivity that will exist between the two systems. I wouldn’t be surprised if their flagship title connects with the DS and for that they’re going to want as many DSes out there as possible.

But you are right. If the current DS is still selling well enough at that time they aren’t going to cut off that source of income with a premature upgrade. But I think by this point next year the DS’s sales would be in a slump. Nintendo are going to be looking to pickup the slack so close to the Rev’s launch and really push their name forward.

This is what I see them doing:
1. Release DS upgrade mid/late in the third quarter 2006
2. Release Revolution in November 2006
3. Drop price of DS upgrade soon after or before Rev’s launch
4. Rev & DS-SP bundle for Christmas with flagship title included

100% speculation with absolutely not basis, but I think it’d work well for them.

All that said though, all I want is a case redesign. I don’t particularly care for technological upgrades, bundles and what not.

Lemurnator said:
They already make one.

It's called PSP.
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that needs a redesign more so than the DS.
 
Mejilan said:
Castlevania looks AMAZING. ;p
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We don't need another 2D portable powerhouse.

We need a system that can do both, very well.

That system is PSP. Gr4ph1x.

That said I don't own a PSP and I have little to no interest in any games currently on the console or coming out in the near future.

The same could be said for the DS however, I am curious to see actual screenshots of Final Fantasy 3 and not just blurry messes of color. Either way the game would have looked worlds better on PSP and probably played better too.
 
I own both. I've purchased about 15 DS games since early April, which, coincidentally enough, was the last time I bought a PSP game. Graphics mean shit when the gameplay wrapped around them sucks... or doesn't exist. ;p
 
Mejilan said:
I own both. I've purchased about 15 DS games since early April, which, coincidentally enough, was the last time I bought a PSP game. Graphics mean shit when the gameplay wrapped around them sucks... or doesn't exist. ;p
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QFT

next week I'll acquire my 11th DS game, Phoenix Wright. Hopefully I'll have finished one of the others by then, Trauma Center is looking likely, but it is kicking my butt right now
 
Mejilan said:
I own both. I've purchased about 15 DS games since early April, which, coincidentally enough, was the last time I bought a PSP game. Graphics mean shit when the gameplay wrapped around them sucks... or doesn't exist. ;p
Click to expand...

It's great to own a DS if you're a fan of the Wacky Jappy genre of games, which unfortunately for me I am not.
 
Wacky Jappy is a genre now? The PSP, should it actually get any games, will have a similar breakdown of Eastern to Western games.
 
I think the problem with a few GAF members is that they think they're tastes = good for all and everything else is bad, when they (thank God) aren't.
 
I think that Lemurnator makes for a very shitty Drinky Crow, and thus, I actually prefer him to her. Ah well.
 
Mejilan said:
I think that Lemurnator makes for a very shitty Drinky Crow, and thus, I actually prefer him to her. Ah well.
Click to expand...

Well, we can silently hope the masses prove them wrong now, right? ;)
 
It's a good thing that I don't care, and only own a DS.

With just one game.

: (

I'm too poor to buy Advance Wars DS and the new Castlevania since I need the money to get my MP3 player repaired. It fills me with generic rage and jealousy that everyone else can play these games but I cannot.
 
Mejilan said:
I think that Lemurnator makes for a very shitty Drinky Crow, and thus, I actually prefer him to her. Ah well.
Click to expand...

I am under the pression Lemurnator is Drinky's second account.
 
Mejilan said:
A DS without GBA support won't happen, for the simple reason that some games require the GBA slot either for bonus extras or Rumble Pack support. (A GBA cart for the DS featuring rumble support is rumored to be in the works.)
Click to expand...
There is only a really small number of games that require the GBA slot for bonus extras, it won't cause too many angry customers if these extras aren't useable anymore in a redesign. And Rumble Pack support is something they could easily solve by including rumble directly into a redesign.
ATM such a redesign is not a option because gba games are still very strong, but in a few years that could work. GB micro comes without support for GB and GBC games, too, and almost no one cares. Some link games don't work either, so this is really a compareable situation.
 
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