Opinion: What Nintendo should do next is Game Boy Next

The rumour mill's already grinding itself into dust – another DS redesign is on the way; thinner, no GBA port, onboard storage, larger screens, etc – but we wonder if this talk isn't wide of the mark.

Not because it isn't true but because it isn't wide enough of the mark for our liking.

The reason is there seems to be little purpose for Nintendo to think about another major redesign of DS. The DS is a strong brand, it's still selling well and while there may be some corners that can be cut in terms of production being made more cost effective, the rule that says, 'If it ain't broke, don't break it' should come into play.

As we previously argued when these rumours first turned up in 2007, additions such as larger screens and onboard storage will just confuse people buying the redesign and then trying to play old games. It's a similar thing that's already happening with PSP and PSP Slim & Lite in terms of new services such as Skype. For example, removing the DS's GBA port would balls up Activision's Guitar Hero: On Tour game, which uses the GBA slot for its clever fret-button peripheral.

No, the more interesting proposition is that it's about time Nintendo released a new version of the Game Boy.

Why now?
The thinking goes like this. When Nintendo announced the DS, it stressed the handheld wasn't part of the Game Boy range. After all, Nintendo was just about to launch Game Boy Micro – not its most successful move. Indeed, there was some fuss at the time with Nintendo claiming that 'DS' didn't even stand for Dual Screen, rather Developer System.

What we also tend to forget is that when the DS was revealed, the purpose of features such as two screens, a touchscreen and in-built microphone weren't obvious winners. You could even argue now that in many DS games, the touchscreen and the microphone are gimmicks that add little to the overall experience.

Time for something new
No, with the DS slowly becoming a sink for low-quality budget software, it's time for Nintendo to step up to the plate and release a new Game Boy, which, for want of argument (or imagination), we're going to call Game Boy Next.

It's clear what features it would have to contain. Despite Nintendo's obsession with battery life, the silicon powering the device would have to include specific 3D graphics ability. This wouldn't mean all or even most of the games would be in 3D – you can do interesting things in terms of 3D interface, for example, but Game Boy Next would have to at least offer PSP-quality graphics on whatever configuration of screens it offered.

So how many screens would there be?

This is one of the most interesting points to ponder. Nintendo handhelds have always been designed for a young audience and for that reason have always been physically robust to deal with being dropped and manhandled. The DS's dual screen folding configuration was excellent in this regard because it made the screens difficult to scratch or damage, but there is a size constraint in that a clamshell design with pocket-friendly dimensions limits screen size, as you've also got to arrange a D-pad and other buttons somewhere. And despite the DS's success, its relatively small screen width has been a limitation (regardless of the good overall screen area achieved by having two screens).

For that reason, we think it would make more sense to revert back to a traditional Game Boy single screen configuration (touchscreen -enabled, of course), but something obviously using Game Boy Advance's landscape rather than Game Boy's portrait design. The minimum size would have to be 480x320 pixels, but this could be packed into a sufficiently small package if you use a screen with a high pixel density.

How much?
This touches on another issue: that of cost. Nintendo has always made solid, not flashy handheld devices. Compare the original DS with the PSP to see the different approaches of Nintendo and a consumer electronics company, Sony. Yet with the increasing sophistication of mobile phones – think N95 and iPhone – as well as devices such as iPod, Zune or Nokia's Internet Tablet range, Nintendo needs to combine its traditional conservatism with some cutting-edge design. After all, the joy of Game Boy Next is that it's allowed to be high-end because it fits into a family approach with DS as the cheap-and-cheerful option.

And with that in mind, there's no reason for GBN not to come with options such as an in-built camera, accelerometer and GPS as these costs will be commoditised over tens of millions of units.

Wireless gaming
Turning to the issue of how games would be distributed, the obvious answer is that the GBN would be backwards compatible with DS and so would have the appropriate cartridge slot but thanks to its onboard memory (at least 8 GB, we feel) Nintendo would encourage developers and publishers to move to a download system, probably using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Connectivity does remain an issue for Nintendo, though. The NWC launched well but there's hasn't been as strong a uptake as we would have expected. Mainly this is because the younger DS audience doesn't have regular access to wi-fi hotspots and finds it hard to set up.

GBN would therefore include the option for various types of connectivity – wireless, Bluetooth, perhaps even some mobile phone 2.5/3G technologies – but the key thing to get right would be ease-of-use. So we'd expect options such as being able to beam games you had downloaded via your PC or Wii to the Game Boy Next to be highlighted, too.

Recapturing the hardcore
Of course, there are plenty of other things to argue about: analogue stick (nah), shoulder buttons (nah), vibration (nah), but what's most significant about the whole Game Boy Next concept isn't the inclusion of certain features; instead it's what they say about Nintendo's attitude to technology.

In recent years the company rightly concluded a lot of people who might play games had been excluded – hence DS and Wii. Now however, you could make the argument Nintendo is starting to exclude its most loyal fans, the hardcore gamers, as its platforms see a deluge of titles aimed at the more 'casual' audience. Nintendo's previous core audience wants to be blasting Metroids as Samus, not rearing ponies while feeding squirrels.

So whether it's a re-redesigned DS2 or entirely new Game Boy Next, to them at least, it could make all the difference. A fact Nintendo will be entirely aware of, no doubt.