Topic: Release?

[_Totey_]

Does anyone know of when the Nintendo DS is planned to be released. Peopple are saying that it is coming out before the PSP but I am having trouble spotting a release.

[Bloodworth]

There isn't a set date, but it's before the end of this year.  Sony has already delayed the PSP until sometime next year.  There are rumors that both are coming out the same week in Europe, but I don't put any stock in them because I don't believe either of them have reached the point that they can narrow the European release down to a week.

[jasonditz]

IIRC Reggie said Q4 in North America and Japan and Q1 of next year in Europe...

[couchmonkey]

I'm a little worried about the DS release date since, from what I've read, most of the games at E3 seemed pretty incomplete.  Having said that, I still think it will beat PSP by at least a month or two in most territories.

[Blackknight131]

A good number of people, I think, have voiced that concern. To me, many of the demos equate more to fresh lil' minigames than a glimpse of a full-featured game production.
For what its worth, Nintendo has virtually stated ( I paraphrase):

"What we have shown at E3 is a roundup of carefully selected and cut titles and demos expressly for the purpose of facilitating a good basic sense of the system's capabilities in a very small amount of time ( I think most folks got about 15 or so minutes of playtime on a DS after a ungawdly wait in line - me). We have in fact a large number of titles being developed internally, many of which we have not yet announced, in addition to the many 3rd party games currently being developed. Be excited. Very much."

Check out this site: Kikizo games and look for the link to the Satoru Iwata interview towards the top (top of the page as of this writing).

-Blackknight131

[reverend_tod]

It seems like they'll have Picto chat for sure.  How far along was Mario 64x4?  That could be a release title, it makes sense being a Mairo one.  Anyway as long as they have just a handful, say six to twelve solid titles, I think it'll be fine, especially beign that you can play any GBA or old GB games on it anyway.

[Blackknight131]

Actually, good Reverend, the DS is backwards compatible with only the GBA games...apparently, GB and GBC type games wont be compatible...at least out of the box. Maybe a peripheral will be released that will allow that functionality.

-Blackknight131

[Zach]

Its likely that nintendo will try to get the ds in stores before thanksgiving, because the day after thanksgiving is the biggest shoping day of the year.  Of course, depending on how far along nintendo currently is with the ds and its titles, I could be wrong.

Unfortunately the only way to be sure is to wait and see.

[- NintendoFan -]

"Actually, good Reverend, the DS is backwards compatible with only the GBA games...apparently, GB and GBC type games wont be compatible...at least out of the box. Maybe a peripheral will be released that will allow that functionality."

I don't want to seem like a jerk but I don't remember that being said do you have a link or something. I just thought that all the Gameboy games would work.

[norebonomis]

you could just go to nintendo.com and go the ds page, it specifically says that the ds will not play GB and GBC games, only GBA (but it also says that the GBA slot could be used as memory and hardware expansion!) ooooh...

[- NintendoFan -]

Well, that's a shame, I was under the impression that it would play all Gameboy games.

[norebonomis]

this does seem to be a little cheap-assed if you ask me, but then again the ports for the ds and gba games are on the sides of the ds, and the gameboy games are bigger so they would stick out and would get in the way of holding the damn thing. i hope the ds' design gets a little prettier before release, i think the only thing the psp has over the ds is it's asthetic appeal. besides the fact that the psp's screen is bound to get scratched and nasty. GOD i can't wait to get a ds

[Bloodworth]

Quote
but then again the ports for the ds and gba games are on the sides of the ds

What the crap are you talking about Willis?  The DS slot is on the top and the GBA slot is in the front.  GB games would stick out exactly the same as they would on the GBA SP.

[norebonomis]

are you sure? do you have a link to any pics? and um, what is this willis reference? i'm lost on this allusion.

[ruby_onix]

Quote
you could just go to nintendo.com and go the ds page, it specifically says that the ds will not play GB and GBC games, only GBA (but it also says that the GBA slot could be used as memory and hardware expansion!) ooooh...

Are you sure about that? I just checked, and all I could find was:

Quote
Dual Slots: Nintendo DS makes a vast library of Game Boy® Advance games readily available. Developers could find ways to make new connections between GBA games and DS games. The GBA port could be used for new hardware, enormously expanding the functional expandability of the DS.

Here's what I understand about why this entire subject has come up.

The GameBoy Color "emulated" B&W GameBoy games, and added a special Metroid-designed color scheme to them.

The GameBoy Advance perfectly re-creates the GBC experience, by having actual GBC hardware included in the GBA, automatically triggered by a small switch in the cart slot that only comes in contract with GB/GBC games.

Now, we already know that the DS has an ARM9 CPU for it's primary strength, and that it includes an ARM7 CPU (the same as the GBA) for GBA-compatibility, and to run it's second screen independantly of what's going on with the first.

But is there just the ARM9 and ARM7 in there, or did they include the GBC's CPU as well? It's possible that Nintendo decided the GB and GBC aren't worth hanging onto anymore.

AFAIK (and I admit that I'm no techie), some GBA games actually did use the GBC's CPU. Like, do you remember how the first GBA Castlevania had great (for the GBA) sound? And then for the second one, the sound was pretty crappy, because Konami decided it was a good "tradeoff" for more powerful graphics in the second game?

Well, as I've heard it, the GBA has no "sound processor". So the first Castlevania ran everything off the main CPU. But for the second game, they decided to use the included GBC CPU as a makeshift "sound processor", so that the GBA's main CPU could focus on other things.

If there is no GBC CPU in the "GBA part" of the DS, then (assuming what I've heard is true) the second GBA Castlevania wouldn't be able to function properly in the DS (or at least it's sound wouldn't work).


Edit: "Whatcu talkin' bout Willis?" used to be the catch phrase of Gary Coleman ("that little black midget security-guard guy") back when he was on the 80's sitcom "Different Strokes" (playing a kid from Harlem who got adopted along with his older brother "Willis" by a rich old white guy).

[KDR_11k]

The GBA ARM7 includes the GBC Z80 on its die. The DS ARM7 is clocked twice as fast as the GBA's and I think it'll be underclocked when you play GBA games. The question is whether they use the same ARM7 in the DS as in the GBA. Though I think the ARM9 could emulate the Z80 in software.

[- NintendoFan -]

"Well, as I've heard it, the GBA has no "sound processor". So the first Castlevania ran everything off the main CPU. But for the second game, they decided to use the included GBC CPU as a makeshift "sound processor", so that the GBA's main CPU could focus on other things."

So what you are getting at is that the GBA technically has dual processors. Which now that I think about it is a great move, having the sound be run of the GBC processor, and the graphics off the GBA, and if used correctly could yeild some great results.

[norebonomis]

now i really am confused about DS' ability to play GB/GBC games.... bah. my whole reality is shattered ;;does drugs;;

[Blackknight131]

Hmm, fascinating info. Didnt know that about Castlevania and the GBA hardware...
It would be a bummer if Castlevania didnt work...not a huge bummer mind you, but a small one nontheless.
But yea, Im inferring only from the fact that Nintendo has specifically been stating "plays all your favorite GBA games!!" as opposed to "plays all your favorite GBC/GBA games!!".
Seems to me something that you would specfically market if the capability were there. And Nintendo has hopefully a solid group of professionals that prepare their presentations and information releases...I doubt they forgot to add that point in there...

-Blackknight131

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Thou shalt not worry, Dedede has arrived.

Go to GameSpot, and watch the big Developer Interview thing they have going on.  Basically, this is what they said:

"We decided it would be nice to have backwards compatibility, as the past handhelds have.  But the new DS only plays GBA games, rather then GBC and GB games, making it very, very different from the Game Boy."

That sounded kind of stupid to me, but it's what they said.  And you'll notice with the Game Boy Player's release, Nintendo promoted "thousands more games available for play on the GameCube," while with the DS they're only promoting hundreds.  GBA games is all the backward compatibility we're getting, all, and it SUCKS.

[KDR_11k]

Ah, so they're indeed using a new ARM7. Maybe with additional 3d instructions or something? In that case GBC compatibility might have hurt the performance in native games...

[kennyb27]

Yeah, at the Nintendo E3 Press Conference, Reggie said that the DS would launch with a selection of 500 titles.  If this included GB and GBC titles then it would be closer to 1500 titles.

[Mumei]

Have you watched the press conference?  He was talking about GB/GBA games and the number he gave was significantly higher than 500.  You don't really believe that 500 DS games will be ready at launch, do you?  No one knows the exact number of games that will be available at launch...

[norebonomis]

[kennyb27]

Um...Yeah, you can't use Javascript, or HTML (except for a few forms) for that matter in the forums.