After months of speculation as to the release time and price of Nintendo’s latest system, we can finally all rest easy.
Nintendo DS Release Date: 11/21/04
Nintendo DS Price: $149.99
“Nintendo’s mission remains unchanged: expand the game experience,” says Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. “Nintendo DS is the road map to the future of video games, and most clearly demonstrates the type of innovation that players demand.”
That’s right; despite rumors circulating of late, the Nintendo DS is priced thirty dollars below the previously estimated price of $179.99. Ironically, the North American date (above) is before the Japan release date, which is December 2nd with a price of 15,000 yen or $136 US Dollars.
“We’re really excited about the price,” says Nintendo vice president of marketing and corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan. “That kind of pricing makes DS immediately attractive to the mass market, and that is where Nintendo needs to be.”
Another rumor that has been confirmed is that the Nintendo DS will feature the free embedded PictoChat software allowing for wireless instant messaging to other players. Using the touch pad, players will be able to actually write messages to be sent to others, and this is included with the Nintendo DS. If your Nintendo DS is in sleep mode, the PictoChat also features a function that will awaken the DS to alert you to the presence of a new message.
Over 100 developers have signed on to create games for the system including Nintendo who has as much as 20 titles in development. The largest videogame publisher, Electronic Arts has already confirmed that its top franchises of Madden NFL, The URBZ: Sims in the City, Need for Speed Underground, Tiger Woods and GoldenEye will support Nintendo DS.
“Each time Nintendo creates a hand-held, it introduces new elements of play and sets a new standard for mobile gaming,” says Larry Probst, EA’s chairman and CEO. “The DS is no exception – Nintendo has another big winner with the DS.”
The Nintendo DS game lineup will be announced in the near future. But with its compatibility to play Game Boy Advance titles, it has a starting library of virtually over 550 games.
Nintendo chose the United States to be the world-wide launch capital of the DS because of overwhelmingly positive reaction from consumers, and to take advantage of the holiday sales season. After the launch in Japan, the system will be available in Europe and Australia in the first quarter of 2005.
Nintendo DS’s flip-top cover protects both screens and two speakers on the unit’s face which let users hear virtual surround sound.
The dimensions of the Nintendo DS are:
Even better, Nintendo has confirmed that:
“The new media format for games means that Nintendo DS has no moving parts that could be misaligned if the unit is dropped or jarred.”
Fact Sheet: 9-21-04:
This is compared to GBA’s 240 x 160 and the increased color palette of 260,000 from the GBA’s 32,768.
Notice the emphasis on “Game Card,” as Nintendo is trying to emphasize its change from GBA’s “Game Pak.” Expected is the same exact sort of media used for some digital cameras of today. Hopefully, the single-card multiplayer is used more proficiently than it was for the GBA
Confirmed embedded microphone – take note.
Note that there is no GBA-Link port. Maybe Nintendo is emphasizing more on its wireless play? Although GB games are still backwards-compatible, it slightly destroys the multiplayer feature too, don’t you think?
Alarm Clock!
The GBA battery with the light on has an initial charge longevity of 10 hours, compared to DS’ 6-10. Still, it being two screens has us quite impressed. It also takes an hour longer to charge than the GBA SP.
Confirmed: Only one color available at launch to meet production times, but I’m sure that Nintendo will have multiple colors for choice come next year.
