Nintendo dismisses widescreen DS claims

By Robert Purchese Published 7 July, 2008

"Purely rumour and speculation."

Nintendo has told Eurogamer that claims it is preparing to unveil a widescreen DS are "purely rumour and speculation".

Rumours emerged after a suspicious Nippon Ichi advert was posted by website Aeropause. It shows the publisher's upcoming titles on a DS with much larger screens.

Nintendo's comments would suggest this doesn't mean much, though the platform holder did not comment directly on the advert's authenticity.

The possibility of Nintendo unveiling a redesigned DS model at next week's E3 show in America also remains a talking point. Observers suggest the publisher has historically favoured revising its handheld hardware once every three years.

What would you like to see done to the DS, Eurogamer reader?

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About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (47) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ostrasized #1 4 years ago

    An analogue stick would make it pretty much the perfect gaming platform. The stylus is awesome, don't get me wrong, but it's no substitute because it lacks tactile feedback.

  • LazyDan #2 4 years ago

    YES YES YES!

    Come onnn better multimedia gubbins, onboard storage, SD card slot and possibly a DS virtual console?!

    My DS Lite is DYING I am in dire need of a reason to buy another one.

    Also, this is as good as confirmed as soon as the head of Nintendo Europe steps up to say it's not coming and he's definitely not heard anything about any re-design.

  • penhalion #3 4 years ago

    better graphics and more memory froma dev point of view. Given that, it would murder the psp without much effort. I would also like to see some official homebrew support from Nintendo as I see the homebrew software market as a very good source of new inovations.

  • Tomo #4 4 years ago

    Those looks like bad photojobbies. Still if it is true, it hardly looks worthy of an upgrade based on a slightly bigger screen alone. The DS to DSLite transition was definitely welcome, so something as significant as that could tempt me.

  • asphaltcowboy #5 4 years ago

    how would a widescreen DS work? Would there be borders for existing games or would they be stretched?

  • Ranger101 #6 4 years ago

    I've still got my launch DS that I play regularly. It's great as it is.

  • Shadman #7 4 years ago

    Looks like a dodgy photoshop render to me. Marketing men wanted more ad space dedicated to the "game" images (although they don't look like in-game screens) so blew up the screen area of the console a bit. Some wishful thinking from fans later and a new rumour is born...

  • systems #8 4 years ago

    I agree with Shadman. The screens aren't even exactly level and it looks like they've enlarged it for advertising space.

  • Krelle #9 4 years ago

    Cant see alot of "possible/realistic" things being done to the DS without in becoming a DS2 at the same time.

    And I dont think its time to announce a new handheld system yet..is it?
    There is a steady flow of great games coming for both DS and PSP in japan, and I think a new system would only harm sales at the moment.

  • Cloudane #10 4 years ago

    I would love to see a much thinner and lighter DS with the GBA support taken out for good measure to reduce the chunkyness of the unit.

    I reckon we will see something emerge in regards to the DS hardware from Nintendo at E3.

  • louyfitz #11 4 years ago

    I'd like to see it put on the floor then stamped on repeatedly by a sumo wrestler!

    That would be a vast improvement.

  • Killerbee #12 4 years ago

    The DS Lite is pretty much perfect as it is, I reckon.

    Maybe they'll do a smaller ("Micro"?) version that drops the GBA port, but byond that I can't really thinkn of anything else they could change that would still be consistent with the current platform.

    A DS2 could improve on memory, sound quality and graphics power but that's not really the Nintendo way, is it?

  • optimusprym8 #13 4 years ago

    a version that doesn't make my thumb cramp up after about 5 mins of use

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #14 4 years ago

    We've been here before!:

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62490 ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/article.php?art...[/link]

    ;)

    If a wide-screen DS should have the following:
    No GBA port
    Built in web browser
    Media player functionality (running off SD cards?)

  • ConsoleJunkie #15 4 years ago

    I'd like a DS that can connect to a WPA WiFi access point.

  • Rirekon #16 4 years ago

    "Given that, it would murder the psp without much effort."

    Because it's really working up a sweat at the moment?
    All in all I'm really happy with the DS Lite as it is really, Nintendo have shown you can actually do a lot with the current hardware.

  • haritori #17 4 years ago

    they cant remove the GBA port, as the attachments wont work and with GH on DS being a big release they would be so stupid, but they could still make the screen section thinner and the bottom could lose a few mils,

  • spazmo #18 4 years ago

    Is this NOE doing the dismissing? If so expect an unveiling at E3...

  • Krelle #19 4 years ago

    @Rirekon

    The PSP actually outsells the DS week after week in the region that matters most for handhelds; Japan.

  • yagisencho #20 4 years ago

    While Nintendo could probably do with a hardware refresh (or new handheld), the publisher advertisement was clearly slop.

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #21 4 years ago

    Don't forget the last time Nintendo denied a new DS, it was announced the next day...

  • gerg #22 4 years ago

    @Krelle: And that hardly matters. The DS has a 10 million+ lead in the region, and the PSP will most likely struggle to gain on it at a rate of a million units a year. Monster Hunter and various special-edition colour releases have managed to keep the PSP Lite selling (although the redesign does seem to be genuinely generating greater interest), whereas Nintendo still has Dragon Quest IX coming, and has yet to lower the price of the DS once in Japan (it actually went up with the DS Lite). And even in the current circumstances, software on the PSP is dead, but on the DS it's thriving. Simply said, Nintendo has nothing to worry about.
    Edited by 3 at 07/07/08 @ 19:48

  • MARKIV #23 4 years ago

    - Nearer Gamecube power than N64 this time around.
    - Motion sensor
    - Widescreen
    - SD Card socket
    - Built in Web Browser
    - DS backward compatibility.

  • BadBoyBonner #24 4 years ago

    An analogue stick would make it pretty much the perfect gaming platform.

    No it would not, although analogue control would be a positive addition. The reason I say it would not is because although I have always loved the DS the ergonomic design of it always seemed flawed.

    It would have been infinitely more comfortable to hold the entire bottom of the DS in your palms with the D-pad and Buttons just under the speakers on the second screen.

    No doubt that was not the chosen method to allow children easier reach of the buttons. However, as most children seem very able to use even the original Xbox pad (which, anywhere other than Japan, was rather large for those with short memories) I think that moving the D-pad and Buttons forward would be a far better position for the controls.

    Any adult who has tried to play Mario Kart on the DS for any considerable amount of time will know exactly what I am talking about.

    To try out what I am saying, pick up a DS and imagine the controls are just below the speakers - you have a far larger area to hold and balance the DS.

    As it stands at the moment - the DS is massively top heavy with a very small base to secure it - hence the killer cramp.

  • Totoriko #25 4 years ago

    Things that Nintendo denies proves to be true most of the time

  • Feanor #26 4 years ago

    There's no need to be so defensive about a game company, gerg. Perhaps a brisk walk around the block would help.

  • gerg #27 4 years ago

    @Feanor: A good sales-age knowledge never hurt. Seriously, claims about a DS redesign are ludicrous - Nintendo has no financial reason whatsoever to introduce a DS redesign at this point.
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/08 @ 22:25

  • CARL05 #28 4 years ago

    I remember hearing that teh DS was just gonna be around for a couple of years and we are yet to get the next real Gameboy! Nintendo just seem to be introducing gimmicks to gaming imo, never really got the DS - what makes 2 screens better than 1?

  • superted #29 4 years ago

    the perspective of the thing is totally out!

    i'd be amazed if the new DS, or whatever they announce (or not) would look, and have the stylings of a current gen handheld they already produce.

  • penhalion #30 4 years ago

    @Gerg

    The DS is reaching the end of it's useful life. While there are still a few releases a month for it, there isn't really anything spectacular or even new (mostly series rehashes now like dragon quest). The fact that the PSP is now starting to gain momentum on the DS should be telling Nintendo that people are now ready to embrace a more powerful handheld. Having said that, I still think a new DS may be upto a year away.

  • Genji #31 4 years ago

    You know what the DS needs?

    THREE SCREENS. That's right.

  • Krelle #32 4 years ago

    @gerg:
    Please use the [Enter]-button now and then. Paragraphs etc. Then i might consider reading your reply. You can do it!

  • spazmo #33 4 years ago

    Spot the snob.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #34 4 years ago

    If there were not a 3rd hardware revision for DS coming, then surely they'd have dismissed it outright. The images are clearly not authentic, but they might be representative. DS sales are slowing in Japan, PSP has been outselling everything including PS3 and Wii for a few months now. Seems like an opportune time.

    As far as what it will do is concerned, don't expect any hardware architecture changes that'll have any impact on games. But perhaps they'll go a bit SD-card multimedia playing on it. And Japan is mad for this moibile phone digital TV business at the moment.

  • Krelle #35 4 years ago

    You dont find this hard to read?

    "while not running uWink restaurants or heading up an in-game ad firm, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell (pictured) likes to talk up the state of the game industry. Bushnell's been around, so his insights are often insightful! In an interview with game site Gamasutra, Bushnell talks about how the hardware wars are "probably over", saying that "it's ridiculous to talk about how my photorealism is better than your photorealism." He also offers on the modern incarnation of Atari:Well, you know, I've always had a dream of architecting the reversal of fortune. The real problem that Atari has really had for the last 15 years is that it hasn't stood for anything. I think a name and a brand has to stand for something, otherwise it's not a brand. It's a logo. I think that the people who have been running it have never had a core vision.I always had a core vision of what Atari was going to mean, and I believe that without that, you're just flopping around, and you will end up having a hit and then a miss, and you're not creating any value. So I strongly urge them to have some core values, hopefully, that are going to be important in the future."

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #36 4 years ago

    expect any hardware architecture changes that'll have any impact on games

    err... except maybe the removal of the GBA slot. And if I were them I'd be considering a Gameboy/Colour/Advance virtual console service to replace it. Why let people play their old games when they'll (apparently gladly) pay again to download them?

  • Krelle #37 4 years ago

    "And Japan is mad for this moibile phone digital TV business at the moment."

    Not really. Might look like it if you walk into an electrics store, but there aint alot of people using it.
    To be fair, people tend to buy the slicker/design-ier phones, instead of the somewhat bulky multimedia-phones.
    Probably more people in japan watching TV on the phone than in the rest of the world combined, but that shouldnt come as a surprise.

  • gerg #38 4 years ago

    @penhalion: The DS is much more alive than the PSP. Although hardware sales are slowing, they're certainly not bad (better than the PS2 in its fourth year, me thinks - and you try selling so well when your LTD is greater than the PS2), and software sales are amazing. Seriously, week in week out around 30+ of the games in the top 50 are for the DS. The PSP gets, what, two or three titles in the top 50, and one of those is Monster Hunter. And your point about new releases is ridiculous. A new entry in the Dragon Quest series, the biggest series in Japan bar Final Fantasy, is now just a "series rehash"?! Seriously, learn something about Japanese gaming and then come talk to me. And this is, of course, ignoring the multitude of new games that get announced each month for the system, whether new IPs from Square, or sequels to low-selling GBA games. Quite frankly, you cannot argue that the DS is dying in Japan.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/08 @ 08:48

  • penhalion #39 4 years ago

    @Gerg

    The hardware sales are slowing. Software is a different matter as there are millions of DS' out there. However, there are also millions of PS2 out there and that has now reached the end of it's useful life too. Developers will continue to make software for the platform well into the future but, when hardware sales start to slow down, this shows that one of two things have happened.

    1. The hardware has reached saturation point.
    2. The hardware is no longer considered to be the in thing.

    This is the point at which companies like Nintendo and Sony look at introducing new hardware to once again jump start the buying cycle. You seem to be mistaking software sales for hardware sales. A mistake that no-one else on these forums is making. In fact this topic is about hardware and not software. I don't think anyone here would disagree that the DS is successful in terms of it's software sales.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #40 4 years ago

    Quite frankly, you cannot argue that the DS is dying in Japan

    That doesn't matter though. They are slowing, and if Nintendo knows they have a sure-fire way to speed them up again (i.e. try to make a significant proportion of existing DS customers buy another one), I think they'll take it.

  • gerg #41 4 years ago

    @penhalion: You say that either:

    1. The hardware has reached saturation point.
    2. The hardware is no longer considered to be the in thing.

    Well, the second factor is patently false considering how healthy the DS is for software. The first can be remedied by lowering the price. Overall, the situation has been the same for the past six months. If Nintendo were really that concerned about the problem, they would have certainly done something by now. And really, what are you people expecting from a redesign? Nintendo will want to do nothing that would split the current fanbase, so any major hardware revisions are out of the question - even getting rid of the GBA slot is not going to happen with the success of Guitar Hero: On Tour.

    I am not mistaking hardware for software. However, I just don't see why the slowing hardware is actually a problem for Nintendo when the software is so good.
    Edited by 2 at 08/07/08 @ 10:23

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #42 4 years ago

    1. The hardware has reached saturation point.

    The first can be remedied by lowering the price

    You have undone yourself there. If the hardware has reached saturation point, the one thing that won't have any effect is to lower the price.

    Nintendo will want to do nothing that would split the current fanbase, so any major hardware revisions are out of the question - even getting rid of the GBA slot is not going to happen with the success of Guitar Hero: On Tour.

    I don't believe Nintendo give a toss about Guitar Hero: World Tour. If there's a new model DS, and it's sucecssfull, then Guitar Hero: On Tour 2 will come with a new-DS compatible guitar neck thing.

  • gerg #43 4 years ago

    @ Mentalist(air): You have undone yourself there. If the hardware has reached saturation point, the one thing that won't have any effect is to lower the price.

    No, I haven't. I'm saying that the DS Lite may have reached saturation point as its current price level. It's like saying that the PS3 and Xbox 360 have reached saturation point at their current price levels (which they have). Lowering the price point opens the console up to people who would not consider it at a higher price.

    I don't believe Nintendo give a toss about Guitar Hero: World Tour. If there's a new model DS, and it's sucecssfull, then Guitar Hero: On Tour 2 will come with a new-DS compatible guitar neck thing.

    Even when they showcased Ubisoft's My Weight Loss Coach at their event last Spring? Seriously, the GBA slot isn't going anywhere.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/08 @ 11:23

  • Krelle #44 4 years ago

    come on gerg, jump off the crazy train, already

  • gerg #45 4 years ago

    @Krelle: How am I on the "crazy train"? If Nintendo were really that concerned about slowing DS sales in Japan (the only region where sales are slowing, yet also the one where around 1/5th of the population own a DS), they would already have done something to stop it, perhaps to coincide with Golden Week. They don't have any reason to be concerned anyways, but they've still shown that they're not worried.

  • Krelle #46 4 years ago

    lolz, this years GW? hardly.
    I could see a new version of the DS coming out next years GW or xmas.

    Also, wth is Dragon Quest 9? Probably the only game that would boost DS sales considerably now.

  • gerg #47 4 years ago

    @Krelle:

    "lolz, this years GW? hardly."

    I don't see what you mean. Back in April the difference in sales was around 40,000 to 50,000 units. It's much lower now. If Nintendo had been that concerned, a price drop would have occurred back then.

    "Also, wth is Dragon Quest 9? Probably the only game that would boost DS sales considerably now."

    I presume you mean "Where the hell is DQ IX"? Well, if DQ V only makes the Autumn/Winter quarter, DQ IX probably won't hit until Mid to Late 2009. If DQ IX doesn't make 2009? Well, people better get comfortable waiting for FF XIII.

    Anyway, I still don't think you've argued against my point.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/08 @ 16:39