Nintendo DS Thoughts

Michael Gartenberg | May 12, 2004, 08:11 AM

Saw the new DS from Nintendo. Some have criticized the form factor but I think it's fine. There's a lot to like. Short term wireless, looks like it might be Bluetooth (there was a BT icon on the new GBA titles shown) and WiFi. Forget online consoles, this is what connected gaming is about. Backwards compatibility with GBA titles was smart as well. Of course, the big news is the dual screen and the fact that we're seeing essentially a souped up N64 engine under the hood. That means nice 3D games, like Mario and Rogue Squadron are possible. It also means that developers are the key. If Nintendo can show the way of what you can do with all this hardware and third parties get on board, Nintendo will have a huge barrier of entry preventing competitors to simply port titles across platforms (at least not without a second screen). Likewise it prevents further platform erosion to other devices like PDAs and cellphones. It's too early to call how well DS will do against PSP. For one, retail prices for each device hasn't been set. For another, final, real playable games that showcase the platform are still a bit off. At the moment though, the DS has the holiday season to prove itself before the PSP hits US shores (although the Japanese version will be a hot import item). Nintendo needs to position the DS carefully and target the gap that exists between high end console owners and GBA owners. Likewise, the focus will really need to be the games and not the hardware. The DS shows the potential power of out of the box thinking and has the chance to drive innovation forward. The vision is great but the difference between dreams and reality is the ability to persevere.