Nintendo plans new game product

Hype and anticipation doesn't carry through. Look at the movies this summer. Many of of the big buget movies that have been hyped for ever did horrible at the box office. Same holds true with handhelds. Hype will get you through the first few months . After that sales will drop drasticly if its a bad product or there is a better product out there .

 

And you know, unifying handheld/set-top architectures (which is what is implied here) would REALLY revolutionise the industry, just as Nintendo suggests.

If this is what N is planning... I think they're the only ones who could pull it off right now.

And yes. A GCP with comparable size and battery life to PSP - not necessarily better, but say within a couple hours or something - but with GC's entire library would REALLY be a slap in Sony's face.

 

It's been done before.


NEC's PC Engine of 1987 (1989 in the U.S. as TG16) was released in 1990 as the PC Engine GT / Turbo Express portable. it played the very same games as the console.

 

Megadrive, but how was the battery life and such?

 

sux0red... (Hence I no longer have mine...)

 

I never had a TE/PCE GT myself but ive heard the thing had a very short battery life of 2-4 hours. that was 1990. battery techology has improved since then, no doubt. and ATI are masters of low power consumption GPUs. I'm certain a GC portable could be made with decent battery life by 2004-2005.

 

I came across it here.

Not entirely sure where it originally came from, but there is a lot of cool stuff in a Google groups search 8)

 

Sega Nomad which also metioned in this thread, and there was also that Bandai SFamicom portable prototype.

But to use optical for the sake of compatibility with GC is just sily. But it would be a good idea to use optical if the ROM technology, can't match the advantages of optical medium.

If I were Nintendo, with this announcement, I would already start taunting Sony back, especially with GC production halt announcement. Instead, Nintendo seems to have gone mellow.

Taunting back at Sony would remove most of the attention from this GC hicup, as well as counter all the hype that will be build till PSP launched. There is still time for it no doubt, but the GC hicup, is just a bad image for confidence.

 

The TurboExpress did not have any die shrinks or anything drastic done to it relating to power draw. It used the exact same chips as the PC-Engine and included a backlit LCD screen too. The only difference was that the PCB was slightly shrunken, but that's it. The fact that it lasted 2-4 hrs using 6 AA Ni-Cd was a great accomplishment all factors considered.

Now even on the orginal unoptimised design and using today's higher capacity 2200 mAh Ni-MH AA batteries, you would probably be able to get 6-8 hrs. Now factor in die shrinks and power optimizations and you're looking at over 12 hrs easy. A GCP is very feasible now considering that the GCN is being sold for $100. With power saving optimizations and a die shrink to say 0.09u, you could probably get 6-8 hrs of use with a high mAh capacity battery from a GCP. Obviously a GCP would be sold for $150-$200.

 

One thing to remember imo: This industry is driven by software sales, so making an affordable handheld that plays peoples' existing software libraries (regardless whether this is financially/technologically feasible at a low price point in 2005) seems a worse business model then re-releasing their games on a new format. Besides I'll look forward to the input schemes of PSP / GBAII, hopefully we'll get something different then dig pad plus 2 buttons in that gen...

 

PC:

Where do you find 2200mAh Ni-MH batteries? Best ones I've found are 1800 (and one of those runs my MD player for a friggin WEEK ).

*G*

 

http://www.nimhbattery.com/

2100, 2200, or 2300 mAh...take your pick 8)

 

The PC engine express didn't use a backlit LCD, it was a small picture tube, like the ones used in portable TV's back then...

 

I assume it'd be more power hungry than today's LCD screens. It was a very think looking portable for it's time. Also doubled as a TV with the adapter... similar to the gamegear.

 

No, it was definitely an LCD. I have one

 

Yes as a matter of fact the backlighting system consisted of a mini flourescent tubeshaped bulb and a diffuser. I guess today white LEDs used for backlighting is cheaper and less power hungry than the flourescent bulb system.

 

there are some hurdles for a possible GCP compatible w/ GC software.


where do you put all these buttons/sticks ?
(you could imagine something like a GC controller w/ a screen in its middle, but it would be BIG especially if it has to support CD).

GC games weren't designed to play on a little LCD screen, it could be a problem.

why not a new GBA still using cartridge but that would be in fact a GC controller w/ a GBA inside ? which would be sold at a price near the price of a wavebird..