backtop

Gadgets Report: Nintendo to Release New DS
Stephen Kamizuru (Blog) - September 28, 2008 2:25 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 41 comment(s) - last by inperfectdarkn.. on Oct 4 at 7:39 AM

  (Source: Kotaku.com)
Nikkei reports new DS handheld to be released at the end of this year

According to a Nikkei newspaper article that was translated on Neogaf, Nintendo plans to release a new DS handheld game console at the end of this year. This console will come equipped with a camera and double as a portable music player. The new version will also have improved wireless capabilities for accessing the internet. Pictures taken with the new DS's internal camera will be usable by games, opening up new game play possibilities.

It is expected to be priced below 20,000 yen ($188 USD), which is comparable to the price of the current version 16,800 yen ($158 USD). Nintendo plans to offer several hundred thousand units in Japan before considering overseas sales.

According to a PC World article Nintendo is scheduled to present an unnamed "new product" at a Tokyo news conference on Thursday. There is speculation that the new version of the DS will be officially announced then.

Slowing sales of the Nintendo DS may be why a new version is on the verge of being released. Statistics published in the PC World article point out in the April to June quarter Nintendo sold 580,000 units in Japan versus 2.1 million in the same period of 2007. In Japan, a total of 23 million of the devices have been sold in the country

The Nintendo DS first went on sale in 2004 and a second version, called the Nintendo DS Lite, went on sale in 2006. Worldwide the Nintendo DS has sold 77.5 million units as of the end of June this year.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Just to put it in perspective...
By quiksilvr on 9/28/2008 3:02:50 PM , Rating: 1
Last week The Nintendo Wii sold nearly 270,000 units. The Nintendo DS sold OVER 400,000! In a consumer standpoint its pretty neat that a new DS is coming, but in a business standpoint there isn't really much need for a new iteration if your hand held device is currently selling more than the highest selling console.

There could be problems with the hardware or worse, past iterations will compete with current ones because of the price difference. So either they get their handheld hardware locked down and completely get rid of the DS Lite from the market or be sure to expect some growing pains.




RE: Just to put it in perspective...
By SilthDraeth on 9/28/2008 3:17:06 PM , Rating: 3
You act like it wasn't Nintendo that released the Gameboy, then later the the Color, then the advance, then the clamshell advance, then the mini, and now the DS, then DS Lite, and all of them have sold like hot cakes.

This will be the same hardware I think as the DS, with possibly more memory, and built in web browser, plus the mp3 functionality and camera. Stuff the home brew community have been doing for quite some time.


By Methusela on 9/29/2008 3:13:10 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Pictures taken with the new DS's internal camera will be usable by games, opening up new game play possibilities.


Right, like playing with my balls?

For reference: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/8/31/


By S3anister on 9/29/2008 6:26:50 PM , Rating: 2
You forgot the Gameboy Pocket. Now that was a cool hand-held.


RE: Just to put it in perspective...
By Lonyo on 9/28/2008 3:18:05 PM , Rating: 3
But if they release a new one, then some people will buy existing models and become new customers, but some of the 77 million people who already have an existing DS might be enticed to buy a new DS, spending more money on Nintendo hardware.
They will be able to continue to expand their market while also getting existing customers to rebuy products.


By AnnihilatorX on 9/28/2008 6:41:25 PM , Rating: 2
In fact, despite me repeatedly telling my brother not to, he bought the NDS lite to replace the regular NDS.


By cheetah2k on 9/28/2008 9:17:57 PM , Rating: 3
Sony did the same thing with the PSP V2.0 not long ago. Compared to the V1.0, the V2.0 was slimmer, lighter, had a brighter screen, faster disk reader, more memory/cache and also introduced a bundle new features such as Skype and PS3 control integration - all not found in V1.0 hardware, so it enticed people (including myself pffft!) to upgrade.

Its definately a good strategy to get existing customers to buy new HW, however Nintendo just have to make sure its all and more the old DS was (and by the sounds, it is)


By Diesel Donkey on 9/28/2008 4:41:25 PM , Rating: 2
Why would it be a good business decision to not try to keep the sales of one product up just because another product is lagging behind? I understand your other points, but this one doesn't make sense to me. I doubt the Wii division of the company is going to become jealous of the DS division.


By someguy123 on 9/28/2008 5:35:23 PM , Rating: 2
there are plenty of good reasons:

-giving the people on edge a reason to buy in
-possible increase in revenue per sale.
-continuing the flow of popularity at it's peak instead of waiting for a lull and trying to bring interest back.

the idea that past iterations will sell over newer versions is possible in theory, but in reality most people would rather buy the latest model unless they are very limited by budget.


By sxr7171 on 9/28/2008 9:46:57 PM , Rating: 2
Wonderful, we now have "quiksilver" telling the mos profitable company in gaming how to run its business. 400,000 units a month is low for a Nintendo portable system and nobody knows that better than Nintendo. Watch the new one come out and make the total DS sales at least double for several months.


By bldckstark on 9/29/2008 12:25:47 PM , Rating: 2
This change may well be caused by 4 little letters.

R4DS

I bet they lock this one down tighter.


By Hiawa23 on 9/29/2008 8:49:51 PM , Rating: 2
I have owned a DS & Lite but didn't like the touchscreen or the dated graphics. Does the new DS bring the DS's visuals up to the PSP's level, if not, not interested at all, & the DS & PSP seems geared towards different gamers.


PSP giving competition now?
By cmdrdredd on 9/28/2008 2:32:53 PM , Rating: 1
Maybe it's just my thinking but perhaps Sony's PSP is giving the DS a run for its money. Not in overall sales, but for the features it offers that the DS does not currently have. People have long used the PSP to hop on the internet and watch videos. Not to mention its use as a portal music player. Maybe Nintendo wants a piece of the pie in the tech area outside of the traditional gaming market. Good business sense in my opinion.




RE: PSP giving competition now?
By BansheeX on 9/28/08, Rating: -1
RE: PSP giving competition now?
By Rouke on 9/28/2008 9:33:21 PM , Rating: 3
Actually it should..
Do you actually now what Sega, SNK & Atari even launched when the original gameboy was around?? (color-LCD devices..)

Nintendo hardware choices - almost always - make/made more sense than Sony's, Sega's Atari's, SNK's, euhh Philips. and that of other companies..
Sure Sony "Lucked out" when Nintendo didn't launch A machine/N64 with A CD-drive.. (main reason of games that went too expensive..)

Who Is now in lead: Nintendo with the el-cheapo, but innovative hardware or Sony??
Sure I could launch A "super gaming machine" for everybody @your lcd/plasma; but would it be smart? NO!

Why: too much power usage, too high extra set-up costs (LCD @HD w/ 70"+, Good 7.1+ Sound installation, big(ger) house living.. should I go on??)

If you mean: Late in Hardware cycle [of the DS in this situation], I'm right behind you there, but I'm hoping that these rumours aren't completely true!
Just making A video & music capable DS indeed wouldn't be viable; because most people have A phone &/or advanced "cool" mediaplayer juyst don't ned A "new" DS (just last month helped out my dad in that area ;-P)

If This "upgrade" has more mayor new features it would be remarkbly sensible..
Even worse for sony, if there's A more advanced graphics chip included with - kind GC graphics capabilities - then Sony has one f*** big problem. Why: Nintendo actually releases A portable that has capability to do better looking games, but can still make DS games work trough virtual system or same old graphics chip.. (look@the wii)

As the graphics chips that are comparable to A sub-ps3 are very cheap and not that hot anymore, A GC/wii-like Graphics chip wouldn't be A very big issue.
Look @ the graphics chip market for instance: A HD3850 on 45nm would be cool, not that power-consuming & almost kicks ps3 ass..
And best of "all": It's pretty damn-cheap; Sure AMD would make A pretty big profit, but in graphics terms It would kick most asses out there (in portable format that is..)

I'm not suggesting that A HD3850 chip would go in the "new DS", but cheapened A HD2600 Pro shrunk down on 1024X768 resolution graphics would be A huge improvement (probably even for the wii :-P)
And the up-side for AMD & it's graphics divisions getting some money in there. (AMD was @the fore-front of the "financial crisis")

Actually one of the lessons that AMD probably learned from Ninty: Go "cheap, but efficient".
AMD isn't at the hardware fore-front right now, but sure is damn cheap & energy efficient..

some-what off-topic: Who actually thinks that Wii's & DS's development teams would get jealous @each other should read them selves up in the gaming industry..


RE: PSP giving competition now?
By psychobriggsy on 9/29/2008 5:17:55 AM , Rating: 2
The problem is that whilst what you say makes sense from an argumentative point of view, the reality is that Nintendo have been making money by the bucketload recently - first with the DS which people thought would be a complete failure, and then with the Wii, ditto. Nintendo understand that the profit margins improve quite well, and they can sell at a profit from launch because they create compelling software that runs well on weaker hardware.

I think it's time for Nintendo to make a DS with updated hardware specifications for future games. I'm sure they've got the entire hardware down to a couple of chips now, and they've done wonders with a dual-ARM setup (66/33 MHz), maybe they could keep that hardware in the next revision for backwards compatibility and stick a 400MHz+ ARM11 in as well, and some proper 3D hardware like PowerVR SGX. However it will be stuck with the dual-screen setup, and probably the same resolution.


RE: PSP giving competition now?
By BansheeX on 9/29/08, Rating: 0
RE: PSP giving competition now?
By bldckstark on 9/29/2008 12:55:28 PM , Rating: 3
Every company charges the highest possible price point that the market will sustain. I don't care if the DS costs $1 to make.

Nobody makes a decision to buy an item based on the possible profit the company may make from it.

How about those retailers? All they do is stand there and take my money. They are making a profit. I say we shut down all retailers, and drive to the factories to purchase our goods.

Apparently you don't like the Gameboy series. Billions of people do. Don't be a hater. Remember if you aren't part of the solution, then you are part of the precipitate.


RE: PSP giving competition now?
By sxr7171 on 9/29/2008 1:44:52 PM , Rating: 2
It's funny but most Nintendo fans just see the value proposition in the things they sell. People pay what they think it is worth. The value of the DS does not merely come from the $30 of hardware in the DS but from the huge library of games that is available for the system. Value can be created in many ways and Nintendo is one of the most creative when it comes to creating value.


RE: PSP giving competition now?
By mmntech on 9/28/08, Rating: 0