There is some speculation about the focus of the upcoming Nintendo DS game system after reports described the playback of a two-hour movie via a 128MB flashcart. Coupled with the wireless DS-to-DS connections, it is sounding more and more likely that Nintendo is positioning the new machine as a competitor to the Sony PSP, even while their insistence that the DS is not the successor to the Game Boy Advance may imply otherwise.
Nintendo has traditionally designed their machines to be ‘gaming only’ devices, letting companies like Sony and Microsoft risk the jack-of-all-trades approach. I’m not convinced that Nintendo needs to make an all-purpose device this time around, but something special is going to have to happen to convince me that the DS is anything more than an ill-conceived vanity project for someone inside Nintendo.
