Nintendo Power teases DS owners with a faux redesign [update]

by Phil Larsen { Jul 7th 2008 at 12:30PM }

Some are awful, some are amazing. Yes, the DS has precisely one gazillion "concept" models floating around the place, from fans who want their own particular quirks included with the ~~inevitable~~ possible redesign of the handheld. Nintendo Power has featured this image with an advertisement for Disgaea DS and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, and although it looks pretty cool, it's extraordinarily doubtful that one of the most talked-about rumors in the history of the DS has just awkwardly been confirmed via this image. Bogus, but neat!

It's pretty much the same thing as the DS Lite now, only with bigger screens. Which is more or less exactly what the DS needs -- the rest is spot on. The fact that the bottom screen is misaligned with the top screen lends evidence to some guy taking one too many coffee breaks during his Photoshop training. Looks rad, not official -- redesign will probably come soon anyway. Watch this space for all E3 Nintendo revelations!

Update: Just as we thought, Nintendo denied that this widescreen DS is a representation of a new unit, stating this is "purely rumor and speculation."

Gallery: Nintendo DS mockups

[Via Aeropause]

Tags: disgaea, mockup, nintendo-power, redesign, rhapsody

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nigeria @ Jul 7th 2008 12:38PM

The DS needs bigger screens?

Chris @ Jul 7th 2008 1:39PM

If there is a redesign I am hoping that the screens will have less of a gap between them. Also get used to that red charge-me light being on more often as wide screens will destroy battery life. Perhaps they will adjust the battery size accordingly.

Katha @ Jul 7th 2008 1:03PM

oh dear, I just hope they don't release a new redesign of the DS, I just bought mine in February! lol :D

Zealot @ Jul 7th 2008 1:23PM

Please be bad photoshopping. As much as I love the DS, I'm not very fond of the idea of paying another $130-$150 for a new system just to be able to play games that are in an aspect ratio incompatible with the current DS. Without other modifications to justify a re-design, it would be a pretty dirty tactic. For me personally (not speaking for anyone else), considering that I'm kind of on the fence about getting a PSP, it would force me to make a decision I really wouldn't want to make at present.

jsutcliffe @ Jul 7th 2008 2:05PM

My first thought on seeing this wasn't bigger screens, but smaller everything else. They'd not be so dim as to change the resolution or aspect ratio on a years-old console with a vast games library.

Zealot @ Jul 7th 2008 2:20PM

One would hope that Nintendo is still sane in this regard. Now that you've pointed it out, the buttons and d-pad do look smaller, but that screen is almost certainly in 16:9 format. These two design discrepancies combined seem to further evidence bad image editing. I don't think Nintendo would conspire with NIS, who has traditionally (even entirely?) ignored Nintendo consoles and handhelds in the past, and entrust to them the stealth debut of a new DS or even a red herring to distract the attention of alert gamers before the reveal of the actual redesign.

Sam @ Jul 7th 2008 1:34PM

does anybody have a scan of this image for the people who don't subscribe to Nintendo Power since they canned all the old (good) editors.

Kimiko @ Jul 7th 2008 1:48PM

Larger screens and/or higher resolution would be good. Larger buttons and better speakers too. More memory onboard or on carts probably wouldn't hurt either.

Hey, wait, didn't we go over this already just last week or so?

Ah well, only one more week till E3, then we'll know for sure, 'kay?