Topic: Connectivity?

[Pojo07]

I was wondering if the ds will be able to play like a gba for GCN/GBA connectivity reasons.
With all the good connectivity games like Zelda:FSA and FF:CC id hate to trade in my sp and find out i cant play them (properly) anymore.

[Bloodworth]

I'm wondering the same thing.  There didn't seem to be a port for it on the prototypes at E3, but maybe Nintendo will surprise us and work that into their wireless plans.

[Berto2K]

I don't remember seeing any link ports either.  Maybe they will finally come out with a wireless gnc-gba-ds(?) link.  I so would like one right now even.

[Pale]

Would that be possible?  That will be a hell of a lot of data to transfer quickly...

[Bloodworth]

Well, the DS games all do it, right?

[Pale]

:: Pale runs back to the corner feeling stupid ::

=P

[Ian Sane]

I think it's ridiculous for Nintendo to push connectivity as this major feature only to not include it with the DS.  If they don't include it it proves that it was nothing more than a gimmick designed to sell GBAs.  I figure there's three possibilities.

1. Nintendo has realized that connectivity, at least in the way they were using it, is not that big of a deal and bombed so much at last year's E3 that they've decided to abandon the concept starting with the DS.  Afterall they didn't talk much about connectivity at all at this year's E3.

2. Nintendo intentionally left the port off to prove that the DS is the "third pillar".  The GBA is different and thus still required for Cube connectivity.  That of course is a bullsh!t reason to leave out a feature but I think this whole "third pillar" stuff is bullsh!t anyway.

3. Nintendo is including it but in a different way.  Instead of using a cable the connection will be wireless and will require us to buy a receiver that plugs into the Cube.  Obviously making us buy ANOTHER piece of hardware is a rip-off but I always felt that not including the cable with the GBA in the first place was a rip-off.  The whole purpose of connectivity seems to be "buy more hardware for features that don't really need extra hardware to implement" anyway so this method wouldn't suprise me.

I guess they also could have forgot but it just seems unlike Nintendo to accidently include a feature they've spent the last few years promoting.

[reverend_tod]

DS will probably connect wirelessly with the Nintendo Revolution.  Timing wise it makes sense; GBA came out quite a while before GC did so it's like the cycle starting over.  Connectivity can potentially become a LOT more interesting with higher transfer rates and like what four times the muslce, THREE screens (counting TV ) and one being touch.  WOot.

[Blackknight131]

Personally, Im thinking it falls between Ian Sane's 2nd and 3rd points...
For one, there is no doubt that Nintendo is (trying to) pushing the DS as a seperate entity than the GBA, the third pillar. Everyone from Iwata to Miyamoto have reinforced this claim repeatedly in interviews and have even hinted repeatedly at the "GB  Next" (the Next GameBoy) being in heavy development.
Is it a bunch of bull when it comes down to games and how people will percieve the device? Quite possibly. Nevertheless we can note that steps have been taken to distance the two systems....not having GB/GBC backwards compatiblity (a key feature of the GBA and SP) is already confirmed, no compatibility for the GBA's mulitplayer games and/or Gamecube connectivity (out of the box) would be another logical step.

As has been pointed out however, peripherals are always a possiblity, and surely a peripheral to enable GBA multiplayer or GC connectivity would not be too difficult to develop. In this case, likely they would be 3rd party peripherals, such as Majescos GBA adapter, that allows GBA wired multiplayer games to communicate wirelessly.
.....
...
Heck, this device prolly works with the DS. Uh, go Majesco!

On connectivity tho, there can be no doubt that its not as great a feature as Nintendo has tried to present it to be. Thats not to say games like Crystal Chronicles and Zelda: Four Swords arent amazingly fun and well designed games centered on connectivity, but at the same time it is not the must-play experience or even amazingly innovative. It is what it is: an excellent and most welcome PERIPHERAL FEATURE that the GBA and GC can boast....but a system seller, I personally doubt. I don't think its quite at the level of "gimmick"...but its not established too far past that...

-Blackknight131

[mouse_clicker]

The DS has wireless LAN built in- why would it need a port for connectivity? You'd only end up plugging a wire into it anyway.

[Blackknight131]

Hmm...its intriguing to say that the DS is more built for the coming Revolution as opposed to the GC...but at the same time, where would that leave GameBoy Next? Perhaps connectivity is not in the cards for the DS.
That is, if you believe Nintendo and their "Third Pillar" party line...

-Blackknight131

[Ian Sane]

"but at the same time, where would that leave GameBoy Next?"

The DS probably is the Gameboy Next.  Nintendo probably just has a "true" GBA successor in the works (likely a one screen version of the DS) in case the DS bombs so they can save face.  "Oh you don't like the DS?  That's okay because here's the Gameboy Next!"  If the DS is successful it becomes the next Gameboy.

[Pale]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
If they don't include it it proves that it was nothing more than a gimmick designed to sell GBAs.

Or maybe they would just be admitting that it didn't go as they hoped....  It was not designed to sell gbas.  GBA sells itself...maybe if you argued it was designed to sell gamecubes you'd have something.

[Ian Sane]

"GBA sells itself...maybe if you argued it was designed to sell gamecubes you'd have something."

Well it certainly wasn't designed to sell Gamecubes since every one of Nintendo's major connectivity titles were Gamecube games that required a GBA to enable certain features or to play multiplayer.  There weren't many GBA connectivity titles that required a Cube.

Wind Waker - Buy a GBA to use Tingle Tuner
Animal Crossing - Buy a GBA to sail to the island
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Buy a GBA to play multiplayer
Four Sword Adventures - Buy a GBA to play multiplayer
Pac-Man Vs. - Buy a GBA to play period.

Not one of those games would make a GBA owner want to buy a Cube yet all them could potentially make a Cube owner buy a GBA.  If you owned a GBA you were pretty much set and didn't need a Cube to for virtually any of the titles.  Pokemon Colloseum is the only major title I can think of that really benefited GBA owners though I think there were a few third party games that used the connection in a gimmicky "own both games and unlock this" manner.

Maybe they didn't intend to use it to sell GBAs but nearly all of their ideas revolved around Cube owners buying GBAs.

[WolfpackEE]

There as been alot of talk in the this thread about connectivity with the GCN. I'm actually more curious about connectivity between the DS and GBA. We know the DS will play GBA games, but if they don't provide a method of multiplayer gameplay between the DS and GBA with the multiplayer GBA games, then I don't see it as 100% backwards compatible.

[Bill Aurion]

Connectivity is merely a bonus for those who own both systems, nothing more, nothing less...

[jasonditz]

Quote
Originally posted by: Blackknight131

Is it a bunch of bull when it comes down to games and how people will percieve the device? Quite possibly. Nevertheless we can note that steps have been taken to distance the two systems....not having GB/GBC backwards compatiblity (a key feature of the GBA and SP) is already confirmed, no compatibility for the GBA's mulitplayer games and/or Gamecube connectivity (out of the box) would be another logical step.

When was the lack of GB/GBC backwards compatibility confirmed? I know we had a thread discussing it as a what if, but I never read anything outside this site that implied anything of the kind.

I view the GBA compatibility in the DS as kind of like the GBPlayer for the Cube. The Cube one has all the features, why shouldn't the DS one? There aren't a bunch of people confusing the Gamecube for the next GBA, why should the DS deliberately break features to avoid confusion?

[jasonditz]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bloodworth
Well, the DS games all do it, right?

Do they?

DS games support wireless multiplayer, but can you multiplay on a single card? Can a DS boot up with nothing in the card slot?

[reverend_tod]

What's this third pillar talk?  Can anybody link me up with something talking about GBNExt?  I think that's a bunch of cr@p.  I'm not buying TWO portables, I want ONE.  They should simply make the DS work with Nentendo Revolution and simply make DS the next game boy.  For one it's simply f*cked up for them to make two portables like that, to fans and casual gamers alike, and it will do nothing but confuse casual gamers "Didn't they JUST come out with a new gameboy?" they're already doing that with SP being only a year old.  People don't realise that SP is really just a spruced up GBA...the public is fickle, like a school of little fish, and you can't put out bunch of new pieces of hardware out all the time.  I need links so I can figure this out.  Damn Nintendo.

[Blackknight131]

No links, sorry. Dont have time to dig for em rite now. To expound on the "third pillar" talk, it is the official Party Line that the DS is not meant to encroach on "the experience offered by the GBA/SP. Instead it offers gamers a whole new experience".
Now, whether or not you beleive that is fine, I personally gravitate more toward what Ian Sane said about the DS being a "stop-gap" Gameboy....it basically IS the next Gameboy, only it is so radical that in case it does fail, Nintendo can then introduce a new "Gameboy" and say "well, sorry you didnt like that. But hey, heeeres the REAL NEXT GAMEBOY!!! Buy now!!!". This third pillar talk is perhaps a means to protect the brand name of 'Gameboy'...its just really hard to not view the DS as Nintendo's handheld successor...
This is just what Im thinking, I could well be proved wrong.

...

Quote
DS games support wireless multiplayer, but can you multiplay on a single card? Can a DS boot up with nothing in the card slot?

It can indeed do multiboot just like the GBA can....multiplayer games with one cart. How far that feature goes and how much its used depends on the developer and the corresponding memory in the unit. I beleive it will be comparable to the GBA in that regard. Wireless really sweetens the deal tho, IMO.

...

Quote
We know the DS will play GBA games, but if they don't provide a method of multiplayer gameplay between the DS and GBA with the multiplayer GBA games, then I don't see it as 100% backwards compatible.

And on that topic...huh, man, guess we'll find out soon enough. Im not sure if the new GBA games that support the wireless adaptor play will be playable on a DS network...I think theres a strong possibility for that as the technology is likely very similar...
In terms of *wired* multiplayer GBA games, it may be possible that peripherals will be released to bring that function to the DS. But as it is, the DS cannot go multiplayer with all the older GBA games....unless theres a GBA-style serial port on the DS that I havent seen....

-Blackknight131

[gwgtrunks]

I seem to remember something about the DS having 802.11 along with Nintendo's own wireless technology... Maybe their own technology is the same thing they put to use on the GBA?

[Zach]

Nevermind I just realized that my post made no sense, so just ignore this.  sorry