Nintendo DS 2 may have "seamless" screen, iPhone-like motion
updated 09:05 am EDT, Mon March 15, 2010
DS 2 to have accelerometer, larger screens
Nintendo's DS sequel will have a pair of key developments that make it more competitive against the iPhone and iPod touch, based on investigations on the GDC show floor. The handheld is expected to still use dual screens but considerably larger, higher-resolution models that form a near-seamless design. The simple change could lead to games that can join both screens together for a single experience in addition to those that use each for separate purposes.
The sources for game journalism vet Raymond Padilla also corroborate previous rumors and say that the "DS 2" will have an accelerometer to recognize tilt and other motions. It's suspected that Nintendo will have added the feature solely as a reaction to Apple, whose iPhone and iPod accelerometers have been instrumental to their combined success as a single gaming platform.
Further information is less definite, but the developer kit for the future system was described as being much like that of the GameCube, even with a likely different processor. Most expect it to use a Tegra or new Tegra 250 and thus to use ARM, not the GameCube's PowerPC architecture. The switch is already poised to not only provide much more 3D graphics power but possibly support for HD video.
Developers already said working with the kits expect at least some games to be ready by the end of the year. Such timing hints at a possible E3 introduction in mid-June and a release of the new DS by the holidays.
Nintendo still has a comfortable lead in the dedicated gaming handheld world over Sony, whose more expensive PSP has often given the DS and DSi a cost advantage, but it's widely thought that Apple is rapidly catching up as it regularly sells millions of iPhones and iPod touch players per month. Gaming remains one of the largest categories on the App Store, and Nintendo has acknowledged that the Apple devices have likely eaten into DS sales by removing the need for separate phones, media players and gaming systems.
TAGS :
iPod, iPhone, sony, industry, gaming, gadgets, Nintendo, NVIDIA, PSP, DS, Gamecube, Tegra, Apple
Dedicated MacNNer
Joined: Aug 2004
Number don't always tell the story
Comparing numbers of games on each platform is not an accurate measurement. Take a comparison of say, RPGs between the DS/DS Lite series and the iPhone/Touch. While there are 72 pages of games in the App Store that claim to be RPGs, at least 3/4 of them are just Mafia Wars clones. In addition, there is often MANY version of the same App, the only difference being the number of currency/points/etc you can use in the game. If you actually compare quality RPGs between the two platforms, Nintendo cleans the App Store's clock. Sony also outnumbers the App store with better games.
Now, if these larger game companies (not the fly-by-night game programmers on the App store currently) were to wholeheartedly support the Apps Store, things would change. There has been some support for Square-Enix with Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, but the framerate (in the towns) on the iPhone/Touch is worse than on the DS. Maybe we will see better games in the future, but for right now, Nintendo and Sony still provide better game machines.