The Music Playing, Photo Taking, Enhanced Internet Connected Nintendo DS

Davey Winder
Monday, 29 September 2008 03:01

Your IT - Entertainment

In the four years since Nintendo launched the DS, precious little has changed apart from the somewhat slimmed down DS Lite hardware of course. Until now, that is. Prepare yourself for the beefed up DS complete with music playback and digital camera.

Nintendo could argue quite successfully, given sales exceeding 75 million worldwide, that is has no need to fiddle with the DS handheld gaming machine.

Yet standing still is, quite simply, not an option in the hugely competitive portable games console market where gamers demand not only the best games but the best kit upon which to play them.

The online arm of Japanese Nikkei newspaper, the subscription only Nikkei Net, has let slip that new hardware is to be announced and possibly launched later this week.

It says that the new Nintendo DS will feature a larger screen, which also ties in with another new feature: a proper built-in digital camera which will allow for in-game use of the photos taken.

Pushing the multi-media capabilities of the new DS even further, it is reported that music playback functionality will also be included.

And all of this, at least when the new DS goes on sale in Japan and assuming the rumours are correct, for little more than the current cost of a DS Lite. Reports suggest a price of around 20,000 Yen compared to 16,800 Yen for the DS Lite.

The final leaked functionality upgrade concerns Internet connectivity, and it is suggested that it will feature enhanced WiFi for connecting to 'information terminals' and taking it outside of the gaming only realm.

All will be revealed, no doubt, on Thursday at the Nintendo press conferences to be held in Japan and the USA.

iTWire will, of course, keep you posted with developments.