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New Nintendo DS? Don't hold your breath.

March 17, 2008 in News comments 16

Is there a new Nintendo DS on the way? Maybe with onboard memory, slimmer, and a larger screen. But every good thing comes with a price, the loss of playing Game Boy Advanced Game Paks. This isn't a fact, but a rumor.

Yesterday, GameSpot reported that Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson says Nintendo is gearing up to release a redesigned DS. Apparently, Wilson's "contacts" have told him that a new DS is complete. This redesigned DS, Wilson says, is slimmer than the current DS Lite, includes onboard memory, and features a larger screen. More interestingly, this new DS doesn't have a slot for Game Boy Advance games.

Call me a skeptic, because I'm pretty darn skeptical about this theory. Wilson seems to be straddling the line between "short-term prediction an industry analyst pulled out of thin air" and "long-term prediction that, two or three years from now, will obviously come true."
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  • 0
    Twisted Mar 17, 08
    I don't care for Gameboy advance games, so cool.
    • 0
      Terrierboy Mar 18, 08
      Yes but the DS is loosing more and more features and putting in new ones its getting crazy like maybe the next one it keeps it on one screen for sure im not getting one thats just slimmer and onboard memory!
  • 0
    AT_AG Mar 17, 08
    same here andrew. lol awesome idea to me i need to upgrade my DS anyways but i hate the lites.

    classic ds ftw
  • -1
    lord of vice city Mar 17, 08
    what is it ith companies producing different models of consoles with better features?

    makes those of us with older models look *bleep*ed
    • 0
      Seproth Mar 18, 08
      Nintendo's been doing this for years.
    • 1
      AznLiquid Mar 18, 08
      Do you remember how many versions of the Game Boy and GBA they made?
  • 0
    NB Mar 18, 08
    Lol @ making 3 different DS's just make a new DS and new looking game things, but I can't wait to see it, but you don't want it to slim tbh.
  • 0
    ShinyMilotic Mar 18, 08
    But some games involve having a game boy game in the game boy slot while playing a DS game, to unlock or transfer things etc..
  • 0
    bbb7002004 Mar 18, 08
    The GBA slot is also used for accessories, such as the face camera, rendering some of Nintendo's own titles useless.

    I agree with the writer of this article on all points. A drastic redesign of the DS as mentioned by Wilson would be a downright pointless move on the part of Nintendo, since developers would not be able to make use of any of the new features. The bigger screens would go unused, or be misused, as games are still optimized for the original DS/DS Lite screen size, since the volume of those units would far outweigh the number of new units on the market. The internal memory would be utterly useless, since once again the bulk of players would not have access to it. All it could be used for would be downloading demos or GB games, which is a minor selling point trying to get players to fork out another $150. With the Everybody's Nintendo channel coming down the pipe eventually, DS demos will always be available, and not taking up room on your actual system, making saved demos also useless.
  • 0
    super michael Mar 18, 08
    I think its a bad idea to remove the backward compatible since we like playing the GBA games and some NDS games need to connect to GBA game to unlock some things like in pokemon diamond and pearl you need the GBA to get pokemon you can't get in diamond and pearl.

    Its a very bad idea to removed backward compatible. Why can't they make a new NDS that can play Gameboy pocket, gameboy colour, gameboy advance and NDS.

    GBA could play the GB pocket and GBC games but why did they have to remove it in the NDS.
  • 1
    Storm Mar 18, 08
    I was big on GBA games a few years ago, so removing that backwards compatibility would suck for me, as my GBA is just about dead now.
  • 1
    Capn Droid Mar 18, 08
    The person who posted the article is ironically called "Trend." Hmmmm...

    This would be a humongous mistake on the part of Nintendo. I hope that at some point they make a handheld that's able to play all handheld games, GBA, GB, DS, or futuristic. Then again, that'd be a boatload of mem they'd have to put on the thing if it were to hold all those slots.
  • 0
    MusiKon Mar 19, 08
    The recently shown Guitar Hero On Tour is proof as to why Nintendo won't remove the GBA slot.
    • 0
      Jesh Mar 22, 08
      True Musikon, that wouldn't make sense to release what could be a great seling game, and a new design that the game won't work with.
    • 0
      Capn Droid Mar 22, 08
      Yes, the interactivity with GBA games and DS games prove hazardous to make... economically speaking, that is.
  • 0
    Trend Mar 22, 08
    I really hope they don't come out with a new one, because after Christmas ('05 I think?) I got a blue original DS. About a month and a half later I found out about the DS lite, and it annoys me how Nintendo does this. Heck, Apple was required to give credit to people who got the iPhone within a week of the major price drop. I am saving up for a lite, and if this comes out I will be infuriated. Everything about it is pointless though, so if it does come out I think it will bomb, costing Nintendo greatly. Without the Wii, it wouldn't be very sturdy, so that would be a HUGE impact.

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