Nintendo canceled new handheld in last three years

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 7th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata mentioned in a recent interview that the company had a new handheld all set to go in the last three years, but ultimately decided to scrap the plan. Speaking with CNBC, Iwata declined to give any further details about the product, but did say that the most important thing for Nintendo when releasing new hardware is to maintain "momentum." Iwata implies that the new handheld would not have accomplished that goal.

History lesson time: Many moons ago Nintendo discussed the "three pillar strategy" for its hardware. It was to be the console (Gamecube, then Wii) and the two handhelds (Game Boy and DS). With the runaway success of the DS, and now the DSi, it seems the third pillar became vestigial. Perhaps one day we'll see what this mysteriously scuttled handheld was meant to be.

Gallery: Nintendo DS mockups

Tags: gameboy, handheld, nintendo

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Hashbrown Hunter @ Jun 7th 2009 3:36PM

"Is the money machine broken yet??"

"Nope, not yet! What should we do?"

"Just scrap it. No one wants ONE touchscreen anyways..."

Dave @ Jun 7th 2009 3:37PM

Holy shit, some of these are pretty sweet.

MRLN @ Jun 7th 2009 3:42PM

Yeah, they should seriously consider the "Nintendo TS"

sicsided @ Jun 7th 2009 3:55PM

the best of both worlds... handheld?

PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Jun 7th 2009 4:19PM

nintendo DS2 is one i would actually buy.

benhc911 @ Jun 7th 2009 9:40PM

anyone remember this one? http://www.gamingsteve.com/archives/2005/05/nintendo-all-po-1.php

I remember it being used as an explaination as to why the gamecube's discs were so small... so that a portable could eventually be made to play the games... if it came out, regardless of it's price it could be huge, since it would launch with a huge back library, developers already know how to use it (or at least knew... maybe they have forgotten/advanced too much?) I dunno... I would buy it just to play RE4 on the go ^__^

Ryan Hamilton @ Jun 7th 2009 3:38PM

If you go by history. Each Nintendo Handheld has used hardware from a previous Nintendo Console.

Gameboy = NES

Gameboy Advance = SNES

DS = N64

So it would only make sense that the next handheld from Nintendo will be the equivalent of...you guessed it. A handheld Gamecube.

Manly Mcbeefington (Mr. ESC) @ Jun 7th 2009 3:42PM

A gamecube handheld with a super smash brothers port,sold.

I wonder if they are already planning something like that as we speak.

Heh @ Jun 7th 2009 3:44PM

What about a DS with virtual boy capibilities?

David Black @ Jun 7th 2009 3:46PM

A handheld gamecube would be incredible, however I just don't see Nintendo moving in this direction as they are increasingly only showing token attention to traditional gamers. A handheld gamecube would most likely have a software lineup more similar to a PSP than a DS....and this would probably only bring in more of your traditional Game Boy crowd rather than much of the DS audience.

Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ Jun 7th 2009 3:53PM

God forbid Nintendo makes a handheld that has both Gamecube's power and DS's touchscreen. I remember Apple trying something so crazy and making millions. But hey...it's not like Nintendo has an install base on par with Apple.

Freestyle Farfetchd @ Jun 7th 2009 4:04PM

If the next handheld was equivelant to a gamecube, that'd make the one affter really easy. They could just strap two together and call it the Nintendo Dual Scre- oh wait.

rowd149 @ Jun 7th 2009 4:06PM

David Black, you don't know what you're talking about. The DS has been Nintendo's "hardcore" system for quite a while now. There are several times more traditional games coming out for it each month than for the Wii. Nintendo never turned its back on core gamers, just graphics whores.

Ezio Auditore (Now equipped with double blades!) [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 7th 2009 4:07PM

yeah, a gamecube-based DS successor would pretty much directly compete with the current-gen PSP rather than the indirect competition between the current-gen DS and the current-gen PSP. of course, by the time the gamecube based DS comes out, we would likely also have the next gen PSP. so only time can tell.

sam @ Jun 7th 2009 4:21PM

Wait, how have they 'used hardware from' the console?

NES - 1.8MHz 6502-based / Game Boy - 4.2MHz Z80-based

SNES - ~3MHz 65c816-based (apparently a 16-bit enhanced 6502) / Game Boy Advance - 16.8MHz ARM7 family

N64 - MIPS R4300 / DS - ARM9 + ARM7

In all cases those are completely different, usually radically different, processor families.

So anyway - you're right that they are similar in power, but it's a myth that they are in any sense equivalent technically, and they didn't directly 'use hardware from' the consoles as far as I can see.

I think it's reasonable to expect that a new Nintendo handheld might have been similar in power to the GC. However, they're in a bit of a bind for a future handheld if they want to retain backward compatibility in hardware as they have done before - as I understand it, DS games actually use both processors, so they'd have to put three processors (new one plus both old ones) into a new system... unless the 'new' processor is just a clocked-up version of the old one... *cough* DSi. So I wouldn't expect them to rush out their next handheld.

S. Tiger @ Jun 7th 2009 4:36PM

Didn't they already use GameCube hardware in the Wii? I swear they did.

Ryan Hamilton @ Jun 7th 2009 4:42PM

Oh I know that sam. Obviously Nintendo improved upon the hardware as they should, but when you get down to the very core of it. Each one of those handhelds evolves from each of the consoles. It's the reason why it was so easy to port the SMB64 engine to the DS.

The Baron @ Jun 7th 2009 4:53PM

@S Tiger

I swear some ductape was involved too

Damian @ Jun 7th 2009 5:03PM

A Wind Waker style for the next DS that has game cube power, yes please.

Anthology @ Jun 7th 2009 5:27PM

@S Tiger:

It really is a shame that your comment is being down-voted.

Massmass @ Jun 7th 2009 5:44PM

I see no reason for a gamecube-like handheld. That's like saying a PS2 handheld, only that it's already out, PSP.

Point is, I'd want something better than the gamecube, maybe Wii powerful. Not too much of an upgrade, but still by the time Nintendo gets around to another handheld that boosts the graphics, it'll be yet another console generation later.

Also, Super Mario 64 DS was hardly a port job. It had to be reprogrammed and remodeled. So, yeah, the basic framework was there, on paper, but it had to be reworked GREATLY. There's a reason why there's no Zelda 64 on the DS, or any other 64 titles outside of Diddy Kong Racing. It isn't powerful enough to simply "port" things over. it's more PSone than N64, graphically.

Mr Khan @ Jun 7th 2009 5:44PM

Ryan has a point, as a rough correlation is easy to point out, but sam is correct too. Under the hood, they're nothing alike. NES was Ricoh, GB was Sharp, SNES was Ricoh also, GBA was ARM, N64 was NEC, DS is also ARM (pretty sure, anyway)

Mr Khan @ Jun 7th 2009 5:51PM

Funnily enough, S Tiger is exactly right, too. Wii has the exact same architecture as the GC, just clocked roughly 1.5x faster, and with double the total RAM

Nook @ Jun 7th 2009 6:25PM

I agree with you, the nest Nintendo handheld will be a pretty big jump technically I think.

A handheld cube would be awesome. Add in some tilt sensors and a nice sized touchscreen, fully connected to the online store same as wii. keep the ds cart slot and add an sd slot.

My pants are getting tight.

S. Tiger @ Jun 7th 2009 8:11PM

@ Anthology

It makes me sad. 8[

Foetoid @ Jun 7th 2009 9:03PM

"So it would only make sense that the next handheld from Nintendo will be the equivalent of...you guessed it. A handheld Gamecube."

So does that mean the DS3 will be 2 DS2s duct-taped together?

I jest.

RonaldoMoon @ Jun 7th 2009 3:48PM

OK...this is completely off-topic, but - where are those Point Look impressions, Joystiq? I've been waiting patiently...

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 7th 2009 4:03PM

I'm still waiting for the modern warfare 2 impressions as well as the Point Look one. Too many nintendo stories the last few days

PR0F3TA @ Jun 7th 2009 4:29PM

yeah i'm with you both, how about some Sony stuff... i been dying to know what you (mostly Andrew) think.

Mr Khan @ Jun 7th 2009 5:47PM

I'm quite pleased with the current situation. It shows Nintendo's success from E3: people are actually paying attention to them again

Anticrawl @ Jun 7th 2009 7:28PM

Is it my turn to be voted down yet?

Lionbacker steamID: detfan1957 @ Jun 7th 2009 9:33PM

I actually upvoted you in hopes for a c-c-combo breaker.

mike @ Jun 7th 2009 3:50PM

Makes sense considering Nintendo only created the three-pillar strategy as insurance in case the DS or Wii failed. The successor to the GBA would have been part of the backup plan. When the DS and Wii both became huge successes, they realized they no longer needed the GameCube or GBA successor and dropped both of them.

Roto13 @ Jun 7th 2009 4:06PM

The Wii IS the GameCube successor. (And the DS is essentially a GBA successor too, despite their previous claims.)

sam @ Jun 7th 2009 4:24PM

@Roto: DS is the GBA successor *now* but I don't think they were lying about the 'third pillar' strategy when it came out. I.e. DS was a gamble - if it hadn't been a massive success, I'm sure GBA2 would have happened instead. (As per this post.)

Dopple Boppler @ Jun 7th 2009 4:49PM

Yeah, I remember before the DS even came out they said they were still working on a new GameBoy. Remember, back then no one thought the DS was going to succeed against the PSP, so if the DS were to fail, a couple years later Nintendo could just say "All right guys, here's the GameBoy Ultra (or whatever name you want to use), our REAL new handheld."

Funny how things work out.

chispito @ Jun 7th 2009 5:19PM

It's funny because I can't imagine them going back to a non-touch screen portable now. There is just too much great gameplay to be had. Even the dual screens seems pretty natural now, when at first it seemed like it would be really awkward.

deanb @ Jun 7th 2009 3:55PM

Nintendo have hit the gold mine with the Wii n DS and I wouldn't be surprised if they just upgrade the chips inside but still keep the Wii n DS type control's.
I think the new gamers they've pulled in may not be willing to go with a new control scheme for their next Gen. Nintendo probably are thinking along these lines too with the rumored WiiHD, which would be the Wii..in HD. The DSi still keeps the dual screen touch screen aspect of the DS, just upgrading the chips inside to something beefier.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii/DS lasts several gen's just incrementally getting better hardware inside.

sam @ Jun 7th 2009 4:30PM

What's 'is name (the boss, I forget) announced that there were no plans for a 'WiiHD' and that they wouldn't do a Wii update until they had some better reason (than graphics) for doing it. Although when they did find some other reason, they would include HD support too.

So in other words, just as DSi wasn't released to increase processor power but to include the download store and the silly cameras (and coincidentally has a faster processor), they're planning that Wii2 will be released to provide some other innovation/gimmick and the faster processor/HD support will just be thrown in.

My guess is that when that happens they won't be going on about the fantastic graphics because while it will be fantastic compared to Wii, it won't be remotely impressive compared to whatever Sony/MS are offering at the time.

S. Tiger @ Jun 7th 2009 4:39PM

"I wouldn't be surprised if they just upgrade the chips inside"

I just lol'd at this.

MRLN @ Jun 7th 2009 5:42PM

@sam:

One of the reasons Nintendo didn't go for a more powerful system this generation was because they were practically broke after the GCN's relative failure. They should have no reason now to NOT completely outdo (or at least match) their competitors now.

...and that was supposed to do more than make me look like a total n00b fanboy...

sam @ Jun 7th 2009 6:35PM

@MRLN: I don't think they were broke - GC still made money, right? I think the fact that GC was unsuccessful compared to PS2 is what led them to the Wii strategy. And I think the fact it's worked means they are likely to use it again.

When it comes in a few years' time, I'd put money on their new system being once again smaller, cheaper, and much less powerful than the other two competitors - in fact I think the only way this won't be the case is if the other two copy the strategy and also go for a (relatively) low-powered system... Of course I could be wrong.

Lekko @ Jun 7th 2009 4:06PM

Nono, they still have three pillars. The third consists entirely of painting things different colors and gluing webcams to things.

Kokomadeta @ Jun 7th 2009 4:48PM

Ba-zing dude. You hit it right on the head.

Levi @ Jun 7th 2009 4:27PM

so many of these are awful. Most of the good ones are based on the DS Light. I seem them trying to shrink it down again before the DS platform dies, like the GBA Micro.

PS, what's with the one that has a bite out of the bottom left? Wth is the purpose of that?

ryan @ Jun 7th 2009 6:11PM

Yeah what the hell is with that?

Kokomadeta @ Jun 7th 2009 4:46PM

So, rather than releasing another DS, they actually had another system ready to go?
You mean, rather than releasing the DSi (which may as well be a prototype for the next system so its not worth buying), they could have released a real, new system?

I swear, I think Nintendo screws over the first iteration of a handheld just to get people to buy the second iteration. Why can't it just be: Here's the DS; the next handheld you see from us will be a new creation, not just a revision.

The Baron @ Jun 7th 2009 4:57PM

Because Nintendo are out to make money, not to delight gamers like happy children. The reason companies make hardware is to make it profitable, affordable and popular. The PS2 being the perfect example of this. So instead of introducing a new loss-leading platform every few years, they want to keep them going for as long as possible until their competitors release something new (it's like a game of chicken).

Kokomadeta @ Jun 8th 2009 12:03AM

I know, and you're completely right. Nevertheless, I really wish Nintendo were more consumer-oriented than Sony is. They're really losing my brand loyalty.

No wait, they lost my brand loyalty when I discovered that the Wii I bought had 3 good games to its name and the list hasn't gone up.