New Nintendo DS Speculation Is Rife

[Mulboyne]

BBC: Japanese DS rumours are building
Nintendo will start selling a new version of its handheld DS console before Christmas, according to press reports in Japan. The business newspaper Nikkei said over the weekend that the latest model would come with a camera, digital music player and improved wireless internet. Nintendo is refusing to confirm the reports in the paper. In a statement, it said: "We have made no such announcement and will not comment on rumour and speculation"...According to the Nikkei report, Nintendo is also planning to upgrade the DS to compete with more advanced mobile phones. Although unlikely to come with full calling capabilities, it said the new machine will feature "advanced wireless communication functions". It is expected to be priced below 20,000 yen close to the current 16,800 yen price for a standard DS. It will initially be sold in Japan but the company is also "considering overseas sales," according to the newspaper.

There has been a lot of coverage of this Nikkei report on tech blogs. The new DS is described as an "ipod killer" and an "iphone killer" but the BBC report above summarizes the only speculation available in the Nikkei report so the rest is even more guesswork.

[Zeth3D]

In my opinion, if nintendo were to back a really well supported open development community for the DS, I think they could do it, or at least come closer than all the other "ipod killers"

[Kuang_Grade]

Given Nintendo's strident resistance to even mild forms on internet connectivity for the sake of "protecting" users as well as generally zero non proprietary secondary storage options (SD card on the Wii are only exception I can think of, and I believe that it is not directly readable...any data you have on the SD card, you have to move on the wii's internal memory first), I wouldn't be holding my breath for any internet related aspect that would have impressed anyone in 2002, let alone today.

Given a phone's overall usefulness, I don't think alot of folks are going to be saying "you know, I don't need an iphone, I need a DS" while I suspect plently of folks are thinking "now that I have an iphone, I do I really really need to have a DS?". I know having a ipod touch pretty much demolished my last flimsy rationals for continuing to own a PSP.

[Mulboyne]

New DS Confirmed: the DSi

[Kuang_Grade]

Interesting that it has 2 cameras...one on the inside and one on the outside of the unit...my first thought was "upskirters are going to love this" since the camera is almost invisible on the black unit...but I imagine that there will be a ton of interlocks on camera usage

While the dropping of the GBA slot isn't surprising, I did find it interesting that they are planning to sell downloads for the DS. Either they are pretty confident of their DRM or they figured that DS cartridge piracy is getting so bad that need to more up the tech ladder so they can at least play cat and mouse with the pirates on a more active level via firmware upgrades (which is what Sony does with their PSP).

[Taro Toporific]

... DS cartridge piracy is getting so bad that need to more up the tech ladder so they can at least play cat and mouse with the pirates on a more active level via firmware upgrades (which is what Sony does with their PSP).

That's what I was figuring too. The DSi could be slam dunk for me if a Skype application/headset comes out that is SEAMLESS integrated (unlike the poor useablity and the fiddly bits on the PSP).

[Kuang_Grade]

DSi games will be region locked

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/dsi-software-will-be-region-locked-confirms-nintendo

Nintendo has confirmed that software specifically created for the DSi will be region-locked, with European, North American and Japanese software only working on consoles designed for their specific regions. Previous DS and GameBoy hardware has been region-free, allowing users to purchase US or Japanese software and play it on a European handheld. Nintendo told our sister site Eurogamer.net this afternoon that the DSi is region locked "because DSi embeds net communication functionality within itself and we are intending to provide net services specifically tailored for each region".

The company added: "Also because we are including parental control functionality for Nintendo DSi and each region has its unique age limit made by different independent bodies."

This only applies to software that is compatible exclusively with the DSi - existing DS software remains region-free. Internet browsing and photo sharing also works globally.

It's worth noting that Nintendo's statement refers to "software" rather than "games". GamesIndustry.biz is seeking further clarification from Nintendo. A lucrative retail market currently exists catering to early adopters and consumers keen to import Japanese and US titles often released far earlier in those regions than in Europe.

It looks like the game importing biz is going to become a little tougher, given the DS is one of the biggest global platforms and a fair bit of DS software didn't necessarily require a ton of language skill...Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan was enjoyable even with zero J langague knowledge