Nintendo DS to support VoIP

[TroutNinja]

Yep, that's right, Voice over IP. Don't have a cell phone? find a wireless hotspot and use your DS to make free phone calls over the internet. This will be achived using the headset that has recently been revealed(No, no taco phone.) More info Here.

Wow, the DS is looking better and better ain't it ^^

[desperado]

im still liking the psp better from what i have been hearing

[Fsiphskilm]

that's awsome... but y

[Raiden no Kishi]

Cartridges are SO 1980's.

The only advantage over discs is that cartridges are more durable (don't get scratches, etc).

Rai

[Link Antilles]

Spiffy! There's a Wi-fi hotspot 'bout 4 miles from me.

that's awesome... but you want to know what's NOT awesome... cartridges... they are OLD, and time for them to go. And Nintendo doesn't understand that. Therefore I will help them to understand that by NOT buying a DS. When the NEXT DS comes out, If it's got mini-discs (which are NOT new technology at all) I'll buy one. But I think It's time we taught Nintendo a lesson the hard way.

With a good'ol Spanking

That was the case with the N64... Nintendo was being stubborn. Cartridges don't belong in the console world anymore... unless they're memory cards. J


Now, the handheld world is another story. Honesty, I don't think it's time for the "cartridge" to die in this territory... yet. Few things I'd like to point out:


1. Saves Battery Life: Discs/CDs require a tiny motor to spin them and laser to read the data... both consume battery life faster then a cartridge.

2. Loading times: Personally, I don't mine this while playing a home console or PC game but, the times when I'm playing a handheld are when I'm *waiting * on something else, not the game. Cartridge = virtually no loading time. Disc = Meh.

3. Cheaper: Correct me if I'm wrong... but, in the handheld world, it's all around cheaper. System wise and game wise. I'm predicting the games for the PSP will be $50 and the DS games will be $30.

4. No memory card needed

5. Easier for backwards compatibility: This is the most important one. Since the cartridge Nintendo is using is a heck of a lot smaller for the DS then the UMD, in turn... the Media bay is a lot smaller, also...... this gives Nintendo extra room to add in a Game Boy Advance Media bay. Backward compatible is a major need for the DS.

6. Finally, as always, Nintendo’s system is an affordable "Video Game Machine".... and Sony's system is the expensive "Swiss army knife Media Player". UMD fits Sony and Flashcard fits Nintendo.

Now, the advantages of a Disc are rather obvious, but in the handheld world at this point of time, I don’t think they out way the advantages of the cartridge. At least for the situation that Nintendo’s in.


I'm looking forward to the DS... but, I doubt I'll have the money around then. No matter, the Black color, one I want, is set for release around January.

[desperado]

by the way what is some of the new info on the psp?

[Nate]

Cheaper: Correct me if I'm wrong... but, in the handheld world, it's all around cheaper. System wise and game wise. I'm predicting the games for the PSP will be $50 and the DS games will be $30.

Which is ironic, considering it costs about fifty cents to make a disc, and it probably costs a bit more to make a cartridge.

[Link Antilles]

by the way what is some of the new info on the psp?

Here's a Ten page article on what's known about the PSP: http://ps2.gamespy.com/articles/537/537776p1.html?fromint=1


A few weeks ago in a in a Game convention in the UK, Sony showed off the PSP, but still won't answer the three burning questions 1. "What's the price?" 2. "What's the official battery life?" and 3. "What's the official library list of games?"


Back to the topic of DS....


Here's a link to the announced library...
http://users.ign.com/my/sb?nuaction=gameSearch&objType=1&genreSearch=-1&pageID=2003&&platformSearch=653161

Enjoy

Which is ironic, considering it costs about fifty cents to make a disc, and it probably costs a bit more to make a cartridge.

It does indeed, but this time there’s a few things different. The DS cartridge is an actually a Flash card, like the memory card things for cameras, I think those are cheaper to make then the GBA cartridge. Honesty, I'm not entirely sure.


As for Sony’s UMD…. the story does get interesting…. this isn’t a CD actually, it’s a mini-DVD (same storage space as the Gamecube disc.) using a special format. Not to mention, this is Sony’s new format and from what I’ve read most (if not all) UMD burners are in the hands of Sony. Meaning… to make a game for the PSP, you must burn the game to a DVD-R and send it to Sony.

[TroutNinja]

I mean.. yeah. PSP looks really pretty and all but... battery life is probably not going to be as long as it is for the GBA SP. IMO I'd rather be able to play a 16-32 bit game for 6-9 hours than play a 64-bit game for two, maybe three. From what I hear about the DS, the battery life is going to be comparable to the SP.

[desperado]

thats why there is a add on for that. personally i would put up with that to have a "portable ps2"

[TroutNinja]

an add on? like an AC adaptor or an additional battery? Shouldn't things like power not be an add on. Just one more thing to fail right? I know.. I'm being pessimistic about the PSP. I believe that the PSP will do well in the older market, but.. I don't think that technology is quite caught up enough to support a portable system that uses disks.

Really, when would you use your PSP the most, on a long trip or plane ride right? Maybe a bus trip or something of that nature. If your battery life is low, where are you going to recharge it? unless it is your families car or something, you don't have access to a power source. At the lowest end of the spectrum, you have a handheld PS2 that you need to plug into the wall anyways in order to play for a long period of time. I'd be all over the PSP if the battery life and cost were comparable to the Nintendo DS, but if the battery life is half the DS, and the cost is double (as some have theorized) I have no reason to buy it other than to play ports in my hand, and maybe to say that I have one. Maybe after I see some playable demos reviewed or something, but right now all that the reviewers have been able to see is the case and a video playing on it. No actual gameplay, no hands on usage.

There was another system that was 10 times better than a Nintendo handheld.. it was called the Sega Game Gear. Low battery life killed it, and a small greyscale system beat it. If the PSP is plagued by the same problem.. what does history say will happen?

If anything that I have said in here is wrong or misconstrued please correct me.

(wohoo post #50)

[Nate]

That's true...Game Gear was backlit and had color, but it died pretty quick because the battery life was so short...then again, a Game Boy Color got about twice as much battery life as the original GB with only two AA's as opposed to four for the old system.

I bought an extra battery pack for my GBA and I now have 50 hours of straight playtime before I have to recharge it.

Also, you know what caused Nintendo to hold on to the handheld market? POKEMON. When that game came out GB sales spiked over 200%.

[TroutNinja]

I'll admit that Pokemon was a large part of what sold the original GB, good titles sell systems after all. But good titles can't do all the work can they?

[Fireproof]

Which is ironic, considering it costs about fifty cents to make a disc, and it probably costs a bit more to make a cartridge.

*Chuckles* I doubt it. Nintendo DS "cartridges" will be more like SD memory cards. they'll hold about 128MB. That's plenty for me.

[TroutNinja]

New info! O_O
Launch date set at 11-21-04, it will be bundled with a demo version of Metroid Prime: Hunters. Battery life is 6-10 hours depending on the game. Internal clock w/ alarm.

Oh, and the cartridges are supposed to be 1 GB of space. ^^ More info http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/21/news_6108019.html there. Interesting note is that it will be launched here before it is launched in Japan. They get it 12-2-04. Only four million will be made for the first shipment so go reserve now! 149.99 is the price tag on the system alone.