Two screen handheld
January 21, 2004 3:58 AM   Subscribe

Nintendo announces two screen handheld console. More details expected at May's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). It's due for release at Christmas, around the same time as Sony's PSP.
posted by MintSauce (23 comments total)
 
Allow me to be the first to say Virtual Boy 2! The folly of Nintendo continues.
posted by ascullion at 4:47 AM on January 21, 2004


Allow me to be the first to say Donkey Kong Game & Watch II! The grand legacy of Nintendo continues!

No, seriously -- Nintendo already had a two screen handheld.
posted by majick at 5:36 AM on January 21, 2004


And you could hear the developers at Sony's Playstation HQ cheering for Nintendo.
posted by angry modem at 6:25 AM on January 21, 2004


ITS THA MEGATON!~

@*#^%#%#&*@@(**(@
posted by Dreamghost at 6:39 AM on January 21, 2004


Someone always has to come out and disrespect the Virtual Boy. Yeah, it gives me headaches and can make me feel a bit sick, but I like it almost as much as my Vectrex.
posted by toddst at 6:46 AM on January 21, 2004


ProductAnnoucementFilter
posted by agregoli at 6:59 AM on January 21, 2004


i'm interested in seeing what kind of games will be out for this system. i'm also hoping the screens are side-by-side, instead of one being on top of another.

nintendo is as innovative as it gets, in the video game field. i hope they won't dissapoint with this one.
posted by lotsofno at 7:39 AM on January 21, 2004


It's like they have some sort of Internal Research Department in Charge of Stupid.
posted by peterb at 7:47 AM on January 21, 2004


What's really scary is that this suggests that Nokia has time to get their shit together and do something with a redesigned N-Gage.
posted by shagoth at 8:02 AM on January 21, 2004


Computers can multitask... Humans can't...

Unless the two screens are used to create cross-eyed 3d, it's rather useless in games with any sort of action.

I guess it could be used for RPGs... but they are already boring enough... another screen, twice the boredom.
posted by LoopSouth at 8:16 AM on January 21, 2004


this thread is 45 percent bitter.
posted by erebora at 8:19 AM on January 21, 2004


Nokia. Shit together. Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh eh eheheheh eh eh eheh
eheheheeheeheh *choke* *gasp* mooo hooo hooo heee heee heee heee hoo hoo They're making more handsets to the same design already. hoo hoo hoo. they have NO idea. *dies*
posted by bonaldi at 8:45 AM on January 21, 2004


bonaldi: As kindall so astutely pointed out when he saw one in person, "Talking on it doesn't look any where near as weird if you're not making the stupid face." I suspect that mere ingorance and the presence of a silly blog have shaped your views. Tell me, though, where else you can buy a fast gprs data capable phone that runs symbian and has bluetooth for $200 street here in the states (game platform notwithstanding)? Ha, without a new plan you can't and even then it's tough to get one that cheap.

Of course, this thread is about Nintendo, so just plug up that virtual boy and enjoy its silly looking 3D goodness.
posted by shagoth at 9:01 AM on January 21, 2004


More info (well, a bit more anyway) from IGN
posted by davehat at 9:28 AM on January 21, 2004


shagoth speaks truth about the nGage. Besides, the thing's got Bluetooth. If you are so self-conscious that you feel uncomfortable talking on a phone because you have to hold it differently from other phones, leave it in your pocket and use a headset, for God's sake.
posted by kindall at 9:34 AM on January 21, 2004


Two screens? A new device, neither handheld nor console?

Could they be doing the e-Book thing? Wouldn't make sense, but then what does.
posted by Flat Feet Pete at 11:00 AM on January 21, 2004


Just to be clear: the nGage sucked even without the need for sidetalkin'. A small, funny shaped screen, crappy performance, and the need to actually remove the battery cover and the battery to switch to a different game are the features that doomed it.
posted by bshort at 11:31 AM on January 21, 2004


Looks like Sony learned a lesson from the gamecube! They're (finally?) using a non-standard format disc.

Security through obscurity works extremely well for consoles. Nobody has chipped a GameCube yet (although, there are ways to get it to load backups with a LOT [and I mean a LOT] of contortions). I expect this might be Sony's first secure system.

Yay Sony! They can finally enjoy the huge boost in sales that Nintendo has from making it impossible to back up gamecube games. YOWZERS!
posted by shepd at 12:03 PM on January 21, 2004


Rumour is that the two screens are mounted vertically, and that the hinge is near invisible. This makes it a large screen portrait format backwards compatible Gameboy. There, that sounds much less risky, right?
posted by inpHilltr8r at 3:06 PM on January 21, 2004


They're just not calling it that because they don't want existing Gameboy sales to collapes, which is generally what happens when you announce next generation hardware.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 3:08 PM on January 21, 2004


This makes me very, very nervous for Nintendo. The GBA SP is pretty darn cool, but it has the odd feeling of being an embarrasing upgrade to the almost unusable GBA. The word "portable" worries me as well, because Nintendo was calling the Virtual Boy "portable" in its early life, which it clearly was not. I'll have to see some software first... Nintendo's "innovations" don't always pan out. If, like the GC/GBA link cable, developers have no idea what to do with the other screen, it'll just seem risky, especially if it's not backwards GB compatible. This is just very weird all around... they can say it'll be marketed separately from the Game Boy, but when I say "Nintendo Portable," what do you think of?

All in all, I'm intrigued, but I'm not sure how many missteps Nintendo can make before they end up painting themselves into a corner with all the Nintendo diehards (like me; I've had way more fun with my GC than my XBox or PS2)...
posted by kevspace at 5:21 PM on January 21, 2004


Tell me, though, where else you can buy a fast gprs data capable phone that runs symbian and has bluetooth for $200 street here in the states (game platform notwithstanding)?

Nokia 3650, got it for $300 from Amazon, with a $100 Amazon rebate (making it $200 without new contract) and a $200 T-Mobile rebate (making it free for me).

It looks more like a TV remote than a taco, I've never removed the battery, it has a camera built in, and (unlike the n-Gage) every person who's seen it thought it was the coolest thing ever.
posted by Foosnark at 7:36 PM on January 21, 2004


I'm still somewhat annoyed over the launch of the SP, right after Christmas, when Nintendo denied that they were planning to fix the problems of the older GBA by releasing a new one in interviews RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Sure it maximised sales, but wasn't exactly a great way to treat their customers.

As kindall so astutely pointed out when he saw one in person, "Talking on it doesn't look any where near as weird if you're not making the stupid face." I suspect that mere ingorance and the presence of a silly blog have shaped your views.

Kindall's opinion doesn't match my own in this case. I personally think the N-Gage does look pretty ridiculous, and I think most people who are interested in gaming and who follow the development of handhelds thought that for quite a while prior to the creation of the side 'talkin site. But that's not a hugely important point.

The N-gage does get a lot of things wrong that I would find important in a gaming compatible phone. In fact, it gets so many things wrong that in this first interation, it's pretty much entirely a joke. Problems as I see them inclue the vertical screen, the overall poor design, the horrendously misplaced and ill-advised advertising which insults the very market Nokia are trying to impresss, and the poor selection of launch games.


TNL feature on N-Gage launch.


The kind of spiel that appeals to sexually frustrated 15 year olds.


Gamespy feature, "My lonely N-Gage."


Ziff Davis Review.

posted by lucien at 10:49 AM on January 22, 2004


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