What should become of the Gameboy?

[GwymWeepa]

The DS has done far better than I expected. How should Nintendo handle its other hot property the GB? They wouldn't want it to compete with the DS so naturally it won't be shown for some time, but when it is finally revealed, what do you want it to be?

Personally I think it should be Nintendo's move into the mp3/movie playing portable market. Naturally they'll have a great leg-up on the competition due to the name and the pedigree of game software that will appear on the unit. I think a unit with PSP quality graphics, but in a unit not much bigger than the SP along with movie and music playing capabilities would be amazing. But all of this has to be done cheaply...so that it remains a "toy".

 

[see colon]

i imagine we might have a hint at this years e3. i'd think a handheld capable of playing virtual console games would be quite popular.

 

[Hardknock]

i imagine we might have a hint at this years e3. i'd think a handheld capable of playing virtual console games would be quite popular.

Indeed. Could you imagine downloading games for the Rev and then being able to play them on your new Gameboy on the go? Awesome.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Could you imagine downloading games for the Rev and then being able to play them on your new Gameboy on the go?.

Not really. How would they implement the Wand controller on a handheld? DS with better graphics makes sense. Convergent device doesn't really. Nintendo would have to broker content deals and create a distribution system, which every man and their dog is doing these days. Still, I guess they would be in a strong position to do that. Online in the DS seems more popular than other platforms (though still well under most people).

 

[hey69]

 

[Guden Oden]

Personally I think Nintendo themselves were caught a bit with their guard down re. the success of the DS, and if I was to speculate I'd expect them to:

A - hold off on the update of the GBA for a while.
This is because they've clearly relegated the GBA to the budget territory with the Micro, sort of a PS One if you like.

B - quietly re-jig the next GBA with DS backwards compatibility, dual screens and touchscreen input, if it wasn't already planned to include these features. They might drop GBA functionality from it though to get rid of that huge cartslot and perhaps some ancient hardware baggage as well.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Like my suggestion for XBoy, placing a chunk of cheap Flash RAM would enable downloadable content. They can then resell people their old GB(A) games to play on their DS++, which Nintendo just love doing!

 

[see colon]

which is exactly the point of allowing users to download virtual console games via revolution to the next gen handheld. it opens up a new market for VC games.

and it doesn't have to be internal memory. nintendo could make a killing selling custom flash memory. look at the price of 64MB X360 memory cards. or, use SD cards. revolution is supposed to have an SD slot. it would be an easy way to transfer games.

 

[Richard]

Why view the DS as anything but the GB's successor (despite what Nintendo would like for you to believe)?

 

[GwymWeepa]

Because it is still a popular license. I think the DS has become the successor to the gameboy but not intentionally. I know that sounds odd, but I don't think the success of the DS was quite anticipated, or if it was, only as a pie in the sky dream scenario. Well they got it that's for sure. But the gameboy name is still powerful, they should utilize it, hence why I think they should add other functionality to it, to become its adult product (despite the name lol) and leave the DS to be the game centric device still skewed young (though they are doing an excellent job selling games to all demographics).

 

[Richard]

I don't think it was quite that accidentally, or rather, it was fairly predictable. That's why Nintendo had to do some damage control when it announced the DS because GBA users were all crying "but we just bought this new console!". So while Nintendo may have launched the DS as a sort of alternative touch/dual screen experiment (much like the infamous Virtual Boy) I think the writing was on the wall that it would eventually replace the GBA.

As for the brand, I agree it's much stronger than DS but Nintendo may be wanting to shed its "kiddie" image that the name evokes. I do wish Nintendo settles on a single handeld in the future. The original GB lasted many years even against severe competition from SEGA with its colour GameGear.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Nintendo DS sponsors some adult TV content here in the UK. They're definitely trying to broach into a more mature mindset. I think a DS successor would have more widestream appeal than a GB successor, as the latter is much more (seen as) a toy for younger players.

 

[Corwin_B]

If Nintendo was really sure the DS would be a hit (especially with the PSP coming), they would have released it under the Gameboy name, if only to take advantage of brand awareness and fidelity.

I think they originally saw the DS as both an experiment (their "third pillar" strategy) and as a quick response to the PSP, a kind of stop-gap between the GBA and the "next GB". I agree that they probably wish they had called it "GBDS" or something.

That's why Nintendo had to do some damage control when it announced the DS because GBA users were all crying "but we just bought this new console!".

When has that consideration ever stopped Nintendo from releasing updated/relooked hardware ? Not that I applaud them for this, but that's what they do.

For the next GB, my wishful thinking :
1) GBA SP form factor (clamshell)
2) decent to good 3D graphics (MBX-level)
3) standard 4:3 screen, same pixel density as the PSP but smaller size
4) Out of the box WiFi (this one is nearly a given), featuring compatibility with Rev (download of VC games and demos)
5) Input : I expect something N64-level (the GB has NES controls, the GBA is between NES and SNES, and the DS has SNES controls). I would love to see some original input out of the box, like a built-in tilt sensor. Out of the box rumble would be nice too.
6) Memory/storage : I believe Nintendo will stick to cartridges for the next GB (something DS-like, perhaps higher capacity). Internal storage (like on the Rev) for VC games and saves would be nice (128 or 256MB). Backward-compatible GBA slot is probably a given, with the possibility to use it for expansions/extra features. Cartridges would put it at a disadvantage storage-wise against the PSP, but would allow for a more robust handheld, better battery life and faster load times, all points which are more important for handhelds than for consoles.
7) Media features in an external GBA cartridge with an SD slot, like the Play-yan.

 

[Rolf N]

Personally I think Nintendo themselves were caught a bit with their guard down re. the success of the DS, and if I was to speculate I'd expect them to:

A - hold off on the update of the GBA for a while.
This is because they've clearly relegated the GBA to the budget territory with the Micro, sort of a PS One if you like.

B - quietly re-jig the next GBA with DS backwards compatibility, dual screens and touchscreen input, if it wasn't already planned to include these features. They might drop GBA functionality from it though to get rid of that huge cartslot and perhaps some ancient hardware baggage as well.

Like my suggestion for XBoy, placing a chunk of cheap Flash RAM would enable downloadable content. They can then resell people their old GB(A) games to play on their DS++, which Nintendo just love doing!

(emphasis mine in both quotes)
It doesn't work that way. The NDS already is backwards-compatible with GBA software. If we ignore for a moment that it, unlike the GBA, doesn't play GB and GBC software -- and I did take note that you put the A in brackets, Shifty Geezer --, the NDS already is what you're describing.

Retrofitting a GBA to also play NDS software would yield the current NDS.
Retrofitting the NDS to also play GBA software would as well yield the current NDS.
So there's really no change required except where it concerns playing GB/GBC roms on a machine that also plays NDS roms. I'm not sure that's a good motive. I rather believe they threw that away on purpose when designing the NDS. They surely could have had GB compatibility if they wanted to do it.

I do see the move from the GBA SP, the former one-size-fits-all Nintendo handheld, towards the Micro and the NDS as a diversification. That has already happened, it just took Nintendoish directions that not everyone would have expected. The Micro now covers the "ultra-portable" and makes some sacrifices for that while OTOH the NDS goes for glitz and ergonomics (stereo speakers, larger screen(s), more comfortable input layout).

I just have little reason to believe right now that Nintendo will join that portable movie-watching business, which seems to be (no offense intended) the primary use of the PSP. I think they're comfortable with having "just" games. You also should keep in mind that in contrast to Sony Nintendo is not a company that controls any movie and music content. It's much more natural for Sony to go there, and move parts of their already present content library over to their own device, than it is for Nintendo, who would need to license such content from elsewhere.