Author Topic: Next Gameboy (Read 27652 times)

Spak-Spang · « **Reply #50 on:** March 01, 2005, 03:55:20 AM »

I can see Nintendo releasing information at E3 for the new system Gameboy System. Here is why, it would show developers that the system is coming out and what it is capable of. It would hurt Sony and their PSP, because the hype will begin about how Nintendo is about to dominate the handheld market again.

Most important, it would mean Nintendo would have about 1 1/2 year development time for future products for the new Gameboy and allow developers that much time to create launch games. The end of 2005 is too early to launch a new system, unless Nintendo believes it is going to fail with the DS. In that case, I can see it happening. However, I see a more likely first quarter or summer of 2006 as its launch date. Then the launch of the Nintendo Revolution for the Holiday season.

2005 would show the end of Cube development and Gameboy Advance development. 2006 will be completely dedicated to Revolution, DS, and the Gameboy. Also aside note, the new Gameboy could be used as the "normal" controller for the Revolution for more traditional games.

Moving the DS to a more business friendly product is slightly annoying, but I can understand the logic. Faced against the PSP the DS doesn't look as attractive of a system. However, positioned against PDA software the DS could be a cheap alternative, that also plays quality Nintendo games.

In the end, I think this is Nintendo's contingency plan. If he DS gets more popular with every new game released then Nintendo will hold off its launch of the new system. It will spend time perfecting games for it and readying the launch. However, if the DS fails Nintendo needs something out in the market fast to prevent Sony from completely taking over the handheld market. For this plan to work though Nintendo needs to show developers its hand so they can ready for whatever happens.

Savior · « **Reply #51 on:** March 01, 2005, 05:33:41 AM »

I read that the DS will get games for the mainstream gamer like Puppy times... not specific genres... i dont think its going to be ignored by Nintendo at least i hope so, ive got one too since launch....

I want a new Gameboy especially if it can somehow play GCN games... i dont know how they will pull it off but i do know 2005 is too early.

Nintendo doesnt have to worry about getting overshadowed.. Zelda will launch this fall

couchmonkey · « **Reply #52 on:** March 01, 2005, 05:45:13 AM »

A while back I read someone comparing Nintendo's current situation to Sega's situation some years ago, with Nintendo spreading its focus over too many pieces of hardware. At the time I thought that person was stupid, but if Nintendo were to release a new Gameboy in the next 18 months and takes the whole "third pillar" philosophy seriously...I'd have to agree with him. Nintendo may not want to believe it, but the DS and the new Gameboy will be in direct competition. Most people are not going to buy both, and they definitely aren't going to use both.

Of course, this is all rumour, and at the very least a 2005 release for the new Gameboy seems out of the question. I'm just saying that if it were true, Nintendo would be spreading itself too thin. Nintendo needs one CLEAR competitor for the PSP.

Ian Sane · « **Reply #53 on:** March 01, 2005, 06:38:13 AM »

"Why exactly is this a bad thing for DS owners? I just don't get it."

It's bad because, even if Nintendo continues to support the DS, third parties won't. Graphics and presentation sell better than anything so third parties are going to focus on Nintendo's newer portable hardware since they can get prettier games out of it. The DS touch screen stuff is not the main reason why third parties support it. They support the DS because it's a 3D Nintendo handheld. Once Nintendo releases something new with "Gameboy" written on the side only a few hardcore designers will stick with the DS. Any other third party games will be scaled down ports of new Gameboy games.

And Nintendo themselves will also release less games. If they have new portable hardware to work with in general their traditional games will go to the new Gameboy while the DS will only get their quirky games that need the DS features. That's fine I guess if that's what you want but anyone who bought a DS under the impression that it be the next Gameboy is going to be really disappointed. Now I guess you could say that's their own fault since Nintendo never said the DS was the next Gameboy but come on. "Third pillar" sounds like totally insanity. It makes/made no sense to believe that.

Looking at the DS I don't think it has what it takes to compete with the PSP. So in a way I want Nintendo to release something really killer. but I fear the huge backlash as a result of releasing something new too soon. It doesn't matter how you look at it a lot of DS owners would feel ripped off and that would really hurt Nintendo at a time where they have a clear competitor for people to jump ship to. Realistically this is the worst timing possible for Nintendo to go all experimental and try releasing "third pillars" and such. They should have done this when they had a monopoly. I'm beginning to think that the DS was a HUGE mistake. If Nintendo truly wanted to start a third line of systems they should have known not to do so when Sony was about to enter the portable market. Nintendo's not doomed but they've forced themselves into a situation where they have to do something that's going to lose market share.

Pale · « **Reply #54 on:** March 01, 2005, 06:48:04 AM »

Ok, so i haven't read this whole thread. I'm just posting in response to the CNN article and what not...

One of the things the rumors are saying is that the new gameboy will be priced at 99 and the DS price will likely remain unchanged. What if the new gameboy is just a non dual screen DS? It has just one processor of the two so it has the improved graphics and just one non touch screen. The games use the same digicard format of the DS. The DS becomes a high end system. It will play the new Gameboy games using only one screen and at the same time have DS only games as well as PDA functionality.

How's that for a poorly written hypothesis.

Don'tHate742 · « **Reply #55 on:** March 01, 2005, 08:50:59 AM »

Why would they release it in the first place then? The whole point of a new Gameboy would be to compete with the PSP, not the DS.

I agree with Ian; anyway you slice it Nintendo is going to lose market share. But we could have guessed that a loss was iminent. Anyways, Nintendo isn't stupid enough to launch a system for the sole purpose of negating a Sony luanch (i'm talking about the DS in Japan). Then after just ditch it. Though they made money, what the hell are they going to do in the states? Launch another system? Haha ya right. I think we're reading into this a little too far (or Spong is). I bet they show a nicer, smaller, sexier version of the DS with Palm functions at E3. I mean, I hope so.

If Nintendo were to launch a new GB then I bet they also realize the consequences as we have and have a plan to make both the DS and GB provail. I hope it's more than PDA functions. Anyways, they don't want to lose fans (money) by pissing them off. It's just plain stupid business, ask Sony. They know this......

We'll see what happens in ten days, and also E3. Personally, I could care less about the handhelds....now that is, cuase I don't own a DS. All that's on my mind is "HOW DOES ZELDA PLAY?!" hehe

Pale · « **Reply #56 on:** March 01, 2005, 09:34:51 AM »

So releasing a redone version of the DS is a better idea than my idea? That doesn't make any sense.

I can understand if you think my idea would piss people off, but that idea would piss more people off. A 99 dollar unit slightly more powerful than an N64 is better than a 250 dollar unit slightly less powerful than a ps2 with a better screen IMO.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #57 on:** March 01, 2005, 10:08:36 AM »

____** crosses finger hoping for a Portable GameCube**

I think a PGC (pun coincedental) or ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is the only way to compete with the PSP w/o direct competition against the DS.
'You pay for a game once and have two different ways to play it. Play at home or Play on the go.'
A PGC would be an extension of the GC still competeing w/ the Xbox & PS2 but would now cross over into a dual market competeing directly with the PSP. I also think that such a product would also rejuvenate interest from 3rd parties that previously dropped support for gamecube now that it would essentially be targeting 2 markets on one format with one product.

I think it is the smart thing to do......
maybe it'll happen
most likely it won't

Savior · « **Reply #58 on:** March 01, 2005, 10:34:26 AM »

Releasing a N64 portable really really doesnt make any sense... especially when you can just port the games on the DS....

If your going to make a PSP "killer" it makes sense to take time and release it in 06... than in 05... by 06 the DS would have two full years, the GBA would have been cycled out, so you would still have 3 pillars... Revolution, GBE, with Game Cube backwards compatibility and DS, with Two Screens, touch screen, and Game Boy Advanced backwards compatiblity

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #59 on:** March 01, 2005, 10:47:37 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Savior
Releasing a N64 portable really really doesnt make any sense... especially when you can just port the games on the DS....

who mentioned a portable N64?

The DS is a portable N64, as is a GBA is a portable SNES, as is a GB is a portable NES

Don'tHate742 · « **Reply #60 on:** March 01, 2005, 10:56:09 AM »

That would still:

A. Piss of DS adopters; not as bad since probably half own gamecubes. Also, it would kill the GBA. That would be a good thing though, since developers that don't want to spend alot of money developing for the new GB, can develope for the DS.

B. Copy exactly what Sony did with their PSP. Except now you can play the games you already bought, unlike the PSP. Anyways, Nintendo is not one for copying competitors (they're to good or something).

Anyways, I vote for that idea. That is the only way I could see Nintendo working around the obstacle presented. If Nintendo doesn't use the UMD's of the gamecube, kiss DS support good bye as well as many as many Nintendo fans.

PaleZer0: Noone would want a Half a DS; even if it has better graphics or cheaper. People see the touch screen as it's main focus, so not including that would be a pointless move. A sleeker DS would have a better chance to compete becuase the only reason people are so attracted at first to the PSP is becuase it looks so damn good. If Nintendo could make a DS:SP that is small/easily held, has a long battery life and has even brighter back lit LCD to make the LCD screens look more desirable. It would help bring some of the hype for PSP down a bit.....in other words damage control. Still, I think they should still include PDA functions as another something the PSP doesn't have. But like BlackNMild said, Portable Gamecube all the way.

EDIT: Damn! you guys beat me. yeah PaleZer0 did.

RickPowers · « **Reply #61 on:** March 01, 2005, 11:42:34 AM »

Here's an aspect that many people are completely missing. DEVELOPERS. Not every developer and/or publisher has the resources (manpower, financing, etc) to be able to fund projects for yet another handheld system. The market is quickly becoming cluttered with devices, and something would have to give. My concern is that the DS would likely be the system that would fall through the cracks, because figuring out how to best use the touchscreen is simply a hassle developers would be reluctant to tackle, as would having to write a usable network stack for the device. Something more straightforward (or even a handheld GameCube) would likely be where developers would lean.

I'm all for innovation, but not for it's own sake. Plus, there are areas for improvement innovation wise that people are completely missing out on ... but more on that later.

Savior · « **Reply #62 on:** March 01, 2005, 11:55:31 AM »

who mentioned a portable N64?

its kinda what PaleZero suggested.

...

Rick it all depends on how the PSP does in the next cycle or so. If its incredibly succesfull, Nintendo will have to create the real competitor to the PSP, if it has a lag then they can give the DS more time...

Pale · « **Reply #63 on:** March 01, 2005, 12:16:12 PM »

I was pointing out that the DS is currently a portable N64 power wise...

ruby_onix · « **Reply #64 on:** March 01, 2005, 12:50:09 PM »

Handheld Rumor Roundup.

I think this is somewhat needed for clarity. Names are not official. Add some if you've heard them.

1: Portable GameCube. GameCube + Mobile Monitor + Controller smooshed together.

2: GCP. Not a GameCube, but a high-end portable based loosely on GameCube tech, for cost savings.

3: GBA2. A new handheld, philosophically similar to the GBA, not the GameCube, PSP, or DS. Whatever that means.

4: GBA SSP. Another cosmetic redesign of the GBA.

5: DS SP. A cosmetic redesign of the Nintendo DS. More comforable to hold. Perhaps with significant added functionality, like analog, which would make it more of a successor to the DS than just a cosmetic redesign.

6: DS PDA. Someone releases PDA software for the DS, increasing it's functionality. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

7: Connectivity. Wireless connectivity between the DS and/or the Revolution and/or some new handheld. Also, connectivity between GameCube games and any system (handheld or home console) that happens to be backwards-compatible with the GameCube.

8: Online/no-line. Internet connection. Stick it in the DS, the Revolution, a new handheld, your toaster, you name it.

9: Connectivity between rivals. Oh no! The walls are breaking down! They're falling on me! The world is ending!!

10: Attack of the Wavebirds. All handhelds will become controllers for the new consoles, black boxes that look like flawlessly perfect slabs of slate, which have no openings to plug things into, and make strange noises at night.

ruby_onix · « **Reply #65 on:** March 01, 2005, 10:06:23 PM »

For more clarity...

Spong says that they know for a fact that a new handheld from Nintendo will be unveiled at E3.

This "new model of the Game Boy Advance" will be a "true gaming machine" with analog controls and a big, high-quality screen. Which apparently makes it exactly like the PSP.

Also, Nintendo is teh doomed. Particularly the DS. Because the DS was one big giant lie. Nintendo apparently hopes that turning the DS into a PDA (which Spong says will be revealed at E3) will save them somewhat. Nintendo will also make something up about "wanting to have three systems all along", and "three pillars" or something like that. But we all know that's a lie, because nobody in their right mind understands what Nintendo's talking about when they say that, so it must not be true, and Nintendo is really just a few short months away from abandoning the DS.

An analyst on CNN says that he believes that the "next version of the Game Boy Advance SP" may be shown at E3, and might launch within 2005, not sometime in 2006 or beyond (as others have speculated). And that it will launch at the GameBoy's typical $99 price tag. And that the DS will not see a price drop, and will remain at $149.

Also, Nintendo is teh doomed, because the PSP is coming, and because Nintendo is flooding the market with revisions of handhelds that they keep forcing us to buy.

Next, Matt from IGN Cube has mentioned in recent mailbags that while he currently knows absolutely nothing about any "new handheld" or the Revolution, he won't cut the DS any slack and give it a chance, because he's certain that Nintendo has a new handheld in the works, and that once it launches, Nintendo will abandon the DS, leaving DS owners hanging out to dry. Also, he doesn't think that the Revolution will be backwards compatible with the GameCube, nor will it have connectivity with the DS or anything else, because he thinks it will be "too weird" to even be capable of that sort of thing.

Matt doesn't think that the new handheld will launch in 2005, nor will it be cheaper than the DS. Also, Nintendo is teh doomed, in various ways, too numerous for me to sum up.

PaLaDiN · « **Reply #66 on:** March 01, 2005, 10:45:34 PM »

At least they all agree that Nintendo is teh doomed.

Avinash_Tyagi · « **Reply #67 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:02:23 AM »

Turns out the whole GBA 2 thing is fake:

Nintendo has distanced itself from a frenzied wave of Internet speculation claiming that the Japanese giant will be launching a next generation Game Boy later this year, saying that the rumours were "pulled out of the air".

A spokesman for Nintendo of Europe told GamesIndustry.biz this morning: "There is always speculation on what the next Game Boy will be, however, at this time there are no announcements about a new Game Boy SP product."

However, unofficially the Kyoto-based firm is expected to unveil a remodelled Game Boy Advance based on the existing technology at its traditional pre-E3 event.

So in fact its a new version of the GBA not a GBA 2

Games Industry

Savior · « **Reply #68 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:19:30 AM »

Another SP? Its not like you can improve it more... i guess they will make it miniature.... or a GBA SP in a watch or something

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #69 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:21:50 AM »

They could include the wireless adapter and Play-Yan features into it...

KDR_11k · « **Reply #70 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:23:11 AM »

So now the way the media tries to stop the DS flood is by claiming that the next GB is "just around the corner" and that even those who don't want a PSP should hold off of buying a DS? It's almost like some damn conspiracy, everybody's trying to produce rumors that kill the DS.

Avinash_Tyagi · « **Reply #71 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:33:30 AM »

Well actually the guy who started the whole thing only said a new version of the GBA SP would be released, not a
GBA 2, it was others like Spong that turned it into the rumor of a GBA 2 release

couchmonkey · « **Reply #72 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:49:16 AM »

A new GBA doesn't have to be truly improved, it just has to give the impression that it's different from the current system through a new design. Nintendo has done that many times before with the Gameboy Pocket, the second versions of the NES and Super NES and the Pikachu N64. They could include a headphone jack and a backlit screen, though.

Avinash_Tyagi · « **Reply #73 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:30:57 PM »

My guess is it'll have wireless/online capabilities built in, and it will probably release at under $90 dollars, probably they'll annouce it right around the unveiling of the online plan, this way people who don't want the DS but still want the online will be able to buy the SP online.

Besides this makes alot of sense, consider the facts

1)DS is in its first year, regardless of Nintendo's "Third Pillar" claims they are not going to screw up the DS's sales when they are this good (on track to reach 5-6 million by end of March) by releasing something that might undercut it, not to mention the GBA is still selling pretty well, so there really is no reason to kill it off yet.

2)That being said the GBA is slowing down, and Nintendo would like to keep its sales chugging along, but not at the cost of the DS, as a result a re-re-release of the GBA is not only cheap since they already have the hardware available at an inexpensive price, but they can give people who want online but don't want to shell out 150 buck a reason to buy from them, without harming the DS sales much since most who are willing to shell out $150 will want the DS's superior capabilities.

3)No need to release the GBE at this point, the GBA still sells pretty well and with a small remodeling can continue to sell well for a few more years, while the DS is selling great and will probably sell even better once more games and online are released.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #74 on:** March 05, 2005, 07:19:29 PM »

Kind of a random thought.........

If Nintendo really wants the DS to be a third-pillar next to the GBA and GC, will there be a succesor to the DS? The Game Boy line will get another family member sometime (not as soon as all these "professional" clownboats think), and the GC will be replaced by the Rev fourth pillar, too many systems, Nintendo is teh doomed. So what happens after the DS? It's in its own genre right now, and the "DS line" isn't going to be Nintendo's "innovation line" as seen by the direction they're going with the Rev. It seems like it's a one time deal- I just wanted to know what you all think.

*looks at next post*

nemo: The DS is out next to the GBA right now, so it's obviously a third-pillar to the GBA. Seeing as the GBE will replace the GBA, it will still remain seperate from the GB line. I was curious to know if this seperate hardware line will continue into the future, or if it will begin and end with the DS (which I think it will)

News:

Author Topic: Next Gameboy (Read 27652 times)