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DS development > ds taken apart

#25053 - originalself - Sun Aug 15, 2004 11:30 pm

here are some pictures of various internal components form the e3 version. thought i would pass them along. check it here. http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=6846
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#25058 - tepples - Mon Aug 16, 2004 3:49 am

Those pics are of the old "safety curve" DS, not the new "sexy" DS.

I still hold out hope for Dual Shock 2 style analog buttons.
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#25059 - PhoenixSoft - Mon Aug 16, 2004 7:59 am

Here's the pics from that article, in case anyone is too lazy to check themselves :)

[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - Top of battery
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - Bottom of battery
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - Top of MoBo
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - Bottom of MoBo
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - DS battery charge/discharge testing
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - Same as ^
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it] - Same as ^^

What you should notice in these pictures is:

- The DS's model code is NTR, which stands for Nitro
- The cartridge connector is shown in one of the images
- The DS runs on 3.7 V, according to the battery
- The original DS looks pretty good in that beige-white colour
- Looks like the dev unit loads games in via the AGB slot

I'm wondering which dev company let Cube-Europe see their dev hardware, I bet Ninty would like to know :)

#25085 - dagamer34 - Mon Aug 16, 2004 7:58 pm

An 840 mAh battery... Looks like Nintendo has found some pretty efficient parts compared to what the PSP is using. can you believe that sucker has a 1800 mAh battery at the moment and there are STILL worries about battery life? Makes me wonder how much playing time the DS would get if it had that kind of battery instead! :)
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Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(

#25090 - Fatnickc - Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:28 pm

But, only 500 reacharges in the battery's life? Is that bad? Or good? I hope they have ann AA add on, just in case. And, make the battery changeable. Remember, as it says in the article, it may be the old DS, butt he insides won't change. Much.

#25091 - Abscissa - Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:30 pm

dagamer34 wrote:
Makes me wonder how much playing time the DS would get if it had that kind of battery instead! :)


<really bad fanboy joke>Probably not much playtime at all. You're hands would get too tired holding such a brick :) </really bad fanboy joke>

#25096 - dagamer34 - Mon Aug 16, 2004 10:58 pm

Fatnickc wrote:
But, only 500 reacharges in the battery's life? Is that bad? Or good? I hope they have ann AA add on, just in case. And, make the battery changeable. Remember, as it says in the article, it may be the old DS, butt he insides won't change. Much.


Well that's the same amount for the GBA SP. You would have to recharge the battery once a day before it would go out, and even then it would have lasted about a year and a half. So no worries. :)
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Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(

#25098 - dagamer34 - Mon Aug 16, 2004 11:00 pm

Abscissa wrote:
dagamer34 wrote:
Makes me wonder how much playing time the DS would get if it had that kind of battery instead! :)


<really bad fanboy joke>Probably not much playtime at all. You're hands would get too tired holding such a brick :) </really bad fanboy joke>


The tags were very appropriate for that reply...
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Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(

#25110 - ampz - Tue Aug 17, 2004 1:12 am

The battery time of the DS will probably be significantly decreased if you use the wifi alot.
802.11 wifi cards have a active powerconsumption of up to 500mA(!).

#25190 - Zero - Tue Aug 17, 2004 11:40 pm

who says the e3 units have the same battery as the final version anyways??
8)

#25339 - SmileyDude - Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:27 pm

Looking at the pic of the board on the back, that small IC on the bottom left -- is that the CGB chip that's in the GBA as well? I don't have a pic handy of the GBA board, but I was just wondering if anyone knew...

So far, it's been disappointing that there hasn't been any mention of GB/CGB compatibility in the DS -- since they have the GBA cart slot anyway, and that the 4 sound channels from the GB are used in the GBA, it would seem to make sense that GB/CGB compatibility would come along for the ride.

Anyone else care to speculate?
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dennis

#25340 - sgeos - Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:39 pm

SmileyDude wrote:
Anyone else care to speculate?

I think the CGB stuff could be emulated fairly easily, but it will not be a selling point for the DS. If it is trivial for them to include from the business end, I think they will do it.

-Brendan

#25347 - dagamer34 - Sat Aug 21, 2004 2:25 am

sgeos wrote:
SmileyDude wrote:
Anyone else care to speculate?

I think the CGB stuff could be emulated fairly easily, but it will not be a selling point for the DS. If it is trivial for them to include from the business end, I think they will do it.

-Brendan


Actually, from a business stand point, it is better NOT to include that feature. Otherwise, competitors can claim that this is in fact the new GameBoy, and if the DS goes downhill, all will be over in the portable market. Nintendo has stated firmly that all GameBoys will be completely backwards compatible, and the DS doesn't. But allowing the DS to play GBA games is also a good part of their strategy as it lets those who never did get around to buying a GBA play those games and also play the new DS games as well.
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Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(

#25419 - Abscissa - Sun Aug 22, 2004 4:52 pm

I thought I heared that Nintendo had actually stated that the DS will not play GB/GBC games.

#25427 - dagamer34 - Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:50 pm

Abscissa wrote:
I thought I heared that Nintendo had actually stated that the DS will not play GB/GBC games.


It won't. I guess it saves them some money by not having to embed a Z80 processor into the ARM7TDMI which people rarely use anyway.
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Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(

#25434 - SmileyDude - Sun Aug 22, 2004 9:33 pm

dagamer34 wrote:
It won't. I guess it saves them some money by not having to embed a Z80 processor into the ARM7TDMI which people rarely use anyway.


I don't know if I would say rarely -- sure, I play more GBA games than GB/CGB games, but that backwards compatibility was a big factor in purchasing my original GBA on launch as opposed to waiting for a better game selection. I still play some GB games regularly -- Mario's Picross is what I currently have in my SP.

As far as saving money goes, I would agree except that they already use the sound portion of the CGB chip in GBA mode. Unless Nintendo is going to go through the trouble of designing a new chip just for the 4 sound channels, or re-desigining the GBA chip to include those channels, or moving the sound channels to the DS chip instead, that chip will be there.

I can't see how re-designing a chip that already exists is gonna save them money -- unless, they put it into the DS chip instead.

I'd be willing to wager that the DS will have the CGB chip -- but, if it's enabled as a CGB or not is anyone's guess. I just hope that it is :)
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dennis