Nintendo "TS"

[Syrex]

"When you sell over 100 million handheld gaming systems, everyone wants to be involved in your success; just ask Nintendo. As a company with many different obstacles in its path, NVIDIA could definitely use the boost in revenues that would come from partnering with a company like Nintendo on a handheld system, and it looks like the Tegra processor will make that happen. The NVIDIA Tegra processor is an SoC that runs a set of ARM cores, a GeForce-based graphics core and an HD video processor capable of 1080p output that would definitely give the current Nintendo DS/DSi systems a performance boost in line with the Sony PSP. The 'Nintendo TS,' as it has been dubbed, will apparently be ready for a late winter 2010 release and should put a spark in the mobile gaming market and give Nintendo's developers the power to bring higher quality games to the platform."

https://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=7876

 

[Zet]

Sounds great, I would really like to see some nintendo games in 1080p

 

[.little monster]

Hopefully it will play DS games. I would be suprised if it didn't. It's like if the DS didn't play GBA games.

 

[Samme!]

I thought it meant Nintendo DS Totally Stupid before i clicked on this thread D':

Sounds neat even though there were too many techy words >:

 

[pokejungle]

Sounds great, I would really like to see some nintendo games in 1080p

Just because it's possible does not mean it's likely ;p I mean look at the Wii. That is their LEADING HOME CONSOLE and they didn't even bother to put HD output for full HD TVs. Why would they put 1080p on a small little screen? And the chance they'd put in a feature allowing for output of a DS to TV is so slim it's not really even worth talking about.

But yes, the tegra does interest me a lot. We've already seen that it can run the ZuneHD nicely (which has 3D games in development) so the potential is definitely there.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

This is making me have spasms. Not only will the DS be the equivalent of awesomeness with its dual screens and touch control, but it will have graphics up to par with the PSP.

I always knew the DS would pwn the PSP's ass one day.

I might just sell my DS lite for it. Might. Probably not.

 

[Spinor]

Wait what in about 1 year?

The DSi came out this year. I'll be honest, that is kind of early. Mid 2011 is more reasonable. Let them actually WORK on the system for quality besides HD-in-your-pocket.

Besides, have any of you considered how high the price could possibly get?

 

[Niprop]

Woah, woah, WOAH! They just released the DSi, they can't possibly be releasing a successor that early! The concept sounds neat, but I'd hate to see the console go above the 200$ mark...I also wonder how this will affect the console's battery life.

 

[pokejungle]

Wait what in about 1 year?

The DSi came out this year. I'll be honest, that is kind of early. Mid 2011 is more reasonable. Let them actually WORK on the system for quality besides HD-in-your-pocket.

Besides, have any of you considered how high the price could possibly get?

Yeah that's definitely something to consider. The DSi was already $179 and Nintendo promised exclusive content and stuff with camera functionality.

 

[Alistair]

Wait what in about 1 year?

The DSi came out this year. I'll be honest, that is kind of early. Mid 2011 is more reasonable. Let them actually WORK on the system for quality besides HD-in-your-pocket.

Besides, have any of you considered how high the price could possibly get?

If this is true and the console is to debut next year, it will likely be DSi compatible in all respects. This includes DSi Ware and the two cameras.

I personally think the DSi was really just a test to see how the planned features for their next handheld, this proposed one, would pan out. It would be an excellent idea to include the Tegra chip, but they will still probably have to include the ARM9 and the ARM7 to retain hardware compatibility with the DS/DSi. It could probably be done on a single chip now with an ARM7 core and an ARM9 core. The processors would probably be a little beefed up compared to even the DSi's ARM9, with a throttling technique used to keep the speed down to normal for DSi and DS games.

The new Tegra shouldn't just put graphics at the same level as the PSP, it should launch them ahead of it. You have to remember, 1080p on a screen as small as the DSi's is not feasible in today's technology. That said, the extra power can then be used to pump out more polygons.

Regarding screens, I think they will just double the screen resolution from the original DS/DSi. So, 512x384 for each screen (Which is still better than the PSP's 480x272) That way, it makes for easy scaling and touchscreen calibration for DS and DSi games.

As for price, I would say the $200 range. While the DSi is $170 now, Nintendo is still turning a profit on each console sold. If the new console were to debut at $200, they would likely break even, or maybe turn a profit if they try.

 

[Sydian]

Dang, I just got a Lite because I was tired of my bulky original. And at first glance, I thought TS was going to mean triple screen. I mean, I'm a big handheld junkie, so I'd get it, but by that time I'll be in college and trying to make ends meat. Guess it's good that I have a big family who wouldn't mind getting it for me for Christmas. Anyway, I'm just hoping it'll be backwards compatible, much like the DS was for GBA and GBA was for GB(C). Looking back, all the handhelds are backwards with their predecessors, so that's likely. But like everyone else has said, they just released the DSi, so...TS sounds kind of crazy for next year.

 

[Yamikarasu]

Since the only reason I own a DS is to play Pokemon, I don't really care about the power of the system. It will be cool to have a main-series Pokemon RPG with full 3D graphics. Of course, they would have to build the 3D presentation from the ground up instead of copying the painfully mediocre Colosseum/XD games.

My prediction is that the dual screens will both be in wide screen format. I also am guessing that they will use the same slot for playing both DS and TS games. The camera will be much better, and will be able to record video. You'll be able to send videos and pictures to people on your friends list. You'll be able to download GB/GBC/GBA(maybe) games as well. I'm calling it now. :P

 

[Usagi-Chan~]

I can't wait for it :-D, If its decent and looks cool, I'll get it, if not, I'll get it anyway. And for those who say its early still after the release of the DSi, I believe it was just a place holder so that they could have something to keep consumers preoccupied until they release this.

 

[Aether]

Sounds great, I doubt it will have capabilities equal to the PSP though. Still, this is another step in the right direction. I prefer this to the DSi in general, to be honest.

 

[Alistair]

Sounds great, I doubt it will have capabilities equal to the PSP though. Still, this is another step in the right direction. I prefer this to the DSi in general, to be honest.

If this console is to actually be released, it will have capabilities beyond the PSP. The Tegra chip supports 1080p content, while the PSP can't even support 720p.

 

[pokejungle]

If this console is to actually be released, it will have capabilities beyond the PSP. The Tegra chip supports 1080p content, while the PSP can't even support 720p.

Yes, it can display 1080p. As in, you can watch some high def content (some Tegra versions only support up to 720p resolution for playback).

For gaming you need to realize that 3D environments generally need to be drawn by the processor (since it's all on one chip in this case) and for it to produce 1080p, smooth graphics would be impossible. Running on higher resolutions DOOM can only get around 23-29fps on the Tegra, compared to the minimum of 30 most games need. 60fps would mean a greatly reduced screen size and would also depend on polygon counts, particles, etc.

Soooooo let's not get carried away because something supports 'HD'.

 

[Alistair]

The GeForce that carries the Tegra outclasses the PSP's GPU in both polygon-count and performance, even at the lower end of the Tegra spectrum (APX series). And polygons are drawn by the GPU, not the CPU.

The Tegra is not just a processor either, it's a system-on-a-chip, meaning southbridge, northbridge, memory controller, CPU, and GPU are all on the same chip.

 

[pokejungle]

The GeForce that carries the Tegra outclasses the PSP's GPU in both polygon-count and performance, even at the lower end of the Tegra spectrum. And polygons are drawn by the GPU, not the CPU.

The Tegra is not just a processor either, it's a system-on-a-chip, meaning southbridge, northbridge, memory controller, CPU, and GPU are all on the same chip.

Haha, yes, I'm aware that GPU handles that, I was just not going to go through too much detail. But the fact is that Sony will have time to make a successor to the PSP that rivals the new DS which may push it's graphical abilities just past the first PSP. Soooo... IMO Nintendo's still going to be lagging unless the Tegra's abilities get expanded a bit.

 

[Alistair]

You also have to take into account Sony likes to have a 10-year life cycle for their consoles. We'll be seeing it for a while longer. For the remaining four or so years that the PSP is on the market, the new Nintendo console will outclass it. You also have to remember that if Nintendo works the way I think they do, they will go for hardware compatibility for DS software and include the ARM9 and ARM7 in the device as well, probably in a dual-core chip (as I stated before), which will mean more power, if developers use it and it is implemented.

Nintendo also caters to the Japanese market, and as soon as they see a decline in interest in their consoles there, or the market changes, they come up with a new one. Home consoles are declining in popularity in Japan, which means portable consoles need to become more powerful to keep the industry going.

 

[pokejungle]

To be honest, we're talking about a hypothetical device so it'd probably save us both a good few minutes of our lives to not speculate something that hasn't been announced.

Personally I'm hoping for at least 8GBs of flash memory on board too.