GBA 2 Debut at E3

[Crash]

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – While Nintendo's next generation console gaming system likely won't hit living rooms until 2006, that doesn't mean the company won't introduce new hardware this year. A new analyst report suggests the company is planning to ship the next version of the Game Boy portable gaming system by the end of 2005.

If so, that would be the third new handheld gaming system in as many years for Nintendo, whose Nintendo DS was one of the hottest items of the 2004 holiday season and Game Boy Advance SP was one of the must-have gifts of 2003. The new Game Boy would face stiff competition, though, from Sony's PSP – which will hit U.S. stores in March.

"We believe it is likely that the next version of the Game Boy Advance SP will ship as early as this holiday, ahead of most expectations of calendar year 2006," wrote P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research.

The new system, he predicts, will launch at a $99 price point, with prices on the Game Boy Advance falling to $49. Nintendo DS prices, he wrote, will likely remain unchanged.

Nintendo representatives were unavailable for comment.

Official confirmation of the new Game Boy could come as early as March 10, when Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is scheduled to give a keynote speech entitled "The Heart of a Gamer" at the upcoming Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

It's unclear at this point what sort of advances might be found in a new Game Boy. While this may be a graphical leap forward like many next generation consoles, it could just as easily be an incremental step, slightly enhancing the company's current offering.

Releasing a new Game Boy on the heels of the Nintendo DS, which features two screens and a touch pad, might seem a bit odd, but Nintendo has been quite vocal in saying the two systems are built for different audiences. The Game Boy has traditionally been aimed at children, while Nintendo hopes to reach an older audience with the DS.

McNealy said the numbers seem to be backing Nintendo up.

"The Nintendo DS has, by and large, been additive to Nintendo software revenue and units sales and not cannibalistic," he wrote. "Even with the DS launch in November, GBA software revenue and unit sales were up double-digits in December and January."

That's not to say it has all been smooth sailing for the DS. While the system enjoyed tremendous success during the holiday period, software sales have been rather disappointing. So far in 2005, new title releases have been minimal, which has stymied the system's momentum.

And the imminent launch of the PSP will only make the fight harder. Sony's system has been getting rave reviews from overseas users – and demand will almost certainly exceed supply when the PSP launches in the U.S.

But a new hardware launch would help keep Nintendo top of mind with consumers during the holiday season. Sony will be heavily promoting the PSP as December draws near – and Microsoft is expected to launch the next version of its Xbox gaming system this fall. Without a new device, Nintendo could easily be overshadowed.

There's also the real threat of piracy with the current generation of Game Boys. Although piracy of GBA games has not been a major problem in North America, the company has seen a dramatic rise of digital theft in the Asia-Pacific region. The cartridges used for GBA cards are fairly easy for hackers to crack and the games are often posted online. The DS, which uses flash memory cards, has not had the same problems, writes McNealy.

A new Game Boy could give a boost to some game publishers. While industry leader Electronic Arts (Research) and Take Two Interactive Software (Research) do not have big presences on Nintendo's handhelds, THQ (Research) makes a large number of games for the system. And Activision (Research) has shown an increased interest in them recently.

"We believe that a new GBA SP could mean between $10 million to $20 million of additional revenue for both Activision and THQ in FY06, and an additional $0.02 to $0.04 in earnings," wrote McNealy.

The question is, though: Will Nintendo's audience be willing to shell out another hundred bucks (or more) for the third year in a row? Or will they invest their gaming dollars elsewhere?

Game Boy Advance 2 set to stun E3 – DS to evolve into PDA

New model to launch this year – Climb-down looms for NCL

28th Feb 2005

The new model of the Game Boy Advance will be shown at Nintendo’s E3 press conference this year in what will be one of the most remarkable moments in recent videogame history.

The unit will be a true gaming machine and will come equipped with a large high-quality back-lit screen and analogue controls, very much, one might argue, like Sony’s PSP.

Nintendo staffers have confirmed to SPOnG.com that preliminary hardware will be shown both at the firm’s conference and encased alongside the Nintendo Revolution on the showfloor.

Indeed, SPOnG has been privvy to the emergence of the next-generation of Game Boy Advance for some time, though little more than it’s E3 debut was known.

As this news breaks, perhaps the most pertinent point to be mulled is exactly how Nintendo is going to explain the situation to fans and, of course, early adopters of the Nintendo DS. The answer to this conundrum is quite possibly the most incredible climb-down the games industry has ever witnessed.

Specifically, Nintendo will unveil a suite of PDA-focussed software for the DS powered by recently licensed Palm OS technology. The machine will evolve from a pure gaming machine into a PDA equipped to play Nintendo 64 quality games. Essentially, Nintendo believes that with the right software, it has a high-powered, wireless-enabled PDA capable of playing games of a higher standard than any competing device.

Picking up the pieces, however, will be something of a PR nightmare, something that Nintendo is fully aware of. The DS, announced so soon after the PSP was unveiled by Sony, was effectively a spoiler machine, aimed at snatching away market share from SCEI. Although this has been categorically denied by the Kyoto giant, the revelation that a new Game Boy, which in essence appears to be a PSP with a Nintendo badge, confirms this belief beyond any doubt.

The new Game Boy will be based around existing Nintendo GameCube hardware and will be, when it launches in the US and Japan towards the end of this year, the most powerful handheld console on the planet. SPOnG also believes it likely that the machine will make use of GameCube software. Revolution connectivity was confirmed.

No way nintendo would do this would they... flood the market and kill everyone?


:-(

[Dark Samurai]

Well as a Nintendo fan I can say this...

Go Nintendo Family GO!!!!

[GameMaster]

This is so exciting. The Gameboy Advance 2 will have graphics slightly better than the Gameube.

[Dark Samurai]

Im pretty sure that everyone will say "I thought that Nintendo was all about gameplay!"

Not this time... HAHAHAH!!! Now its both...

[Jonbo298]

Its nice to see them branching out but they should've just made the DS from the start a PDA'ish thing right out of the box instead of waiting til now to announce PDA'ish things.

Oh well, hearing this news isn't gonna make me want a DS anytime soon now. I just want a Game Boy Advanced

[Canyarion]

Hm... I don't think the market is ready for another handheld... They better wait a few years. If they launch something like a PSP with GameCube technology, the handheld will be exactly the same as the console one, IMO.
People prefer the PS2 over the GCN. They will prefer the PSP over the GB4.

Oh am I the only one who doesn't really believe this?

[Blackmane]

That is my feeling as well. Screw the DS vs. PSP choice, it should be GBA 2 vs. PSP. Too bad it is coming out so much later than the PSP.

[Jonbo298]

Although it seems like Nintendo is turning the DS into a PDA type thing now, hopefully the GBA 2 will have everything we desire in a handheld with 3D games. Analog controls, awesome graphics, but without the games, they wont get anywhere.

Hopefully the DS doesnt turn into another Red Headed Step Child

All I gotta say is, when I'm on that floor in E3 this year (not 100% confirmed but like 95% confirmed), its gonna be something to remember

[GameMaster]

Originally Posted by Jonbo298

All I gotta say is, when I'm on that floor in E3 this year (not 100% confirmed but like 95% confirmed), its gonna be something to remember

I'm going also. We'll have to meet up (or perhaps I'll just watch you from a distance).

[Crash]

GM. have you registered for E3 yet... we're still trying to go, but we need a good plan to get in...

[GameMaster]

Originally Posted by Crash

GM. have you registered for E3 yet... we're still trying to go, but we need a good plan to get in...

I haven't registered under GT's name because Neo has made no mention of sending a representative. I don't even know if he can or how he goes about it. But I'll be going for another site since I live close enough. However, I'd like to wear a GT shirt when I go...

The other site would never know what a GT jersey really stood for...

If you can arrange to get GT a spot, I'll go with you.

[Neo]

No one has told me how much this business license would cost.

[Vampyr]

At first I was like "no, this can't be true, I don't have enough money for another system"

But then I realized that all those GBA games that I havn't been able to afford will probably drop in price. So I'm all for this. I won't buy it, but it will enable me to get some GBA games that I can't afford at the moment.

[Crash]

Heh, couple of message boards are calling it the GAME BOY JESUS

LOL

[Jason1]

Im not sure I 100% buy this whole thing about it coming out by the end of they year, but time will tell I suppouse.

As for the idea itself, im all for it. Hopefully if it really happens it will give the PSP a seirous run for its money, because even though the DS has jumped to an early lead, I still see the PSP selling very, very well........