DS redesign speculation returns, gets quashed

by Chris Greenhough { Aug 27th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Like a bad penny, talk of a redesigned DS never seems to go away for long (we can't resist gossiping about the prospect ourselves). Many predicted an announcement at E3, only for the LA event to pass without incident, but now the speculation is back with a vengeance, courtesy of Kotaku and "several industry sources" that aren't Nintendo. According to the whispers, the next DS will release early next year, and will feature screens that are slightly bigger than the current model, both of which will be touchscreens. Dual touchscreens? Amazingly, it's a possibility that we haven't seen discussed yet, and a fairly intriguing one!

Sadly, an industry source that is Nintendo has since dismissed such idle chatter as a load of old baloney to GamesIndustry.biz, though they used the more professional "rumor and speculation." Not that such denials mean a great deal nowadays.

Source: New DS! -- Internet
Source: Not! -- Nintendo

Gallery: Nintendo DS mockups

Tags: industry, redesign, touchscreen

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kimiko @ Aug 27th 2008 7:55PM

Ah, Kotaku isn't exactly a reliable source, is it?

yomachaser @ Aug 27th 2008 9:03PM

I don't think a redesign is likely anytime soon. The insanely large userbase of DS is a pretty large incentive to not change the design to much.

They could issue an even thinner one or make component improvements ,but changing functionality would alienate tens of millions of current users for no real benefit.

aj @ Aug 27th 2008 10:08PM

I swear to God, when a redesign is finally announced (in a week or in a decade), DSfanboy's gloating about how they "called it" is going to be unbearable. Please stop posting about the redesign. Just stop.

Matt G. @ Aug 27th 2008 10:17PM

Will everyone just give it a rest with the DS redesign posts? What is so freakin' fascinating about it? The DS lite is just fine and is still doing really well. There's no NEED for a new model. So I don't get why everyone wants to officially learn of one.

Hamster @ Aug 27th 2008 10:34PM

Seems unlikely to be true. Re-designs are to do with form and aesthetics. You can't actually change the way the console works and is played (ie. two touchscreens, etc) with a re-design because then it basically becomes a different console.

SephFinale @ Aug 27th 2008 10:35PM

At least we know with a DS redesign the cost of it will be CHEAPER, unlike the PSP-3000.

Jacksons @ Aug 27th 2008 10:56PM

Hm? I'm fairly certain the original DS dropped to $129 when Nintendogs came out, before the Lite existed. Why all the hate?

SephFinale @ Aug 27th 2008 11:45PM

Because if you're going to redesign something, MAKE IT FREAKIN' CHEAPER. >B/

debaser @ Aug 27th 2008 10:48PM

Hahaha those mockups are all just AWFUL.

jsutcliffe @ Aug 27th 2008 11:59PM

Why dual touchscreens? I assume the DS is too old for a major functionality overhaul -- only new games would make use of them, and how useful would they really be? The majority of touchscreen use seems tacked on as an afterthought already.

ajwalker @ Aug 28th 2008 1:26AM

Ugh.

I hate touch screens on portable gaming devices. It's bad enough it has one but now they want two?!?!

I'm too old school for that. What's so wrong with buttons and d-pads?

Now everybody is going to try to make games that make me have to use the (dual) touch screen. Ugh!

But, I do agree the DS is due for at least a refresh but Nintendo would be foolish to confirm ANYTHING until after the holiday shopping season is over to continue to make money off the current model and help clear current inventory.

Feba @ Aug 28th 2008 6:41AM

Everyone is assuming that two touchscreens means that they would change how gameplay works. There are two reasons I can think of why both screens would be touchable, without changing gameplay:

1- For left handed players. Particularly for games like GHOT and Brain Age.
2- A design change. Some of the ideas we've seen (being able to have only one screen shown at a time, for single screen [GBA] games or games where you don't need the other screen) would require both screens to be interchangable as touchscreens; mainly where the 'single screen' which functions as a touch screen becomes the top screen when it's converted to dual screen mode.

BlueS @ Aug 28th 2008 7:43AM

I don't really understand why would left handed people need two touchscreens, as most games (at least Brain Age) support left handedness: you just have to rotate the DS, and voila!

Personally, I think if they'll ever redesign the DS, they wouldn't put two touchscreens into it. It just seem meaningless. If a game uses the touch screen feature(not for little gimmicks but for gameplay, that is), it usually means you have to use it always, and I can't find a reason why you should keep switching screens when you're already looking and using one.

But if they would somehow think up a way to make use of the double touchscreens, I think they would make it a new console(maybe with other new features). It could be DS2, or something...

Feba @ Aug 28th 2008 9:25AM

Exactly, you have to rotate the DS, and that can put it at bad angles for doing other things like watching the screen or pressing buttons. Specifically I was actually thinking of Jam Sessions, though.

Crass @ Aug 28th 2008 7:01AM

I am perfectly happy with my 2+ year old DS Lite, even though its built on 5+ year old hardware. Same with the Wii. Nintendo and third parties continually develope great content on both of these systems, however news or hype on a new system might be nice to hear. For anyone into serious handheld console gaming you should look into the new GP32X Wiz:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2X_Wiz