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Next-Generation Nintendo DS Mock-Up
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 6:30 AM on December 12, 2007
Here's our vision of the next Nintendo DS, compiled from rumours, logic and (wet) dreams. It's got a slimmer profile and a seamless shell thanks to a MacBook-style hinge. Inside: more power, larger screens—the top one being a 3.5-inch widescreen to play downloaded movies—a flash card slot for media and continuation of that amazing sleeker look. Hit the jump for our high-definition mock-up with full specs.
First of all, while this may not be the actual next-gen DS, it can't be very far from the truth. We don't want anything crazy: in fact, most of the things we ask for here are already being contemplated by Nintendo, according to the latest rumours.
Bring on the Power-Ups
Internally, we would like a slightly faster processor and better graphics. Given the prevalence of integrated chipsets that combine 3D graphics, multimedia and communications into a single low-voltage die, it would be very easy for Nintendo to upgrade the engine of its flagship.
At the core, the latest generation of processors will guarantee the very low power consumption crucial to a portable. Thanks to phones and PMPs, the price of these components has come down to the point where it's economically feasible for the big N to eat a few mushrooms and make the Nintendo DS a portable console closer in performance to the GameCube than to the Nintendo64. It could be capable of driving denser, more complex 3D graphics, offering proper speech recognition (unlike Brain Training now) and displaying built-in video decompression and scaling.
We also wouldn't mind Nintendo dropping compatibility with old Game Boy games, provided it added 1) an emulation engine connected to the Nintendo Wii arcade store (with Game Boy titles) and 2) an SD card slot, to store those games as well as movies.
The icing on the cake would be an accelerometer inside. These
could open new possibilities to games. One of my favourite games in the iPhone is Labyrinth, which allows you to guide a ball through a maze using the accelerometer, just like you use the Wiimote. Nintendo actually pioneered this back in the Game Boy Color days with Kirby Tilt n' Tumble so we're really just asking to bring it back.
Finally, a built-in light sensor could be used for two things: first, to save energy by dynamically regulating the backlighting of the screens according to the ambient light and second, for games like Boktai.
Shiny! So nice!
Outside, the Nintendo DS will be an evolution of the current design. The new DS would close perfectly, like a slim, silver white clamshell with sightly-rounded edges. Thanks to the MacBook-style hinge, the surface will not have any breaks, looking like silver ingot in your hands except for the matte DS logo on top, plus the
necessary slots on the sides and the requisite lettering and battery compartment seam on the bottom.
Inside, the colour should be black, getting back to the old-style Nintendo GameWatch two-color scheme but updated to 2008. On the top part, the new 3.5-inch widescreen—capable to display both games and movies played from the SD flash card— will maintain the quality of the current version but with a slightly higher resolution. We're not asking for much, just 480 x 272 pixels. It would be placed on top of a black anodized aluminium surface, micro-perforated so you can listen to the speakers and use the
microphone. The light sensor would also be hidden here.
On the bottom, the black polycarbonate and a new bigger touchscreen will be covered by a single pane of mineral glass to avoid scratching, make it easier to clean and, especially, increase the display visibility.
That's it, our dreamed-up, drool-worthy, perfectly doable, next-generation Nintendo DS. Now:
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Cruise
Posted December 25, 2007 2:17 PM
Will it play GameCube games? lol.
Love it! Hope it has built in Internet Brower with falsh (please!)
smitty1123
Posted 4:23 PM 11/12/07
Drop all the multimedia crap and I'm there. I want a portable game machine, that's it.
@Jordan Lund: Lack of worthwhile software, on the DS? Really? I'm honestly at a loss for words...
smitty1123
Dinther
Posted 4:22 PM 11/12/07
All good provided...
It comes with improved speakers and a program that enables the DS to stream media from a PC based media server. Audio, video, pictures and so on.
Also I want the DS to be able to act as a remote control either via the PC or direct through IR.
Dinther
AmishPhysicist
Posted 4:17 PM 11/12/07
sweeet. I want. the good news is that it'll never come out, so I can continue being a cheap-ass.
AmishPhysicist
Reilaos, Original Asus Fanboy
Posted 3:53 PM 11/12/07
I was actually thinking up of my own ideal next-gen DS mock-up. If I were any good at actual mocking-up, I'd show you. =P
Reilaos, Original Asus Fanboy
lolec
Posted 3:44 PM 11/12/07
@jesusdiaz: anda jesus! un poco de humor!
Obviously it was a joke.
lolec
willyolio
Posted 3:40 PM 11/12/07
not going to happen, simply because the millions of DS owners won't be able to play the new DS2 games.
look at the game boy line. backwards compatibility was the key to a successful market:
game boy, game boy color, game boy pocket.
game boy advance, advance SP, and micro.
it wasn't until the advance line that cartridges (and games) weren't compatible all the way back to the original gameboy.
it will, at best, be an even "liter" ds lite. they're not going to change form factors and screw compatibility for recent purchasers of what's STILL the top-selling console. i think most of you have mistaken them for some company that screws their own customers with things like beta, UMD, minidisc, blu-ray...
willyolio
PlasmaMachine
Posted 3:34 PM 11/12/07
@Jordan Lund:
Have you not given Contra 4 a try?? Good times it is... but I feel ya somewhat... Until SMG came out for the Wii, it was just collecting dust.
PlasmaMachine
Jordan Lund
Posted 3:27 PM 11/12/07
I'm not angry the DS exists. I'm angry that it exists and there aren't any games worth playing on it. I'm angry that I bought one and I can't even remember the last time I charged the battery in it.
More than that though, I'm angry Nintendo suckered me again into buying a platform with nothing worthwhile to do with it.
Jordan Lund
CasualGeek
Posted 3:25 PM 11/12/07
I still want the gameboy playability. I don't want to have to re-buy my games just to play them again. Example: FFTA - I have put many hours (too many) into this game just to have to purchase, download, and re-play the game to get back to where i am at again in my current game.
Otherwise... OHYEAHBABYGIMMIEGIMMIEGIMMIE!
Extra comment - possibly better WI-FI security settings as I can't have my settings as secure as I would like them to be with the current DS and better co-play with the Wii. That might take more work on the Wii side though.
CasualGeek
emag
Posted 3:22 PM 11/12/07
I prefer my mock-up (though the production values are much lower) for the DS2.
[img111.imageshack.us]
A single touch-sensitive widescreen display that rotates 90 degrees for a faux-DS display (with simulated dead-zone) is a notably better solution for giving players a large display while maintaining DS compatibility than the weird uneven displays presented in the Giz piece.
Of course, both Giz's system and my own mock-up depict a *new* system, not an aesthetic upgrade in the way of the DS Lite or PSP Slim & Lite.
emag
BMErdin
Posted 3:18 PM 11/12/07
Wow, some of you just seem, I don't know, angry that Nintendo makes the DS. I mean literally angry that the device even exists.
That doesn't makes any since.
BMErdin
Lavallee017
Posted 3:07 PM 11/12/07
I agree that the top screen needs to be fixed as it will be hitting the buttons when it is closed. but in four or five years or so when Nintendo makes a real next-gen system this would be a major advantage to it's sales if they added some connectivity like the PS3 uses with the PSP. Also the wide screen idea is definitely the way to go. Nintendo DSwide FTW!
Lavallee017
vicsells
Posted 3:05 PM 11/12/07
@ANoel: lol no, not with nintendo wiis selling like hotcakes
vicsells
mullingitover
Posted 2:59 PM 11/12/07
Nintendo is a company that's over 100 years old. They got their start making playing cards. They're really conservative and make intelligent business decisions. That's why they released a low-tech console with novel interfaces, and they're making money hand over fist.
They won't go with this design until big LCDs cost pennies. Really, they'll probably never do this because when the time comes they'll just make a whole new mobile platform completely unlike the DS.
mullingitover
jesusdiaz
Posted 2:59 PM 11/12/07
@lolec: iPhone ripoff? So is the iPhone a PSP ripoff? Did Apple invented two-toned designs? And glass over plastic?
@slingblade: A computer gets its screen over keys all the time.
@chantastic: The whole point of the article is that Nintendo can get close to that at the current price point given the semiconductor and display market situation. By next xmas, they will be able to introduce such a device at the same price point they originally debuted the DS.
jesusdiaz
CarbonatedWater
Posted 2:56 PM 11/12/07
I wish this thing was real!!! Aaaargh!! Nintendo needs to rip this off or something.
CarbonatedWater
Rain-man
Posted 2:48 PM 11/12/07
My only problem with it is that the bigger screen on top would not allow for a seamless transition between the two screens. Otherwise, beautiful (I'll keep dreaming)!
Rain-man
jawzxy
Posted 2:42 PM 11/12/07
Oh, sex.
jawzxy
Antic
Posted 2:42 PM 11/12/07
Nice! Give it a fingerprint-free finish and some exterior buttons for music playback and it would be perfect.
Add ports to the bottom edge for synching/recharging, and it would open up a whole new market for iPod-like docks, speakers, etc...
Antic
ANoel
Posted 2:38 PM 11/12/07
Question is: Does Nintendo NEED to invest this much to maintain their success?
ANoel
bdkennedy1
Posted 2:36 PM 11/12/07
Can we please stop with the mirrored surfaces. I can't stand it when a company designs something so pretty you can't touch it without marring it.
bdkennedy1
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 2:35 PM 11/12/07
This will NOT happen for a long long time. Nintendo does not and will not put next gen stuff in their products. They stick to kiddie and low res games that stresses novelty rather than state of the art.
That's why forget about your wet dreams. You'll stand a much better chance of seeing something like this from Sony than Nintendo.
Boy, have the Giz employees been sleeping whenever Nintendo people give their presentations? Do you not know this by now? Have the management of Nintendo not made that clear to you after all those presentations?
Noobs-R-Us
slingblade
Posted 2:27 PM 11/12/07
That screen on the top is just too big - it's gonna smash right into the buttons everytime you close it...
slingblade
EMoShunz
Posted 2:24 PM 11/12/07
@tokiwartooth: the ds lite was not a minor upgrade. and it wasn't more money.
EMoShunz
tokiwartooth
Posted 2:22 PM 11/12/07
This will happen when people stop buying gussied up, repackaged DSes. And that doesn't seem like it's ever going to happen.
tokiwartooth
tehmark
Posted 2:19 PM 11/12/07
Looks more like something Sony would make instead of Nintendo. Its like a PSP with another screen.
tehmark
chantastic
Posted 2:17 PM 11/12/07
Haha hell no not going to happen.
That is not how Nintendo works.
If you get something like that it will be in 2015 (after the real DS 2) and we will all be sad it doesn't have the brain link port we are all used to. But stupid kids and grandmas will buy it anyway.
chantastic
strider_mt2k
Posted 2:15 PM 11/12/07
Very cool.
Might even bring me back, if it really happened.
strider_mt2k
EMoShunz
Posted 2:14 PM 11/12/07
i hope they don't do too much of a chip upgrade...just to lower consumption, take the edge off processing. i just don't want to see games made that end up being choppy on 'old' ds lites.
the big big big thing i want...
a way to copy your games to the ds. i use a supercard. i d/l roms of only the games i own so i can have all 10 or so games without having to carry cartradges. plus i play my converted cd's on it (yes, all my 1000 mp3/aac files are owned...ripped from cd). also, a way to pay, say $5 more and put the game on all ds's in my house (3).
EMoShunz
dead_red_eyes
Posted 2:13 PM 11/12/07
Want!
dead_red_eyes
weatherman
Posted 2:08 PM 11/12/07
And 10 years later, you'll get your wish.
weatherman
lolec
Posted 2:07 PM 11/12/07
iphone ripoff.
lolec
waffleking77
Posted 5:06 PM 11/12/07
Where are the speakers?
waffleking77
funtasticguy
Posted 5:02 PM 11/12/07
Nah, I would rather wait for the "Craiginator" (not its official name) to be released in March/April 2008. See details here:
[bluwiki.com]
funtasticguy
el_gordo
Posted 4:57 PM 11/12/07
No way.
The next handheld I buy will have three screens minimum.
el_gordo
cellshadedninja
Posted 4:34 PM 11/12/07
@Jordan Lund:
"I'm angry Nintendo suckered me again into buying a platform with nothing worthwhile to do with it."
HAHAHAA!! it's obvious you wouldn't know a good handheld system if it slapped you in the face.
cellshadedninja
Nintenboy01
Posted 6:46 PM 11/12/07
If this thing gets near-GameCube caliber graphics it may embarrass the Wii though. Also I think both the upper and lower screens should be the same size since some games span both displays.
Nintenboy01
slingblade
Posted 6:44 PM 11/12/07
@jesusdiaz: Man, I feel stupid...
Although...I've always fought for the "less-powered machine" always ends up in the lead. History has proven so...
DS > PSP
PS1 > N64
SNES > SATURN
NES > Everything else in the department
PS2 > GC/XB
The only thing was Dreamcast which was better than the PS1& N64 but got pwned by the PS2. It's sort of in a limbo...
People want cheap/sexy/GLOSSY WHITE/machines these days.
slingblade
DJJS
Posted 6:35 PM 11/12/07
@lolec: Your Stupid.. and a troll.. get out..
In the other hand.. The Design looks good and I hope its Compatible to the Wii?
DJJS
TurboFool
Posted 6:24 PM 11/12/07
I agree with your vision, but I think they'd might as well go touchscreen with the top one as well while they're at it. What's the harm?
TurboFool
Jordan Lund
Posted 7:59 PM 11/12/07
@ALBO - I bought it for Final Fantasy III and because I liked the GBA. Golden Sun 1/2 were great. Breath of Fire 1/2 were great. Advance Wars 1/2 were great. There hasn't been anything on the DS to touch those games. It seems as though the touch-screen gave us games that are an evolutionary step backwards.
"Touch the screen to continue! Ok... wait... touch the screen to continue! Wait for it... TOUCH THE SCREEN TO CONTINUE!"
The DS titles I've played (about 8 or 10 of them) are pretty mind numbingly boring as far as "games" go. Hotel Dusk had a great story and an interesting premise, but no game to go along with it. Same for the Phoenix Wright titles.
The Advance Wars title is a pale imitation of the GBA version with poorer graphics and sound and gameplay.
As far as hand-helds go, I have two PSPs (a 1.5 machine for homebrew and a current version for regular games) and am very happy with the title selection there.
Jordan Lund
JustEaton
Posted 7:58 PM 11/12/07
Since when does Nintendo care about graphics? Once the world truly moves to high-definition and next-generation graphics, Nintendo will sell itself to Sony. It's a known fact.
JustEaton
Blah8
Posted 7:46 PM 11/12/07
My main complaint would be the crappiness of the speakers - make the speakers more powerful, give it Bluetooth, one GB of internal storage, and make sure the SD card slot can support SDHC cards. Add in everything that was mentioned in this article, and it'll be nearly perfect.
Blah8
albo
Posted 7:14 PM 11/12/07
@Jordan Lund: If you can't find anything to play on the DS then you clearly just don't like simpler video games... Why did you buy it in the first place?
albo
Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer
Posted 8:25 PM 11/12/07
"You have to use your hands?
Argh, this game is for babies!"
But seriously, I don't know what I'd do with a DS2, but it does look nice!
Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer
VenoMuS
Posted 9:09 PM 11/12/07
Screens need to be same size...you know, for when things scroll from top screen to bottom one. Other then that, ther's not much change to justify a new version of a consol.
VenoMuS
sdsviet
Posted 12:41 AM 12/12/07
tablet style anyone?
sdsviet
teexcue
Posted 2:08 AM 12/12/07
Photoshopped... =P
teexcue
RastaSega
Posted 5:43 AM 12/12/07
im thinking it will be more revolutionary than that. Specially the button layout.
this is nintendo we're talking about here. not sony!
RastaSega
jesusdiaz
Posted 4:50 AM 12/12/07
@VenoMuS and everyone else who complained about the big screen on top: No, they don't need to be the same size. To start with, games developers don't have to use the whole screen. Old DS games can only use the central part.
But then, DS2-only games can use the whole thing. Why not? Have you ever used a two or three monitor of different sizes in a computer? It's the same thing. You just would see more stuff in the top screen than on the bottom, but things will scroll just the same.
And while there has been backwards-compatibility in Nintendo portable consoles, there has never been forward compatibility between new hardwares.
jesusdiaz
jesusdiaz
Posted 8:30 AM 12/12/07
@RastaSega: precisely because it's Nintendo and the DS sells like hotcakes. Look at the original GameBoy. It took decades to change into the DS. Don't expect anything groundbreaking in terms of hardware UI.
jesusdiaz
DJTripleRRR
Posted 10:57 AM 13/12/07
@lolec: Umm ok? WTF?
DJTripleRRR
CoolZWhip
Posted 10:09 AM 17/12/07
ill take it but will it be able to play first gen games?
CoolZWhip
chispito
Posted 6:51 PM 11/12/07
Macbook hinge = no shoulder buttons. Back to the drawing board, yes?
chispito
chispito
Posted 6:09 PM 11/12/07
Macbook hinge = no shoulder buttons? Hard aluminum edges would not be more comfortable to hold. Two different panels to source would drive up costs substnatially.
Looks nice, but it's not going to happen. They might come out with a model that has larger (same rez) screens, or a smaller, more battery efficient form factor. But I don't think Nintendo is anywhere near a designing a next gen DS.
chispito
DeadGhost25
Posted 3:08 PM 11/12/07
For a second there, my hurt stoped. Until my eyes read the "mock-up" word...
DeadGhost25
stage3coloncancer.info
Posted 3:08 PM 11/12/07
The graphics are luxury
stage3coloncancer.info
russorat
Posted 3:07 PM 11/12/07
as long as it was the same size as the current ds lite and a bit thinner, i'd be in for one. although i agree they won't do this for another 10 years...
russorat