What do people think about Nintendo changing directions with the DS?

[DaninChina]

Just was struck by something I saw here:

http://www.brighthand.com/article/Nintendo_DS_Becoming_a_PDA

It seems a little weird (though not necessarily bad) that Nintendo is doing this.

It actually makes the Nintendo DS seem a bit more appealing to me, knowing that I could use it for more things than just playing games.

(but on the other hand, I already have a fine PDA and come on, how many gadgets does one really need?...wait a minute...people here are probably not the ones to ask for advice about restraint when it comes to cool electronic gadgets...:) )

Anyway -

Does this move piss off any of you current DS owners out there? Or, are any of you more warm to the idea of getting a Nintendo DS now?

Anyone know much about the GBA II?

- Dan

[Box215]

I still hate the design of the DS. Still looking forward to the PSP when it comes out.

[TheZodiac]

I dont think they are changing directions perse, mabe adding functionality to something thats already somewhat successful with the option of a brand name OS that is also successful. What I think is interesting is the annouincement of a mini-game cube device that is to be announced soon. Which is supposed to be the actual competitor to the PSP. Another alleged fact: the DS was only announced/released at the same time (roughly) as ther PSP just to steal some thunder out from under Sony.

http://tinyurl.com/64cm7


By the way... did anyone know that some of the TOP surgeons play video games? :)

http://tinyurl.com/44o6d

[gomez]

Interesting tactic if it proves to be true. the DS was geared towards an older age group and so I guess a similarity to a PDA is understandable but the marketing is bizarre. Are they trying to grab consumers based on gaming and then convert them to PDA users in order to create a Nintendo PDA Base? Sounds slimey. Its basically like a forced introduction of PDA functions to a gaming audience. Think people will accept it?

[TheZodiac]

Im curious to know how those two weak CPUs are goign to run the Palm OS. The system itself iwas designed to function with their games. Youll notice the lowest end PDA out there with a palm os (color) has a 147Mhz (at least) CPU. So this should be interesting.

They are also intro'ing new colors... so I guess it makes sense. Seems like they are targeting this against the Zodiac, which in reality is its only competor. Except maybe the Gizmondo, which dosnt really advertize its WinCE core OS as the kernal.

[DaninChina]

Depends what version of the OS it will use (I'm speculating).

Running basic PIM apps shouldn't be a problem (I think my old Palm Vx ran at 33 mhz...).

The slow processors just mean that it probably wouldn't work well with any video applications. (but if it were even possible to save any files that large onto it is another question)...it's not like Nintendo would put a SD slot on it, or would they? Or would they sell "blank" game cards for that purpose?

And I doubt it would have MP3 support either....(but hey, I hope I'm wrong).

But I guess it might offer pretty good battery life...the dual-screen thing could also potentially be useful...especially if multi-tasking was supported...(but will it ever hit a critical-mass where there's ever anything good developed for it?).

Wi-fi is good too.

I suppose (if this rumor is true), that this still a good score for PalmSource...with Sony now having totally dropped them, they probably need as many big clients as they can get.

On the other hand, I guess another key thing is figureing out how Nintendo will offer the PIM software to the existing client base. There's a bunch of possibilities I can think of, but it's getting late for me and I need sleep...

[TheZodiac]

I think for form factor is right on. Potential for a visual KB and navigational pad there. I guess if they wanted to do anything multi-media, they could just rely on their own system. Who knows... the palm thing could just be a stripped down version on a removable cartridge. Which I guess would make some serious sense.

Ive owned many palms includeing the V series, and yes it was a 33Mhz Dragonball CPU... though thats the PalmOS 3 - 3.5. If they want to be any sort of palm entity they are going to have to go with Garnet, (5.4x).

Either way, this should be interesting, because Sony pulled out of the Palm business last year. Im going to go out on a limb here and say its going to be cartridge loaded :-D with maybe some more onboard memory. I also think the system as a palm device is going to be rather limited at first, and perhaps tweaked as months go by.. if it even goes that far.

Cant wait to see!

[SNES350]

I'd be surprised if it wasn't just a basic suite of PIM applications with no (or very little) support for other applications. I have both a DS and a nice Palm OS pda (Zodiac1, nice pda+game controls=win), and I have to say my PDA is about half the thickness and same for other specs. I guess for light use it would be alright, though not as handy as a standalone PDA. With the weird resolution it has it would not support many (if any at all) 3rd party applications out of the box, and if those were updated to support it the DS still has two low really low resolution screens (compared to what is available, many Palm OS with 480x320/320x480 and Pocket PC with 640x480). The resolution will prevent it from being a good web browser, but for most things (minus movies, web browsing, etc) it should be alright. Having to insert and remove a cartridge everytime you want to use it would get annoying after not too long though.

My second post here (this) is a paragraph... not a good sign.

[fabarati]

the slowest paml ATM is the tungsten E, which runs on 123 MHz or something (between 120 and 130). the palm V was 16 Mhz, and the Vx 20 MHz. if the processor in the Ds is more than 66 MHz, it can support mp3. and there's a converter (not official) that converts GBA cartridges to Compact flash, and i think there's one either in development or out for the DS. Since the DS can run pretty graphic intensive games (nothing like the PSP though), it should have a fast enough processor to run palmos 5.x. does anyone know the processor specs for the DS?

[tedwardo]

my friend has blank cartridges for a gameboy, he has a 'reader' and he puts games onto his pc so he doesnt have to carry round all his games at once

[TheZodiac]

You have to takeinto the fact of the demand the OS5 from palm has on the CPU. I highly doubt they will use anythign under OS5. It just wouldnt make business sense. THOUGH, I do agree that a stripped down PIM suit integrating itself into the already installed MM capabilites of the DS, might make sense... the question is: if they are going after PDA users to switch - who will buy it? THe form factor is nice, sure, but a bit large. As with the zodiac1, and 2, this will be its onlt real contender I think. As far as the convergence of agaming platform and a PDA. Of course, the DS is a gaming system first.... everything else later.

[commedecargons]

Ultimately, i guess there would be one devices form factor close to PSP (Maybe with a sidekick swivelling screen/i think sliding it would be a better mechanism for durability) and which includes everything, and people would just use a bluetooth headset with small controllers with screens to access the phonebook and dial numbers. The device itself will serve every function possible. ..... maybe..... should be........ must be.

[mob33]

It's interesting that you say DS was marketed to older gamers, I have always seen it as the younger gamer's choice, whereas the psp is more adult, with movies as well as games. I mean come on: Nintendogs? Very cool but hardly mature gaming.

[DaninChina]

I see where you're coming from, but bear in mind that many of the titles available for PSP are really power gaming titles - ie, a version of metal gear solid or Grand Theft Auto. This is appealing to gamers who already know those franchises, and perhaps "adult" gamers that grew up playing video games.

It may not do much to draw in new adult players - people that have never played video games or haven't played for a long time.

The appeal of the DS is that it has some games that are simple and smart - intuitive to pick up and learn but yet are interesting to an adult. You don't have to be a power gamer to do well at Nintendogs or Brain Age. (Anybody can appreciate a cute dog)

I guess the other thing about "power gaming" with the PSP vs the DS is that for games like metal gear and GTA, due to the pacing of the game, you get most enjoyment out of a dedicated session (15 minutes to an hour). For games like Nintendogs, which aren't as in-depth as GTA can be, it's easier to get drawn into the game quickly but yet put the game down soon after. This probably better suits the "hurry up and wait" aspects of business travel.

A few years after the original Game Boy came out, Nintendo also tried an adult campaign too, to push the puzzle games available for the game boy...


But Nintendo certianly had to push to develop that; I wouldn't have guessed that they'd be going in that direction when the DS was first released.

[mob33]

The thing is i thought nintendo were all about pure-gaming, that's what they always said, explaining the lack of exta-features on the gamecube (i.e. no dvd player etc.) - so why would they suddenly complicate things, I'm not sure I can see it myself.