Back in November, CNN/Money reported that the Nintendo DS would be the next Nintendo system to get a facelift. Even NOA VP Reggie Fils-Aime was quoted as saying, "As soon as [the DS] was launched, we started looking at ways to tweak it visually."
What hardware tweaks would you make to the DS? Many believe the four face buttons are too close to the side of the handheld, and that the system could lose a little weight.
















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-16-2005 @ 3:47PM
Doug teh H-Nut said...
I honestly don't care since I'm not buying a second one. Just for the sake of argument, though, it needs to be lighter, smaller, needs a better D-Pad (see Logitech's Cordless Action Controller for the PS2) and it needs to come in a bunch of colors (red, green, blue, black, and white) at launch.
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12-16-2005 @ 3:47PM
BobaFett said...
Ohmygawd... so many ways to improve. I know it's for kids - but the buttons are way too small and need to be smoothed. I get a serious A button divot when I play Mario Kart. The D-pad is too small and sharp and needs to be more responsive..... I guess what I want is the PSP buttons and Dpad on a sleeker unit....
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12-16-2005 @ 3:54PM
PodMonkeys said...
My left thumb is not long enough to be able to hold the DS confortably and control via the touchpad at the same time. Its one or the other for me. If the DS could be a bit narrower, or have more rounded corsers on the bottom, it'd work out much easier.
I think not even doing that, but including a good thumb stylus that hold snugly on the thumb would be enough to take care of that issue.
I think the buttons are fine, and not too close together, although it would be nice to trim a lot of the non-used surface away to make it just a little smaller.
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12-16-2005 @ 4:04PM
Martin said...
I really wouldn't mind if they could somehow fit a genuine analog stick (not a damn NUB, got that, Sony?) into the thing. I think it's the perfect form factor for me, if not the sexiest hardware I own.
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12-16-2005 @ 8:20PM
David K said...
I think it needs to be lighter and much smaller, it's barely portable IMO, and the DS is gathering dust since I got my hands on a GB Micro. Pity I can't play DS games on a smaller device.
And I know this would never happen, but a built in SD card slot and Play-Yan integrated to the firmware for portable movies and music playing.
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12-17-2005 @ 2:23AM
robotplague said...
I love my DS, it's become my best bud and comes with me everywhere. I just wish it weren't so boxy, it's not ergonomically comfortable. I find my left pinky always changing the volume on accident because of how I have to hold it. The first few days of having Mario Kart my left thumb was hurting because the directional pad isn't too comfortable. Overall just a bit thiner and sexier would be nice.
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12-21-2005 @ 9:46PM
Hero Of Time said...
Am I the only one that likes the way the DS looks now? I think it's perfectly fine and shouldn't be changed.
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12-22-2005 @ 5:41AM
adotjdott said...
I think it could use improvement with button comforbility, but if it gets a serious facelift, where does that leave the other 9+ million 'first-gen' DS owners? The majority of us will want the new one but cant have one (unless of course you buy ANOTHER DS)! Nintendo is usually good about letting all their customers easily and affordable enjoy their content and hardware. I don't think they will change this DS, but they will definately read the forums about this, and use it for the NEXT real NEXT DS. I think if they came out with a huge amount of colors they would increase sales dramaticly. My PSP fanboy friends think the DS is cool and all how it works, but don't buy one and still laugh at me because of the colors the DS is available in; silver, blue/purple, and red. If they only came out with more colors like black (HINT: the PSP is black and everyone loves it), white, and gold! Then you would have colors covered for the kidies (silver, blue/purple, and red) and also for hardcore gamers (black, white, gold).
Peace out!-)
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12-23-2005 @ 5:20PM
Marc said...
I think they should add the analog nub to the new DS just because it is a PAIN to play Super Mario 64 or any racing game with the D-pad. If they added the nub, the folks at Nintendo might be able to make a decent racing game. (Burnout Legends?)
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