Topic: RE:Nintendo DS Development Emulator Revealed

[NewsBot]

Exclusive: See the first picture of the special Nintendo DS hardware used by developers.

Thanks to development sources who wish to remain anonymous, Planet GameCube can now reveal to our readers the Nintendo DS Development Emulator, a special and currently rare piece of hardware used to develop games for Nintendo's newest handheld system.

This is a more advanced unit than the bare chipset originally released to some developers.  Functionally, they are similar except that the cased emulator supports the touchscreen feature on the included DS prototype (still in its E3 form, as you can see).  We are currently unsure of how touchscreen features are tested on the old version; perhaps the display is shown on a connected PC and can be manipulated with a mouse or PC touchpad input.  Regardless, this newer emulator accepts direct touchscreen input just like a normal, production DS, making it easier for developers to understand how players will interact with the touchscreen.

Note that the DS is still being called "Nitro" in the development community.  The "IS" on the emulator case stands for Intelligent Systems, the Nintendo studio where the DS emulators, as well as GBA emulators, were developed.  This is the same studio responsible for bringing us the Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, and Advance Wars series.

The white sticker on the emulator case says "Confidential".  On top of the case are two slots, one for DS game cards and the other for GBA cartridges.

[couchmonkey]

Ooooh...I wan to touch it!

[KDR_11k]

I remember the IS logo in Pokemon, too.

[Mop it up]

It looks like a change machine. Particularly, a Change-Mate.

[GaimeGuy]

Yeah, KDR.   IS  and NST worked together to develop   Pokemon Puzzle League

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

my DS emulator would be a cereal box

[KDR_11k]

GaimeGuy: But it was Pokemon Red that showed me the logo...

Seriously, that cable looks like they're pumping some form of fluid through it...

[nickmitch]

It kinda looks like that thing they used to replace my kidney. . .

[Bill Aurion]

The only Pokemon games that IS has worked on have been the Pokemon Puzzle games(GBC and N64)...Are you sure about that, KDR?

[KDR_11k]

Hm, just checked. My memory must've gone bad. Dunno where I remembered the name from...