Nintendo launched in 2004 the Nintendo DS, which with it continued to dominate the handheld gaming market. The Nintendo DS was a welcome changed because it provided a new level of interactivity with your videogames – touch. The Nintendo DS comes with two screens, one of them is a touch screen. The Nintendo DS was a complete success, so Nintendo in 2006 released a new redesigned Nintendo DS calling it Nintendo DS Lite. The DS Lite featured a leaner console, brighter screens and better battery life. It sold like hot cakes – hell I even have one! With Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo, addressed some issues, but didn’t really bring anything new to the table.
Nintendo DSi
Now, a few weeks away of launching its new handheld console, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo said that it’s not looking to replace the Nintendo DS, but rather have it as a continuation. Nintendo being a corportation – and as one only thinking of making a profit – has a new strategy: to confuse the hell out of customers and make you buy a Nintendo DSi.
How would this go? Well, video game news website 1Up.com, recently reported how this would be:
“DSi project leader Matsato Kuwahara revealed that the company will be releasing two different kinds of DS cartridges. “DSi Cards” will only work on the DSi itself, while “DSi Enhanced Cards” will work on all DS systems, with extra features when played on the DSi.” GDC 2009: DSi Will Introduce Two Separate Cart Types By Steve Watts 1up.com
Basically, there would be certain games that won’t work on your Nintendo DS – expect them to be the majority sooner, rather than later – but will work on the DSi these would be: DSi Cards. With the DSi Enhanced Cards, you will be able to play a DSi game on your Nintendo DS or DS Lite, however, you won’t have access to extra features that are for DSi owners.
Call me crazy! Call me a lunatic! But why not have only DSi Enhanced Cards? Developers will broaden their market, thus increasing revenue and gamers around will be happy. I admit, it would probably add a new extra layer for developers to work with, but seriously most of them are lazy anyways. Seriously! How much crap is out there for the Nintendo DS right now?
That’s not the only thing, just think about mothers, aunts and uncles, grandparents, anyone who’s not really a gamer trying to figure out which handheld console their kid has. Will this game work? Won’t it?
I’m a big, BIG, Nintendo supporter. I stuck with them on the Nintendo 64 days and Gamecube. They lost me a bit with the Nintendo Wii, but still have me with the DS. Please Nintendo, stop following Apple’s business model, which I hate, and soon more people will start hating you as well.
5 Comments
March 26, 2009 at 5:10 pm
So so true. They are only driven by profit. I believe that the wii could have just been an accessory of the controller. It uses the same processor and isn’t that much faster. They sure kept compatibility, but they didn’t delivery anything that much better.
Compare any game the ships for the wii and 360 or ps3 and you will see that the wii still looks like a ps2 or lesser.
March 26, 2009 at 10:50 pm
This blog’s great!! Thanks :).
March 27, 2009 at 9:36 pm
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April 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm
The DSi only cards are probably going to be used for games that need the DSi’s power, while the “DSi Enhanced cards” will be a way to continue making games for the DS and DS Lite. Having two different cards lets developers create handheld games with a stronger game engine and create normal DS games with the DSi enhanced cards. I expect DSi enhanced cards will soon replace normal DS cards, and DSi only cards will soon replace those.
Nintendo has a funny way of letting handheld consoles die:
The Gameboy Advance could play GBA games and original Gameboy games and Gameboy color games. The DS could play GBA games but not original Gameboy and Gameboy color games. The DSi can play DS games but not GBA games.
It seems this is how all of Nintendo’s handheld systems will eventually die.
November 8, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I’m confusulated.