Topic: DS = GBA 2?

[raptorspike]

Can someone clear this up for me: Is the DS the next gameboy, or is nintendo making a GBA 2 down the line. If the latter is the case, maybe it will only be one-screened?

[DrZoidberg]

Using clearasil on this thread.

Nintendo has said from the beginning of the DS that it will be a 'third pillar' meaning that for now, it will function side by side with GBA and GCN, so we may / probably will see a new GB in the future, depending on the DS's success. If it has the same type of success that the GBA / GBA SP currently enjoys, then I doubt we will see a new GB untill the DS life cycle is over.

[ruby_onix]

Sony decided to be clever and try to release the PSP "midway" through the GBA's lifecycle.

That way, the GBA is a success and all, and Nintendo would be crazy to abandon it, but Sony can look all shiny and new with cutting-edge technology. Then by the time the GBA is done, and Nintendo wants to release the GB-Next, the PSP won't be cutting-edge anymore, and the GB-Next will be more shiny and new, but Sony can claim to be all "established" and "successful". It's what happened with NES-vs-Genesis-vs-SNES. There's more of a fighting chance than if you went head to head with either the GBA or GB-Next. Same markets. Different timeframes. You're likely to get 50% marketshare by default.

But, Nintendo's smart, so they made the DS. It's funky and weird, and it lets Nintendo and the third parties get all creative (which is something they say we need), which makes it different enough so they don't have to "give up" on the GBA, while at the same time it's all shiny and new, and can compete with the PSP.

Nintendo has said that the DS is not "the next GBA", and that they're even working on a new GBA which will be "philosophically similar" to the GBA (meaning not so funky and weird).

If you're cynical, you can infer that they're just "saying that" to keep pressure-to-perform off the DS, or trying not to lose face, by making a new handheld early because "Sony forced them", or maybe they're just trying to get the forward-viewers who are drooling over the PSP's measurements to look even farther, and see what could be made even better, just a year or two later, so they lose interest in the PSP.

But no matter what their plans (or lack of plans) are, the performance of the DS and/or the PSP and/or the NGage (success, failure, or some weird mixture) will cause any plans for a GB-Next to be re-evaluated on-the-fly.


(I'm betting that the eventual GBA2 will be a portable GameCube called a "GameBoy Cube". Predictable. Decidedly non-funky.)

[Blackknight131]

Oh, the cynicism is Strong in this one.
Excellent post, Ruby.

To expand on what has been said, the DS will eventually come to have a new name before it is released, but it has been stated that it will not have "Gameboy" in that name. Nintendo's offical line is that the DS is a different machine, a third type of console to go alongside the Cube and the GBA. Whether or not you beleive them on that point, rest assured that the DS is what you are getting for now, but that the Next Gameboy will be designed exactly to capitalize on or correct the issues with the DS.
In other words, if the DS sells well, the Next Gameboy wil not be released for quite a while yet...if the DS somehow fails to garner sales ( I doubt this will happen) then you will see a new Gameboy announced within the next two E3 exhibitions.
Either way the Next Gameboy, whenever it comes out, will very likely utilize successful features on the DS and omit superfluous or useless features of the DS.
In fact...I kind of beleive the DS is also something of a "trojan test unit" of different technologies Nintendo is researching for the Revolution....now Im starting to expect wireless internet and touchscreens and microphones in the controller...

-Blackknight131

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Yeah...about that new name....for those who haven't seen the E3 press conference (I just saw it for the third time at Gamespot), when all the third parties were talking, one guy (I believe he was with Vivendi) actually called it the Nitro.  I think that pretty much wraps up our speculation.  It is not a Game Boy, but what we suspected for long: the Nitro.  Surprisingly though, he pronnounced it "Ny-troh."  I've been calling it "Ni-troh."  "Ni" as in the "N" word.

Actually, after seeing the Nitro/DS/whatever-the-hell-it's-supposed-to-be-called, I don't plan on purchasing the GBA2, unless it's like Nitro/DS/whatever-the-hell-it's-supposed-to-be-called compatible or something, because after viewing the conference, I finally believe Iwata.  GBA2's going to be nothing more than better specs, with something here, something there.   Nitro/DS/whatever-the-hell-it's-supposed-to-be-called and Revolution are literally the future.  So, raptor, get a Nitro/DS/whatever-the-hell-it's-supposed-to-be-called, and screw the GBA2 over, eh?

[ruby_onix]

When that document with the tech-specs got leaked, it called the system the "Nitro", and everyone picked up on that, but when asked about it, Nintendo said that "Nitro" was the secret code-name for the system before they changed it to the DS (which still isn't the final name), and that Nintendo had managed to keep the system a secret through that entire phase of it's existence, so the name was new to us, but old to Nintendo.

It might change back into "Nitro", but I think this Vivendi guy was probably just using the older name, which he was more used to.  

[Mario]

Nintendo are insisting it's not the next Gameboy so if when it bombs the Gameboy name won't go down with it and they can pretend it never happened.

[ghostVi]

We've been told already by NOE GBA 2 will be out 2006/2007, depending on DS's success. That is - if DS surpasses Nintendo's expectations then GBA 2 will be out 2007, not that much of a delay, just some time to push more features in the thing. They will coexist eventually.

So it's a straight "no", no PR, no BS, DS is _not_ GBA2.

[Head Shot]

I just personally can't wait for a FPS on the DS it will blow the consils away with it's mouse like control Touch screen

[Blackknight131]

Quote
Nintendo are insisting it's not the next Gameboy so if (when) it bombs the Gameboy name won't go down with it and they can pretend it never happened.

Its a sad, sad day when Mario has given up on a Nintendo product.
They're gonna need ya, man.

-Blackknight131

[KDR_11k]

Mario's just feeling pessimistic lately.

[Lost101]

I really really hope NIntendo knows what its doing.  I am not gonna buy a new Gameboy a year and a half after I bought my DS.  How different can this new gameboy be from either the PSP or the DS?  I think they should just scrap that GBA and work on the next next gen GBA (which better have a screen as big as my TV).