Nintendo's mystery product revealed!!

[OB1]

Wow, I didn't think we'd get to find out so soon! From IGN:

January 20, 2004 - For months Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has been offering Japanese newspapers vague comments about a new mystery hardware that the company would launch in 2004. Nintendo of America today pulled back the curtains on the top-secret device and it looks to be good news for Nintendo fans worldwide.

The company's mystery machine is in fact a dual-screened portable game device that is entirely separate from both the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance. It will be marketed completely free of its sister hardware. It's called Nintendo DS for Nintendo Dual-Screen.

Nintendo DS features two connected 3-inch TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and semiconductor memory of up to 1 Gigabit, according to the manufacturer.

Nintendo explains the importance of the dual-screen setup: "Players can look forward to being able to manage their game progress from two different perspectives, enhancing both the speed and strategy of the challenge. For example in a soccer game, users can view the whole game on one screen while simultaneously focusing on an individual soccer player's tackle or goal on the other screen.

"Players will no longer be forced to interrupt game play to shift perspective, such as moving from a wide shot to a close up, or alternating between a character's ongoing battle and a map of the environment. Nintendo DS makes it possible to perform the tasks in real time by simply glancing from one screen to the other."

Today's revelation is just the beginning, according to the company. The bulk of information on the machine will be unveiled at May's Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

"We have developed Nintendo DS based upon a completely different concept from existing game devices in order to provide players with a unique entertainment experience for the 21st century," explained Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president.

Look for much more on the Nintendo DS soon.

Wow, now this is a surprise! I don't think it'll change gaming forever like Nintendo claims, but it is certainly intriguing. A portable gaming system that has two 3 inch LCD screens? What the hell? I smell another Virtua Boy, but it's far too early to tell.

I'm just glad it's not the IQue or some lame peripheral. Man, so many questions. What kinds of games will it play? How will they look? If this isn't going to be the successor to the GBA but Nintendo does plan on using it to help ward off the PSP, then it has to be pretty damn good. Jeez, this is killing me. E3 is too far off!