Unfounded DS Rumor - Virtual Console and DSware announcement for E3
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 6:04pm by David
Consider this sort of a rebuttal to Jake’s post from earlier today. While I don’t believe that Nintendo will announce DS 2 or DS Lite++, I think we’ll see something new for the hottest handheld in the world. I think we’ll see Nintendo bust out a legalized version of the R4 or other such storage device. It’ll allow the DS to reap the same benefits the Wii has for downloading and storing games. The DS will get it’s own WiiWare-like titles as well as downloads of classic Game Boy and GBA games. It might even allow you to use a DS like an MP3 or video player. This could help lend some truth to the original rumor without needing a whole new DS to accomplish it.
What do you think, will Nintendo try something like this?
[pic from gbatemp.net]
April 16th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
and I bet rommers will find a way to pirate the “ds-ware” titles too.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
“What do you think, will Nintendo try something like this?”
Yes. they will try something like this.
When DS 2 comes out. =)
April 16th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
I’m probably on your side. There’s every reason to believe that the advance slot can be converted into a flash memory card (very similar already to the “Compact Flash” card already on the market). You can get up to 30GB in something that size. Stick on that card a firmware upgrade for the DS that creates a more Wii-like channel menu along with DSware. It can probably all be done with a memory card and/or download… though they could definitely do MORE with a hardware upgrade, but I think a new SKU at this point in the game doesn’t sound right unless it’s a real DS2 (no way they’d actually call it that).
I do think we’ll see some exciting DS love at E3 though… I’m loving Wii, but DS seriously doesn’t stop getting more exciting. Wii is only now settling into it’s position of clever superiority.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
To clarify… I think it’s too soon for a DS2 but too late for another piece of hardware with the same technology.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I really don’t think so, seeing that it’s so hard to protect things like this from inventive minds.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
If there was a virtual console for the DS, they wouldn’t have that many games to put on it…GB and GBA. Unless they can get some Linx action on it.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
it would be smart, but I’m not sure of how likely it is to happen.
My money is on external harddrive compatibility for the Wii. Those WiiWare titles aren’t going to be small, no siree.
April 16th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I’m thinking the DSware device would be on a DS game card. Other DS VC systems could come along for the ride, like the ones from Sega. We could also see Game & Watch titles, too. Heck, maybe even Wii to DS VC transfers. Download to Wii and then take a game on the go!
April 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Stan, do you realize how many games have been released during the lifespan of the GameBoy brand? They’d be set for quite a long time.
April 16th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I think yes to download old nes or gb/gba games. but for music or other things you would need a direct feed at some of the baseball park setups they have.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Welcome back David! A great post to get back into the swing of thing too, I might add.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
-pssst- R4 bad…
April 16th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
“Stan, do you realize how many games have been released during the lifespan of the GameBoy brand? They’d be set for quite a long time.”
Exactly…especially if they do like the VC and only release 2 a week.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
@ Soup
External HD/Wii compatibility will be at E3.
@ David
MP3 wouldn’t be available since Nintendo is already leaning towards AAC. (See Photo Channel). The drawback to this is some games, Excite Truck & Endless Ocean for example, continue the MP3 support. They should also have enabled AAC also.
My money is on Wii to DS VC transfers. A special card to save your VC games. Or even using DS as a controller for Wii games. (Touch instead of Wii remote pointer.)
April 16th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
This would be cool. Piracy needn’t be an issue. Nintendo would charge more for their unit that pirates do and the pirates version comes pre ready to play pirated games.
I fail to see the point of people using Nintendo’s more expensive version to do what a cheaper version can do better.
Nintendo’s version will be bought for what it was intended
Imagine a portable Virtual console though, abbreviated to PVC… o.0 what’ll they think of next..
April 17th, 2008 at 2:00 am
That would be pretty sweet. There are a lot of old Gameboy games I wouldn’t mind revisiting… I’m looking at you, Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land! I lost my copy many years ago, but I remember it being pretty sweet…
April 17th, 2008 at 2:29 am
@Doughboy
Really? Where does this fortuitous news come from? Do you have a link for my Doubting Thomas eyes?
Could I ask anymore questions?
April 17th, 2008 at 7:35 am
@ Soup
The Wii External HD is also my thought for E3 revelations. Otherwise, I don’t believe that Nintendo will say too much. Possibly Wii Sports 2 (WFC enabled)… just my thought.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:24 am
This sounds like a great Idea , the Wii with a GBA channel to download, then upload it on the DS and saving it in the SD like card that goes into the DS slot…
But I doubt it, the DS is not up to speed with this kinda of features and yes we are still waiting for the Wii to feature the Ds demo channel that we all were promised before and also where are the Wii games that makes use of the DS? besides pokemon and I missed another? , but thats about it.
Like somebody said, is too late for a revision and to soon for a new hardware.
But I think is a new (GameBoy2) hardware soon to be announced instead of a DS revision ..
1) What else Nintendo can do different on the DS? Is to late for Nintendo to make a widescreen on the DS cuz the games for it dont support that format, to late to make the D-pad bigger, to late to make the games look any better, to late to make a better quality speakers for better sound.
2) The above mentioned fits better if Nintendo makes a new hardware, adding to that an internal memory with a GCN proccessor, by doing that it wont brake the bank to make as the GCN was last sold for 99.99 the GCN cpu will be cheap to produce..
So, I dont think a DS revision of that kind will be worth this late in the game ..for that just come out with a new hardware instead.
I believe it will be a addon or a peripheral that will connect to the DS, the ds will remain the same, if not a new portable that will make it to the market within 2 years..
April 17th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I doubt you’ll get a flashcart from Nintendo. They won’t do anything that makes piracy easier.
I don’t think there’ll be a superficial update to the DS, either. Nintendo’s now all about revolution, not evolution. If there’s something to this rumour, then it won’t be a DS 2.1, it’ll be a DS 3.0; a completely new handheld. BlockSS’s point about the price of the GameCube processor is interesting: we could be talking about a DS that has a major boost in processing power — and yes, that means we might be looking at Wii connectivity, an honest-to-goodness web browser, and (DRM compatible) media functionality.
Of course, if this kind of announcement is made, it will have a fairly long lead time. It won’t be launched in 2008.
As for the Wii hard drive, I’m torn. On the one hand, I think it’s genuinely inevitable. On the other, I don’t think Nintendo would have allowed Harmonix to announce the no-DLC Rock Band and blame storage capacity if a hard drive was as close as E3.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:50 am
whats hte likelihood of being able to download nintendo 64 games from the VC and transferring them to your ds? id love that. anybody else think it could happen?
April 17th, 2008 at 9:01 am
You’ve got between Buckley’s and none.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:51 am
i hope they do. it would own.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:44 am
You know what would be perfect? Have Nintendo release the flash memory adapter for the DS, then bundle it with a DS card that emulates the Virtual Console. Then, have the software let you buy VC games on the Wii and the DS and allow for the games to jump from the Wii to DS or vise versa. (ex. You buy Super Mario Bros 3 on the Wii, then you send it to your DS.) This would really boost the number of VC sales. What does everyone else think about this idea? Would you a buy a product like this?
April 17th, 2008 at 11:51 am
@Hugh G. Rection and anyone else hoping for a VH, Virtual handheld
Not until the next generation of the DS
It’s impossible for the DS to emulate N64 games. it’s barely more powerful than N64. If anything it’s more effeicient and runs at a lower resolution allowing for its’ games to look better along with better development techniques. The DS can barely handle Genesis and SNES emulation. Some games play perfectly, other ones have bad sprites or won’t load at all. The speed is often not at full speed in some of the better games, even after tinkering with emulator features.
In short, many games would have to be redone in the same manner as Donkey Kong Country for the GBA or Super Mario 64 DS. They were rebuilt for the GBA and DS respectively, but neither are capable of being emulated on their respected systems.
I do hope that the next-gen dS (not speaking about redesigns, but the next level) has this feature. Either that or Nintendo releases a GameBoy legacy system that has plenty of onboard memory and only plays downloaded GB, GBC and GBA games (and maybe has a feature to add music via micro-sd or sdhc cards and have them replace whatever the legacy’s playing for music).
April 17th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Clarification, it’s definitely more than possible to have all of the Gameboy gasmes on a VH for the DS, but expecting many of the Wii’s VC titles to come across is setting yourself up for disappointment.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
It could happen I think, after all it would be another way for Nintendo to rip it\s fans off. But like the virtual console it would be overpriced and have storage problems.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:28 am
gametaku whats if its a game as mario party or wheel of fortune from n64
April 18th, 2008 at 8:43 am
taku remember its e3 and it is nintendo. theyre notorious for doing huge things