Nintendo DS (thing)

Announced January 20, 2004, Nintendo's newest handheld game console. The DS stands for Dual Screened (used in the press release). (Update: The screens will be positioned vertically). Even though it's a handheld, Nintendo has stated that it's not meant to take over the GBA SP, but sell alongside it. The screens are "two separate 3-inch TFT LCD displays." The system will also feature dual processors and "semiconductor memory of up to 1 Gigabit." It's supposed to ship worldwide before the end of 2004. Besides this, few other details have been released, such as game medium, controls, battery-life, etc. Also, not much has been said about how the two screens could be utilized besides "players can look forward to being able to manage their game progress from two different perspectives, enhancing both the speed and strategy of the challenge. For example in a soccer game, users can view the whole game on one screen while simultaneously focusing on an individual soccer player's tackle or goal on the other screen."

(Update: March 11, 2004):

Unofficially, Nintendo has made Project Nitro the name of the Nintendo DS project. The day this happened, a leaked document appeared. It confirms that an ARM 7 and an ARM 9 processor will be present in the system. The ARM 9 will run at 67 mhz, and the ARM 7 will run at 33, compared to 16.8 mhz of the GBA's ARM 7. “The unit will feature four megabytes of system RAM, as well as 32K of processor RAM for both ARM 7 and ARM 9, and 656K of VRAM.” According to development sources, the ARM 7 will be used for both GBA compatibility and for aiding Project Nitro games. The two screens will each be at a higher resolution than the GBA's, with 256x192 pixels versus the older 240x160. Also, one of the screens at least will be touch sensitive. In addition, the main focus of the system will be on 3D, “pushing as many as 120,000 polygons a second”, with 2D abilities similar to those of the GBA. The button configuration will be the same as the GBA's, but Nintendo is still considering adding X and Y buttons. “The Project Nitro will also feature 802.11-style wireless connectivity," according to the document, "with some development sources stating that the system can link up to 16 systems using this wireless technology.”