"when DS Lite sales taper off"
see you in 2012.

willyolio

If you noticed how Nintendo is trying to expand into the senior user group, and you have tried letting your parents/grand parents play your DS, you would probably notice that DS/lite do have a tiny ass screen that older people have a hard time having fun with.

EDALBNUG

Will my R4 work in the new one??? =O ... =)

sd180

Rumble pack is not needed, and who says they cant have one built in?

Adam420

I would ditch the GBA port for a slimmer system or more power in the processors and I would like an SD slot for SDHC since the Wii supports it why not the DS and then you get more love between the Wii and the DS

Ultraorange

And where would the RUMBLE pak now go?.....OOOPS!!!

fastharry

Bad news for the pok-ey-manz fans. I thought the GBA slot had a lot of potential and I'd hate to see it go. "Out with the old, in with the new", I guess.

brownkidd

fake. if anything they are talking about a DS2 prototype. I believe there might be a new DS but bigger screens isn't something nintendo "adds" to their portables during lifecycles... better tech might work but not bigger.

VakeroRokero

I ditched my original DS to pick up a DS Lite when it came out. I'll probably do the same when another newer, shinier, prettier, skinnier version comes out... you know, like some guys do with their wives.

IndustrialJones

I would imagine that if you really want the GBA port you'll have one with it, or you'll buy the DS/DS Lite. The new version won't be bought by people who really want the GBA port, it's obviously just to try to extend the userbase even more (i.e. for people who want it slightly thinner). I could easily see them putting rumble in it also.

Charles

Why would nintendo lose the gba port? I know you're saying, "Because it isn't necessary anymore?"

But, then the purpose of Nintendo's face stretching game that utilizes the GBA's port for the camera would become useless...and oh don't forget about the barely-used rumble pack...

The DSlite is perfect at it's current iteration - just like the GBA SP. No need to dish this out until every last bastard on the planet has a DSlite first.

slingblade

I hope this is true, which knowing nintendo they always come out with redesigns...
I still got the original DS, and need an upgrade but havn't got a lite yet.

Adam420

gba ftw!

rexdot

No GBA port? I feel saddened.

aaj111

DS Lite sales will taper off when Hell freezes over, which is scheduled to be January 20, 2009 unless someone fucks democracy up even more.

Carry on.

dagamer34

If they do this, they'd better add onboard storage to the old ones via the GBA port.

Imaria

@Bantam: Good call.

acovert31

o ya, i forgot to add that the gba port is really useful and it would be a shame to see it go

AznSmith

I'd say if true, onboard memory will be for persistent storage of demo downloads, probably to coincide with the DS demo channel for the Wii.

werk

Guys if we get on board storage it wont be for video/music it will be for WiiWare DS games that sync from your wii or even DS demos from your wii.

Bantam

frankly, i dont believe that adding media functionality would increase its user base by much. the psp is much better suited for that stuff. the ds was made to play games and that's it. it is also because of this simplicity that it has become so popular. adding multimedia functions would only water down its core values. the only good thing i see coming out of this redesign would be a price drop in DS lites which would give me an excuse to replace my 1st gen ds with only one screen hinge

AznSmith

If this is true, I am super excited!

charman

Why not? Cell Phones get new models almost every week. No one complains about that.

Earthslide

Didn't Nintendo recently comment that they won't be upgrading their hardware systems for quite some time to come? This was said both about the DS and the Wii.
I don't quite understand how bigger screens would help the DS and what that would mean for the older games already out there. I think it would be more of a slap in the face for current DS lite owners than anything else.
Either way, I'm quite positive this is untrue.

kronik

@slingblade: 100% agree. and doesn't opera use the gba port?
personally, i bought a supercard lite system, so i will never upgrade. I own about 10 ds games and put them all on the one card so i never have to switch, or take them all with me. plus it acts as a media player for me to use at the gym (when i get there).
if the new one could do all the for me for a fair price with at LEAST 2gb of memory, then maybe i'd buy another one.
these things keep getting passed down at my house. I buy a new one and the last model gets cycled down to the 5 kids, only the baby is without a portable nintendo device now.

EMoShunz

I found that I wasn't playing GBA games at all on my DS Lite.

With so many GBA SPs, DSs, and current DS Lites floating around, I think trading the GBA slot for some internal memory and multimedia capability would be a good move, as well as a slightly larger or higher resolution screen.

If you want to old school it with some GBA-go grab a GBA SP, if you want to rock anything older than that then you can STILL use the GBA SP, see? Nice huh?

strider_mt2k

@weatherman: You're right. If they increase the screen size but keep the same resolution, then the dot pitch will be hideously large. Plus, it would change the travel distance of the touch screen so who knows how much differently games would play. If they do make any changes they should just make the system lighter but maintain its dimensions. Adding onboard memory might heavily divide the DS market though. Even if they released a GBA slot memory add-on for the older models, most casual gamers would probably never even know it existed.

Nintenboy01

I hope that this is more of a revamp than just a simple makeover.

Personally, I would like to see a more powerful DS. By now they should be able to cram GameCube level power into a portable form factor. From there, they should be able to tack on a Wii-like interface and build 512 flash in it, throw an SD (or SDHC) card slot in it for fun and allow it to play virtual console games from your Wii.

Finally, call it Wii DS and watch the consumer carnage insue.

SmDFrylock

Even if the screens were bigger, they'd still be the same low res. Games, the web, and media would all still be crap quality, just bigger and blockier. If anything, bigger screens would actually decrease quality.

I don't see Nintendo bothering with a redesign for quite some time. The benefits of a slimmer lighter model are just not great enough (see the PSP for proof) to warrant a redesign. They never replaced the GBA design really - and the micro was a complete bust. The only reason they redesigned the first DS was because it was butt-ugly and wasn't selling the way it should as a result. If they do redesign, it'll be more about reducing cost than about increasing functionality.

weatherman

@SmDFrylock: you raise an interesting point. i am not convinced the next gen consoles, but in 2 gens, consoles will likely have d/l only games all stored centrally. however, given the great increase in flash technology, and the smaller size of portable games, the next gen portables could be all d/l only with wii like capability to d/l previous gen games too.
all i would ask of nintendo is that they sell those games with a family liscence like apple does for software. say, $45 for the game for me, $65 for the family (or $7 and $10 for previous gen DS games) and i can install it on all of my kids' units.

EMoShunz

@DashTheHand: Yeah, Nintendo should strongly consider making their own version of the SuperCard Lite or R4DS for the GBA slot (without the piracy of course). I mean, if the Wii can take plain old SD cards then I don't see why they can't make a simple microSD adapter for DS.

Nintenboy01

The GBA slot really needs to be made capable of having a flash memory cart added. With how bulky it is, you could easily make it many GB of storage.

DashTheHand

@splohocky: no sir, you are not, but it has to be done right (which N useually does).

EMoShunz

@Nintenboy01: nintendo does have one, but it ONLY plays media, not games.
for the record, i try to be law abiding, all the games installed on my supercard, i own a physical copy of.
just like apple, the os i install, i own, and my xp vm's i own, all of my 950ish mp3's were copied from my cd's or music i recorded myself. people who are going to pirate, pirate whether it is hard to or not. people who are going to pay have less money (like me), but i am supporting a good product (most of the time, exception m$, which is the only one i seriously considered stealing).

EMoShunz

umm, am I the only one praying for a built in flash hard drive AND a dedicated DS virtual console with a vast library of gameboy, gameboy advance, gamegear, and neo-geo pocket color games?

Link up to wifi, download some gameboy games, save them directly onto the system...

What dreams are made of!

splohocky

i wouldn't min dlosing the GBA slot if they add rumble and make the new version slimmer and perhaps a bit smaller so that it's an even better fit in my pocket.

i'd also like to see:

Lose GBA Slot
Add SD memory slot (formatted to go back and forth from wii to DS)
Add 2gb internal memory
Add more internal RAM
Add built-in rumble
Make it slimmer
Reduce size slightly to make it a better pocket fit.
add better quality screens (same size, better contrast, brightness, color)
Make BOTH displays into touch screens
Reduce distance between 2 screens (smaller hinges?)
Add built in PDA/productivity suite (txt,doc,pdf,html viewer/editor + mp3/aac player + video player (all common formats. not just motion jpeg which has awful compression) + contact list for phone/address/emails/IM names/etc + calendar + AIM capability + web browser built in and sped up with MORE RAM and any neccessary support chips
Possible built in camera
Ability to switch between system OS, DS games, and EMU games, etc without having to reboot the whole system!!
GB/GBC/GBA/NES/SNES/GENESIS/TG-16 emu
Ability to swap virtual console games back and forth between wii and ds on SD cards or via wireless
License to play VC games on bth 1 wii and 1 DS
Add Ethernet port
Lose charging port
Add USB port (for charging, flash memory, and unlimited potential for future connectivity and add-ons)
Support for different kinds of wireless security besides just basic WEP
Longer battery life
DS Virtual Console - an online store to buy VC games for the DS. basically the same store as for the wii, perhaps with an altered selection, that you access in the same way as the wii (using the opera browser, even though you might not realize it) and a wifi or ethernet signal.

Terranova

"when sales of the DS lite taper off" so in about 10 years or so?

DSaddict

@splohocky: Where does one find all these GB, GBA, etc games for download short of using BitTorrent which I have yet to manage to get to work on my computer (something doesn't like it, and I'm not sure what yet)

Lestat

Screw that... I like the GBA port, especially with all the games they are still making for GBA pretty much for this purpose only.

Think about it. The best RPGs ever... the FF Series has been all made on GBA (minus FF3). I play them all the time and love the fact that I can. Now, if Nintendo wants to port these games to DS, I will certainly take it, but unless they do that, I will stick with my DS Lite as it gives me all the pleasure I need when I'm working, out, or on a plane and need a video game fix.

Lestat

How the fuck is it already time for a new portable altogether? Its only been 3 years!

Daimyo Nintendo