#28804 - JonahB - Sat Nov 06, 2004 5:09 pm
Hi. I'm new to these forums. I've had some experiance programming the GBA awhile back, but I didnt stick to it long enough to finish any games. Other interests pulled me away from GBA development. I am very interested in programming the DS though. I cant wait 'till I get my hands on this system.
Enough with the introductions, I come bearing interesting news!
The December issue of Edge magazine (Edge Online) has some spicy new details about Nintendo DS. It looks like the touchscreen won't be the only groundbreaking innovation in the handheld console world. Nintendo is getting ready for online, in a BIG way!
-Wireless voice chat protocols are already being developed by Nintendo themselves.
-Other companies are already developing internet browsing interfaces and protocols.
-Bandai revealed that they already have the DS interacting with PC's.
-Square Enix have been experimenting with their own "PlayOnline" service and the DS.
-While Nintendo guaranteed that the DS can support up to 8 players wirelessly, other companies have had success with 32 machines connecting together.
#28805 - keldon - Sat Nov 06, 2004 6:01 pm
I think everyone has had this little feeling about the DS not being JUST a games machine, especially with Nintendo's, "this is not a gameboy" quotes.
Whether that is a good thing is a question in itself. All of these projects fail, as they just end up being poor games machines, and poor alternatives to PDA's. In fact it would not be that much different from the N-Gage - apart from probably just the name =D.
Well let's just hope that Nintendo get it right.
#28815 - ampz - Sat Nov 06, 2004 9:25 pm
Well, it feels like the DS is designed from scratch primarily for handheld games, and not the other way around (like the n-gage).
I don't think they have let any non-game related feature or function interfere with it's primary function (games).
In fact, there is not a single feature in the DS that is not very useful for games. The fact that some of the features open up some interesting non-gaming possibilities is a completely different thing.
It would be very interesting to make Palm OS or windows CE run on the DS, since the DS only costs like 1/5 of a regular handheld, and it looks like it is alot smaller than most handhelds.
Aside from generic PDA applications I think the DS will also prove to be a decent mp3 player.
#28819 - tepples - Sat Nov 06, 2004 11:52 pm
A lot of this assumes that either 1. we can get a DS flash card and that the machine doesn't require code to be signed, or 2. we can buffer-overflow a DS title with GBA cart connectivity to load unsigned code.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#28826 - mymateo - Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:29 am
I personally agree with ampz. The n-gage did very poorly because it was a phone that played video games. The DS is a game system that can be used as a phone. Also, it has the Nintendo name to back it up, and Nintendo has been the leading manufacturer of handheld video games (mainly because nobody else really tried, though the Game Gear had a good run. It's battery life just really REALLY sucked! On 6 brand new AA Energizers/Duracell, I usually got somewhere from 30 to 60 minutes).
Aside from this, it also supports another console -- the Gameboy Advance. That's about 550 games, or so the articles say. I have a feeling if the n-gage supported a major console it would have done better, though it might have needed to drop the price a bit. Wasn't it $400 CDN at release? Whew! At half the price, ten times the games to start with, plus two, bigger screens, one of them touch sensitive, it boggles the mind! How could the DS fail? Sure, it doesn't act as a cellular phone... but if you're within range of a WAP (and if the software is made yet) you can use it as a VoIP phone.
Sorry if I ramble, but I'm just so excited about the DS. I want it worse than anything I've ever wanted, with the exception of going to Disneyland in grade 5. Or a million dollars. But that won't happen by the 21st as I don't play the lottery.
And for you Canadian readers, and Americans living close to the border, be sure to check out www.nintendo.ca (not .com, .ca!) 'cause Nintendo will be going cross-country stopping at the major cities and -- wait for it -- displaying DS's and -- it gets better -- letting people play them! It's a five-hour drive for me, and not worth the gas cost OR the bus ticket, so I'm gonna have to tough it out...
Arg, someone put me out of my misery or I'll keep going on like this until D(s)-day!
#28833 - Mr. Ploppy - Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:15 am
Thanks for the link mymateo. No locations near me, but it seems Nintendo is sure getting chummy with Zellers in BC. You also draw a very noteworthy parallel on battery life between the GameGear and PSP. However I take exception to your remark about the gameboy having no other challengers. The Japanese market was once rife with NeoGeos and WonderSwans, the Gameboy enjoyed success because it was the best overall, not because of a lack of competition!
_________________
I'm just off to Hartleypool to buy some exploding trousers. Cluck, cluck, gibber, gibber, "my old man's a mushroom", et cetera.
#28872 - mymateo - Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:41 am
I apologize for that. I was just speaking from my point of view, that's all. When I was a kid, the only choices we had (due mostly to what the local yokels stocked) were basically Gameboy and GameGear. I don't remember actually seeing anyone play a Virtualboy, and I don't recall ever hearing any of those other handhelds you mentioned, at least not until I got into the Gameboy Advance and started looking at import stuff to find a flash cart for it.
Long story short, sorry to assume GameBoy didn't have challengers. Your forgiveness I beg!! : P
#28916 - Abscissa - Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:54 pm
| mymateo wrote: |
| I don't remember actually seeing anyone play a Virtualboy |
Heheh, That's because nobody played the Virtual Boy. ;)
#28929 - tepples - Mon Nov 08, 2004 8:29 pm
In that case, I am a nobody, as I played a lot of Galactic Pinball on the Virtual Boy. Does that make me a fish?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#28935 - DiscoStew - Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:54 pm
Would that mean the actual title for that movie would be "Finding Nobody"?
I tried the Virtual Boy when it first came out, mainly the Wario game, though it just really wasn't exciting for me.
With the whole online thing, I'm ready for it. I wonder if they are going to have some sort of server(s) that will hold all the games that are currently in progress? Not for actual game processing, but just to hold whose currently playing such-and-such game that has enabled online connecting.
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DS - It's all about DiscoStew