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The past few months, Nintendo representatives have building up excitement about a radically new and innovative console that is neither the successor to the GameCube nor the Game Boy Advance. Originally Nintendo planned to keep the console a secret until the E3 Expo. It appears that the company has change its mind as it has revealed the console, tentatively named the Nintendo DS, in a recent press release.

This console truly is going to be different than any other previous console. It will feature not one, but two back-lit 3-inch TFT LCD screens and two separate 32-bit ARM microprocessors. It is thought the two screens will be used to give the gamer both an overview and a zoom-able close-up view.

As stated earlier, it is not the successor to the GCN or GBA and will not be marketed as such. Little is known about the software at the current time. It will not be backwards compatible with any previous Nintendo system though.

Source: Gamespot

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First off, let me say that I'm willing to give anything a chance. However, this whole console seems like a massive gimmick to me. I can't see my puny American mental capacities allowing me to focus on two screenes at the same time. I would imagine it is going to be difficult to even develop games for the machine.

It's good that Nintendo is trying to be innovative. Console gaming almost died in the early 80s (I'm looking at you Atari in particular [note my time period might be off]) because of lack of innovation. I just wish the innovation seemed like less of a gimmick. Hopefully it will do better than Virtual Boy, the other Nintendo console which was seen as nothing more than a gimmick by many.

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 4th February 2004 21:25

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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

Innovation is definately something that the modern video game industry desperately needs. You can only improve graphics so much before it becomes pointless. I felt that the jump from the N64 to the GameCube was hardly worth it. What's next? Another set of consoles with slightly better graphics? Let's hope the "DS" offers a good execution of innovation while stimulating more creative thought. The industry needs to move in a different direction because the current road is leading to a dead end.

This post has been edited by i90east on 28th January 2004 00:59

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FFXI (Siren server)
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I'd have to see an application to the system that shows that it's meant to be taken seriously. As was mentioned earlier, the Virtual Boy was a ridiculous gimmick with no games that couldn't be played on a decent graphing calculator. If it is for real, though, then I applaud Nintendo for its innovation. It sounds a bit tricky, the 2 screen thing, but it has awesome potential.

This could be, at best, the push Nintendo needs to get revitalized again; or, at worst, the dying breath of a company doomed to go the way of Sega. On the other hand, I'm not convinced that would be a bad thing...

As much as I love the 'Big N' this seems to be another failed venture. I would love to be proved wrong, but they have not really made a successful machine since the SNES (Im not including the GBA as Nintendo have always owned the handheld market).

This post has been edited by Dirk Diggler on 28th January 2004 16:44

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Chrono Triggers rock super-group:

Ozzie - lead singer from Black Sabbath
Flea - Bassist from Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Slash - Guitarist from Guns 'n' Roses

He drinks and smokes his cares away
His heart is in the lonely way
Living in the ruins
Of a castle built on sand...

Tell The King - The Libertines

This device is discrimanatory to cyclopians

And it also sounds a bit of an odd plan. Like wooden landmines.

I somehow also see a quick end to this one. But it could be very good for 2player games.

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

i'm a little confused as to how the unit is supposed to work, is it a portable unit similar to the GBA w/two screens? or is it going to be a head set like the virtual boy?
this whole thing seems kinda iffy to me, i'll wait to pass judgemenbt until i get more info tho

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<Nealio> Seymour sounds like evil Winnie the Pooh

I'm not really sure what to say about the DS.It sounds very new,and like someone above said...I hope they concentrate more on the gaming then the graphics...even with good graphics a game can still suck,But I won't pass judgement on it until I see it myself.

Edit

you can now find pictures of the DS system through the links posted in this forumNintendo's DS System

This post has been edited by Sephiroth on 15th May 2004 22:19

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Climhazzard is the timeless evil robot who runs some of the cool stuff at CoN (mostly logging chat, since there are no quizzes at the moment), all the while watching and waiting for his moment to take over the world. -Tiddles