As you may be aware, a war has begun in our industry. Our friends in the East have decided to take up their system of choice, as our American cousins have chosen their allegiance. With only weeks remaining prior to the launch of both the NintendoDS and Sony PSP in the UK, it’s time to look to the future! “You what?” I hear you cry… but I ask you to send your mind travelling back a year and two days, to January 21st 2004, and that original NintendoDS statement: “The NintendoDS is not the successor to the Game Boy Advance, but an entirely new concept; a third pillar in our strategy”.
NintendoDS(Istelf)45.JPG (11325 bytes) So with all the hype surrounding the NintendoDS, that screen, the launch, it seems that Nintendo have managed to sweep over what was actually the bigger revelation – that the successor to the Game Boy Advance is well into development, and we could be seeing it a lot sooner than expected. Now a lot of you will have read my article: NintendoDS: The Rumours Vs. the Facts and I should warn you; my evidence is even less concrete is this instance and although, for the best part, all the facts and figures pointed me in the correct direction most of the time during that piece, this article is different. This article is about sifting through the rumours to end up with a practical belief of what the successor to the Game Boy Advance SP could be, as opposed to reporting the stated press releases and analysing the contents. But that’s not an excuse. Read on - and find out that I still know what I’m talking about!
Upon deciding to write this article I began searching all my usual information alcoves, and, much to my disgust, could not find any direct news, quotes, press releases or even rumours surrounding the next Game Boy iteration with exception of the above NintendoDS statement. Delving deeper into the information abyss, I found that it was neither the fans concerned with the next console, as they had the NintendoDS and PSP to swoon over, nor the development community as they’re as busy as bees on the two systems also, but it was the outer circle of the industry. It’s the publishers, retailers, journalists and marketers that have been caring for this one, and they’ve already given it a name; Game Boy Evolution.
SPpink(Item).jpg (6422 bytes) It appears that, within these circles, it is the belief that the Game Boy Advance and its shinier brother the Game Boy Advance SP were in fact never supposed to see shop shelves. The rumour states that the Game Boy Advance was developed as a back-up machine, very quickly, as work on the Game Boy Evolution was not progressing quite as desired, and there were suggestions that Sony’s challenger was not too far off. With the PSP being considered a portable PlayStation2, Nintendo must have realised that launching a very similar product in a very similar timeframe (originally believed to be early 2004 in the east, reaching UK shores by Christmas 2004) would be a bad idea, and the Game Boy Advance was kicked out in 2001as a “stop-gap” for consumers, and a way to exploit the dual-console link plans that Nintendo had developed, and thought would be very successful (as we can see the dual-screen idea fused into the NintendoDS today). It is also believed that the design of the Game Boy Advance SP is actually the prototype design for the Game Boy Evolution, and Nintendo used this to house the Game Boy Advance technology soon after the original launch and saw it as a commanding opportunity.
So, on to the actual information about the system. Remember, all that follows is based on rumours, information leaks and a solitary press release; but sometimes, that’s all you’ve got. The processing unit is believed to be rather simple. Not simple as far as the technology it houses, but in the fact that it is simply a miniaturised version of the 485MHz IBM Gekko processor housed within the GameCube. Strangely enough, the Game Boy Advance SP is the correct width to allow a solitary disc to be inserted, should a slot be provided. gamecubedisc.jpg (6522 bytes)By now, you’d have guessed that it appears that Nintendo’s statement committing them to GameCube development long after the launch of the Revolution was no accident, and was again a hint at this technology. It seems more than feasible, as with Sony’s PSP touting the possibility (although we are yet to see it appear in any titles) to play a game on your PlayStation2, then take the save data onto your PSP to continue playing, that the Game Boy Evolution should allow for a similar principle, however with the reliability of Nintendo and Panasonic’s Proprietary 3-inch Optical Disc Technology, the same disc may be used for both systems, without the fear of freezing games or extended loading times etc. while the system is in motion.
The memory cards would obviously be directly compatible, but could also be the reason behind the development of the ill-fated Panasonic SD FLASH Adapter for the GameCube, as the Game Boy Evolution could have been originally intended to use SD FLASH cards. It’s known that Nintendo have been increasing research into control for some time and as leaders of the field it comes as no surprise to learn that Nintendo have been working away on some new analogue features. Rumours suggest “bubble”-esque analogue pads akin to roll-balls for PCs and some strange retro-feeling touch-panel D-Pad effects. We’ve already seen L and R triggers and the NintendoDS’s versions could obviously hold up to the GameCube’s.
With the PSP being a slightly less competent machine than the PlayStation2 in terms of effects (while the polygon count actually appears higher than that most commonly seen on the PlayStation2) it’s more than likely that Nintendo have been able to develop the exact chipset within the GameCube on a much smaller scale, and would be able to bring this to market at a sub-£100 price point already, given the current price of the GameCube and the fact that Nintendo are still making money on each unit sold.
The major problem would be the conflict with the NintendoDS. With such a recent launch the quick up-takers of the new system may already feel that their technology is out of date, no matter how much Nintendo insist they are different “pillars”. More time spent with the system only convinces you that it’s aimed squarely at the hardcore market and makes the recent sales rush even more astonishing. In order to convince the public, the Game Boy Evolution would have to launch with a retail price lower than the NintendoDS.
There is no solid evidence currently of what this system will be, but it is known that development is at the final stages, and has been for some time. With Nintendo still showing no signs of slowing down (contrary to popular belief) their expansion over the last five years has been tremendous and puts little doubt in my mind that they would be able to support three systems in this way, given the extensive back catalogue of GameCube games already available. Only time will tell for the story of Nintendo’s Game Boy franchise, but what rumblings are happening over at Kyoto internally right now is, as ever, anyone’s guess.
http://www.electronictheatre.co.uk/articles/archive/2005/gameboyevolution/
