Hardware What you expect in the next handheld console

[linuxunil]

In this picture you can see the evolution of the nintendo handheld console over the years

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6i67s1mSv1rrfg8go1_1280.jpg

The 3ds series are out in 2010 and the XL version in the past year 2012.

I was wondering a few things and would like to know the opnion of the people here.

Question 1: If another series of consoles was released, what features you would like to have this new console? We already have 3D, wifi, eshop, browser ... What else you would want? (Better Graphics is obvious)
Question 2: How many years the 3ds series gonna last?

 

[tbgtbg]

I was surprised that they didn't make the top screen also a touch screen. Seems that would open up a lot of possibilities, but perhaps it wouldn't work right with the 3D somehow.

 

[nukeboy95]

built in circle pad pro and 4d

 

[mrtofu]

deleted

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Slight bump in resolution (More CPU/GPU and RAM.)
Dual Screens if not dual screens at least a folding clam shell design. (I like the DS and 3DS for this reason)
Dual circle pads (to steal other peoples idea's lol)
Faster Wifi
Better battery life (I think batteries are due for some sort of breakthrough)

That's on the Nintendo side of things.

For Sony?

Maybe a 3D screen like the 3DS has?
Finally accepting that SD or MicroSD is the industry standard and using it?
Ditching that back touch pad thing?

Edit: More on the Sony side of things, if there is a breakthrough in battery tech, expect Sony to use it too lol

 

[Arm73]

I'd expect an handled just like a Vita but with slide in / slide out controls ( like a PSP GO ) and capable of making phone calls !
Standard SD cards and multimedia capabilities are a given at this point.
Oh and it should play Nintendo games

 

[Foxi4]

I'd expect an handled just like a Vita but with slide in / slide out controls ( like a PSP GO ) and capable of making phone calls !
Standard SD cards and multimedia capabilities are a given at this point.
Oh and it should play Nintendo games

Spoiler

Just sayin'...

 

[FAST6191]

I will try my hand at predicting home consoles (though high end PC a like from 1 year before the announcement is not hard to predict), I will try my hand at predicting PCs (interesting times ahead but I will not bet against Intel roadmaps just yet) and I will try my hand at predicting a few other things but I am not sure I reckon I could do much to the handheld consoles, if indeed there will be one that can truly be recognised as a handheld. Though I have no conviction when I say it I will assume they come back and the andrios crowd will not have swallowed the market*. I would not be surprised at all to see them head the kindle fire route though (their own hardware but underneath it all still an android).

*though I would be half shocked to see it amount to much there does seem to be an "android is not proper linux" sentiment and people actually looking to do "proper" linux on one.

As I doubt they will sacrifice backwards compatibility they are probably now invested in the dual screens or something that can ape the aspect ratio at least (I am going with long flexiscreen if straight up dual screens are not there). If they have any more buttons I doubt they will be highly active ones and relegated to menus and such like. I could see a shift to twin sticks after a fashion and maybe triggers.

If we assume it will resemble something like the make the previous console in handheld form model (GB/GBC- pretty much NES, GBA- so much SNES it hurt, DS did passably at the N64, 3ds I reckon could see gamecube like things happen). To that end I would not be surprised to see a watch attachment or some form of finger tracking, that said the 3ds hit in 2011 and that would mean next year's finger tracking would have to get insane and I do not see that happening. By similar token battery tech is probably not going to have a massive leap and be awesome and affordable so maybe the slightly on the underpowered side (even better if the wii is to be the reference point).

Hardware... I doubt they will shift too far from ARM but ARM is doing crazy things these days. This is where the mobile phone market will come back to haunt me as they are really driving things forward (ARM was never a slouch but these last few years....). Also if Nvidia pulls off some of the things they have been threatening (and they are not new to mobile, consoles or games so I do not see failing too hard) I will have to revise a few opinions and might even see the way to a Nintendo- Nvidia partnership of a sort though they are fairly tight with AMD/ATI on the home consoles so ehh, far stranger things have happened in game console world though.

I do not see ubiquitous wifi or 3g happening at a level that works, if by some miracle Nintendo's Wii U online offering takes the world by storm (emphasis on the word miracle) I can see them making a token effort at something.

I can quite happily ignore everything that was just said to focus on the development languages afforded- if what is known about the wii u and other things I have seen on the 3ds and wii is anything to go by they have someone with something resembling a clue about web dev. The DS had a few scripting languages used in proper games (Puzzle quest was done in lua) and homebrew there did a lot more, android and IOS are quite into their scripting/very high level stuff as well. There is probably still too much to be gained from a closed environment so I doubt that will go away too hard and I doubt we will be seeing the backs of the C family just yet but any deep mastery of the systems like we see on the GBA and DS (though even on the DS things were slipping a bit) will be reserved for even fewer developers.

However I guess watches are now back in and I have a legendarily poor track record at guessing trends so pinch of salt.

 

[nukeboy95]

open source

 

[porkiewpyne]

Dual touchscreen?

• One capacitive and one resistive?
• Though capacitive touchscreens have special styli available, I'd still like to use the tip of my fingernail like I'd do with a resistive touchscreen (because I'm lazy like that) though it's not possible afaik atm
• Both screens being same size? I dunno

Dual analog stick

Extended battery life

 

[navimegaman]

3 screens!

 

[emigre]

Gaems because the present generation of handhelds have no gaems.

 

[Janthran]

Gaems because the present generation of handhelds have no gaems.

Both of the current generation have VLR. Vita has Persona 4 and 3DS has (and here you rage) Kid Icarus.

So, there are three good games this generation

 

[Arm73]

Spoiler

Just sayin'...

I'm aware of that, I just didn't want to compare a phone to an handled video games system.
But yeah, I think sony made a huge mistake with the Vita.
It would have been a much more appealing system if it would have been a little bit more like the xperia but with all the bells and whistles of the actual Vita.
Don't you know people are nuts for smart phones these days ?

 

[heartgold]

Here's my thoughts.

720p capable screen/res
Multi touch screens, perhaps try to bring two screens together and keep the 3D feature.
SD slots, media features like video playback and youtube etc....
1GB/2GB RAM
Terga 4 chipset or similar in power, lol I know Tegra 4 is a beast right now, but by time the 3DS's successor comes out it will get old and cheap tech for Nintendo to use and also it's considerably stronger than PS Vita. Works out for Nintendo, doesn't it?

 

[duffmmann]

Some sort of hologram display that has yet to be invented. (essentially a 3D screen (without a screen) that you can look at from any angle).

 

[ShadowSoldier]

16GB Ram
1TB HDD
Be able to play SNES cartridges, Genesis Cartridges, PS3 games, and Atari 2600 Cartridges.
It also has to make toast and butter it.

If it doesn't do that, Nintendo is doomed.

 

[Maxternal]

HD screens on both sides and the whole surface of it being multi-touch sensitive as well as a series of cameras than can track your face and tell which direction you're looking into it, making it like a crystal ball experience.

(It all seems pretty cool in my head, anyhow. I'm not sure if I'm getting my idea across very well, though.)

 

[Janthran]

This one just started stop

 

[JulietStMoon]

Honestly, I don't think a top touch screen or capacitive touch screen with multitouch is necessary at all. I quite like the resistive screen for gaming, and it gives a sort of pressure feedback to let me know when I'm actually pressing on it (something not present in capacitive touch screens). Aiming with a touchscreen (games like Metroid Prime Hunters and Kid Icarus Uprising) works loads better with the DS/3DS resistive screen than it ever does with games like NOVA on capacitive smart phone screens.

Dual analogs would be really nice, though. And not sure what else to say, I can't imagine what else they would add, except some heavier power, and perhaps a 3D effect with a wider viewing angle. And I don't know if it would be possible, but making the system a tad wider so that the buttons and analog can be more "arranged" like a true controller would make it much comfier to hold (that's why the PSP and Vita are much more comfy to hold, at least from my experience). But alas, the touchscreen on the bottom makes the implementation of this design difficult, if not impossible.