Nintendo's new handheld

two screens... weird, i mean i could see a innovative game or two utilising that but for a dedicated system....

sounds cool. Good to see Nintendo has woken up and realises what threat the PSP poses to their handheld market. None of this 'We don't see Sony and MS as competitors, we make just games.' What a load of bollocks.

Its a great idea - I think it's really gonna be the 2 player aspect of things that becomes important.

Other things I can think of:

- True peripheral vision. Ever seen a game of Unreal2k on 3 screens? Very cool. It means that certain areas are out of your direct vision so you must become more alert. On a regular screen, everything is perfectly in focus.

- Menus and stuff in real time. One screen for the game - other for the menus etc - so you dont have to pause all the time.

- 2 player games where players can go off on their own - ie an RPG where your characters split up - not just play as one lot, then another.

I think showing games from more than one perspective will be an important part of this. First person and 3rd person at once?

Wow funky idea. Takes a bit to get your head around it.

I doubt they will dedicated a screen to each player, thats what all those link cables are for...

So is it based on the GBA hardware? I can't imagine Nintendo would drop the backwards compatability... and they have been saying all along that they intend to improve the GBA, not create a contender for the PSP.

How many days til E3? I'm going to need one of those lame count downs Java clocks. :D

I'm guessing that the two screens will be vertical to each other, so the controls, and screens can be folded that way.. and yeh, I agree, definately looking forward to the innovations in gameplay that come from designing for two screens [:)]

I'm thinking it'll just be great for the extra screen real estate. It will allow decent RTS's etc. to eb played, that normally take up a large part of the screen with menu options and whatnot to have a full screen showing the true map, and the other screen showing the menu options, minimap etc.
CYer, Blitz

It's kind of hard to tell how well this will sell...my first impression of it was "What the?", but with what everyone else has been saying, it sounds like it could have lots of potential...

It'd be interesting to find out what the first titles for it will be...

I think this is to compete with the 3d PSP. An advanced GBA wouldn't be enough. It'd still be stuck in the 2d realm and against the 3d PSP, it'd be commercial suicide.

I've been hearing that it's basically a portable Gamecube (remember the GBA chipset is extremely streamlined) with the second screen lined up for that 'gba connectivity' that Nintendo lauded so much, but has never really taken off. Most people don't bother with buying (say) Metroid Prime (GC) and Metroid Fusion (GBA) just so Samus can have an extra suit. This may cut having both versions of the game.

So instead of buying both products, you get 2 in 1. Not sure about battery life - but probably the same as PSP. This is how the NintendoDS (dual screen=dual system) fits between both product ranges.

I don't think it'll be portable - but it'd be cool if you could attach your NGC controllers to it as well.

quote:Originally posted by Blitz

I'm thinking it'll just be great for the extra screen real estate. It will allow decent RTS's etc. to eb played, that normally take up a large part of the screen with menu options and whatnot to have a full screen showing the true map, and the other screen showing the menu options, minimap etc.
CYer, Blitz

For so long, develoeprs have been trying to streamline interfaces so I hope this doesn't lead to developers regressing and not using the 'extra space' efficiently.

As for the killer app - probably a new Mario game that's 2 player but which encourges teamwork.

a 2 player handheld game..going to be sitting cheek to cheek watching your screens...thats the image ive got anyway. it may work differently to how i have imagined it.

I see it that way as well. It'll be portable - but not pocket size portable. I also think it'll be able to sit freely on a stable surface - maybe 20cm-ish in length? About the size of 2 gba's side by side. Or is it vertical?

I also wonder if it folds in the middle like a game'n'watch. That way players could be facing towards each other, unable to see the others screen (a la 'battleships'.

Now imagine a link up to another system (4 player).

Now imagine Goldeneye.

[url="http://www.ggdb.com/img/ggdb/vol0/5764_3_th_gm.jpg"]Something like this[/url].

I hope not - it just seems too predictable.

And limited.

I've always wanted a 2 player portable system - this is the best shot at it.

quote:Originally posted by JonathanKerr

I've always wanted a 2 player portable system - this is the best shot at it.

You could just buy two GBA SP's [:D]

well the nintendo DS looks like it will have two screens, interesting. you must all remember that the DS is not a continuation of the GB series, and is a "completly different concept", so dont start crying over the death of 3d games.

just take a look at this page [url]http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3188[/url]

here you can see one of the official concepts for the PSP, (sonys handheld) and by the looks of this lush looking machine it will $?cost?$ a few, especially when you concisder the large scree, shiny finish, disk laser, media and video playing capabilities, id say at least 200?. and the advance is around ?40, so the PSP is not really entering the little kids market that the gamboy dominates, but the same feild as the nintendo DS, so the gameboy will be kept going, but kept to the ?50 price tag area. and like the SP, the DS will occupy the more mature gamer market.

well there ya go, the gameboy wil still be goin, but the DS will be a seperate thing, probably costing around the same as the PSP.[8D]

Most reports i've seen suggest the DS will be coming in far cheaper than the psp. Around US$129 is the rumor atm, compared to psp's US$300 or something?!?
CYer, Blitz

I really don't think that Sony are aiming to compete with Nintendo for the handheld market. They have called the PSP 'the Walkman of the future', and how many little kids had one of those when they came out? Personally I think that Sony would be doing the right thing by making it more expensive and aiming it at a higher end market. It will be their first handheld. If they tried to take on Nintendo at a lower end market, they would just end up slaughtered. With this, they have the ability to become well known in the portable gaming arena, and then they can try to take on Nintendo.

The GBAs aren't always well priced anyway. My friend's brother wanted a GBA:SP when they came out. He could have spent $200 on the GBA, or $250 on a GC with the GBA adapter. Seeing as he only wanted the GBA for the games and not for the portability of it, he bought a GC.

I don't think that is what the PSP is gonna look like. That pic was in Atomic and they said it was just a mock up. I also think that the Nintendo one will be more popular with kids and the PSP popular with Teens. For some reason Sony carries a more cool tag with it where as Nintendo carries a childish one, I just can't see nintendo breaking away from this image IMO.

I read a fascinating article about Nintendo's approach with the gamecube. The PS2 and XBOX were aimed squarely at male youths (sharp edges, big black controllers), whereas the gamecube was designed to appeal to children, teens and open minded adults (age and gender indefferent basically). Nintendo are not likely to drop this any time soon, as their games conforms to the same theory.

Bullet21, i reckon you're right. I wouldn't be surprised if the GBA and PSP markets were essentially divided by age (GBA - kiddies, PSP - oldies). What 6th grader is going to carry around a $500 PSP?

Honestly, you can't really compete with the Game Boy brand at this point; a GBA competitor would be blown away. Instead, sony appear to be trying to appeal to those who like the idea of portable gaming, but don't like what the GBA is offering.

What i dont understand, is why Nintendo is launching the DS. The PSP is going to take a small portion of Nintendo's 20 somethings... but they have always done well on their Pokemon and Mario franchises, which generally do not appeal to this age bracket. So how can it possibly be in Nintendo's interest? (Unless of course GBA backwards compatability comes into it...)

sorry this post jumps around so much :D
cheers