Today was a pretty average day. I woke up. Checked smashbros.com to find that they are about to hit three weeks without a character update (likely the result of a delay in their launch date). I check Gametab. Nothing interesting. Some stuff about how Assassin’s Creed is/isn’t great, some stuff about how Mass Effect is/isn’t great, some random articles about a Nintendo DS redesign, IGN’s daily Super Smash Bros. FAQ update (seriously people, just check the Dojo, IGN is run by a bunch of douches and whores).
Whoa. Wait a minute. Backtrack.
A Nintendo DS redesign.
And that is how it hit me. I was fuming over how much I loathe IGN when I realized that I had seen the word “redesign” coupled with the acronym “DS” far too many times. So, I checked it out.
Two things about this information:
1. I am skeptical of the nature of this redesign. Frankly, this sounds like an entirely new system. A DS2 perhaps. Project “Bigger Screens”. I cannot say. But the specifications that they are citing makes it sound like an entirely new portable slated to follow the Nintendo DS.
- I am not surprised by the proposed features. There is no doubt in my mind that these are exactly what gamers want in a DS follow-up, which is probably where the rumor was generated. Something tells me that those initial ideas may have bounced around for a bit, and someone in Nintendo was talking about them. And because these two events occured, people assume that this product is ready to ship (because that is how the mind of a vidiot works). And I am not surprised.
Let’s analyse what the DS2 (as we’ll call it) is supposed to offer.
Bigger screens is definitely a feature I have been lusting for on the DS for a long time. Two bigger screens means we have that much more display room, and that much more flexibility when it comes to touch capable games. Furthermore, this could put the DS closer to the PSP in terms of screen size.
No GBA slot is also a plus. Without the Game Boy Advance slot on the bottom, the DS2 would be a lot slimmer than the currently existing models (and you would no longer have to worry about having something in there like with the DS Phat). Plus, I never use my DS for playing the Game Boy Advance. I am pretty sure Nintendo included that in the DS because - back in those days - they were merely testing the waters. Now, they have established an entire “new wave” mentality to gaming. Innovative is truly in. And that Game Boy Advance slot is not needed anymore to sell these systems. The DS can now sell itself.
Onboard storage is - by far - the biggest exciting feature mentionned. This could lead to three things:
The potential for homebrew applications on the DS. People could design their own programs that revolve around the stylus and we could see some definite potential from smaller developers who want to take a stab at making something for this system. Hell, even I have a few interesting game ideas that I would like to try out on the Nintendo DS. The potential for innovative software development is astounding.
Music. The Nintendo DS can already be used to play music with an external add-on. But if the internal storage is large enough, you could store some of your favourite tracks right on the system and use it as an mp3 player. Furthermore, software could be made flexible enough to use your own music selections in-game. Pretty interesting.
Virtual Console for the DS. When we get to this possibility, you are literally gaping into the expanse that is Nintendo’s genius. We have talked about this before at The Box. Imagine being able to download any games from the GameBoy, GameBoy Colour, and GameBoy Advance and storing them locally on your system. Or even some of the games that you can download on to your console could be transferred over to the DS2. NES games and SNES games. Even some N64 games. This could finally be possible. Imagine playing Perfect Dark on the go. Stupendous. I’m loving it already, and it doesn’t even exist yet.
Keep one eye forever searching for murmurs about the DS2. This should be interesting to see where and when Nintendo unveils anything about a follow-up to the DS.