Funkatron, you just made all the points AGAINST the very thing your arguing for. The PSP is EXACTLY what you are looking for and it is a perfect example of why these multi-purpose handhelds can't seem to succeed. You say that the gaming industry hasn't tried to tap into the success of the ipod but who 'in the gaming industry' do you expect this to come from? Sony is trying this with the PSP. MS is testing things the Zune. Neither has been super successful. The GB/DS and iPod have buried hundreds of competitors. Third party support doesn't just magically appear. It has to be earned and worked at.
Basically, you want mass storage in a portable, right? The PSP takes Memory Sticks that come in a variety of sizes, including 2 and 4 GB sizes. I don't see whats the difference between a 4 GB HDD and a 4 GB Memory Stick.
I am arguing for a DS Lite with 20gb hard drive and a great mp3/video program. I guess I didn't make that clear enough in my first post. Even though I said virtually the same thing. Does the PSP have a 20gb hard drive? No. Does the PSP have a great mp3/video program? No. It's not what I want. I had one, the load times for the games, and the constant firmware updates made me sell it. and the Zune? It's not a gaming device. I don't even know why you are bringing it up. The DS lite is sleek, compact, already has 3rd party support. If they could add a 20gb hard drive, without compromising the design too much, and put out a great marketing campaign, then I think they could take a big chunk of the market. My point exactly. Who else could possibly compete with the ipod? The very same company that has had a stronghold on the handheld gaming market for years. It's a shame that Nintendo doesn't want to try. I think it would be a win/win for everyone. The only way anyone will make a dent to the ipod is to bring something new to the table. Nintendo can do that.
So, what's your point? Your still getting a lot of storage with 4 GB. Funkatron's point was that he wanted a portable with a lot of storage space. I pointed out that the PSP has that in the form of Memory Sticks. If you want a portable device with 30 GBs of storage the only thing you'll be able to buy is an mp3 player. But we're not talking about MP3 players here. We're talking about portable consoles. The PSP was already expensive without a HDD. This was a factor that hurt it. A 30 GB mp3 player sells for around $250. Add multimedia and gaming capabilities and you raise the price by at least $100.
The point is, like Funkatron said, there IS NO device like that. The PSP and its 4 GB memory cards aren't it. Some people want MORE than 4 GB, and they don't want to have buy a bunch of expensive cards to do it. THAT is the point. I would love a device like the one Funkatron is talking about. Good games, homebrew-friendly, HDD, MP3/video playback.
I guess you still don't get it. Even after I bolded it. Even after I thoroughly explained myself. Even after I pointed out the limitations of the PSP, and expressed that it is not what I want.
the DS will never be what you want either, and I'm happy for that. Nintendo only cares about games. I dont ever want to see them stray from that.
a new vs fighting game from capcom! the system's been aching for a great fighter (US). this is all i can really think of.
Okii here is what the Nintendo DS needs: Fire Emblem (We had two offerings on GBA, 1 on GC, and 1 coming on Wii where is Fire Emblem DS!) Metroid (A new one in 2D style even if it's with 3D sprites) Star Fox (I love Command, don't get me wrong I'd like to see another game with some rail shooting or maybe a redone version of Star Fox 64) Super Smash Bros (A 2D one perferably in the style of Jump Superstars with online play) Golden Sun (We had two for GBA, come on keep the franchise going) Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (A new one, with a single player and multiplayer story) Star Wars Rogue Squadron (The DS proved it could handle 3D flight games with Star Wars Episode 3 DS and Star Fox!) Advance Wars (We need another sequel to Advance Wars DS, and maybe this time with online play) Castlevania (Yes, I know Portrait just came out, but I am dying for a game that covers the 1999 storyline that leads up to the Sorrows games) Donkey Kong (Either a sequel in the Donkey Kong Country story line, or some original platform with DK and Diddy) Earthworm Jim (A good 2D game, either a rehash of the first 2 games or a sequel) F-Zero (We need a good new F-Zero, the GBA games were not exactly anything to brag about) Ace Attourny 3 and 4 (I want 4 badly, but it's important we get 3 to wrap up the story. Though, 3 needs a bonus case or a face lift due to it being a GBA title) Lunar (A new game, that doesn't revolve around cards) Metal Slug (An original Metal Slug, not a port or a rehash. Maybe an indirect sequel to the GBA title though it's not necessary) Earthbound (Bring us out either a compilation with minimal DS function or bring us an update version of either 1-3 with DS game play) Osu Tatakae Ouendan (It needs a sequel using the high quality of Elite Beat Agents) Elite Beat Agents (It needs a sequel, that learns from the last one and gets better) Pinball (A new pinball game of some sort, that uses the GBA slot as a tilt sensor) Web Browser (For the US) PDA functions (Use DS slot for software, use DS slot for saving data and have notebook functionality)
Well, the point I'm trying to make is that there exist realistic solutions to your needs at the moment. They may not completely satisfy your needs, but I think they are good enough. Any hardware manufacturer could make what Funkatron is exactly asking for. It just wouldn't sell. Not even Nintendo could sell a portable with an HDD. It just would be too expensive. A PSP is the closest thing and its already a pricey proposition. If 8 GB is not enough space, well... that's too bad. Cause anything bigger then that, is not gonna be arriving in a portable multi-purpose device for the forseeable future. An affordable portable multi-purpose device with a HDD is not gonna be arriving in the forseable future. Just look at the specs and prices for PocketPCs and the future iPhone to see what I'm talking about. Lastly, Nintendo has no incentive to put mass storage on a portable. Not yet anyway. There are only two things that would make Nintendo put an HDD into a future GB/DS. 1. Nintendo starts selling content that can be stored on the HDD (movies, music, games). 2. It becomes very cheap to add an HDD and their competitor(s) have added one to their portable. Just look at the Wii. Nintendo added a small amount of internal storage to the Wii but they simultaneously started selling games through the virtual console.
well, to be fair, MS is heading in that direction with it. it will eventually be exactly what you're saying you want; although whether it will be successful remains to be seen.
Wii Weather, Wii news channels. Wii Opera. MP3 support on the Wii using SD cards. They have already strayed. Who says Nintendo can't still create great games, AND provide a killer multimedia device? Are you not giving them enough credit?
A 30 GB laptop HDD costs significantly LESS than a 4 GB PSP memory stick. Go look. I dare you. It's going to happen, and SOON.
It might, but it hardly provides the controls for real involved gaming, IMO. At best you will get Tetris like puzzle games, fun for short bursts, but nothing real substantial. To me the Zune just isn't unique enough to conquer the ipod. That is why it will fail.
Yeah, except that the reality of the situation NOW is that anything remotely similar to what you guys are talking about does NOT use a HDD but uses flash memory. Based on pricing, energy consumption and space considerations I don't see an HDD as a viable replacement for flash memory chips in a portable device. Now, if you know of a multi-purpose portable device that exists that uses an HDD, I'd like to see it. I haven't even heard of an announcement of such a device. The iPhone was announced this month with an expected release date of June and it uses flash memory.
Pockets? Why has no one told me of this incredible invention? Revolutionary!! I agree. flash memory will likely be the solution as SDHC becomes more accepted and they start taping into the capacity that will potentially have. Will I ever have my dream DS device? Nope. But it is nice to dream. Maybe with Nintendo's next handheld device. I doubt it, but I can hope. There actually is a glimmer of hope right now with M3 and Supercard adapters. But as of now, the slim ones, and slot 1 ones use microsd, which doesn't provide a great amount of storage. Not to mention the mp3 and video software for them are pretty weak.
