First the DS.

Then the DS lite.

Then the DSi

Then the DS XL

And now... 3DS

It's not much in change of hardware... but it supports 3D.

Offical press release: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/100323e.pdf

No one should buy a DS for another 10 years. Maybe by then they can settle on a model.

::edit::

Replaced links

Edit 2:
by Ixzion.

Edit 3:
by Lantis.

Yup, another one. HOWEVER, its not just another model DS. It's apparently the (a?) successor, that happens to be backwards compatible. http://kotaku.com/5499697/nintendo-anno ... ntendo-3ds

Yeah, till their next model that does something this one doesn't.

I dunno... like does 3D that comes out of the screen and requires glasses.

As has been said, this is the successor to the Nintendo DS. The true one.

Apparently, it's supposed to have the power of the Gamecube and be backwards-compatible with all DS/DSi games.

Nintendo has asked consumers to purchase a lot of DS models. If they had only released the DS and DS Lite up until now and marketed the 3DS as a DS 2.0 of sorts, it would probably sell like crazy. I don't doubt that the DS brand will remain very strong, but I can't help but think there's a little bit of an oversaturation risk.

And I think that if it were Microsoft or Sony doing this kind of thing, they'd get all sorts of flac. But for some unkown reason, Nintendo gets diplomatic immunity.

I, on the other hand, have never felt pressured to purchase any of them.

I have a launch DS. When the DSL came, I was like "cool", but I already had a DS and the benefits of the DSL to me were trivial. Then the DSi comes and I'm kinda mad, cuz they have a DSi channel with games downloadable for it, including Shantae 2. But I still don't buy it because I don't care enough.

Then DSLX comes, but this is just a regular DSi with extra big screens for old people. The only time I've felt like Nintendo was saying "buy this or else" was the DSi.

And now, with the 3DS.

Just like the DSi, there will be 3DS only titles. There's been too short of a time span for a new one. They put out DS's like developers put out game titles.

It needs to be backwards-compatible to GB, GBC, SGB, and GBA games, too.

I find it a potentially awkward system to hold, if it has to be open all the way at all times. I don't play my DS all the way open. However, it'd be easy for me to get, on account I never fell for the extra DS systems. (Though RPGTDS comes close to making me go for a DSi.)

All I'm saying is that this is the response people should be having:

"Oh look! Another DS..."

Yeah, I don't see what the big deal is. Right now it seems to be more about asthetics. Sure, the whole 3D thing could prove to be an interesting feature, but I don't see near as much potential in it than I did with the WiiMote and the original DS.

I'm not sure what we are arguing about here but knowing me I'll join in.

My take is that Nintendo has a well known history of releasing new models of their systems. Even the Gamecube came out originally only in purple and then later black and silver after most people already bought it in purple (lucky for me I had not yet so I was able to buy black first time). But they are notorious for doing this with their handhelds so this is nothing new and to be honest Lantis I don't know why you find this so annoying or frustrating this time unless you always feel this way when they release new models or systems.

As for me I never hear any hype or excitement, either from gamers or critics, about any new system or model until it is a real jump, like Gameboy Advance to DS. That is also the only time that I myself ever take interest. Otherwise, I yawn too.

But I never feel Nintendo asks us to buy anything. They just put things out there. And I never feel pressured to buy anything but that is all dependent on the individual, because there is a tradition in gaming, albeit one that I myself do not subscribe too, that gamers should play games or systems as soon as they come out.

However, I would definitely see a valid criticism if say this means they are going to stop making regular DS games and one owns a DS and is counting on new games. I felt this way when the XBOX 360 was released. I felt I hadn't yet got my fill of the original XBOX so I was upset that they were 'killing' it. I would hope that isn't the case here.

Actually, you're right, Nintendo has done this for a long time. There's the Game Boy Pocket, after all. But I think the issue is that some people feel like they were gypped because they were early adopters, and missed out on the newer designs. Granted, the DS Lite is of questionable improvement and thus isn't worth getting mad about, but then we have the DS-i, which is most definately a DS upgrade, with games and features not available (or only partly) on those with older DSs.

As for system recolors, those aren't a big deal, because you're not missing out on much.

I decided to avoid the walls of text because it is late.

sorry.


Any way, this reminds me of a story...a story of a console. And that console was called the Dreamcast. You see, the Dreamcast was a very good system. It had a strong library of games. It supported internet play before we could even fathom a console doing such a thing. It had cool features like memory cards that you could take out and play like little tamogotchi. It was the first to market in the next gen console race by more than a year. But it failed to sell.
Why little Dreamcast, why won't you sell? Because your parent company got too happy making your predecessors only moderately better than one another, and released them rapid fire.
1983-the Master System, 1988-The Genesis, 1990-(the slimmer) Genesis 2, 1993-the SegaCD add on, 1994-the (microscopic) Genesis 3, (early in the year) the 32X add on (for the Genesis 2 only), and (late in the year) The Sega Saturn.
What would sega do to the dreamcast??? would buying one now doom it to obsolescence in a few scant months?
Who knew??? So now, instead of reading about that Awesome New Sonic game on the Sega Stardust Or DreamBlaster or Orbit or just Dreamcast 2, we see Sonic playing second fiddle to Mario, his old rival in HIS (Mario's) games. Where Sonic is merely a guest, tolerated, like an orphan who was left on your doorstep by parents who rang the doorbell and ran.

The moral of the story is that to remain competitive in the console market, even hand held, you need to allow for SATURATION TIME. One needs to allow developers time to maximize the hardwares' potential, to push the system to the max. Look at a game like Popeye for the NES. It was a LAUNCH title for that system- IN 1981. Now take a game like Wario's Woods, one of the last for that system. Note any differences? How about the graphics were almost SNES quality-albeit in 8 bit color, but still! Wario's Woods came out in 1994. When was the last time you heard of a console having a useful life THAT long. You don't because that WAS the last time. Nintendo, learn a lesson from Sega, and go back to your roots. CONSOLES ARE NOT CELL PHONES. THEY ARE MEANT TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES AT HOME ON.

My opinion: Nintendo is reducing their hand held system to the level of a fad. And for me, that's a bitter pill to swallow. Shame on you Nintendo, Shame on you.

Saturation of time doesn't exist anymore, Staffy. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate. Look at the computers of yesteryear. They used to take up the size of an ENTIRE room. Transistors are so much smaller now and are able to be packed into tiny chips that are inserted into little boards. Back then, transistors were large in size and the use of vacuum tubes was necessary. Over a period of time, the computer got small enough to useful in the home for person use, but they were still pretty big. A huge clunker would be housing very sub-standard (in present time) technology which can now house ridiculous things. Technology has become so advanced and continues to grow at an amazing speed that "saturation of time" does not match the speed of the growth rate of technology.

So why the new DSs? I could assume that over the course of the past 6 year, technology has grown enough for them to decide they want to try adding on to what was. Or perhaps they figured they could implement things that didn't exist in the first models. But with changing technology, you will only see consoles and handhelds continue to change and up the ante faster than before. 3-5 years in between consoles is actually probably a little slow in today's technological world. So you can say, "Go back to your roots and allow for the saturation of time," but how restless will creators and consumers be waiting for the next best thing?

but there is the issue. while technology may move that fast, people can work no faster than they did before, and while aiming for what technology will be is all well and good on paper, in reality, what you ultimately end up with are lack luster games that simply sparkle to "show off" a systems initial potential and little more. The problem then becomes one of constantly having to second guess ones self.
RM here is a perfect example of this principle. Here we have a piece of software- not hardware- and look how long it took every one to master that program. Last I heard there was some Damage hack that only got discovered LAST YEAR. The game has been out for almost a decade.

My point is that, while yes, technology continues to march forward at an inexorable rate, the ability of software designers to to adequately utilize that technology to its fullest potential has not (and probably never will) keep pace. What makes this problem worse is that software developers now are enabling this behavior by doing this aiming thing. I remember a time when you could buy a game-the exact same game- for both next and current gen systems. It was more than good comparison, it was a testament to the programming skill and ability of developers to squeeze every drop of power out of a current gen system.

It makes me wonder what could be achieved if somebody made a 16 bit game now, with almost 20 years of programming experience.

Yeah, this is dumb.

Yeah, I wondered what it would be like if someone made a commodore 64 game today. It would be interesting to see a modern 16 bit game with all that accumulated experience.

Contribute posts of meaning, or don't post.

I don't want to have to go back to two years ago with you.

If game consoles can go 5 years before the next new models come out, why can't Nintendo do the same with its handhelds?

Alright, it's dumb and I feel bad for those who plan on buying it.

I'm more interested in getting a DSi. I really need to get around to buying one of those.