Topic: Nintendo Plans Official GBA Media Reader

[StrikerObi]

Movies and Music on your GBA.

While third parties have previously released devices to allow GBA owners to play music and movies on their hand-helds, Nintendo has stayed silent on the issue. A new listing on the company's website reveals that Nintendo will be releasing their own media reader for the GBA in February 2005.

Nintendo's preview website for the product explains that their media reader will play both MP3 audio files and MPEG4 movies. It will read them off of Secure Digital (or SD) cards. The reader should also be able to play on the Nintendo DS, which also plays GBA games.

[Plugabugz]

Having replied to a similar topic in the DS forum, it's even more logical that Nintendo create a device that works with both the DS and GBA. However I doubt cartidges / media cards will become widely available to facilitate the use of this, thus it leads me to believe Nintendo are looking at a workaround.

[Ian Sane]

Wait a second.  I thought Nintendo was "game only".  That "no DVD player" stuff regarding the Cube certainly sounds like a lame excuse now.  If they don't want to put DVD playback in the Revolution that's fine but they're going to need a real excuse this time.

[Plugabugz]

Before Nintendo didnt necessarily have a reason to do so. Third parties created them, plus the GBA was the only sucess story in the handheld market.
Now it's recommended so that the DS "can do as" the PSP, matching all it's features [bar the poor battery life] plus the extras on top that the PSP cannot.

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Wait a second.  I thought Nintendo was "game only".  That "no DVD player" stuff regarding the Cube certainly sounds like a lame excuse now.  If they don't want to put DVD playback in the Revolution that's fine but they're going to need a real excuse this time.

Stop complaining about every little thing...This is only an option for those who are thinking about getting a PSP for media capabilities...

[Artimus]

If it uses SD cards then it's no different than the PSP's cards.

[vudu]

I've read on other websites that this will be a Japan-only product.

Quote
If [Nintendo doesn't] want to put DVD playback in the Revolution that's fine but they're going to need a real excuse this time.

How about the added cost?  That seems like a real excuse.  You can get a stand alone DVD player real cheap these days.  Hell, I got a free one in my breakfast cereal the other day.

[Ian Sane]

"How about the added cost? That seems like a real excuse."

It IS a real excuse.  That's what I want to hear.  Not "we only concentrate on games" or some lame spin doctored excuse that only applies when they want it to.

[vudu]

Quote
It IS a real excuse. That's what I want to hear. Not "we only concentrate on games" or some lame spin doctored excuse that only applies when they want it to.

Keep in mind, the GameCube design was finalized over 3 years ago.  What held true then, may not hold true today.  Nintendo is a company that makes video games.  But it's entirely likely that they realize that many people out there would like to be able to use their systems for other things besides playing games.  It's even possible (though I doubt it) that Nintendo realized its mistake prior to the GameCube's release, but it would have taken far too long to redesign it to play DVD's.

Does this mean we're going to see a Nintendo-branded personal organizer for the DS?  I doubt it.  A third party can just as easily create one that's just as good (if not better) than what Nintendo could do.  But I think Nintendo knows that third-party hardware is a completely separate beast.  Most third-party hardware (controllers, memory cards, etc) sells like crap compared to officially licensed items.

EDIT:  I just thought of an even better excuse for Nintendo to exclude DVD playback.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember reading that the GameCube's laser reads from the center of the disc to the outside (instead of the conventional outside to in) and the game discs spin in the opposite direction from conventional standards.  Wouldn't adjusting the laser and the spinner to go both ways make the GameCube prone to breaking (a'la the PS2 laser)?  Just a thought....

EDIT #2:  Apparently Nintendo just announced a dictionary/translator for the DS.  So much for my argument that Nintendo was making the add-on because it was hardware, not software.

[joshnickerson]

Nintendo should have a nice quote on the Revolution box...
"If you want to watch DVDs, just go buy a DVD player. Seriously, they're cheap as hell. Like 20 bucks a pop. You'll still be saving money by buying the player and this console than buying just a PS3 or Xbox2."


But seriously, where will this put Majesto and their GBA Video series?

[MattVDB]

"Nintendo enters the movie industry"  Remember hearing that, oh, about a month ago?  Yeah, their excuse for not putting a DVD player in was two fold.  They initially said that the gamecube was to be a game machine, and they put that in its name.  What people don't like to remember, is that there was a time where that changed, and they expressed their concern over the cost of adding a DVD player.  They let Panasonic release one though, because it was their overhead.  After a little bit, aparently, somebody didn't like the sound of money being the issue, so they went back with what they originally started with, and that was that they wanted the gamecube to be focused on games.  

I may be mistaken, but I don't seem to recall Nintendo saying that as a company they were only focusing on games, but they applied that to individual systems.  

Either way, I think this is an awesome idea, and is really holding sway in me picking up an SP or DS.  I think it was a wise move to cater to both the GBA and SP market, effectively draining Sony of half of the appeal to the PSP.  With such a large GBA userbase, I don't see how many people would prefer to pay 200 dollars, base price, for a PSP to play MP3's or MPG's when they could just buy this.  Wise movie.  Wise move indeed.

[Procession]

This is a smart move and a good deal - it's just a shame they didn't do it 3 years ago.

[Artimus]

If Nintendo doesn't want to fall into this tiny disc size again they'll have to go with BluRay.

[brian577]

I read on IGN that it will only work on the SP, what gives!  I am not going to go out and pay $70-90 just so I can listen to MP3s or play videos, not to mention the cost of the reader and memory cards.  I was going to consider getting one, but not any more!  Nintendo should provide better support for their products.  The GBA's not an older system, it plays the same games and has the same capabilities as the SP.  Just because the design is so much different dosen't mean they can't make it work!

[joshnickerson]

I don't see how it could only work on an SP unit. The SP and the original have the exact same hardware.

[brian577]

It's probably the power port, some acessories make use of it, effectivly making the GBA obsolete when it comes to new periperals.

[Nephilim]

looks good
only problem i can think of is the sd card sticking out really far, kinda like perfect dark plugged into a gba

*cant wait to watch tekkaman eps at work all day lol*

[nickmitch]

It'd be an extremely dumb move to not let it work on the DS. 'Cause it's DS vs PSP with most people making it not work on the DS is just stupid.

[UncleBob]

The question is... (and I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet...)

What are the odds of the DS using an SD card for saving data for online games...  (like a hard drive)...?

Just a thought...

[Berto2K]

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Originally posted by: Artimus
If it uses SD cards then it's no different than the PSP's cards.

Actually its cheaper.  The Sony Memeory sticks are expensive as hell compared to SD cards.  The memory sticks are also required for game saves, which takes up some room unless you put it on another stick.  This will be soley for a/v.  Nothing with games.

[MattVDB]

Umm.  I don't know where you read that it will only be compatible with the SP.  Here is what they say in their article...

"Although Play-chan was announced by Nintendo as supporting the Game Boy Advance, it's also compatible with the DS. Only one screen is used for display, though. The standard Game Boy Advance is not compatible with the product."

It works with the SP and the DS.  Alright.  I can handle that.  That isn't too shabby, as personally, I doubt I would use my AA batteries to watch movies like this.  With the rechargable batteries, I wouldn't mind it.

[UncleBob]

>The standard Game Boy Advance is not compatible with the product.

I think he's reffering to that it doesn't work with the non-SP version of the GBA...

[MattVDB]

Sorry.  Reading back over it, that's correct.  I thought he was saying that it works with the GBA only, and wouldn't work with the DS.  My apologize.

[theRPGFreak]

Smart move Nintendo

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: Berto2K

Quote
Originally posted by: Artimus
If it uses SD cards then it's no different than the PSP's cards.

Actually its cheaper.  The Sony Memeory sticks are expensive as hell compared to SD cards.  The memory sticks are also required for game saves, which takes up some room unless you put it on another stick.  This will be soley for a/v.  Nothing with games.

A SD Card @ 1gb will run you $65 at Fry's Electronics

A Sony MS PRO @ 1gb will run you $379 at Fry's Electronics

So if you ask me....... I think there is a HUGE difference