Dual screen gaming is an era of Nintendo’s history that seems to have finally come to an end with the closing of the Wii U and 3DS’s eShop last year. With no official means of purchasing both the games and systems themselves, many have come to question exactly the best way to experience some of the great titles they might have missed over the years. Thanks to great emulators like Cemu and Citra, we have have the software to elevate these games thanks to higher rendering resolutions, easy mod access, and more. What we’re still chasing is the perfect hardware to play them on though.

Now it’s not to say that specific hardware doesn’t exist, but there’s always a catch. AYANEO released the Flip DS earlier this year with two displays, but the secondary display is low resolution. The Surface Duo exists as an Android device with two discrete 4:3 screens, but finding an ideal controller for that becomes a challenge. And for either of those you’re forking out hundreds for new hardware when you may already own a Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or any other number of handhelds that exist out there.

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The DNA Duo takes a different approach to the problem, and it’s one I appreciate. A 6.5 inch 1080p touch display that runs at 60Hz, the DNA Duo is a second screen designed to enhance the tech you already own. The screen attaches to your device of choice using a unique magnetic connector, leaving you with a hinged clamshell design. As it stands each system requires a unique adaptor, with the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Odin 2, and Retroid Pocket 4 Pro being available to order now. The creator Jordan, also going by Mister DNEH, has stated they’re looking into a more universal design, and that other adaptors for further compatibility are being considered in the meantime.

I reached out to Jordan for a little more on the story behind the DNA Duo. The larger design stems from their love of clamshell systems, starting with the GBA SP they got as a child. The project really found its roots back in March though when they picked up the DraStic emulator for the first time in years, discovering it had the capability to make use of a second connected display for emulating DS games via Media Projection on Android. From there they started their R&D journey buying and trying a number of off-the-shelf screens on Amazon, but none quite offered the full feature set they were wanting. It needed to have USB C for video, another USB C for charging pass-through, and some kind of Mini or Micro HDMI port for better compatibility. Realising they’d need something more bespoke, they looked overseas and landed on what we’re looking at today; a display that ticks all the boxes.

To get the project off the ground they require $50,000 CAD, which is the equivalent to the cost of 500 screens. The project is currently live on Indiegogo with the display itself being priced at $200 CAD, and system-specific adaptors ranging from $20 CAD to $30 CAD. The campaign is live for the next 42 days, with estimated shipping listed as November 2024. As with any crowdfunding campaign there are risks involved in pledging, but this is a project I do feel worthy of attention.

If you’re interesting in learning more, you can find the project page below:

DNA Duo Project Page

 

[thekarter104]

Oh yeah, another scamstarter like website...

 

[Lodad]

$150 to 175 or so after conversion to USD to get the screen and an adapter. Not horrible by any means, but I don't have a great enough need to get one. I wish them success so we can see some copycats at a lower price point.

 

[WhoIAm]

How much does this attachment weigh? I'm concerned about the weight this would add to the system as well as how it affects weight distribution. Even the OLED Deck is still pretty heavy compared to previous handhelds including the Switch, and the DS only worked because it wasn't top-heavy.

 

[YuseiFD]

another pointless workaround that requires you to have a 500$ device, instead of just doing a clone of the ds with triple the battery and a snapdragon processor.

 

[pivix]

Nice, but I would rather prefer to play games on n3ds with normal resolution and 3d effect. Does steam deck use more resources when it is sending content to second screen.

 

[Sylx3]

It's a really good idea, I just preordered a steam deck bundle

Edit : or not, Indiegogo sent me a mail telling me that something went wrong, without telling me what. Shame, i'll have to wait a few days before trying again just to make sure they don't charge me twice.

 

[voddy]

It's a really good idea, I just preordered a steam deck bundle

Edit : or not, Indiegogo sent me a mail telling me that something went wrong, without telling me what. Shame, i'll have to wait a few days before trying again just to make sure they don't charge me twice.

usually your bank declines the payment request of indiegogo as it classifies it as some sort of scam.
Solution is to ask your bank to accept requests by indiegogo (some banks even allow such a thing through the banking app)

 

[Tofu_mommy]

The price seems a bit steep, and there's no mention of carrying cases, which are kind of a must if you have exposed sticks. At this price point, I'd expect something higher quality, like maybe an OLED panel, or autostereoscopic 3D like the 3DS. I like the clamshell idea, but it needs to be more thought out for on the go usage.

I'll stick to my 3DS. I sent my Steam Deck to a friend for a reason, as the form factor isn't too appealing to me.

 

[DJ-Yoshiman]

another pointless workaround that requires you to have a 500$ device, instead of just doing a clone of the ds with triple the battery and a snapdragon processor.

It's not pointless, that's precisely the point of this. DS clones exist, this would be for those of us who already have this hardware and want to put it to use for this situation, instead of having to spend more money to have a separate service to do specifically one thing.

 

[Tofu_mommy]

It's not pointless, that's precisely the point of this. DS clones exist, this would be for those of us who already have this hardware and want to put it to use for this situation, instead of having to spend more money to have a separate service to do specifically one thing.

The problem starts when you can get real hardware for less than the price of such an upgrade, and get a superior experience as a result. This sort of product has to work really well, be as seamless as possible and actually be portable to be worth the price. I'm worried about the battery life worsening as your handheld PC has to render two displays, and power one when you're on the go, and the battery life on these devices is not great to begin with.

 

[Latiodile]

Oh yeah, another scamstarter like website...

indiegogo is almost as old as kickstarter, it doesn't require a working prototype (or at least it didn't in like 2014-2017) like kickstarter does so it has a lower reputation afaik

 

[Tofu_mommy]

indiegogo is almost as old as kickstarter, it doesn't require a working prototype (or at least it didn't in like 2014-2017) like kickstarter does so it has a lower reputation afaik

If you see flexible funding, then someone can take whatever money they got, even if it's below the goal and possibly just run away. Make sure you trust the project in question, but that goes for everything that is crowdfunded.

 

[YuseiFD]

It's not pointless, that's precisely the point of this. DS clones exist, this would be for those of us who already have this hardware and want to put it to use for this situation, instead of having to spend more money to have a separate service to do specifically one thing.

What ds clone that exists ? i would love to buy one that doesn't cost 50 times the price of a dsi xl

 

[DJ-Yoshiman]

The problem starts when you can get real hardware for less than the price of such an upgrade, and get a superior experience as a result. This sort of product has to work really well, be as seamless as possible and actually be portable to be worth the price. I'm worried about the battery life worsening as your handheld PC has to render two displays, and power one when you're on the go, and the battery life on these devices is not great to begin with.

I can understand this. However, for me, I see an appeal in this - I can't find a 3DS for cheaper than going through this upgrade potential. Plus, I get to enjoy better benefits, more comfortable controls (always had marks on my palms with the 3DS line), better resolution and a bigger screen to see better what I'm looking at. And, again, I don't have to worry about buying yet another entire device and charging cable for one specific purpose.

Post automatically merged: Aug 12, 2024

What ds clone that exists ? i would love to buy one that doesn't cost 50 times the price of a dsi xl

Yeah, unfortunately, those are the ones I speak of.

 

[xkrazykidx]

@MisterDNEH welcome and hoping the best for this campaign. Very niche idea that no one has seemed to go after in a simplistic way for devices people already have their hands on. If I had a Deck or Ally I would've definitely been all over this. Cheers

 

[SecureBoot]

What ds clone that exists ? i would love to buy one that doesn't cost 50 times the price of a dsi xl

None that are cheaper, but this isn't much more expensive. I can either spend about this amount of money on an entirely separate device that I have to keep charged, or I can spend that amount of money on an add on for the device I already have. This product isn't for people who don't already have a handheld to use it with

 

[Tofu_mommy]

None that are cheaper, but this isn't much more expensive. I can either spend about this amount of money on an entirely separate device that I have to keep charged, or I can spend that amount of money on an add on for the device I already have. This product isn't for people who don't already have a handheld to use it with

3DS still has plenty of unique things to offer like the 3D display, and you can score one for probably as much as this display by itself.

 

[SecureBoot]

3DS still has plenty of unique things to offer like the 3D display, and you can score one for probably as much as this display by itself.

Other than the 3d display, I can't think of anything unique to the 3ds that the steam deck or rog ally doesn't have. A second hand new 3ds xl goes for ~$200 in my area. I personally don't value the 3d display that much. I have a N3DS XL and rarely use it over Citra. I much prefer putting more horsepower behind these games and bumping the resolution and frame rate. This device should address the awkwardness of dual screen emulation effectively for a pretty affordable price.

 

[Tofu_mommy]

Other than the 3d display, I can't think of anything unique to the 3ds that the steam deck or rog ally doesn't have. A second hand new 3ds xl goes for ~$200 in my area. I personally don't value the 3d display that much. I have a N3DS XL and rarely use it over Citra. I much prefer putting more horsepower behind these games and bumping the resolution and frame rate. This device should address the awkwardness of dual screen emulation effectively for a pretty affordable price.

It's a matter of preference, but I grew up to value things like input lag on real hardware, things running on the intended device with the intended form factor, perfect compatibility, and getting quirkly things like DS texture mapping properly. Also, being able to post on Juxtaposition is really nice, as well as having a quirkly little handheld that can take unique photos. I don't carry a smartphone so the value of it is quite different for me than the average person. I found the steam deck to be an awkward and bulky low end PC that couldn't run the games I wanted to play, especially since I prefer to have access to a full size display and a physical keyboard.

 

[Clydefrosch]

i think this may end up being much more trouble than its worth, even if a finished product ended up looking and feeling better than these prototypes, but i dont mind its existence or somethin