Jithin Rao

nVidia has disclosed that they have come to deal with Nintendo in getting the next gen Nintendo DS to have Tegra in it. As Tegra has claimed to be the next wave in handheld console gaming, as said by the nVidia CEO, seems to get the Big Fish in the league, but Nintendo is yet to disclose on it. Until Nintendo says so, I am not gonna, you know, expect this. It’s NINTENDO, they do anything, and they do it own their WILL! They had once upon a time refused to use the Compact Disc Technology from Sony, later adapted it for Wii.

So it’s not easy to convince Nintendo like that. Let’s see whether nVidia has been able to convince Nintendo or not. According to me, Nintendo should be doing it, we need to see a platform (handheld) to compete with sony so that the market improves.

Right now, DS is lagging only with the quality on visual experience, and Tegra can enhance it, a new feature addition may or may not enhance but the thinking of the possibilities of games like God Of War for a handheld like DS with the innovative hardware features like mic and touch plus a competitive graphics processor can really push the user experience to a different envelope, provided the game developers exploit it.

Well, I am not that old enough to give a suggestion to Nintendo, they know the market too well and they know to how to get people buy their hardware and their games as well, hope they will do something I would like to see them doing.

CHEERS

Nintendo DSi - Black

The Nintendo DSi is about 12% thinner than the NDS Lite. The new handheld has one VGA camera (a 0.3 megapixel camera on the internal hinge pointed towards the user, and a camera on the outside of the shell), larger screens (3.25 inches as opposed to the previous 3 inches), and improved speakers. The power switch was replaced with a power button, as the original DS had, now located next to the bottom left side of the touch screen. Unlike the DS Lite the DSi wont allow use of flashcarts or hacks. Due to the higher power consumption and slimmer profile the battery life is reduced compared to its predecessor, the DS Lite. The internal rechargeable battery may be replaced by the user at the end of its useful life of (typically) several hundred charge/discharge cycles, like previous versions of the DS.

A new SDHC card slot is utilized for external storage of pictures and downloaded software and to play AAC audio. The front slot for Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges has been removed, thus removing the unit’s backward compatibility and its compatibility with accessories that require the GBA slot, such as the Guitar Hero: On Tour grip, which is essential to play the game. The DSi has 256MB of internal flash memory. Photos can be synced to the Wii’s Photo Channel. The DSi is incompatible with flash carts like the R4, M3 and CycloDS (disappointment to HomeBrew Community).

It has been reported that the DSi utilizes region locking for DSi-specific software, since it provides Internet services tailored individually for each region, but the DSi does not have region lock-outs which lets it play any game from any region. In addition, the DSi uses rating-based , which differ by country.

It was first announced during the Nintendo Conference on October 2, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan. It is currently available in Japan only and will not be released outside of Japan until sometime during the first half of next year.

Courtesy : Wikipedia

More Articles Here :

Gameguru

DSfanboy

Gamespot

Another Handheld coming the way! Waytago Nintendo – You Guys Prove it again that U R INNOVATIVE!

RockON!

Here’s a couple of features of the device.

The Nintendo DS (aka DS or NDS) is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The console features a clamshell design with two LCD screens inside – with the bottom one being a touchscreen. The Nintendo DS also features a built-in microphone and supports wireless IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standards, allowing players to interact with each other within short range (10–30 m, depending on conditions) or online with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service, which launched later in the console’s lifespan. This was the first Nintendo console to be released in North America prior to Japan.

The Latest incarnation (the 2nd version of the handheld) is known as the Nintendo DS Lite, which has a much slimmer and lighter version and has brighter screens.

Technical specifications
Mass: 275 grams (9.7 ounces).
Physical dimensions: 148.7 x 84.7 x 28.9 mm (5.85 x 3.33 x 1.13 inches).
Screens: Two separate 3-inch TFT LCD, resolution of 256 x 192 pixels, dimensions of 62 x 46 mm and 77 mm diagonal, and a dot pitch of 0.24 mm. The gap between the screens is approximately 21 mm, equivalent to about 92 “hidden” lines. The lowermost display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a resistive touchscreen, which registers pressure from one point on the screen at a time, averaging multiple points of contact if necessary.
CPUs: Two ARM processors, an ARM946E-S main CPU and ARM7TDMI co-processor at clock speeds of 67 MHz and 33 MHz respectively. The ARM946E-S CPU processes 3D rendering and the ARM7TDMI processes 2D rendering for DS games and Game boy Advance gameplay.
RAM: 4 MB of Mobile RAM
Voltage: 1.65 volts required
Storage: 256 kB of Serial Flash Memory
Wireless: 802.11 + Nintendo Original Protocol
Wi-Fi: Built-in 802.11 Wireless Network Connection (802.11b compatible with WEP encryption support only)

The system’s 3D hardware performs transform and lighting, texture-coordinate transformation, texture mapping, alpha blending, anti-aliasing, cel shading, and z-buffering; however, it uses point (nearest neighbor) texture filtering, leading to some titles having a blocky appearance. The system is theoretically capable of rendering about 120,000 triangles per second at 60 frames per second, which is comparable to the Nintendo 64. Unlike most 3D hardware, it has a set limit on the number of triangles it can render as part of a single scene; the maximum amount is about 6144 vertices, or 2048 triangles per frame. The 3D hardware is designed to render to a single screen at a time, so rendering 3D to both screens is difficult and decreases performance significantly. The DS is generally more limited by its polygon budget than by its pixel fill rate. There are also 512 kilobytes of texture memory per screen, and the maximum texture size is 1024×1024 pixels.

The system has 656 kilobytes of video memory and two 2D engines (one per screen). These are similar to (but more powerful than) the Game Boy Advance’s single 2D engine; however, the cores are divided into the main core and sub core. Only the main core is capable of vertex 3D rendering.

The Nintendo DS has compatibility with Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11. The unit also supports a special wireless format created by Nintendo and secured using RSA security signing (used by the wireless drawing and chatting program PictoChat for the DS). Wi-Fi is used for accessing the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, where users can use the internet or compete with other users playing the same Wi-Fi compatible game.

Input and output
The Nintendo DS stylus used for games played on the touchscreen. The lower display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a touchscreen, designed to accept input from the included stylus, the user’s fingers, or a curved plastic tab attached to the optional wrist strap. The touchscreen allows users to interact with in-game elements more directly than by pressing buttons; for example, in the included chatting software, PictoChat, the stylus is used to write messages or draw.

Media specifications
Nintendo DS games use a proprietary solid state ROM “game card” format resembling the memory cards used in other portable electronic devices such as digital cameras. It currently supports cards up to 2 gigabit (2048 Mb or 256 MB) in size (with ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat being the first DS game to use a 2 gigabit card), which is four times the amount of memory that the largest Nintendo 64 cartridge was able to store (512 Mb or 64 MB). The cards always have a small amount of flash memory or an EEPROM to save user data such as game progress or high scores. The game cards are 33.0 mm × 35.0 mm × 3.8 mm (approximately half the width and half as thick as Game Boy Advance cartridges) and weigh around 3.5 g (1/8 ounce).

Firmware
Nintendo’s own custom firmware boots the system. A health and safety warning is displayed first, then the main menu is loaded, similar to the Wii console. The main menu presents the player with four main options to select: play a DS game, use PictoChat, initiate DS Download Play, or play a Game Boy Advance Game.
The firmware also features an alarm clock, several options for customization (such as boot priority for when games are inserted and GBA screen preference), and the ability to input user information (such as name, birthday, favorite color, etc.) that can be used in games.

Battery life
The Nintendo DS contains a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 850 mAH. On a full four-hour charge, the factory 850 mAH battery lasts about 10 hours. Battery life is affected by multiple factors including speaker volume, use of one or both screens, back lighting, and use of wireless connectivity. The biggest effect on battery life is caused by using the backlight, which can be turned off in the main menu screen, or in selected games (such as Super Mario 64 DS). The battery is designed to be removed only when it expires.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is a free online game service run by Nintendo. Players with a compatible Nintendo DS game can connect to the service via a Wi-Fi network using a Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector or a wireless router.

Download Play
With Download Play it is possible for users to play multiplayer games with other Nintendo DS systems using only one game card. Players must have their systems within wireless range (up to approximately 20 feet) of each other and the guest system to download the necessary data from the host system.
Some Nintendo DS retailers features DS Download Stations that allow users to download demos of upcoming and currently available DS games; however, due to memory limitations, the downloads are erased once the system is powered off

PictoChat
PictoChat allows users to communicate with other Nintendo DS users within local wireless range, which is usually 65 feet around the system. Users can enter text (via a small on screen keyboard), handwrite messages or draw pictures (via the stylus and touchscreen). There are four chatrooms (A, B, C, D) in which people can go to chat. Up to sixteen people can connect in any one room.

Compatibility
The Nintendo DS is backwards compatible with Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges. The smaller Nintendo DS game cards fit into Slot 1 on the top of the system, while Game Boy Advance games fit into Slot 2 on the bottom of the system. The Nintendo DS is not compatible with games for the Game Boy Color and the original Game Boy, due to a slightly different form factor, voltage requirements, and the absence of the Sharp Z80 compatible processor used in these systems.
The handheld does not have a port for the Game Boy Advance Link Cable, so multiplayer or GameCube-Game Boy Advance link-up modes are not available in Game Boy Advance titles. Only single player mode is supported on the Nintendo DS.
Additionally, Slot 2 can be used to house expansion paks, such as the Rumble Pak and the Nintendo DS Memory Expansion Pak.

That’s Lot of Specs on the device, thanks to wikipedia and lot many more sites for helpin me compile this info on the device.

It’s getting late, and I am already feeling sleepy. Before signing off, just reminding myself, I have a lot of work to do !!!