Nintendo previews dual screen wireless Gameboy successor

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(05/13/04, 4:42:09 PM PT)

Los Angeles, Ca. – At the Electronic Entertainment Expo game industry gathering here, Nintendo, which dominates the market for handheld game consoles, gave developers a look behind the curtain at its new Nintendo DS, scheduled for introduction later this year.  

It is designed as a complement to, rather than a replacement for or follow of the phenomenally successful Gameboy, for which the company has sold a  total of 168 million  units so far.  

To achieve comparable success and to foil the plans of competitors in the game market, the new Nintendo DS will incorporate aspects of every successful alternative consumer electronics device, a little bit of wireless, some PDA, and even some aspects of Tablet PCs and Pocket PCs.  

The developer’s version of the system, previewed at the show indicates that it will have two color displays, sharper graphics and the feel of a PDA, with WLAN capabilities thrown in as well.

Expected to sell initially at about $150 when it is introduced, it will have two three inch diagonal LCD screens, one of which is touch sensitive and for which a stylus is used to play some of the games. 

It will also have a Bluetooth wireless interface or onboard capability so that it can connect with other units nearby for cordless competition. It will be backward compatible with Gameboy, with one of two slots available for its cartridges. But it will have a second slot for use with a newer, smaller DS game card.  

For more information on the unit, go to www.nintendo.com.

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