Hot off the press... information from the US magazine Game Informer issue 133 (May 2004) reveals specifications of the awaited Nintendo Dual Screen (DS). Whilst the information (to the best of my knowledge) hasn't been confirmed by Nintendo, I'll provide it here for your pleasure. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CPU Core: Main Processor - ARM946E-S (67MHz) Cache: Instructions 8kKByte, Data 4KByte TCM: Instructions 32kKByte, Data 16KByte Sub Processor - ARM7TDMI (33MHz) Memory: Main Memory - 4Mbyte (Debugger Use 8Mbyte) ARM9/ARM7 Shared - 32KByte (16kbyte x2) ARM7 Dedicated Internal Work RAM - 64KByte VRAM - 656KByte LCD: Display Size - 256 x 192 x RGB Dots x 2 Screens Number of Colors Displayed - 262,144 Colors (R:G:B=6:6:6) 2D Graphics Engine: BG - Maximum 4 Layers OBJ - Maximum 128 Objects 3D Graphics Engine: Coordinate Transform Capability - Maximum 4M Vertices/second Polygon Draw Rate - Maximum 120K Polygons/second Pixel Fill Rate - Maximum 30M Pixels/second Sound: 16ch ADPCM/PCM (Maximum 8ch alocatable to PSG) Microphone Input Wireless Communication: IEEE802.11-Based proprietary protocol Input Devices: Touch Panel + Key, A, B, R, L, START, SELECT (X, Y under consideration) Power Management: Sleep mode capable (Timer set, WakeUp on wireless-recieve, ect.) Power management capability for 2D engine, rendering engine, geometry engine, and LCD. this sounds amazin..this will give the psp a run for its money
isnt this the same stuff that leaked earlier, in that official-looking japanese document? :smt017 By the way, isnt it a bit outdated to still use a PSG? :butthead:
Hope those aren't the final specs because the PSP will squash it like a bug. And seeing as i read that nintendo is putting al their money on the DS and the company's future depends on it they'd better make a better machine. (okay the also have the N5 follow up to the gamecube but nintendo's money making is in the handheld buisness)
You know, I really want to root for Nintendo here, I really do. But honestly if these are the true specs the PSP will dominate it hands down.
This year's TGS is when Nintendo will unveil the DS to the world, not at E3. There is a chance that the PSP might be unveiled this year's E3.
I'm just curious as to why you guys all seem to think that the DS will be a dismal failure only because it's specs aren't what the PSP's are going to be. I'm not a Nintendo fanboy or anything, but I think this "less powerful hardware = suck" line of thinking is rather odd. If anyone recalls, the Sega Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket (Color), Wonderswan, and several other consoles fell to the VERY under powered Gameboy because it was the one with the good games and excellent design. That's actually incorrect. Nintendo has stated that they will unveil the DS at E3, and as far as the PSP goes, I can't imagine why Sony WOULDN'T feature it, seeing as it is projected to be due late this year/early next year.
Well to be honest the power of the machine is going to be important. Nintendo needs to reach the casual gaming masses if they want to survive, and as we all know casual gamers usually buy sony stuff like the PS2. The nintendo DS will need to be as powerfull or more powerfull then the PSP to be able to make the same kind of games that will be available for the PSP as simple 3D or 2D-only won't cut it anymore. Seeing as mainstream gamers value graphics above gameplay and so on it only seems logical that nintendo has to get the DS up to the same level as the PSP (psx versus n64 anyone ? ). Also the PSP will be a portable multimedia station for movies,music,pda functions and so on somehting i hope the DS will also have becuase and all-in one device would certainly add to the value of the machine. Don't get me wrong i'm not pro PSP i'm rooting for nintendo all the way but if they don't get that DS up to speed with the PSP all the unique gameplay, original games etc.. in the world won't save them form the PSP smashing the DS to pieces, just like the PSX smashed the N64 to bits.
But I'm really wondering why that is. I mean, I know the mainstream gamers are a bunch of neanderthals, but honestly the "if it's not in 3d and completely lightmapped with non-tiling textures and dual-pass bump mapping, it's utter shite!" line of thinking is completely rediculous. It's like if it's not cutting-edge, it won't even cut the mustard. I would think members of this board would be a little more informed about what makes games and systems great (Neo Geo, anyone? 10+ year old hardware and visuals with one of the strongest ever user bases?) but still all I'm seeing is that the machine specs are going to make or break a system. Your Nintendo 64 example works wonderfully - the N64 was technically the more impressive hardware, but the PSX killed it because it had the fun games. I guess I'm just pained to see the sort of hardware-worship that comes out of gaming mags and the local gamestores creeping into this board.
I couldn't agree with you more, i can't understand why people prefer killer graphics with light sourcing etc blablablabla above gameplay. But the simple fact is that it's a big factor for mainstream gamers, people want high tech grafics sound etc... only the die-hard gamers like the people on this board care 100% about gameplay. Mainstream gamers want games they can play for 30-60 minutes and not have to think or do much and then the graphics are important while die hard games that take more time have such great gameplay that they don't need super graphics to enjoy the game. And the problem is mainstream gamers is where the money is at and nintendo needs te get into the mainstream buisness to keep the company up and running so they can focus on their own unique gameplay and great games. Bottom line tech specs are verry important but they don't make a system a winner before the actual games are ready to be played.
But the GBA2 is still to be showcased, Ninty have stated all along the DS is just some middle market thing. Its supposed to fill the gap between the GBA2/PSP and GBA (or something).
Like maybe the Gameboy pocket, then Game Boy Color and then GBA. I see where this is going to. But I agree about the whole thing with hardware. Mainstream only focuses on what has the flashiest effects, etc, so that they look cool. I remember when I bought the N64 in 1997, it was because of the graphics. Although I ended up loving the system, I ended up with a PSOne in 2000 and played that more than my N64 and almost traded it in to get more PSX games. You also have to remember that nintendo still has the upper hand in this market. They control like 100% of it already, the PSP will have to make gold out of lead if they wanted to get at least 30% from Nintendo. All nintendo has to do is release a 3D pokemon game and they are set for life :smt043
That's what Nokia said. Their excuse was because they had a huge market share of the cell phone industry and thought that if they went into the portable handheld market, they would dominate it very fast. However, Nintendo proved them wrong soon afterwards. Nokia's N-Gage had Saturn like graphics, phone funtion, good battery life, yet it still died in less than a month. It goes to show that just because one corporation has dominance in one market it doesn't neccesarily mean it will dominate another market that is similar to the one it is in now. The same for Sony, they're dominating the console industry and they think that they will dominate the handheld. We'll find out when they release the PSP. Besides, the big companies announce support for BOTH the DS and PSP.
I'm not sure if it's even really going to be GBA related at all, like the examples of Gameboy Color/Pocket/etc or 32x/Saturn. Those were all subsequent iterations of existing hardware (32x being a poorly planned one), but Nintendo has stated that the DS is going to be a very seperate entity with a mostly seperate user base than the GBA, which really strikes me as odd, because I can't at all fathom what they are going to do to convince people that they should own two seperate Nintendo handhelds, unless it's a PDA-sort of thing (and with one of the screens supposedly having touch capabilities, I can sortof see that).
hmm 2 screens.. As I heard this touch screen anouncement my concept of this has greatly changed. Could Nintendo not just use the touch screen as the control pad itself allowing for different configurations for different games?
I sure hope not, because if it remained a screen, then I'd have to look at my greasy fingerprints on it all the time.... Major pet peeve. :smt043
