DS2 to have 3G!

A 3G Nintendo DS may be here soon! By Wireless Watch 16th March 2010 11:45 GMT Mobile gaming lies at the heart of all the best smartphone rumors this quarter, so it's no surprise that talk of a Nintendo handset have resurfaced. The Japanese firm is reported to be preparing a complete revamp of its DS handheld console for launch at June's E3 show, which would come with embedded 3G and ship in time for the holiday season. This could create the interesting situation in which the rumored Sony PlayStation Portable smartphone and the Microsoft 'Pink' device with Xbox integration, could hit the market around the same time, all seeking to ensure the iPhone does not have the games market all to itself. The talk of Nintendo's mobile plans emerged from DS programmers at the recent Game Developers Conference. The new DS looks to be another design win for Nvidia's Tegra processor, which has also won success at Microsoft Zune HD and is taking on Intel Atom, Qualcomm Snapdragon and TI OMAP, in the emerging media devices space more than in conventional phones. According to the Rpad blog, the device will also have two screens, like the current DS, but these may be able to function as a single virtual large screen.Most interestingly, Nintendo appears not just to be adding 3G, but planning to offer unlimited, embedded wireless connectivity, like the Amazon Kindle, rather than any form of carrier deal. This is widely expected to be the primary model for media devices in the future, but remains quite unusual, with most new formats still requiring some kind of carrier sign-up (as with the AT&T iPad). CEO Satoru Iwata said last fall that Nintendo was considering incorporating unlimited 3G data access into the next DS. "I'm interested because it's a new model in which the user doesn't bear the communications cost," he said in an analyst briefing then. "Only people who pay [large amounts] a month can be iPhone customers." Of course, given that Microsoft is adding motion control to Windows Phone 7, the next round of speculation is sure to focus on a Wii phone. link http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/03/16/3g_nintendo_ds/KenMasters10

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if it does have 3G, we can look forward to it costing a lot

$250 or so maybe

if it does have 3G, we can look forward to it costing a lot

$250 or so maybe

darth-pyschosis

*edit* My firefox add-on must have erased what I wrote. Now I forgot what it was :P

Yeah with 3G there is no way it will be $200 or under, which means there is no way I am buying it at launch. Besides, I will most likely wait for the DS2 Lite (or whatever they call the second version).

[QUOTE="darth-pyschosis"]

if it does have 3G, we can look forward to it costing a lot

$250 or so maybe

SiK99

Would we rather have something with Tegra 2 with up to 1Ghz CPU, 128MB or more RAM, multi-touch and 3G costing $250 or more

OR

something underpowered, Cube or PSP level power with a 300Mhz CPU to 400Mhz, 32MB RAM, no multi-touch and 3G and maybe under or at $200.?

Coz nintendo could use very cheap ARM CPUs and a small amount of RAM, no multi-touch, and other costing cut measures to make the added cost of 3G not too bad.

3G would prolly add around $30 or more to the costs of making it and if nintendo makes a handheld for retail @ 200, they likely are wanting to make 30%-50% profit on each unit

I doubt Nintendo would spend $180 to make something and sell it for only a $20 profit at 200.

oh yea if this has 3G, then count out the internal storage being anywhere near current standards. I mean i'd say nintendo would have at least 1GB flash but you gotta cut costs everywhere....

Many adults unfortunately view the DS as a kiddie device. They won't pay more than $200 for something their kid will leave in the ball pit at a McDonalds. That is why most of the PSP owners are teens or older. I honestly think it will be as cheap as possible, Nintendo will make a small profit at first, then things will become cheaper and it will still be steamrolling the competition,at that point they will make much more of a profit.

Many adults unfortunately view the DS as a kiddie device. They won't pay more than $200 for something their kid will leave in the ball pit at a McDonalds. That is why most of the PSP owners are teens or older. I honestly think it will be as cheap as possible, Nintendo will make a small profit at first, then things will become cheaper and it will still be steamrolling the competition,at that point they will make much more of a profit.

xXDante666Xx

I'd be willing to bet most DS owners are adults too

I would take you up on that argument, but there isn't a census to see who bought what for whom. I'm just going by the fact that when in public 9 out of 10 people I see are people under the age of 13.

I would take you up on that argument, but there isn't a census to see who bought what for whom. I'm just going by the fact that when in public 9 out of 10 people I see are people under the age of 13.

xXDante666Xx

I could say the same when i'm going between lectures at my university, except the age would be different.

Anyway, some countries around the world see 14 year olds and such as adults too

It really varies from person to person what you call an adult

I would take you up on that argument, but there isn't a census to see who bought what for whom. I'm just going by the fact that when in public 9 out of 10 people I see are people under the age of 13.

xXDante666Xx

I'm an adult (29). I would wager that many adult DS owners play their systems at home/inside. I know I do...

[QUOTE="SiK99"][QUOTE="darth-pyschosis"]

if it does have 3G, we can look forward to it costing a lot

$250 or so maybe

darth-pyschosis

Would we rather have something with Tegra 2 with up to 1Ghz CPU, 128MB or more RAM, multi-touch and 3G costing $250 or more

OR

something underpowered, Cube or PSP level power with a 300Mhz CPU to 400Mhz, 32MB RAM, no multi-touch and 3G and maybe under or at $200.?

Coz nintendo could use very cheap ARM CPUs and a small amount of RAM, no multi-touch, and other costing cut measures to make the added cost of 3G not too bad.

3G would prolly add around $30 or more to the costs of making it and if nintendo makes a handheld for retail @ 200, they likely are wanting to make 30%-50% profit on each unit

I doubt Nintendo would spend $180 to make something and sell it for only a $20 profit at 200.

oh yea if this has 3G, then count out the internal storage being anywhere near current standards. I mean i'd say nintendo would have at least 1GB flash but you gotta cut costs everywhere....

[QUOTE="xXDante666Xx"]

I would take you up on that argument, but there isn't a census to see who bought what for whom. I'm just going by the fact that when in public 9 out of 10 people I see are people under the age of 13.

SiK99

I'm an adult (29). I would wager that many adult DS owners play their systems at home/inside. I know I do...

[QUOTE="xXDante666Xx"]

I would take you up on that argument, but there isn't a census to see who bought what for whom. I'm just going by the fact that when in public 9 out of 10 people I see are people under the age of 13.

SiK99

I'm an adult (29). I would wager that many adult DS owners play their systems at home/inside. I know I do...

I think that is the reality, us adult DS players do it at home and our children will play our DS out in public. Most things talking about how many DS systems are sold don't really take into count people like me who have 2 DS phats, 5 DS lites, and 2 DSis, so me alone is a not counted as 1 DS either. Alot of adult DS owners own multiple DSs as well.

Unlike Sony, Nintendo never made the mistake to try and do something other than a gaming device, that's their thing... I hope they don't start now and try to make a handheld that is also some sort of smartphone. 3G would be useless IMO.

Unlike Sony, Nintendo never made the mistake to try and do something other than a gaming device, that's their thing... I hope they don't start now and try to make a handheld that is also some sort of smartphone. 3G would be useless IMO.

siafni

unless they want a better DLC/apps store

and unless they want to push Nintendo online and have ppl playing portable Smash Bros, Mario kart at any time

Unlike Sony, Nintendo never made the mistake to try and do something other than a gaming device, that's their thing... I hope they don't start now and try to make a handheld that is also some sort of smartphone. 3G would be useless IMO.

siafni