Iwata: DS2 to feature movement sensor, new Wii Zelda coming 2010

by JC Fletcher on Jan 6th 2010 9:40AM

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has offered the first concrete information about the next DS system -- as in, not the next revision of the current DS, but the true next Nintendo handheld system -- in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. "[It will have] highly detailed graphics," Iwata said, "and it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing." Sort of like the iPhone, yes, but Nintendo isn't exactly an also-ran in the field of motion-controlled gaming. Iwata declined to specify a release window for this DS2 -- or a better name than our suggestion.

Iwata also addressed potential service changes for both the current DS network and its successor, suggesting that there would be no "monthly service plan" offered for games. He indicated that Nintendo was looking to increase the number of businesses that host DS Wi-Fi hotspots instead of supporting a 3G-like service (à la Kindle or iPhone) for the DS. The "Mac de DS" service Nintendo provides in partnership with McDonald's offers free wireless connections for the handheld, along with exclusive downloadable content.

In Wii news, Iwata dropped one bomb that will delight fans ... and one that will probably initiate eyerolls. First, the good news: The new Zelda game -- sort of revealed at E3 last year -- is scheduled for release by the end of 2010. And now, that other news: The Wii Vitality Sensor, the bizarre biofeedback attachment also unveiled at E3, will be released somewhere in the neighborhood of July, following a press conference about the device.

[Via Kotaku]

Source

Tags: DS, ds2, handheld, japan, Legend-of-Zelda, Legend-of-Zelda-2010, mac-de-ds, Nintendo, nintendo-wifi-connection, Satoru-Iwata, vitality-sensor, Wii, wii-vitality-sensor, zelda

Reader Comments (83)

Is it the DSii?

ROFLMAOOMGZLULZZZZ

fail

Jealous, Cody?

lol that was harsh of me.

In hindsight, I apologize.

I liek DS2 moar because S2 makes a heart full of love !!11!

How about the DSD, or Dual Screen Deuce? Anyone?... Come on!

I love Call of Duty, Gears, Uncharted, and all those games but I still get so excited for games like Zelda and Mario. There is just that feeling of pure fun on such a basic level that no other type of game can recreate.

Oh, here is hoping that this has the Tegra 2 with a Cortex A8 or A9 core with at least a 480 by 800 screen/screens

Nah, it'll probably be more like two DS'es duct taped together.

4 screens would be impossibly and needlessly awesome.

Man, the duct tape thing never gets old.

Tegra 2 is supposedly 'expected' to be Cortex A9 dual-core. Would kind of suck if it weren't, really. (The current one is a shitty ARM11, so even an A8 would be an improvement, but.) Maybe they will make different versions but I wouldn't expect they'll have actual different processors?

If Nintendo did use a Tegra or Tegra 2 chip (presumably the bottom-of-the-line model, if the latter) in the next DS, I wonder where that would leave backward compatibility - previously they've achieved compatibility by including the old processor, so DS includes both an old ARM chip and an ancient one (from GBA). Unfortunately, even DS games use the GBA chip as a co-processor to handle input etc. so they can't just forget about it. Though surely possible, it would seem unlikely that they'd include *three* processors in the next one; if they go for a very much faster processor like a dual-core A9, it should be fast enough to do it in software.

Whatever route they take, I expect DS2 will be slower than everyone's hoping for. :)

Yeay! New zelda! Time to kill Ganon... again!

But what if... it's NOT Ganon! :O

Blows my mind!

BEcause the real villain would be Ganon's ..... SWORD !

=P

Funny how you mention that since he's only been in 1 out of 4 Zelda titles released since 2004.

DS with motion sensor? oh gawd that's just asking for trouble in a crowed nyc bus or subway!

So was Rub Rabbits...... I actually did play that game on the train... and I shamefully started to blow and rub on the screen as passengers watched me.........

........ I could have just closed the DS and waited, but it was a long ride...

"motion sensing" and "motion-controlled" don't have to mean Wii like remotes with a bar.

It could just as easily mean something like the iPhone's tilt sensors.

So, chances that I'll be made get the Vitality sensor to play the new Zelda because it'll be a major part of the game interface?

That'd certainly be one way to make sure people buy the Vitality sensor. May be the only way to be honest.

Imagine playing the new Zelda, with Vitality Sensor, Wiimote+WiiMotion Plus, the Nunchuk all of that on top of the Wii Balance Board, that's Nintendo trying to make you a Cyborg.

If that's Virtual Reality i'm waiting for a Holodeck or something like that

@Ashkental

It's not Virtual Reality it's Virtual Wiiality =P

And the DS2 was doomed to a library of third party games that are all the same motion sensing junk.

What I mean is the DS may suffer the same problems the DS did early on, some of the touchscreen games didn't work too well because of unfamiliar ways of using it for games design.

But it may also suffer because of how developers treat the wii's motion sensing, an excuse to create the exact same pack of minigames over, and over, and over.

I get the impression that developers take working on DS titles a little more seriously than they do for the Wii.

I'm off to play Bratz Pony Show IV on my DSi now...

oh great, Nintendo is partnering up with Micky D's. Obesity ftw!

Nintendo have partnered with McDonalds for ages. Also any obesity could be countered by wii fit...

...So THAT'S their dastardly scheme, get people fat and then get them to buy wii fit to burn it all off! Evil Genius!

its been like that for a few years now....they also have wifi setups in Toys 'R Us

If the DS2 has perfect backwards comparability with the DS and DSWare and is less than $200 then it will be a day one purchase for me!

I can't wait for more Zelda news! Best adventure series ever! (imo, next to fable)

$200 will probably be the starting point.

It won't!

Enjoy!

While $200 seems likely, it doesn't seem to me like Nintendo would price a handheld like that, especially when that's as much as a Wii.
I'm guessing somewhere around $170 for starting price.

So Zelda, Mario and Metroid all in one year? What about Star Tropics and wrecking crew 20X0?

That's why Nintendo had a quiet year for major first party games (though still had a lot of first party games).

That's certainly a lot of news, came out of the blue as well o_o

talking about the DS2 already? thats not like Nintendo.....they must plan on showing it at E3 this year

Well, the DS is pretty old now.

for a Nintendo Handheld format yes it is....aint it like 5 years old now?

I think he means they like to do bigger announcement events.

Six this year.

I don't know if it's just me, but it doesn't feel like the current gen consoles have been out for 5+ years now. Us 20-something to 30-something year-olds are most likely used to the 5-6 year lifespan of consoles past — take SNES, N64, Gamecube for example. Kinda puts things into perspective, I guess.

Well, the 360 is really only considered to be 4 years old, but to be accurate you have to include the hardware development phase, which makes it 5, and the PS3/Wii four.

Damn and here I was about to pick up the DSi XL as soon as they hurry up and release it, and now they start talk about DS 2 :(

Remember the Game Boy ran 9 years without a replacement that ran exclusively different games (some debate whether the GBC was a fully new platform. I say it was, but that still puts the lifespan at 9 years)

@bradwart: What? Hardware development phase? Not being sarcastic here, I just don't really understand what you're saying. Is that only the time when the 'final' determined system hardware was designed/built? I was under the impression that the full development for new hardware, as in trying out different ideas and so on, started earlier and took longer.

That aside I think it only really makes sense to consider the age of a system from its public release date.

Hmm, I wonder if they'll switch to a capacitive screen. A lot of the games on the DS simply wouldn't be possible without a stylus and resistive screen, so backwards compatibility would be out the window. Although maybe they'll use some new screen tech that offers the best of both worlds.

I hope they switch to a capacitive screen, as it would solve most of the durability problems with the current screen (screen protectors FTL).

I'm happy to hear anything about a new Zelda game, even if it is a lie. Sometime in 2010? Yeah, right...

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Iwata: DS2 to feature movement sensor, new Wii Zelda coming 2010

Reader Comments (83)

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