Sp0ng putting it on the line: Says DS=PDA and GBA 2=PSP like machine at E3

Hollywood

Banned
Posted in another thread, but I'm just wondering how reliable Sp0ng is ... how many times have they reported *breaking* news before?


The new model of the Game Boy Advance will be shown at Nintendo’s E3 press conference this year in what will be one of the most remarkable moments in recent videogame history.

The unit will be a true gaming machine and will come equipped with a large high-quality back-lit screen and analogue controls, very much, one might argue, like Sony’s PSP.

Nintendo staffers have confirmed to SPOnG.com that preliminary hardware will be shown both at the firm’s conference and encased alongside the Nintendo Revolution on the showfloor.

Indeed, SPOnG has been privvy to the emergence of the next-generation of Game Boy Advance for some time, though little more than it’s E3 debut was known.

As this news breaks, perhaps the most pertinent point to be mulled is exactly how Nintendo is going to explain the situation to fans and, of course, early adopters of the Nintendo DS. The answer to this conundrum is quite possibly the most incredible climb-down the games industry has ever witnessed.

Specifically, Nintendo will unveil a suite of PDA-focussed software for the DS powered by recently licensed Palm OS technology. The machine will evolve from a pure gaming machine into a PDA equipped to play Nintendo 64 quality games. Essentially, Nintendo believes that with the right software, it has a high-powered, wireless-enabled PDA capable of playing games of a higher standard than any competing device.

Picking up the pieces, however, will be something of a PR nightmare, something that Nintendo is fully aware of. The DS, announced so soon after the PSP was unveiled by Sony, was effectively a spoiler machine, aimed at snatching away market share from SCEI. Although this has been categorically denied by the Kyoto giant, the revelation that a new Game Boy, which in essence appears to be a PSP with a Nintendo badge, confirms this belief beyond any doubt.

The new Game Boy will be based around existing Nintendo GameCube hardware and will be, when it launches in the US and Japan towards the end of this year, the most powerful handheld console on the planet. SPOnG also believes it likely that the machine will make use of GameCube software. Revolution connectivity was confirmed.

By way of damage control, Nintendo must now cling to its ever-present third-pillar line regarding the DS. The firm has always claimed that the Dual Screen represents not a furthering of the Game Boy range, but something quite different. It would seem that those well-placed foundations will now be required to carry the hefty bulk of a complete reversal of application for a machine that was launched as a gaming device and will, within months, have its key role significantly altered.

http://news.spong.com/x?art=8385
 
New, PSP-like GB this year = not too surprising
Palm OS licensing = very, very hard to believe
DS turning into PDA = doesn't make much sense; why?

Still, never say never in this business.
 
Hollywood said:
The new model of the Game Boy Advance will be shown at Nintendo’s E3 press conference this year in what will be one of the most remarkable moments in recent videogame history.

Uh...
 
Bud said:
GBA
NDS
GB2

How are they going to support al these handhelds?

Probably the same way they supported Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and GBA at the same time. Which is to say they won't.
 
If nintendo trumps sony on flashness with the GB2 I will be very very surprised and laugh very very hard.
 
Bud said:
GBA
NDS
GB2

How are they going to support al these handhelds?

If it's a GBA 2, which is what is implied, then GBA falls out of the equation.
If they differentiate DS from GBA2, people will buy both.

Mark my words, if its true -- lots of people currently posting mockingly, in bewilderment or anger - they'll do just that.
 
I don't fully believe this news, but I'll definitely acknowledge that it's possible. Nintendo are nutty enough to do something like this. Who knows -- it might even work out the way they envision (DS becomes sort of a junior PDA, GB Next goes on to rival PSP).

Aoi: the agreement could be protected by NDA until Nintendo wishes to formally announce it -- this is Nintendo, after all.
 
Nintendo staffers have confirmed to SPOnG.com that preliminary hardware will be shown both at the firm’s conference and encased alongside the Nintendo Revolution on the showfloor.
:lol :lol impossible
 
john tv said:
New, PSP-like GB this year = not too surprising
Palm OS licensing = very, very hard to believe
DS turning into PDA = doesn't make much sense; why?

Still, never say never in this business.
Well, if you believe point 1, you have to admit there is no graceful way to "climb down" with the DS. So points 2 & 3 might be hard to swallow, but the DS has to repurposed if Nintendo is going to save any face. The PDA move is one way to do that. What're the other options--nakedly admitting that it was a ploy to steal marketshare from the PSP?
 
Posting to be part of "what will be one of the most remarkable moments in recent videogame history."

Let's see how this one will pan out, not exactly sure how they can incorporate any decent PDA style apps on those tiny, low resolution DS screens.
 
Whatever Nintendo does with the next Game Boy, they better have a way for it to play existing GB/GBA cartridges. I don't know, make the memory cards the shape of GBA carts or something, and make it a double duty memcard/GB cart port. I'm tryin' here.
 
If it's already a new DS model, I will burn my DS live on my webcam for all to enjoy. And if they phase out the DS already to pimp the GBA2, i'll will burn my DS, my n64 and my gamecube.
 
radioheadrule83 said:
If it's a GBA 2, which is what is implied, then GBA falls out of the equation.
If they differentiate DS from GBA2, people will buy both.

Mark my words, if its true -- lots of people currently posting mockingly, in bewilderment or anger - they'll do just that.


Now mark my words. HUGE Nintendo fan but if this is true, they get $0 dollars from me in the handheld arena. I bought a DS for games, not for a half-assed PDA-lite.

Where are the FUCKING GAMES?
 
radioheadrule83 said:
If it turns out to be true can we give Folder special powers to personally tag everyone who's about to slag him off in this thread?

likewise, if it turns out to be false...can we never see another spong staffer in here again?

(can we have that anyways?)
 
Wasn't the NDS becoming a PDA not the intention Nintendo had from the start? They did show businessmen in suits using the system when they presented it from the start. The fact that a translation program, an agenda and a dictionary would become available in the future, as they stated during the presentation, also amplifies this.

I too thought that the PALM OS rumor had been debunked, but of course it could've fallen under an NDA until the presentation so that's not saying much. Still, it is spong, and though they have shown some credibility the last few months it's still hard to truly believe them. If it was all true, fine, that's a good thing right. Differentiating the NDS from the GB line was Nintendo's plan from the start, hence the third pillar comments coming from them.

Guess we will have to wait and see.....
 
If this is true, you have to wonder if Gamecube disks are the size they are for a reason...did Nintendo do a huge amount of forward-thinking here?

Speaking of the Nintendo E3 press conference, has the date/time been released yet?
 
If true, they should've just licensed Palm OS from the beginning and gain the benefits of its back catalog from the start.
 
Great King Bowser said:
Posting to be part of "what will be one of the most remarkable moments in recent videogame history."

Let's see how this one will pan out, not exactly sure how they can incorporate any decent PDA style apps on those tiny, low resolution DS screens.

They'd be suitable enough I reckon.

For PDAs in the same price range with a bit of give either side, like some in the PalmOne range, and some Sony Clie PEG, you're looking at 320x320 / 320x480. I don't know if thats the low end of things or what.

DS by comparison would have 256x384 - something like that?

You could even use the touch screen as an interface for scaling documents as a texture on either screen to get around resolution issues if you really had to. The simpler things like Calendar, Organiser and so forth, aren't going to be a problem IMO. It's what else they come up with I'm interested in.

I'd like to see DS have Pictochat-like messenging capability, but online-enabled. Even if its just for email or whatever. It'd kick ass.
 
masud said:
If this is true then, hooray for Nintendo fans that didn't fall for the DS!

Woo!

Except, it will likely be insanely expensive, which was my reason for not getting a DS in the first place, so I'm not entirely sure how this helps me.
 
masud said:
If this is true then, hooray for Nintendo fans that didn't fall for the DS!


Without compelling and original handheld-specific software, the format is a waste of money anyway. I have a Cube, and would never buy this. I just want to see Nintendo keep going.
 
If this is true, then Nintendo is quite astute - they came up with this whole "third pillar" ding-dong mantra bebop as a sort of pre-emptive fall-back spiel for just this kind of situation (i.e. PSP hardware blows DS away).



Ding-dong mantra bebop!
 
Baron said:
If this is true, then Nintendo is quite astute - they came up with this whole "third pillar" ding-dong mantra bebop as a sort of pre-emptive fall-back spiel for just this kind of situation (i.e. PSP hardware blows DS away).



Ding-dong mantra bebop!

They teach that stuff in Marketing 101. It's called ass-covering.
 
Teddman said:
So points 2 & 3 might be hard to swallow, but the DS has to repurposed if Nintendo is going to save any face.
Save face? Nintendo has been saying from the very beginning that DS is something different. It's not their fault if people didn't pay attention.
 
cybamerc said:
Save face? Nintendo has been saying from the very beginning that DS is something different. It's not their fault if people didn't pay attention.


well it is sorta their fault.
 
If they managed to put email on the ds. well good job.

"This is a blackberry, but I call it a crack-berry" or something.
 
I remember the times when Handhelds was not important to GAFers

Now we have more and more of threads like this it is very nice to see... thank you Sony for taking Nintendo on.

This will be a Good War and gamers should be happy about this :)
 
Speevy said:
Without compelling and original handheld-specific software, the format is a waste of money anyway. I have a Cube, and would never buy this. I just want to see Nintendo keep going.

But if system is successful developers could be making GCN software well after the revolution is released, it would certainly be cheaper than making next gen software. And I'll bet good money that the system will still play GBA games.
 
This brings me back to what I've been speculating for quite some time. Nintendo once stated that it intends to keep gamecube around for much longer then the average system. This seems crazy when you think about it. However, if they can pull off a handheld system that can play existing cube discs, not only would they have a massive library in the bag from the get go, but it would seriously expand the GC's life AND have more horsepower then the psp. Nintendo may be much smarter then we thought when they chose the format for the GC.

THE SLEEPING DRAGON AWAITS!!!11!
 
RE4 - Wind Waker - Zelda 2005

Smash Bros Melle using WIFI and Online

Animal Crossing during my train ride to NYC

all on a small screen

+++faints+++
 
Cues Valley-Girl voice:

Oh-My-God. Launch title: Mario Kart (Namco) Online.

I don't believe this non-sense, but that would get me to pony up for this thing.
 
About a year ago (or a few months earlier) I made up a fake PSP launch lineup for the mad404 forum flashmob, posted the list on fatbabies together with the mob and one day later it was on the frontpage of spong as the "officialy" leaked PSP launch lineup. The memories. :lol

Fredi
 
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