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Handhelds Portables (Games) Hardware

Nintendo With Possible Palm OS Capabilities 136

Posted by CmdrTaco from the makes-a-lotta-sense dept.
Sammy writes "According to GamerCentric, Nintendo has licensed Palm OS software although there intentions are not clear. "Well there seems to be some clues about this. "Nintendo had recently licensed Palm OS based PDA software without any details on why they had done it. Now Nintendo sources have revealed that V-Pocket trademark concerns this licensing. E3 will be the first witness of Nintendo's complete line of personal organizer tools for its Nintendo DS." So there is a possibility that we could see a Nintendo device with Palm OS organizer capabilities."
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Nintendo With Possible Palm OS Capabilities More

Nintendo With Possible Palm OS Capabilities

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  • Let me guess (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dnoyeb ( 547705 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:27AM (#11658903) Homepage Journal
    I bet Nintendo has new management which are trying to look like they add valuable by making 'moves.' This is a decidedly US style manover which to me is surprising from a Japanese company.

    Kids play nintendo.
    Adults use palm.

    They do not mix. To be sure, I am an adult and I do both. But never at the same time...
    • Its like those Nokia Game Device/Cell Phone, where u had to take out the battery to insert a game-chip. Kids like to play, but IF they play they don't need phone.

    • Re:Let me guess (Score:5, Insightful)

      by way2trivial ( 601132 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:37AM (#11658950) Homepage Journal
      amazing
      handago, a popular software site for palms
      has at

      http://www.handango.com/SoftwareCategory.jsp?optio nId=1_1_2&jid=D7E61X5EF8787877C76A5FA961E36DC5&spe cial=&platformId=1&bySection=1&siteId=1&txtSearch= games&sectionId=3258&topSectionId=3258&catalog=1&t itle=Games [handango.com]
      two thousand, six hundred, and nintey two games for the palm....-- who are they for?
      • two thousand, six hundred, and nintey two games for the palm....-- who are they for?

        I've played a fair number of Palm games. I had a good opinion of very few of them.

    • Re:Let me guess (Score:5, Insightful)

      by JanneM ( 7445 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:54AM (#11659039) Homepage
      Kids play nintendo.
      Adults use palm.

      In their home market, everybody plays video games, not just kids. This could be a pretty good move to get people in their twenties to go for the DS rather than the PSP.

      • Re:Let me guess (Score:3, Funny)

        by pacc ( 163090 )
        Kids play nintendo.

        Adults use palm.


        But now the wait is over for those adults waiting for the limited hello kitty styled Palm V.

      • In fact, i'm in my early twenties. Being at a college where Art History courses are required, i'd love to be able to play my DS and say 'No no, I've got the Palm software installed on it. I'm taking notes. Really.'
      • I know a LOT of people in their twenties with DS's already.

        People in their 20's and 30's now grew up playing Nintendo and Atari games as kids. Youngs adults are one of the fastest growing parts of the market. Why do you suppose companies like "Rock Star Games" are essentially targetting them?

        Heck, one of the most popular games for the DS is that goofy dating sim. That is defintly not something for little kids.

        In other words, there are a lot of people walking around with a Palm to organize, and a DS

    • Gross overgeneralization. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by oneiros27 ( 46144 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @10:01AM (#11659072) Homepage
      Many adults are kids at heart.

      I have a Palm, and I have multiple Nindendos of different generations. Most of the males from my generation (late 20s) have a better opinion of Nintendo than they do most other consumer electronics companies.

      The Nintendo DS has a touch screen on it, that might be useable for writing input -- There comes bundled a little communications package, which accepts 'writing'.

      When I first got my DS, I saw how nice it would be to use it as an organizer. Imagine -- being able to claim your nintendo as a tax write-off! [and well, it'd be one less thing to carry with me when I'm travelling].

      I'm not much of one for bundling -- I've moved back to an older phone, just so I don't have to wait for java and crap like that to load. But I could see a benefit in this particular combination, provided that the palm wrote out its memory to non-volitile RAM, in case I ever drained the battery from playing games.

      And whoever said you'd use them both at the same time? It's possible these days that Nintendo could pack enough memory into one of their cartridges to place the Palm OS on a Nintendo DS cartridge, rather than into the handheld itself.

      Although, it'd be rather inconvenient to quit your game, so you could check your address book, it's still a possibility -- but licensing doesn't mean it's going to ever go anywhere. It's good business practice to keep your R&D going, so you can be ready to move in interesting directions. I didn't see anything in the article (which was rather short), saying they were planning on putting it into a specific product, or that we might see it in use in any sort of time frame.

      • Re:Gross overgeneralization. (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        You may be able to write off your DS now, legally. First, it's an electronic media device, and if you have _anything_ to do with electronic media, interface design, etc., then you can write it off as research or a regular expense item. That is, unless I am mistaken. Get an accountant (not some H&R Block doofus), tell her what you do, what you've bought, etc. You might be surprised.
      • And whoever said you'd use them both at the same time? It's possible these days that Nintendo could pack enough memory into one of their cartridges to place the Palm OS on a Nintendo DS cartridge, rather than into the handheld itself.

        They'd have to do that. The Nintendo DS has only 4 MB of RAM. The cartridges have much, much more.
      • Many adults are kids at heart.


        This remind me of the old saying : The difference between kids and adults is the cost of their toys.

    • Kids play nintendo.
      Adults use palm.

      It's an open secret that this is for Nintendo's mobile pron media center device, code named Hairy Palm.

    • Re:Let me guess (Score:2, Insightful)

      by ripnet ( 541583 )

      They do not mix. To be sure, I am an adult and I do both. But never at the same time...

      Which is exactly why it makes sense to have one device share both those functions.

    • Imagine it like this.

      You got PDA in my game console!
      You got game console in my PDA!

      Why do you think its called Nintendo DS instead of Gameboy DS?

      People wouldn't buy a Gameboy for business use.
    • Kids play nintendo.

      Shall I kill you now, or later?
      Adults play Nintendo, as well. They have some of the best games around.
    • Speak for yourself. If I could have my PalmOS on my Nintendo DS I'd pay for it!

      Kids play nintendo ---> WRONG both do!
    • They do not mix. To be sure, I am an adult and I do both. But never at the same time

      I must disagree. I daily ride on the public transit rail system in a major metropolitan area, and I see many adults on the train playing games on their cell phones or solitaire on their PDA. I don't know how far the Nintendo-Palm market would extend beyond what I see, but there is certainly a market for it.
    • I'm an "adult" and I play Nintendo. So does my wife. I've never had one of their portable systems, but I would be very interested in a DS with PDA capabilities. I think it's a great move and will expand their market to new segments. The only thing "surprising" about it coming from Nintendo is that it actually makes sense.
    • The DS is not really a kid system, whatever Nintendo's current stereotype. Nintendo's recent numbers show that 59% of DS owners are over 19 years old. (About 20% are female.) The Palm OS will just increase those numbers.

      Personally I think Nintendo could have done better than use Palm, but I am not against the idea. It's better than Windows CE. Maybe they'll make some upgrades.
    • Kids play nintendo.
      Adults use palm.

      They do not mix. To be sure, I am an adult and I do both. But never at the same time...

      I do. At least, I have a gameboy emulator on my Clie, so I'm using my Palm and playing Nintendo at the same time.

    • I bet Nintendo has new management which are trying to look like they add valuable by making 'moves.' This is a decidedly US style manover which to me is surprising from a Japanese company.

      This is in no way a new manuever from Nintendo. The original Famicom (NES) had all the expansion bays necessary to turn it into a cheap home computer, and even had a modem port that was supported in Japan with a BBS-esque online service. After Tetris caused the Game Boy to become a minor hit with adult users, Nintendo q

  • Finally! (Score:3, Funny)

    by bigtallmofo ( 695287 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:27AM (#11658905)
    Now I can finally play a game using the highly efficient Graffiti writing.

    • Re:Finally! (Score:3, Informative)

      by rootofevil ( 188401 )
      No you cant, graffiti was shot down. You have to use the even more effecient graffiti2.

      Unless you find the original libraries out on the net and can upload them into the device overwriting the old ones, that is.
    • Nooo! I'll never give up my much more efficient "roll to the letter, with the thumbpad, select it with the button, roll to the next one, oops, roll to backspace, backspace, backspace, reroll, select...". I'm not even a gamer and I can Graffiti faster than most people can type. What's your preferred alternative for entering text on a videogame?
    • Who said text-based adventures are dead? ;)

  • Slashdot = Rumor Mill (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Xeo 024 ( 755161 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:27AM (#11658907)
    That was one of the worst articles posted.

    All I see is possibility, rumored, without any details etc.

    All from as far as we know, an unreputable site.

  • Viva (Score:2, Troll)

    by News for nerds ( 448130 )
    la Revolution

    powered by PalmOS.
  • It's difficult to see where Nintendo may be trying to go with this. My closest guess being that they are trying to tie in the whole thing with 'texting', et al that seems to be a craze with the younger generation with having a portable gaming device. I recall the DS having that collaborative pictographical game. This could be an easy manner to make these a more social device in ways I don't feel the N-Gage quite hit.
    • hmm?
      n-gage gives you irc, major messengers, mms and whatever else.

      even python scripting.

      you see, unlike nintendos systems.. n-gage runs series60 and is completely open for anyone to develope for (for free).

  • N-Gage (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Space_Soldier ( 628825 )
    They'll probably add cell phone components too. So Nintendo wants to turn the Game Boy line into N-Gage. The problem is that N-Gage is not successful, so what makes them think that Game Boy with PDA and maybe phoning will be successful? I don't think that a 12 years old kid needs a PDA in his Game Boy, nor do I think that he should have a mobile phone. What are your opinions on this?
    • N-Gage didn't take off because of idiotic initial design (take the batteries out to change a game? whoever let that slip through the engineering process should be stripped of their license). Nintendo has two big things going for it:

      Name recognition, and a known software library. If anybody's going to make the first successful initial game/phone/pda, I think Nintendo has a better-than-fair shot at it.

    • Re:N-Gage (Score:4, Interesting)

      by jmcmunn ( 307798 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:44AM (#11658988)
      I would agree completely with your point, young kids have no need for that kind of crap. It only makes them spend more time with their gadgets instead of going outside and getting exercise, or playing with their friends (in person, not online). However, the PalmOS could be used for a lot of things. One simple thing it could be used for is to keep around your "buddies" in a convenient matter so kids can use the fun little wireless chat thing that the unit already does. Also, it could be used to maintain high score lists (both local and online) and to simply provide for a powerful (for a game unit) interface for browsing your firmware/game menus. Just because they licensed the PalmOS doesn't mean it will be a full blown PDA. Of course it could, and I can't say for sure that it won't be, but it could just be for a code base that they want to use for their own design.

      Anyone need a gmail account? I have posted several hundred over on my site...click below to get your own.

      http://www.jiggybyte.com/gmail [jiggybyte.com]

      • I would agree completely with your point, young kids have no need for that kind of crap. It only makes them spend more time with their gadgets instead of going outside and getting exercise

        Good point. When I was young I had a stick. It was six feet long and I painted it orange and white. After watching some badly dubbed Japanese TV I would go out with this stick and hit other kids who also had sticks in slow motion. With that stick I also found out valuble information about how weak internal doors and wa

    • Re:N-Gage (Score:3, Insightful)

      by DeltaSigma ( 583342 )
      F*** the children! I want a Game Boy with integrated PIM and cellular!
    • true, but... by not packing it in if you just want the ds you get a ds (that is if it's really for the ds).. And those that want it can grab it. I carry a cell phone, palm and ds with me most of the time currently. If it was well designed I would much welcome a ds cart that added the other two. It would definatly save storage for me. Plus we would have one device to rule them all ^^. As for the n-gage well it just sucked, games and all. They played like crap and I couldn't see one good thing about the "sys
    • Maybe if they do it right. The tacophon... err n-gage combined a poor phone with a mediocre console.

      Check out the Tapwave product, a palm with a real graphics chip and a gaming oriented design. That's what theyre looking to dominate.

    • Maybe creating video games that require a touchscreen is a good way to introduce kids to PDA's. And there are games for the palm operating system, which could run on the DS I guess. Maybe adding palm OS would also make the DS more appealing to palm users without taking away the system's appeal to children. It would still play Pokemon red, silver, purple, and whatever other colours they have.
    • And why do you discount the large numbers of adults who own DS's? That nintendo is for kids stuff is the puerile mantra of sony/xbox fanboys.
      • Preach on my brother.

        But just keep it on the down low. All those sony/xbox fanboys need to feel manly. Those few times the leave their parents basements to take out the trash for mother are quiet painfull from what I hear.

        I'm a grown up-kid and I've never owned sony/xbox. Nintendo kicks ass.
        • Yeah, and your opinion is much more rational than their opinion. Righto.
        • I'm a grown up-kid and I've never owned sony/xbox. Nintendo kicks ass.

          Depending on the type of games you like, you could be doing yourself a disservice with not owning a Sony/Xbox. It isn't the console that's important, it's the games that are released on it.

          I own a gameboy and playstation. I play my brother's Playstation 2 and Gameboy Advance and buy my own games for those (so when I move out I'll have to buy a PS3 and a DS).
    • I don't think that a 12 years old kid ... should have a mobile phone.

      I know plenty of 12 year old kids that would disagree with you and I know plenty of parents that are willing to give into their kids.

      The problem is that N-Gage is not successful, so what makes them think that Game Boy with PDA and maybe phoning will be successful?

      Here's a secret. Just because Nintendo will add this functionality (probably with extra cartridges) doesn't mean anyone has to buy the cartridges. Nintendo can write it off

    • Re:N-Gage (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "They'll probably add cell phone components too."

      You jumped to this conclusion like Frogger into a VW Beetle.

      "So Nintendo wants to turn the Game Boy line into N-Gage."

      Then you got up again and jumped into a Mack truck.

      Stop it with the heroic leaps of doom already. If everybody in the world thinks adding actual cellphone functionality to the DS would be a bad idea, they probably aren't going to do it. I mean, it's fun to play "I'm smarter than Nintendo," but you have to hit pause on that game at least

    • Re:N-Gage (Score:3, Interesting)

      by NanoGator ( 522640 )
      "The problem is that N-Gage is not successful, so what makes them think that Game Boy with PDA and maybe phoning will be successful?"

      A.) The DS is already successful.
      B.) The DS already has the components to make a decent PDA. Add a sprinkle of software and you're done.

      C.) Although I'm not terribly impressed with the idea of turning it into a phone (unless they made a new all-in-one-unit), phones are very simple very standard devices so it really wouldn't (shouldn't?) hurt the machine.

      " I don't think t

  • ...play attack of the killer notes.

    This looks like doing something just for the sake of having been seen to do something. It remains to be seen - maybe they will actually come up with a product that will work.

    Its possible they are looking to expand into other markets and see this as a likely avenue.

  • Your write! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mike Schiraldi ( 18296 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:46AM (#11658996) Homepage Journal
    According to GamerCentric, Nintendo has licensed Palm OS software although there intentions are not clear.

    I have no idea what there intentions are, but i'm sure their up to something good. They're are many cool things they could be planning.

  • Palm Cartridge (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sehryan ( 412731 ) on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:50AM (#11659020)
    "So there is a possibility that we could see a Nintendo device with Palm OS organizer capabilities."

    You will see the DS with Palm OS capabilities, and they will be provided in a cartridge. The DS already has what all other PDA's have, except much better gaming ability.

    This is a pretty smart move by Nintendo. Basically, they give you a simple, handheld game system, and then allow you to decide what add-ons you want through carts. Keeps the "I just want a gaming system" folk happy, while appealing to the "everything and the kitchen sink" folk interested.

    Of course, I am a Nintendo fanboy, so my view could be a bit biased.
    • The DS already has what all other PDA's have
      Except a decent sized screen. Now they might be able to come up with some interesting interfaces with different views on the two displays, but most PDAs have a single screen much larger than the DS.
      • "Except a decent sized screen. Now they might be able to come up with some interesting interfaces with different views on the two displays, but most PDAs have a single screen much larger than the DS."

        Those PDAs also cost more than a PDA cartridge for the DS. Frankly, if they could get PalmOS on it, a basic email client, and an instant messenger, I'd buy it just for yucks.

  • I would buy Nintendo Palm IMMEDIATELY (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 13, 2005 @09:57AM (#11659052)
    I have a DS, and frankly, the number of good games released so far is disappointing (but there are a few winners, like Feel the Magic, and Band Brothers in Japan).

    I no longer have a Palm, but had a VII and Palm Pilot Professional a while back.

    If Nintendo released essentially a Palm cartridge that turned your DS into a fully functional Palm OS machine, I would buy it in a second -- ESPECIALLY if it included a browser that took advantage of the DS' built-in wireless. I DO miss having a handheld computer -- I just can't justify it, when I already have a SE T-610 phone, and iBook G4 w/ BT and 802.11b/g. But $50 bucks or so for a Palm that uses my nice DS hardware (when it's sitting idle for lack of games)? Hells yeah!
    • I have a DS, and frankly, the number of good games released so far is disappointing (but there are a few winners, like Feel the Magic, and Band Brothers in Japan).

      I agree completely. The good games are still coming.
      Repeat after me: Age of Empires DS. Metroid Prime Hunters. New Zelda game. New Mario game. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Mario Kart DS (possibly online). Age of Empires DS.

      Keep repeating Age of Empires DS over and over.
    • Yeah, the DS is starting out really slow, but look at the lineup. Castlevania, Metroid Prime, DS Wars, Lost in Blue, Mario Kart, Xenosaga, Baten Kaitos, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles all in the upcoming games list.

      That's hardly to be scoffed at. ;)
  • I really doubt that Nintendo would give PDA/Organiser functionality to the Gameboy. The gameboy is aimed at five to fifteen year olds, PDAs are aimed at eighteen plus. My guess is that they licensed the PalmOS for other reasons, possibly aiming to integrate data syncronisation, the filesystem, or other parts of PalmOS with their existing software, for their next generation gameboy. (Yes, they just released the DS, but they would definitely be working on the next one already)
    • The DS isn't a GameBoy, though. If it was, they would have named it as such. It's actually considered to be separate from their GB line of products.
    • I forgot to mention the graffiti system of converting writing to text, esp. now that they are using the touch screen. Certainly beats the way you have to enter high scores in the older gameboys.
    • Actually the new Gameboy is slated for release later on (Gameboy Evolution). The DS is not a Gameboy.

    • I really doubt that Nintendo would give PDA/Organiser functionality to the Gameboy.

      I kind of agree with you -- I don't think that's the right choice here.

      Really, the way to go would be to make a sleek, upscale, "adult"-looking version of the DS, make its primary interface Palm OS, and use the DS hardware and cartridge system to turn it into a "gaming PDA".

      The idea would be that it would be aimed at adults with a real or semi-real need for PDA functionality, but who would also buy Nintendo game car

  • The DS has a touch screen, and is certainly powerful enough to do everything a PDA can. The only thing missing is the software... and both the palm pilot and the DS run on ARM processors...
    • Don't forget that the DS also has a microphone, speakers/headphone jack, and 802.11 abilities. A lot of palm devices don't have those. Plus, the DS has 2 screens (not sure yet if that's a good think for a PDA) and it is self protecting (it closes up like a clam), no need for a bulky carrying case. I am quite excited!
  • Yes, but does it have a megapixel camera, and can it make GSM phonecalls?

    My Nokia has an organiser and plays games (and not just "guess if the battery is flat"!)

  • This is clearly aimed at the DS (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 13, 2005 @10:08AM (#11659124)
    I don't know why people think that Nintendo is going to launch a new line of hardware. This is clearly meant as an add on to the DS. Really, the only thing holding the DS back from being a decent Palm replacement now is the software, which of course, this license takes care of. The beauty part is that both the DS and the Palm use an ARM processor, so porting the code shouldn't be too awful.

    The DS already has a built in touch screen and 802.11b. Once they have the Palm OS added to it, you'll be able to run Palm software relatively easily, which means the DS will gain a web browser, IM client, etc. So, for everyone who's already shelled out their $150 for a DS and gotten bored of Mario 64, this is great news. This unlocks an extra bit of functionality on this versatile bit of hardware. Of course, most kids won't need it, but for those of who game and want to web browser wirelessly on a PDA, it could be pretty cool.

    Now, can we please knock off the "Let's play the Graffiti game" jokes?

    • Re:This is clearly aimed at the DS (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I agree that that's the most likely use for Palm OS, but also I think there is one more possibility that has been overlooked in this discussion. If you look at some things from the development stage for the DS, you can see it was not designed to be a GameBoy replacement. Originally, it wasn't supposed to play Game Boy Advanced games or even have a traditional D-pad. Nintendo wanted to bust things wide open by selling two handheld system at once, to two different markets. The DS is designed to "level the pla
    • Who gets tired of Mario 64???

      They should make the DS into a cell phone, camera, PDA, video game system, remote control, metal detector, and remote car starter.

      Is it bad that I just don't understand all of this convergence stuff? Maybe Nintendo should focus on creating a great gaming system with great games that people want to play.

      • Re:This is clearly aimed at the DS (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        They did that with the gamecube and people said "But the XBox and PS2 both come with a DVD player so they must be better"
      • Convergence is bad when you include everything in the basic package, because you often pay for things you don't want, need, or like. The DS isn't really convergent, it's modular. The difference is flexibility. If you can use it, you can get it. If not, you don't have to.

        There is absolutely no problem if Nintendo adds PDA-style function to the DS, because I don't have to pay for the functionality if I don't want it.
  • The capabilities of the DS have only begun to emerge. My son has one, and I can't help picking it up every time he leaves it laying about and thinking "hey, wouldn't it be cool if..." (Probably will get my own actually...)

    You put some Palm PDA functions in the sucker, aim it at junior/senior high kids, then *boom* you got some PDA junkies for life...

    Have you seen the text messaging a 14 year old girl can do? Put one of these in her hands, let her friends get some "me too" going, then fuhgeddaboutit

    • Have you seen the text messaging a 14 year old girl can do? Put one of these in her hands, let her friends get some "me too" going, then fuhgeddaboutit!

      Yes, I have. We have a big family plan with shared minutes. One of my family members used up all 600 of our shared text messages for one month. I only sent five (at most) in the entire month.
  • The nintendo ds IS NOT THE NEXT GAMEBOY if you read some of their reports, they said this is not the new gameboy, their working on that, this is the nintendo DS, a completely new console... Old uninformed people shouldn't talk about stuff that kids want either... I am infact a high school student, and me and quite a few of my friends have nintendo ds's, we have spent lunch playing eachother, and we have even cheated on tests by talking to eachother via pictochat... And if we were to get internet, eithe
  • Maybe they're leasing Palm's software just for their handwriting recognition? Really, all they need to do is integrate an AIM client w/ handwriting recognition from Palm and they'd have a MAJOR hit on their hands. Of course, it would be nice to have the Palm software too. But adding an AIM client to the package would make it a killer ap IMO!

  • tapwave zodiac? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    i assume that sombody here has to have heard of this little gizmo. if not, its a palm powered pda that is set up to orient itself more toward gaming. a company developing palm software was making a gameboy advance emulator that would run on high end palm devices such as the zodiac, but nintendo sued the company and put it out for a while. perhaps this is why they put up a stink about an emulator being put out for palm but look the other way with PC emulators? http://www.tapwave.com/ [tapwave.com] if you are in the ma

  • DS is for adults. Besides, Tech + Kids = Good! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by metalligoth ( 672285 ) <metalligoth.gmail@com> on Sunday February 13, 2005 @01:09PM (#11660472)
    After reading a lot of replies I see a general theme.

    Most people seem to think the DS is for kids. It isn't. Nintendo has stated clearly that the Game Boy Advance is for the market of the original Game Boy (6 to 25 years old or so) and that the DS is for the young adults that had the original Game Boy and are grown up now. The DS is intended for a 16 to 40 market. It's not for kids.

    Nintendo has also previously announced plans to launch a VoIP service for the DS that will only work with other Nintendo DS units. I think this was even covered on Slashdot.

    To the people saying 12 year olds don't need cell phones, I have to say this:

    I was using experimental (read: pre-Newton and Newton-era but not the Newton itself) PDAs when I was as young as 12. I loved them. They helped me in school immensely and kept me entertained, as well. I loved communications equipment at that age, and when I wasn't busy hacking the local BBS I was often on the CB radio with my buddies. If we had cell phones, we would have used those.

    There were plenty of times I was out in the middle of the woods or in town with friends that I'm sure my parents would have loved to get ahold of me. I know that when I have kids I will enjoy the piece of mind that comes from knowing you can get ahold of them while they're out playing and having fun.

    Yes, I'll still ask them where they're going, but you simply can't lock your 12 year old in the house 24/7. So, a cell phone is often the best thing you can do.

    Frankly, I'd rather it be a cell phone that I can call to /ask/ my kids where they are rather than a GPS device of some sort like many parents want to use these days.

    From what I hear from parents I know, there are few kids these days in middle school or high school that /don't/ have cell phones already! ...and why shouldn't they have phones? PDAs?

    Isn't giving a kid a piece of technology and teaching them how to use it responsibly a GOOD thing?

    If you think the answer is no, I'd like to say you have a rather anti-Slashdot (or simply anti-hacker) mentality.

    There were plenty of times I'd take a long hike in the woods and sit down in the middle of the woods on a log and program on my PDA for a few hours. Hey, it might of been strange, but I was active physically and I was learning, too. I got a good programming job fresh out of high school when a lot of my peers were still at fast food jobs, so it couldn't have been all bad.
    • ...There were plenty of times I'd take a long hike in the woods and sit down in the middle of the woods on a log and program on my PDA for a few hours... Would you mind telling me what did you program in (on your PDA)? I sometimes wonder if it can be used for prototyping small algorithms while commuting, for example, but I never actually found out an "IDE" (in the sense of editor/runtime env. combo) for it. Opinions?
  • While I think it's certainly about time that mobile devices began to converge, I think that this is well overdue.

    I already have a SmartPhone which, while it doesn't play the niftiest games, it does have great PDA abilities, a camera, music player, web browser, etc, etc.

    Had Nintendo done this about three years ago, even with the cellular module, I think they could have been big leaders in this market today. Now, they're just playing catch up.
  • The problem w/ the N64 was that it was too difficult to program for, that's why Nintendo went all out making sure the GBA and the GameCube were easier to produce content for.

    Anyone who's written code for PalmOS can see what a terrible idea this is...
  • Organizer Plus [nintendo.com] for the Nintendo DS. Not much information, other then it has been on the DS gamelist on Nintendo.com ever since the DS's launch.
    • Don't know about that... the publisher for Organizer Plus is Summitsoft, not Nintendo (http://www.gamespy.com/company/490/490745.html). That said, I'm sure Organizer Plus is some sort of answer for the PDA folks out there, but I don't think it's the Palm OS/
  • The DS is quite a little handheld, but I think a lot of the features have really gone to waste. Mario 64 is fun, but I don't feel the same compulsion to seek out every star again. Having a web browser would be pretty slick, but I won't contribute anymore to the rumor mill than I already have.
  • My only complaint is that all the people who said they were going to hack it so it could be tunneled over the internet, and made other grand promises never really delivered. Not to belittle the effort that went in, but it kinda seems like hacking the DS got a little stagnant.

    If Nintendo wants to beat them (DS Hackers) to making this thing internet ready, I'll be first in line to buy the software to do it. Regardless, the DS is still a phoenominal little game system, I can't see what they bring out for ga
  • Does anyone of you know any kids of that age? I think you guys needs an update on kids nowadays. My sister is 9 years old (im 25) and shes carries a nokia 3650 where she has her homework reminders and birthdays and dayplanner, also shes into SMS and sending her friends photos using MMS. She plays games only on a gamecube and Sims 2 on the pc. She uses Msn messenger everyday and knows about changing skins on Windowblinds for Windows Xp. She burns her own cds, and when I we saw the Nintendo Ds The first thing
  • I thought everyone loved the PSP because of the mp3 and video and posible cellphone and online browser and watching movies, etc. I think only kids would be ok with this kind of funcionality on a portable console. I don't want to be seen by women in the gym carring a Gameboy to listen to mp3s or being on a Night Club and answering my Playstation Portable Cellphone. And I have seen it with someguy bragging about his Sony-Ericsson 900 PDAcell and how expensive it was to my girlfriends (obiously trying to steal
    • I thought everyone loved the PSP because of the mp3 and video and posible cellphone and online browser and watching movies, etc.

      The PSP is massively overhyped. Possible cellphone? I'd give the DS a much better chance, because the PSP doesn't even have an expansion port! (unless you count the memory card slot, but then you lose the memory card) The DS, on the other hand, DOES have an extra expansion slot (the GBA slot).
      MP3's, okay, yes.
      Online browser? Not unless they release PSP PDA software like the
  • Some people think that the firmware is not upgradeable and that it would need a special cartridge. I think it is upgradeable. Just a hunch :) Anyway, Nintendo just pays for it to see if it's useable or not. I hope it is, the current firmware just sucks.
  • Oddly, when I first same images of the Nintendo DS, I immediately thought of a childs fold out organiser/web/email tablet with a stylus in the series Serial Experiment Lain. It makes sense to have an organiser with that form factor once you see images of it being used. My second thought was whether it could run anything useful (like PalmOS) to run as an organiser.
  • It would be awesome if they managed to get Newton OS on a DS. Now THAT would be newsworthy

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