Third DS unit on the way?

DS News | Reggie doesn't think it's 'unreasonable'. Oh, and he gets in a jab at Microsoft and Sony, too.

Cult hero and Nintendo marketer extraordinaire, Reggie Fils-Aime, has hinted that a THIRD DS incarnation could be underway. In a recent interview with Engadget, when asked about the possibility of another redesigned DS in the next eighteen months, Fils-Aime didn't shy away from the quesiton. "I wouldn’t say that that’s an unreasonable assumption," Fils-Aime said. "Look at how many times we’ve improved on the Game Boy Advance in terms of the look, the feel, screen changes, and everything else. We believe that type of constant innovation is critical to driving this industry, and certainly if you look at the world wide sales of Game Boy Advance, I don’t think anyone would disagree."

Certainly a far cry from Nintendo denying the DS Lite existed for months and months before unveiling it.

But Reggie also managed to hype up Revolution, and get a shot in at Microsoft and Sony, too. "The response to the controller has been fantastic. Developers are truly embracing the innovation," he claimed, before following it up with "We want to create a system with Revolution that appeals to all types of gamers versus going down a path that, frankly, is a bit exclusionary. They have gone down a path that is very expensive for consumers, very expensive for developers to create content against, and they're providing a level of horsepower technology that not many consumers want."

He also said that "we will" see new franchises on Revolution, and they plan them to be as big as Zelda. A lofty goal, if ever there was one.

You can read the entire interview here.

Related Content

Original DS to be phased out before Christmas
21 Feb, 2006 Handheld to have disppeared from shelves by September.

DS Lite and Revolution image leaks
09 Feb, 2006 Still not final, but closer.

Revolution will be cheapest of the next-generation consoles
01 Jul, 2005 Nintendo promise to beat PS3 and Xbox 360 on price.

21 Comments

David

4 years ago

Nice find.

He's still uses a bit of 'marketing speak' (eg he didn't give a straight answer to the first question), but overall Reggie gives the best and most honest answers in the buisness. Quite a change from Nintendo a few years ago.

Chris-Leigh

4 years ago

'We believe that type of constant innovation is critical to driving this industry'

Innovation?

madmaltese

4 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

'We believe that type of constant innovation is critical to driving this industry'

Innovation?

lol. nintendo have a very funny defintion of innovation. no wonder they think that they are the only innovative company out there.

Xbox live not innovative
Eye Toy not innovative
Singstar not innovative
but hey, 15% smaller handheld and a brightness button, now thats innovation.

David

4 years ago

Context, people?

He didn't say those things were not innovative - in fact, he gave credit where it's due with Live. And Nintendo are without doubt the most innovative company out there.

But he was clealy talking specifically about the marketing innovation of the Gameboy line. Having different models for different people, new product designs to appeal to new demographics etc.

In fact, he specifically refers to the DS lite as just a way of making the (self evident) innovations of the DS more attractive, and not as an innovation itself per-se:

"And certainly what this iteration represents is our ongoing effort to leverage product design to make our innovations and products as attractive as possible"

But overall, yes, he does use the word innovation a bit too much there.

admeister

4 years ago

Give it a rest, Nintendo bashers. I was very interested by the interview, I have to admit, I've been wondering about the whole, "it's not the next gameboy" thing. I wondered what was happening with gameboy, as there hasn't been a new one for ages. When the DS came out, I though it must be a replacement, and that's the way it looks so far. They probably say it's not the next gameboy because they don't want people to compare the two, and the DS is a lot different to a gameboy. I think the DS might cancel out the gameboy series. There was a very good quote in that interview, "To be perfectly clear, the Microsoft and Sony strategies are based on overall corporate objectives versus what’s right for the consumer. That’s a reality. Microsoft is essentially trying to get you to put a PC in your living room because they are fundamentally a PC software company. Sony is trying to get you to put an entertainment hub that has Blu-ray technology because that’s important to their movie business and the rest of their entire electronics business." I think he makes a very good point, that's the sort of thing I've been thinking for a long time, and it puts it into perspective.

madmaltese

4 years ago

admeister wrote

"To be perfectly clear, the Microsoft and Sony strategies are based on overall corporate objectives versus what’s right for the consumer. That’s a reality.

so what a consumer wants is to buy a ds and then not even a year after its been released find out that a new version is coming out and then they might buy the ds lite and find out that there is even a newer version coming out. yeah, buying the same thing 3 times is really what the consumer wants.
also what the consumer wants is to have the console they bought be COMPLETELY abandoned for the last year a half (Gamecube), the GC hasnt had a must buy exclusive since Metroid Prime 2.

I dont mind nintendo at all, but they get a lot more praise than they deserve

döppelgangbang

4 years ago

The real idiots here are the consumers who allow themselves to be so easily led by the corporate machine. Microsoft, SONY and Nintendo each have their agendas, but the level you buy into them (or NOT buy into - which cuts closer to the truth of the matter) is entirely your choice.

Dont like Microsoft's evil advance into your livingroom? Dont buy an Xbox!

Think UMD is an affront to the quest for a unified storage medium? Buy DVD instead!

Sick of your BOHEMOTH DS and are embarrased to pull it out on a train full of PSP ignorami? Get the lite!

Think EA should die? Pirate Burnout 3 and Timesplitters and be done with them.

Generally I think people who are happy to buy three iterations of the same hardware are HAPPY TO BUY THREE ITERATIONS OF THE SAME HARDWARE. If you dispise nintendo's profiteering, then the original model will be going for cheap real soon (it plays the same games!)!

At least we as consumers are given the choice in what we buy, and by doing so WE decide the shape of the industry.

That said, I loathe the state of the industry and the idiot consumers who killed SEGA allowing SONY and Microsoft to float to the surface like the SCUM that they are!

Thanks for ruining my favourite passtime you consumerist casual gamer fags!

ObsoletE

4 years ago

personally, i think Sega did it all by themselves, through mis-management.

back on topic, hardware overhauls are hardly a new thing:
MasterSystem II
MegaDrive II (and 3, though not technically Sega)
MegaCD II
Lynx II and 3
PSone
Slimline PS2
Gameboy Pocket
GBA SP
GBA Micro
and probably more than i can remember.

who cares? they aren't holding a gun yo your head and forcing you to buy the new version.

Infested Jibbs

4 years ago

Nintendo does not have a gun to people's head maltese.If your happy with your ds then stick with it.If you like the new ds lite design and want it, then buy it.It's all about options.Fair enough if they released the new ds lite and future releases for the ds only ran exclusively on it but the fact the ds is stilll compatable with gba software is very useful indeed.If you wanna talk about abandoning consoles why fail to mention that nintendo has consistently supported the gba, even AFTER the release of the ds and some 5 years after it's first release?

EDIT
Obs wrote:

Quote

who cares? they aren't holding a gun yo your head and forcing you to buy the new version.

I read that after my post.Quoted for truth.

admeister

4 years ago

That's exactly right, Obs, new versions can get people interested in getting one, as well, if they haven't already got one. I do think it's a shame what happened to Sega, their Dreamcast console was excellent, and the VMU was very clever.

Jellyfish

4 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

back on topic, hardware overhauls are hardly a new thing:
MasterSystem II
MegaDrive II (and 3, though not technically Sega)
MegaCD II
Lynx II and 3
PSone
Slimline PS2
Gameboy Pocket
GBA SP
GBA Micro
and probably more than i can remember.

who cares? they aren't holding a gun yo your head and forcing you to buy the new version.

Wow, I so expected to have something in that list in my possession... I remember all the kids at school went out and bought a Gameboy Pocket when it game out. My Gameboy original still works though!

The only hardware overhaul was a new iPod but that was because I was getting 30 minutes of cell life on my old one

David

4 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

and probably more than i can remember.

Top Loading NES
AV Famicom
Famicom Duo
Super Nintendo Jr
Atari VCS (wood grain), then VCS Darth, then 2600
Master System 3 (in south america)
Mega Drive/Genesis 3 (in the USA)
Wondermega
PC engine shuttle
PC engine Duo
PC engine Duo R
PC engine Duo RX
Neo Geo CDX
Panasonic Q
PSX
Backlit GBA SPs in USA

The thing about the DS lite is that it's not that much better, it's just designed to get image whores to buy the system. Because of it, your old DS will be more popular, get more games, and be a better system all round anyway.

madmaltese

4 years ago

all i was saying was that nintendo acting like they are the consumer's best friend is a joke, and them believing that they make the only or most innovations in gaming now a days is also a joke.

admeister

4 years ago

Well, don't count them out. Nintendo is certainly coming out with the most innovative next gen console. No one said the DS Lite was innovative, they said the console was, OK?

döppelgangbang

4 years ago

I have always been amused that there is a disclaimer on the back of a console's box stating that the specification may change without notice.
I like to imagine wandering bleary eyed to the bathroom at midnight only to catch a skulking Shiggy squatting by the TV upgrading my system.

Its probably a good thing this doesn't happen though otherwise my GC would no longer have component out...

realitybites

4 years ago

I think the important thing to remember is as long as the new variant is cheaper and backwards compatible there really shouldn't be any arguments.

If Nintendo can cut their costs of manufacturing it would be intrinsic they pass those costs onto consumers.

The PStwo and iPod nano are prime examples of getting more people into gaming/music @ a reduced cost model.

Micro GBA will attract another audience and so will a DS lite and possibly a third DS variant. If it doesn't improve Nintendo's bottom line and market share than investors will take their money elsewhere and software developers will pour their money into the PSP and mobile gaming.

Nintendo's ace up its sleeve is to have a new Gameboy variant.

ZNMS

4 years ago

It's seems possible since the GameBoy Advance has already gone through three incarnations.

niscool

4 years ago

hope so, A COOL DS with multi-functions and extra grunt. Id buy it. I think the 3rd DS would be the Revolutions link to the handheld. We shall see. But I have to admit what the casual gamer has done to Sega and nearly done to Nintendo. I remember when PS1 was released and at that stage I had just got a N64, my cousin called me and said " Oh you gotta come over and check out the graphics on the PS1" So I went and the idiot ended up showing me the full motion video sequence before the actual in-game graphics kicked in. He was bragging how sick FMV was etc. Then he topped it off by saying how the N64 cant do FMV.. I didnt even bother, just laughed at the fool. Thats just an example how the casual gamers brain works, they see ads on TV and automatically get impressed. If the Gamecube looked cooler and had more 3rd party support it would have sold much more. But Nintendo stuffed up big time, they made it LOOK like a kids machine, and casual gamers thinking how cool the ps2 is etc.. Im just glad it hasnt happened in the handheld race. Nintendo is winning and will win easily. Lets all support the REVOLUTION as well. The industry needs a

Nintendo.. SEE YA FOLKS.

Chris-Leigh

4 years ago

David wrote

In fact, he specifically refers to the DS lite as just a way of making the (self evident) innovations of the DS more attractive, and not as an innovation itself per-se

He also says:

'Look at how many times we’ve improved on the Game Boy Advance in terms of the look, the feel, screen changes, and everything else. We believe that type of constant innovation is critical to driving this industry'

Changing 'the look, the feel, and screen changes' is not innovative.

Hence my cynicism. That was the only comment I really had a problem with. I wasn't challenging the belief that Nintendo themselves aren't innovative.

David

4 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

David wrote

In fact, he specifically refers to the DS lite as just a way of making the (self evident) innovations of the DS more attractive, and not as an innovation itself per-se

My answer from above:

David wrote

he was clealy talking specifically about the marketing innovation of the Gameboy line. Having different models for different people, new product designs to appeal to new demographics etc.

But yeah, he was using the word too much.

admeister

4 years ago

niscool, you said "I think the 3rd DS would be the Revolutions link to the handheld." That wouldn't be correct, any DS should be able to link to the Rev, because they are both Wifi enabled consoles. They should be able to link up easily, I'll be you can download stuff from the Rev to the DS, way better than the weak link for the GBA. It has a lot of potential.

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