Gizmodo
Gizmodo reader Phil Nolan, a profesional 3D modeler and animator, got inspired by our Nintendo DS 2 mock-up and wish list and sent us his cool version of this dreamed-up third iteration of the Nintendo DS. It looks so yummy inside that I want to get it out for a date:
As you can see, he took the original design and added a whole lot of the iPhone and the PSP. Looks quite good to me, even while it still has some unresolved issues, like the hinge, which can't be like the MacBook because it will block the shoulder buttons. Still, a very doable, even slimmer form factor than the Lite which can perfectly fit all the not-so-crazy features we thought could make it to the next revision of the Nintendo portable console.
And before the anti-Apple camp gets up in arms, let's not forget that the original DS got redesigned with a clear inspiration on the Apple's all-white, all-shiny, all-simplicity iPod design. People didn't think the same could be done with the original DS and look what happened with the Lite.
Some more thoughts from the "buts" that people claimed about the first 2D mock-up:
"But the screen on top should be the same size"
Not necessarily. For compatibility, you can play original DS games letterboxed. Even new games could retain exactly the same format and keep backward compatibility if you want. The top wide-screen, however, could be used very well in most games. But specially, for media playback.
"But the it should be a totally new concept. Nintendo broke the rules and will do it again in the next generation"
That may be true, but the True Next Generation is years away. It took decades for Nintendo to change the paradigm of the original Gameboy to the Nintendo DS. Until the latter arrived, the first went through many iterations, each adding more things: smaller package, more power, color, backlighting, etc.
They milked the cow until it was dead. Then, they reinvented themselves with the DS. The next DS will be an evolution of power and features, not of basic concepts. It works great now, it sells like crazy, so you don't need to change it dramatically just yet. Nintendo just needs to keep the distance with the PSP and that will be it.
"But it will be too expensive to make"
Like I said in the original mock-up article, given the sinking prices of current components thanks to the proliferation of smartphones like the iPhone or multimedia players, a DS 2 with shaved corners, better screens and built-in multimedia playback will be very doable in 2008. Granted, it may not take this shape, but it will happen sooner than later.
"But it doesn't have Advance cart compatibility"
With downloadable games coming to the DS and dirty-cheap Flash RAM prices, the next version of the DS will probably have Virtual Console emulation, just like the Wii. Why deal with hardware when you can have it all in software?
[Gizmodo and Phil Nolan]
Comments
Looks like two iPods front-to-front.
Not a fan. My DSlite still looks to svelte.
very nice. the talent some people have in this stuff amazes me. only thing is (as another commenter said in the first post) that the screens should be the same size.
Very droolariffic, but that non-telescoping stylus looks about 1 1/2 times as long as the device itself. Where would you store it?
@StackyBotrus: We are waiting for the punch line and your stunning 3D render.
I wonder what just broke the sound barrier. I heard this "boom" somewhere.
@StackyBotrus: Stop being a douchebag.
STILL waiting for nintendo, apple, and google to team up and take over the world.
@EMoShunz: no they shouldn't. How can you play full screen movies. And current DS games DON'T have to fill the whole screen. Just have black bands on the sides. Like old Advance games in the DS.
Quite simple.
I agree with emoshunz, it is quite nice, but I disagree with just about everyone, in that I think the next DS will not be a DS. Nintendo seems to release an original a console, ie the Gameboy, then it updates it, the game boy color. Then it takes the hardware and industrial design a bit further, the Gameboy advance, then the gamebot advance SP. It would seem that every console appears to have two incarnations.
However, as not even Fort Knox (The Bureau of Engraving and Printing sounds too lame)prints as much money as the DS, I am not sure that we won't just see the Nintendo DS Lite + better hardware + bigger screens.
Don't stop innovating Nintendo!!!
@jesusdiaz: didn't even think if that (probably 'cause i don't own a hdtv), that would work fine then!
@EMoShunz: *think OF that*
If that came out tomorrow I'd definitely buy it, even though my DS Lite works perfectly fine. would still love to find a way to make Dual Widescreens work but this is total beauty and function all in one.
Like two iPod touch together...
I love it.
Nintendo has a simplistic "comic" styling to their products. This version has to many styles in it. It's overly polished (is that carbon-fiber on the inside and chrome for the logo). It's even to sleek for a MAC version.
Regardless of all of that, I like this version and might even get me to purchase a DS.
@nordbyk: it took decades for Nintendo to change the paradigm of the original Gameboy to the Nintendo DS.
They milked the cow until it was dead. Then reinvented themselves. The next DS will be an evolution of power and features, not of basic concepts. It works great, so you don't need to change it just yet.
I predict DS for at least another decade or two, going through five generations or so. Each thiner and more powerful than the next.
Unfortunately with the low res screens of the DS no matter how big you make them they're always going to look like crap. I'm thinking the DS has pretty much hit the top of its arc at this point and we'll have to wait for another 6 years before we see better hardware.
Who is the editor for this site?
"...his cool version of this dreamed-up second-generation Nintendo DS that may not be that away from happening."
It looks pretty, but the face buttons are too close to the edges.
The lite suffers from the same problem - I was getting hand cramps trying to balance the thing in one hand while using the stylus with the other until I got one of those cases with extra grip surface area. Problem solved, but now it's not quite as portable.
I'm not a big fan of reflective surfaces on handheld gadgets. They smudge and look hideous almost instantly. That is why I like the DS, it is rough and durable.
Nice, but it needs to be able to open perfectly flat. One DS screen always looks slightly off to me since they are at different angles.
I love the way everyone relates this to the Ipod. Oh how you have been brainwashed by overpriced crap.
@jesusdiaz:
I see where you are coming from, and am smart enough to bow to superior knowledge on the subject. I do disagree with the time line, but only time will tell.
I am wondering if they will add motion controls to the handheld, tilt and your cart turns faster. It might be a hell of a lot better than the Wii, as the device itself is the screen.
While the render looks cool, let's not forget the other human interface (besides eyes) - hands! This thing does not look hand friendly. It needs more grippyness (yes that is a word, typically used for cameras :)
I'd like to have the buttons a little further in, and deeper.... Where's the GBA slot? I likes mah GBA slot.
I've actually been trying to think of my own mock-up, but the only 'originality' I've got is to give it a spin-out/flip out top screen (a la Sidekick) that could also turn a-la tablet PC style and spin back in for a single screen mode for GBA or some other game that doesn't need the two-screen functionality. This flip-out screen, like the bottom should also be multi-touch-sensitive, for maximum awesome.
The bottom screen would have to be depressed for this to lie flush, moving the gba slot to the right side (if you kept the same space for the buttons, and somehow really really compacted the PCBs, you could fit a full-sized GBA game no problem.
Also, since there isn't any room for speakers on the top screen for this setup, they'd have to be under the buttons and D-pad, like the GBA, but stereo, this time. The start and select buttons would move to above the D-pad since I don't want to move the letter buttons down to make room, and since they'd need to be moved to make room for the speakers.
Putting the GBA ot on the right side would require movement of the stylus to god-knows-where, and the power switch somewhere up top, or something.
Thne all the fun digital stuff, (light sensor, accelerometer, etc).
Oh, to clarify for the screen- it would be able to spin so that it would either protect both screens, or expose only the top screen (though it'd be upside down, so there'd have to be some recognition for that), or with both screens open, as well as with tilt-adjustment.
It occurs to me that this would be a... 1... 2... 3... jointed hinge, but it's... plausible. And cool.
@kevinXnaked: "I love the way everyone relates this to the Ipod. Oh how you have been brainwashed by overpriced crap."
.
Not true dude. Some of us have been brainwashed by reasonably-priced crap.
@Reilaos, Original Asus Fanboy: Sidekick style sliding is actually quite a good idea. And if we want to go crazy, make the top screen touchable too.
Is that a scream I hear in Cupertino?
That is quite an awesome mockup. I haven't owned a Nintendo product in years (slave to Sony), but that is definitely something I could carry around with me. Nice job, Mr. Nolan.
The terrible part about mockups like these are no matter how amazing they look, Nintendo (or whatever company) will make sure it doesn't look like that. I don't know if it's copyright stuff, design-stealing or what. It seems like whenever someone out in the world creates an amazing design for a product that is imminent, the actual product looks totally different and half the time worse.
This is what you get when you have an artist design something with no eye towards usability. It's too thin, and the buttons are too small and placed too close to the edge of the gadget to be ergonomic.
Wow he's got a very solid portfolio. I'm impressed.
For the next generation hand-gamer, I'd sacrifice a little backwards compatibility by using cards compatible with a standard card reader slot for the "current gen" games. You could put a whole slew of GBA games on one decent sized MicroSD card (sold via download on the Nintendo website or with a trade-in program for your old cartridges). Using MicroSD would also allow users to manage their own data and media files (docs, music and video).
@Lavallee017:
Real gadget freaks have six previous generations of their favorite gadgets lying around all of which "still work just fine."
Ask me how I know.
@Serolf Divad: Okay, I'll bite. How do you know?
@jesusdiaz:
"big ups" on the interaction level. you dont see that alot from any of the other writers. It shows your a fan of what you write about and that youre not above discussion.
I've had my eye on a DS, but this mock-up is wonderful. I'd totally wait for a newer version with bigger screens.
counter to #1: nintendo will not break forwards-compatibility on their next handheld.
nintendo does not force studios to ensure all their games run on 2 different resolutions- they keep things simple and easy to program.
the DS is not the PSP, media playback will not officially exist on the DS and making a bigger screen for it is, therefore, stupid.
#2 i agree with. the next handheld will probably just be another DS. my guess? a DS without GBA support to slim it down more.
#3: too expensive? yes it is. where have you been for the last 2 decades? nintendo has never been about the latest and greatest, and lowering cost of parts means more profits, not bigger and newer tech.
addendum to #3: a DS with basic media playback capability is available NOW through homebrew cartridges. will it have support from nintendo? no. is nintendo interested in multimedia capabilities of the DS? no.
One of my problems with the PSP carries over to this design as well: the buttons are too close to the edges. the PSP's analog stick is way down near the bottom right "corner," hardly ergonomic for anything more than a few minutes of gaming. I like the screens on the mockup above (as I liked the screen on the original PSP) but they need to make room for your thumbs as well.
Also, don't make the bottom too thin. The DS Lite is right on the edge of being painful to hold b/c the lower part is so thin. Better to make the top as thin as possible in order to reduce overall thickness.
@Murdermonkey: It is exactly because Jesus is a man of the people that he has taken such a commanding lead in the Iowa caucus. He has even promised to continue blogging for Giz from the Oval Office should he win!. Jesus FTW!!!
Sexy!
They probably wont release such a thing till at least 2009 or 2010. Hopefully it'll match or exceed the GameCube in graphics quality...
Oh good, a melted DS Lite...
Also I kinda like having a little plastic frame or border around the touchscreen like the DS and DS Lite have, to keep you from accidentally moving the stylus off the screen area. Plus the buttons on this thing are a bit too shallow for my tastes. Nevertheless, it's a great render.
I was expecting a mirror and some makeup in there.
@frigg: Jesus also has the support of the lovely Addy.
@Serolf Divad: true that, I can never seem to part with my outdated gizmos even if I never use them on account of the newest model sitting in my pocket.
Looks more like a makeup container from outside
It seems like it would look like a make-up compact for gurlz, when closed.
how many friggin updates of one handheld do we need?! I work hard for my money and I seriously won't be buying the new one... after paying for a regular DS and then a DS lite.