GDC09: DSi architect reveals unreleased Nintendo handhelds
by Randy Nelson 
{ Mar 25th 2009 at 8:00PM } 
Kuwahara says that the unnamed, would-be Game Boy Color successor was in development in 1995/96 and based on a 32-bit ARM RISC processor. The system, which evidently stalled in development due to poor graphics performance, is most likely the fabled Nintendo "Atlantis" project.
The second, more recently scuttled R&D project was basically a Game Boy Advance SP with a touch-screen fitted over its flip-up display. The unit's innards, as Kuwahara explained, were actually from a Game Boy Color. With a deep, serious tone in his voice he recounted that it "was not well received" by Nintendo management. The reason? It wasn't backlit (being GBC tech) and the touch overlay made it even darker. Shigeru Miyamoto evidently liked the general concept, though; Kuwahara says he likes to think his ill-received creation influenced the eventual development of Nintendo DS. You can see it after the break.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dave @ Mar 25th 2009 8:02PM
Whoa!
Lee @ Mar 25th 2009 8:41PM
I second that Whoa!
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Mar 25th 2009 8:04PM
I can't even begin to fathom all the "things that never happened" from Nintendo. They are some rather creative people and you are bound to make a few mishaps along the way to that one great thing
Zephyr @ Mar 25th 2009 8:43PM
Serious, I'm still trying to fathom the Virtual Boy to this day.... :)
time @ Mar 25th 2009 8:05PM
Reminds you of how the Wii control system was originally developed for the Game Cube.
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Taylor Swift Defense Force, Gobot in disguise) @ Mar 25th 2009 8:08PM
allow me to save everyone the time:
The funny thing is, they STILL developed it for the GameCube!! LOLLERSKATES!
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Mar 25th 2009 8:20PM
I have to admit, I lollerskated with you ^_^
time @ Mar 25th 2009 8:34PM
Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.
sparkster @ Mar 26th 2009 7:48AM
@time:
That quote always makes me sad.
Anyways. Wouldn't have bought a that motion addon if it was optional for the Gamecube. So I guess it was smart of Nintendo to "force" it on the players in the next generation. That way it's implemented and if you're a fun developer you don't have a limited target group (people who bought a certain addon for a certain console) to experiment with some fresh ideas.
nutman @ Mar 25th 2009 8:09PM
I love stuff like this.
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Taylor Swift Defense Force, Gobot in disguise) @ Mar 25th 2009 8:11PM
they already had a GBA successor planned in the year 1998?
Talk about Later Thinking of Withered Technology
cloud858rk @ Mar 26th 2009 1:49AM
It was a predecessor. The image of the GBA SP with a touch screen is probably a placeholder.
Cryo @ Mar 25th 2009 8:19PM
Hm, strange stuff.
Josh @ Mar 25th 2009 8:24PM
So, if that touch panel adapter for Game Boy Color was circa 1998, why... is it on a GBA SP...?
Lisa @ Mar 25th 2009 8:37PM
Because the article says that the unit's innards were GBC technology
(hence no backlighting) - it doesn't say that it was FOR the GBC.
Josh @ Mar 25th 2009 8:57PM
But the slide that was used in the presentation says "Circa 1998". There were no GBA SPs in 1998.
Does that mean he sat on the idea for 5 years until the GBA SP was released, then for some reason shoved it all into a GBA SP case instead of just introducing it 5 years earlier inside an actual GBC?
Saria the Cat @ Mar 25th 2009 9:05PM
@Josh: Nintendo works in mysterious, money-printing ways.
Bslashingu @ Mar 25th 2009 9:08PM
I think Nintendo said one time, that they develop technology a couple of generations ahead, and release that tech when the price to make that device goes down.
Also, if you look, the touch screen is an "adapter" for the GBC. They probably just showed a picture of it attached to a GBA SP.
anexanhume @ Mar 25th 2009 8:37PM
I would love to own one of those "atlantis" gbas. That would be a retro holy grail.
Timerider @ Mar 26th 2009 12:34PM
Seriously. That would be worth a LOT. I would settle for a GB light, though.
CH3BURASHKA @ Mar 25th 2009 8:42PM
It's funny to think that in Bizarro World, Bizarro Jostiq readers are staring in awe at OUR GBA and GBASP models while playing on THESE ones.
Josh @ Mar 25th 2009 8:59PM
heh, looks like they got the short end of the stick, though.
(btw, how can a stick have a short end and apparently a long end? they're both just ends, not short or long...)
CH3BURASHKA @ Mar 25th 2009 9:00PM
It's all about perspective. For instance, the long end that we got was actually the short end in Bizarro World.
Josh @ Mar 25th 2009 9:11PM
Maybe.
Mr Khan @ Mar 25th 2009 9:17PM
And, in that world, i'm trolling Nintendo and watching lots of episodes of The Closer...
Saria the Cat @ Mar 25th 2009 10:47PM
In Bizarro land, I have a penis and am a rabid fangirl...OF EVERY CONSOLE.
CH3BURASHKA @ Mar 25th 2009 10:49PM
Hot.
Atr-Slzr-Ctr @ Mar 26th 2009 2:56AM
In Bizarro World, the Playstation 3 its just 2 PS2 duct-taped togheter :D
Cypher @ Mar 26th 2009 3:48PM
In Bizzaro world, the PS3 is the cheapest console.
...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sorry, I went a little too crazy with that theory.
Pedro @ Mar 27th 2009 5:45PM
In this Bizarro world, the japanese Nintengirls game series is the greatest game Bizarre Productions ever made for Sony's Playstation 3.2b - now 100% free of 3RL.
Downrate.
VaultICEE @ Mar 25th 2009 8:42PM
It just makes you wonder what they already have in store once the Wii is rendered obsolete...
Feba @ Mar 25th 2009 8:52PM
Interesting. I'd really like to see more of their console development. Especially how they got to the Virtual Boy and Wii.
Erik Stroud @ Mar 25th 2009 11:17PM
They probably got really high and thought of ways to make being high even more fun. Then they Virtual boy was made so they could go to a different world, and the Wii was made so they could make a bong from the controller and laugh.
Also, I like your avatar Feba. Komori was one of my favs from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
HitNRun @ Mar 25th 2009 8:58PM
It's amazing, when you think about it, how long the original Game Boy held up the portable games market.
Stu L Tissimus @ Mar 25th 2009 9:09PM
That second slide is pretty bizarre. They had the SP case completed 5 years before they launched it?
If they already had that form factor designed, why did they release the original GBA first and not just stick the internals into the SP's case?
Mr Khan @ Mar 25th 2009 9:19PM
It's really an interesting peek into Nintendo's internal development process. So often we only see the end result, looking at the cast-offs will probably tell you more about them then studying the end-result GBA
Nook @ Mar 25th 2009 9:26PM
has anyone considered the possibility that the there was a 'mix up' on the second pic? just sayin' - mistakes happen, you're all burning up in your leather suit jacket making last minute tweeks on your presentation and have a topic on the brain....
;)
Nook @ Mar 25th 2009 9:31PM
...or maybe not - just noticed the GBC cart in the unit, SP did not play GBC titles. Must be GBC hardware placed in an SP housing, modded.
or maybe they did have the case planned out that far back and used it on the SP.
I need to go sit down.
lasersanchez @ Mar 25th 2009 9:35PM
My SP plays GBC titles just fine. Perhaps yours needs repair?
lasersanchez @ Mar 25th 2009 9:34PM
Hmmm, the arrangement of the buttons on the Atlantis looks a lot more like the SNES controllers than most other consoles with 4 face buttons. Looks weird now.
gordo @ Mar 25th 2009 10:55PM
I'm still mad you guys closed Atlantisfanboy.com
Ian Boyle @ Mar 25th 2009 11:08PM
Dammit Nintendo! I still haven't been able to get rid of that boner you gave me with all of the news this morning and now I just creamed my pants!
Feba @ Mar 26th 2009 1:02AM
You should probably get to your doctor ASAP.
Mike Crazy @ Mar 25th 2009 11:41PM
I consider myself an Ex-Big N fanboy But will always respect Nintendo for what they have done and will continue to do. I just hope Nintendo doesn't let Apple take S*** from them. Nintendo needs to stop playing it safe, because Apple has the Iphone/Ipod and big 3rd Party games are already coming out for it. And if Sony unveils a PSP2 with better feature over the Psp which wouldn't take much cause the PSP is a beast. The handheld Market might be a 2 company battle.
DSi is a few years late. The DSi is like the PSP with a touch screen and crappier graphics. I myself won't be picking up this POS DSi. Nintendo please grow up!
BreakingPoint0 @ Mar 27th 2009 2:10PM
Did you mean 3 company battle? It already is a two company battle with Sony and Nintendo. Nintendo may still dominate but Sony put a pretty good dent with about 30% market share.
I will agree, adding the small camera almost feels like a gimmick. Personally I may buy one just because it would be my frist DS, but I would like a PS3 first as I already have a PSP =P I wonder how many games will actually implement it and use it for something. It'll be interesting what will come of it, if anything. I would like to see what they do with the DSiStore
Mike Crazy @ Mar 27th 2009 2:53PM
No I meant 2 company battle because if Nintendo doesn't shape up and get it's S*** right it'll only be Sony and Apple!
pibs @ Mar 26th 2009 1:18AM
The DS was just a revised Game and Watch. Nintendo was out of ideas and they didn't want to admit Gunpei Yokoi's hardware was ahead of its time so they had him wacked in a "car accident" and raked in the profits with the DS. Just wait till the big N's next gen console includes Virtual glasses :P
ViRGE @ Mar 26th 2009 3:00AM
While we're on the subject of aborted R&D projects, it's a bit of a shame that they didn't show what was supposed to be the successor to the GBA. As many of you know the DS was not intended to be the GBA's successor, rather it was what Nintendo called a "3rd leg" that served more as an experimental product that they weren't sure about. It of course took off and became the money printing machine we know it as today, and as a result ended up being the GBA's successor after all.
So hopefully at some point (maybe at GDC 2014?) they'll show us what they were developing in 2004 as the original successor to the GBA.
bartybot @ Mar 26th 2009 10:14AM
Anyone have a link to a video of the presentation?
ecco6t9 @ Mar 26th 2009 4:08PM
If I remember correctly Nintendo started looking into Touch Screens after Tiger launched the Game Com. It would seem here that they simply put the guts of this project in an SP case to show it off.
And according to the EGM GBA launch issue it was mentioned that the GBA could of come out in 1998 but it was too bulky and had Game Gear like battery life.