Topic: Third Pillar?

[reverend_tod]

I'm looking for somebody to give me input on the third pillar concept.  It seems to me it's unfare, unwise business model and confusing to consumers.  Really there is no advantage in having two portables; in fact I think that the DS is a little soon, except they're trying to catch up with PSP.

[Blackknight131]

Damn, I shoulda posted my blurb in here...

Essentially, the OFFICIAL line is the DS represents a new paradigm in gaming and is different enough that it will encompass a different overall market than the GBA has.
For many people, that is hard to believe...."a handheld is a handheld" and so forth, not to mention the unit plays GBA games...

Nevertheless, Nintendo has stated that development continues on the Gameboy Next, the real market successor to the GameBoy.
Altho I do beleive that last statement, I figure that such a device will likely not see the light of day for years.
The DS is Nintendo's new portable focus for the next 3-5 years at least...a "stop-gap" GB successor, only without the GB moniker...only if it does horribly ( which i doubt) will Nintendo rush the official "GB Next" to market.
So, in a nutshell, I dont think you have to worry bout that too much good Reverend...Im feelin the DS will be successful which will naturally push back the release of a GB Next for some time.

Hopefully, anyway. Like you, I dont want to see the handheld market go on a new hardware binge...

If I come across any links then I will post em for yas.

For starters tho, there may be info in the interviews conducted during E3...available somewhere on this site I think.
You can also check out Gamespy and Kikizo games for additional interviews...Gamespy has one with Miyamoto-san and a Nintendo hardware designer, and Kikizo has one with Satoru Iwata. The last one is proll the better place to start...

-Blackknight131

[Uglydot]

Very informative post...


But I agree with what blackknight posted.  I doubt many 3rd parties will stay on with the GBA since they don't have to use the touch screen features, the DS will be like a more poweful GBA to them.  GBA may live on with Nintendo and sparse 3rd parties for a while, but the DS will likely become the second pillar.

[ActorJ]

exactly. the line that DS is a third pillar is just that, a LINE. It's a way for Nintendo to diffuse to anger that would have surged had they announced a new much more powerful gameboy only a year after everyone re-bought a new version of the last gameboy. It would have been public realtions suicide.

Nintendo was in a diffcult sitation. Do they release a new gameboy to compete with PSP from a techincal standpoint, but risk pissing of people who just bought and SP, and an original GBA before that? Or do stick with the GBA an pray that the PSP doesn't catch on? Neither is an attractive option.

Solution? Release a new gameboy, but make it just different enough to pretend that it isn't a gameboy....let everyone know that the GBA will coexist, bevcause it will for a while, and then let it dies a quiet, gradual death.

I would predict that the dual screen format will be the new standard for Nintendo handhelds.  

[Artimus]

I bet the name switches to Gameboy DS before release.

[Blackknight131]

Quote
I would predict that the dual screen format will be the new standard for Nintendo handhelds.

We have yet to see what Dual Screens truly adds to gameplay...the jury is out, so to speak. The DS is a hotbed of interesting and potentially significant technology: because all the exciting features (touch screen, dual screens, microphone, Wi-Fi, wireless LAN) are all built in to the unit when you take it out of the box, it ensures a greater chance for developers to focus on it.
Im still not sure Dual Screens is really NEEDED to achieve a new level of handheld gameplay immersion....but I am confident that VERY TALENTED men and women will be dedicating their efforts to find ways that will answer that question.

-Blackknight131

[Griffin]

I do agree with Artimus...they said that Nintendo DS is still a working title, and since the DS can play all GBA games (not sure about original GB/GBC games, but why wouldn't it play them), I wouldn't be surprised if this really IS the next Gameboy...in any case, I'm still buying one. I'm also trying not to give in and buy that new NES SP...looks tight.

[Blackknight131]

Man, if you can afford it...go ahead and spring for an SP.
For one, its truly a sleek and well designed piece of hardware (assuming the exclusion of a headphone jack isnt a dealbreaker for you). Its compact for sure, much more so than either the DS or the PSP...it has greater battery life than either new handhelds are purported to have...it has backwards compatibility with GB/GBC games that the DS lacks...and finally, the NES-style SP just looks tite.
The SP remains an excellent investment for people who engage in a decent amount of handheld gaming.

-Blackknight131  

[couchmonkey]

I think Nintendo has been running the risk of royally pissing off handheld consumers for years, and I hope it doesn't bite Nintendo in the arse when the DS and PSP come out.  I actually think Nintendo is serious about differentiating DS from the Gameboy, because it doesn't seem like an idea they "slapped together" to compete with PSP, it seems like something that Nintendo really thought about.
Of course, that doesn't mean it won't take the place of the Gameboy line.  I think, as some others suggested here, that DS will replace Gameboy if it's successful.  After all, why would you want to own a GBA and a DS if the DS is totally backwards compatible?  It's pointless.  If the DS isn't successfull, or if it's only a modest success, Gameboy will probably return in a traditional but supercharged form.

[reverend_tod]

Was virtual boy meant to replace GameBoy?

Hm...it bombed so they went right on ticking with Gameboy...possibly a similar strategy?

All I know is all this third pillar talk has made me nervous to plunk 150 down on a DS, or whatever it costs and just have another damn gameboy come out a few months later.

[KDR_11k]

The Virtal Boy was designed for home use (did it even have a battery?) like the PSP, it didn't compete with the GBA.

[Bloodworth]

The main reason Nintendo talks about it as the third pillar is that is the mindset they went in with when designing it - that it wasn't another Game Boy, but an entirely new product.  They were working on it before they knew about PSP, and from recent interviews, you get the impression that neither Sony nor Nintendo has much of an idea what the other is doing. -- Sure the marketing guys know, but not the designers.

[Bloodworth]

Oh, anyone catch Billy's video of Thom Leonard saying the DS does play GB and GBC games?  I'm quite curious now.

[KDR_11k]

I would assume the DS would play GB/C games since that'd make producing the ARM7 cheaper (just use the GBA one)

[Blackknight131]

I think I read that that is indeed what they are doing...the ARM 7 IS the GBA processer...which is why the backwards compatibility really came down to putting a slot on the DS that accepted cartridges. Likely this was a premeditated design choice, and a brialliant one at that.
However, if my understanding is right, the GBA either has a seperate gameboy/GBC processer in it that allows it to do the GB software, or does it have routines that allow it to emulate the hardware on its own far more powerful processer? I *THINK* it has two processers...

Quote
Oh, anyone catch Billy's video of Thom Leonard saying the DS does play GB and GBC games? I'm quite curious now

I didnt see it....gotta link? I havent heard Nintendo pimp the ability at all (theyve pimped GBA compatible, but Ive not heard GB yet), and generally I consider them to be pretty thorough about that sort of thing.
It would further blur the lines between the two "wholly seperate" units...and that line is awfully blurry as it is.

-Blackknight131

[KDR_11k]

They use a modified ARM7 in the GBA that has a whole Z80 core on-die. The Z80 is the processor used in the GB/C. The GBA ARM7 runs at 16.7 MHz, but geeks managed to overclock it to 33MHz (standard clocking for ARM7s, the clocking of the DS) without significant heat development. Nintendo could just "overclock" (in fact,normal clock) the GBA CPU and throw it into the DS.

[Jale]

I think that the DS is jsut a way that Nintendo can try to revolutionise the industry with very new and good ideas. The next GBA will probably be along the lines of just more power, so they are compensating with this nice new little beauty.

[KDR_11k]

I think they're going to add the features that worked well for the DS to the next GBA. If none do, we'll probably see a PSP-like GBN.