New DS model rumoured to be announced

[PkmnTrainerJ]

Reports out of Japanese newspapers Saturday indicate that Nintendo is preparing to announce a new version of the Nintendo DS hardware in the coming days, one that adds non-gaming functions to the popular portable machine.

Nikkei Net, the online arm of Japan's foremost economic newspaper, reports that the new model will launch this year in Japan and include a camera and music playback. Nikkei's take on the new machine is that Nintendo is moving outside the boundaries of the "game industry" and attempting to create a device that will compete with more general electronics like cell phones.

The machine's wireless communication functionality will also be strengthened by allowing it to connect to "information terminals," possibly allowing a user to find nearby train stations or restaurants using his DS.

Nikkei does point out that the camera function of DS could be integrated with gameplay, by allowing games to use the photos taken with the hardware.

The online version of the story omits a line that is present in a photograph of the print story, which says that the new model will cost less than 20,000 yen (about $188). The DS Lite costs 16,800 yen ($158) in Japan.

Nikkei says the new model will go on sale in Japan first, this year, and that a U.S. release is "being considered."

And there might be more to this new model -- another version of the Nikkei report, since removed, apparently ran on a site called Monex and said that the hardware would have larger screens and be able to transfer data from the Wii or an SD card.

Note that we may not be getting the full picture of the device's capabilities from these reports; note also that the current version of the story does not confirm the two data points in the above paragraph.

Nintendo will hold media briefings in Tokyo and San Francisco on Thursday. Simultaneous media events generally mean some big piece of news is to be announced, so this would seem like a likely topic of discussion.

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/09/nikkei-new-nint.html

Hmmm...but I already have all these things. Not interesting me at the moment, and may not even be real, so we'll see if/when it is announced.

[King Ellis]

If anything, i'm expecting a new version with some form of flash memory to have some kind of Virtual Console.

[zero]

And of course, I just bought a DS Lite last week.

[stokeriño]

BECAUSE WE WON'T REST UNTIL EVERY ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT IN THE KNOWN WORLD CONTAINS A DIGITAL CAMERA.

Seriously. It's ridiculous.

[Your Mom]

Maybe I should wait on getting a DS then? Although this looks like it's a long ways off if it's coming at all right?

[Sousa]

My electric razor has a camera in it, and you can upload your shaving videos to their website and then vote on your favorite. It's pretty swank.

[apsham]

I can check my e-mails while shaving with my razor!

[Your Mom]

My shaving videos always win

[Ruki]

My razor is just a vampire

[Guest Kou]

My X360 has a camera in it, it's on the inside though.

Turns out there's a slave factory inside that box.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Not heard anything about this yet.

THough I did buy some condoms with cameras. You'd think that watching back would be cool but it's more like amatuar exploratitve surgery

[Sousa]

...exploratitive? Awesome.

[Benji]

Screw cameras, I want the printer back, I want to print a certificate for completing a Pokémon game for the millionth time

[Hobo]

My shaving videos always win

JHS has the hottest armpits ever

[Crybaby Bunting]

That had to be done

[Scott McFly]

And it's been announced:

Third iteration of DS console to be released in Japan on November 1; features bigger screen, SD memory slot, two cameras.

In another one of those 'worst-kept secret' moments, Nintendo has today confirmed the rumours that it would be updating its DS handheld. Announced in Japan this morning, the Nintendo DSi will boast a slimmer design, bigger screen sizes, two cameras, and new image and music players. It will also lose the GBA cart slot, but in turn adds an SD memory slot for storing music, images and downloadable content.

The chassis of the new console measures in at 2.6mm, which is 12 percent thinner than the DS Lite. In turn, the screens have become larger at 3.25 inches, 17 percent bigger than the original 3-inch LCDs. As for the new additions to the console, Nintendo has packed a 3-megapixel camera on the exterior of the case, with another lower-resolution camera on the interior hinge. The cameras integrate with new multimedia features for the DS, with images and music stored to SD card via the new slot, and software on the console to play multimedia content. A new Internet browser will also be installed on the machine, allowing people to browse the Web and the DSi Shop to download games and applications to SD cards.

The DSi will launch in Japan on November 1 2008 for 18,900 yen (approx. $179, £101). International releases will follow in 2009, but Nintendo Europe would not confirm the rumour on GamesIndustry.biz that the console would launch next spring.

Credit: Gamespot

Meh, I was agreeing with it right up until it said it loses the GBA slot. Not that I play many GBA games, but it means the Guitar Hero On Tour plug-in and many other peripherals (like the rumble pak) won't work with it. I'm all for improving the hardware and adding new features like cameras, but removing something is a bit silly.

[Momo]

I don't like this "remove GBA slot" thingy either. One of the cool things about having the GBA slot is what sequels to old GBA games could do with their predecessors. I personally am still waiting for Golden Sun 3, and for it to have a feature that reads the Golden Sun 2 data from the GBA slot to continue your game properly on the DS.

...I can dream.

[RoyWill Rumble]

I do not understand this trend of removing features from new iterations of consoles. First it's backwards compatibility for the PS3, now this for DS. What the fuck, I say.

[Benji]

It's obvious why they removed it, if you can use SD cards and can download games from the Nintendo Store then you don't need that GBA slot, admitedly it's still gay and they've done it to make more money, but I can see where they're coming from.

[PkmnTrainerJ]

Removing the GBA slot is quite an annoyance, but at the same time, the possibility of playing GB/GBC Colour games might be good.