Nintendo Press Conference

[snkcube]

http://kotaku.com/5057867/liveblogging- ... e-liveblog

Some recap:
*A brand new DS called the DSi. It has a built-in camera, SD slot and slightly bigger screens. (Better pics)
*The DSi will have a built-in browser to download stuff to it.
*It will cost ¥18,900 (US$179) and will come in white and black colors.
*The Wii will finally have the ability to run downloaded games off the SD card around Spring 2009.
*Nintendo will re-release GameCube games on the Wii, such as Pikmin.
*New games coming on the Wii: Punch Out, Another Code and Sin and Punishment 2.

Edit - I made a mistake on the fourth point. You're only able to save games directly to the SD card at the Wii Shop Channel.

[ZH/Franky]

The DSi just looks like a DS Lite with a camera attached to it. I *usually* don't need a camera on my handheld console, thanks you very much. I don't need an SD card reader on my DS, either. This just sounds like Nintendo trying to milk the same product as much as possible.

[Gil_Hamilton]

You forgot that the DSi is a "third platform" and is not going to replace the DSLite.

Just like the DS was a "third pillar" and was not going to replace the GameBoy Advance.

[I.S.T.]

You forgot that the DSi is a "third platform" and is not going to replace the DSLite.

Just like the DS was a "third pillar" and was not going to replace the GameBoy Advance.

Bear in mind that unlike the last time they said this, they're lying their asses off. The DS was priced higher than any new Gameboy release for a reason. Nintendo expected it to be a true third platform.

This time, however, they're either lying their asses off, or truly delusional. I think it's the former, but the latter would not surprise me a bit. Nintendo has been known to be fuckwits who cannot see opportunities or the consequences of their actions(Good consequences or bad ones). The last ten years have shown this.

[Gil_Hamilton]

The DSi just looks like a DS Lite with a camera attached to it. I *usually* don't need a camera on my handheld console, thanks you very much. I don't need an SD card reader on my DS, either. This just sounds like Nintendo trying to milk the same product as much as possible.

And now that the retards are out of the way....

You forgot that the DSi is a "third platform" and is not going to replace the DSLite.

Just like the DS was a "third pillar" and was not going to replace the GameBoy Advance.

Bear in mind that unlike the last time they said this, they're lying their asses off. The DS was priced higher than any new Gameboy release for a reason. Nintendo expected it to be a true third platform.

I don't think they really believed in the third pillar argument then, either.

It was blatantly obvious that if they were selling two handheld systems, they would be in competition with each other. Especially since the DS was backwards-compatible with it's predecessor(or sideways-compatible with it's companion system, whatever).


As for what was REALLY running through their heads...

The GameBoy at the time was their primary source of income, and the pain of the VirtualBoy was still fairly recent.
Of course, even though the VB DID occupy a unique niche, it was branded with the Boy name. Not the full GameBoy name, but there wasn't an established lineage yet. The Boy on the end of the name was "good enough."


I'm reasonably sure that the third pillar argument was just so they wouldn't risk damaging the GameBoy brand should something go horribly wrong.

If it was a failure, they could roll the DS chipset into a conventional single-screen system and call it the GameBoy Turbo, or whatever. It wouldn't be following the hideous disaster of the GameBoy Twin, and they can just move on with life.

If the DS proved a success, as it did, they could axe the GameBoy and no one would really care. It's not coincidence that once the DS proved itself viable, the GBA withered and died.

[powerspike]

I'm not even going to comment about it having two cameras. So many awful jokes come to mind. Anyway it at least sounds pretty awesome from what they're telling us. Hopefully it's compatible with "homebrew" flash cards too.

Here's the nipnog page with all the system specs.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsi.html

[Louis Cypher]

I dunno, it's still the same system, right? This strikes me as exceptionally gimmicky. It's not really doing anything new other than the camera, and you can hardly build games to rely on the camera peripheral when there's such a large installed userbase that doesn't have the camera. This strikes me as an "evolution" in the same vein as the SP->Micro step. Unless the system had more horsepower than the current DS (just as the DS had more horsepower than the GBA) I don't think we can really call this Nintendo's "next" portable system. The stated improvements certainly aren't enough to make me want to switch.

[blackmyst]

Of course we can't call it Nintendo's "next" portable system, it isn't. I don't think anyone's pretending it is. Just as the PSP 3000 isn't with its TV-out functionality.

Though, the on-board storage and the DSi store or whatever they call it, doesn't seem gimmicky to me at all. Seems like the DS' answer to Wiiware.

[odditude]

if i trade my old ds in for this, then i'd be taking up extra room by carrying my sp around with me as well as the dsi.

and lower battery life? fail

[Aaron]

I really hope that they release Pikmin 2...

[blargg]

You forgot that the DSi is a "third platform" and is not going to replace the DSLite.

Just like the DS was a "third pillar" and was not going to replace the GameBoy Advance.

You stole my joke.

To this day I am still confused by that marketing BS from when the DS was released. I keep thinking the DS isn't a game platform. Way to go marketroids.

[Johan_H]

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=16456

• WiiWare delivers great new games directly to Wii consoles that are connected to the Internet. Nintendo's downloadable game service will see games like: [...]
  
  Cave Story: This title is an action-adventure game with new, exclusive content and features created only for the WiiWare version.

Like woah?

[DancemasterGlenn]

Sweet, now the DSLite will finally get cheap enough for me to feel like getting my own ^_^

Also, I'm totally pumped about Cave Story as well. Excitement abounds!

[casualsax3]

You can't actually play the games from the memory card, you have to transfer the files back to main memory.

[I.S.T.]

Of course we can't call it Nintendo's "next" portable system, it isn't. I don't think anyone's pretending it is. Just as the PSP 3000 isn't with its TV-out functionality.

Though, the on-board storage and the DSi store or whatever they call it, doesn't seem gimmicky to me at all. Seems like the DS' answer to Wiiware.

The PSP-2000 added the TV out functionality. However, its' only composite cable output was for UMD movies. Component cable users could output UMD movies and PSP games onto TVs.

>.>

[snkcube]

You can't actually play the games from the memory card, you have to transfer the files back to main memory.

I'm actually confused by that still. Some sites report that you can run games directly from the SD card, while others said what you said. I'm now leaning towards the latter.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Of course we can't call it Nintendo's "next" portable system, it isn't. I don't think anyone's pretending it is. Just as the PSP 3000 isn't with its TV-out functionality.

Though, the on-board storage and the DSi store or whatever they call it, doesn't seem gimmicky to me at all. Seems like the DS' answer to Wiiware.

The PSP-2000 added the TV out functionality. However, its' only composite cable output was for UMD movies. Component cable users could output UMD movies and PSP games onto TVs.

>.>

That was due to technical restrictions. And games could only be output in progressive-scan mode, too. Not all component inputs accept progscan.

[Gil_Hamilton]

if i trade my old ds in for this, then i'd be taking up extra room by carrying my sp around with me as well as the dsi.

Trade your SP in for a GBMicro while you're at it?

Besides, your DS can't play Metroid 2, so you need a GameBoy anyways.

[I.S.T.]

Of course we can't call it Nintendo's "next" portable system, it isn't. I don't think anyone's pretending it is. Just as the PSP 3000 isn't with its TV-out functionality.

Though, the on-board storage and the DSi store or whatever they call it, doesn't seem gimmicky to me at all. Seems like the DS' answer to Wiiware.

The PSP-2000 added the TV out functionality. However, its' only composite cable output was for UMD movies. Component cable users could output UMD movies and PSP games onto TVs.

>.>

That was due to technical restrictions. And games could only be output in progressive-scan mode, too. Not all component inputs accept progscan.

I figured it was technical constrictions(They just didn't build the damn thing to do it over Composite), but I thought all Component TVs were compatible with it, not just ED/HDTVs.

Also, Gameboy Micro=FAIL

[Gil_Hamilton]

Of course we can't call it Nintendo's "next" portable system, it isn't. I don't think anyone's pretending it is. Just as the PSP 3000 isn't with its TV-out functionality.

Though, the on-board storage and the DSi store or whatever they call it, doesn't seem gimmicky to me at all. Seems like the DS' answer to Wiiware.

The PSP-2000 added the TV out functionality. However, its' only composite cable output was for UMD movies. Component cable users could output UMD movies and PSP games onto TVs.

>.>

That was due to technical restrictions. And games could only be output in progressive-scan mode, too. Not all component inputs accept progscan.

I figured it was technical constrictions(They just didn't build the damn thing to do it over Composite), but I thought all Component TVs were compatible with it, not just ED/HDTVs.

Also, Gameboy Micro=FAIL

Naw. They needed all 480 lines to get the full game image. It was either drop half the lines from each frame, or force progscan for gameplay.


And the SP is fail, too. It's entirely too small, except for the shoulder buttons being too far out.

[sweener2001]

while following in gb evolution, i think one of the main reasons for this incremental upgrade is to break the current flashcards.

[Gil_Hamilton]

I'm still waiting for a full breakdown before I declare it an incremental upgrade.

I can't really imagine that they're pushing a major hardware revision and NOT taking the opportunity to make themselves a little better in the process.

[I.S.T.]

http://kotaku.com/5057883/lets-compare- ... nd-the-dsi

[Gil_Hamilton]

http://kotaku.com/5057883/lets-compare- ... nd-the-dsi

"• Power Supply
Nintendo DSi: AC adaptor for Nintendo DSi
Nintendo DS Lite: AC adaptor for DS Lite"

That's the kind of insightful and hard-hitting investigative journalism you can only get from a gaming blog. Pulitzer material right there, that is.

[odditude]

if i trade my old ds in for this, then i'd be taking up extra room by carrying my sp around with me as well as the dsi.

Trade your SP in for a GBMicro while you're at it?

Besides, your DS can't play Metroid 2, so you need a GameBoy anyways.

gb micro can't play metroid 2 either, so fail either way.