DS graphics...

[Calpis]

I thought the DS was supposed to be better graphically than N64...

http://www.planetnintendo.com/nindb/nds/sm64_pre.shtml

Is it me or does it look crappier than regular Mario 64? Hopefully devers will learn to get more from the ARM9.

[Purge]

they dont look very bad to me....
http://www2.nintendo.co.jp/ds/movie/syokai.swf

[Evangelion-01]

well... i think is just like every other console, 1st generation games always look crapy,. but thankfuly they get alot better :D, i agree with you in this, the ds looks worse than the 64 so far, but who cares? all i care about are the games :D.

[Alien Workshop]

the ds looks worse than the 64 so far, but who cares? all i care about are the games :D.

Don't say that, id-republix might have a stroke! :smt042

[Calpis]

Purge, WOW, thanks for the video! I'm impressed!

[Jasonkhowell]

I think it is a mix bag. If you look carefully, the character models (Enemy and Main characters), are all near GCN quality. I dare say that a combination of cartriage limitations and improved character models is one of the reasons some of the textures have been modified/toned down.

I am also somewhat curious about the music. In every DS preview I have seen, there is no music. Is Nintendo doing this to avoid any last minute changes, or is it hiding something? (Like the N-Gage having nearly next to no music)

[Calpis]

I hope they can find a way to integrate the ARM7 and 9 better than a few of those games in the movie. But still, some of the gameplay opened my eyes. You guys realize that the there are actually two processors going to work on the DS? the Arm 7 is the bottom screen while the top is 9. Thus only the top screen can have the N64esque quality while the bottom gets GBA. I hope the GBA core is still backwards compatible with the GBZ80 as well.

I don't think the DS cartridges will ever be a restriction since apparently they can go up to 128mb/1G, 4 times that of GBA or two times that of a N64.

[ASSEMbler]

Buy they're sure using that extra screen for all of jack shit.

Maps??

[Mr. Casual]

would have come in handy for phantasy star one.
lets see....i need to go right....enemy....go forward....enemy.....left....left....left....WTF!! !

That game needed maps, badly. And it needed more originality. It was like dungeons and dragons meets star wars. Which could put it at #1 on the nerd's favorite game list. :smt043

[Sonikku]

A main thing I noticed at E3 was the DS' lack of bilinier filtering, which the N64 had, so you do get a slightly pixelated look. However, in person, the games still look redicuosly good for a handheld!

The newer Metroid video's are great, and c'mon, portable Mario 64 is just too good to pass up!

And Square-Enix-EA-whatever is wanting to do FF3. That could make use of the dual screen good. Think about it, for fights you could just select the commands ('fight, 'magic', etc) by tapping the screen and selecting an enemy again via tapping instead of using a cursor. Not that crazy, but could still be nifty.

Or, you could have the bottom ("GBA") screen showing the battles in good 'ol 2d, and the top one doing a nice 3d 'cinematic' version, who knows.

[SilverBolt]

The graphics of the 1st gen games are always below the capacity of the system, but after seeing the mario64DS movie i have to say it looks better then the original in a lot of places.
Also the metroid footage is pretty damn impressive with no slow down what so ever.

[Tachikoma]

Sadly Kyuusaku it has been said the DS won't have a Z80 processor, so it will only be back compatible with GBA games.

I think the graphics are pure ass, really nothing to write home about. Mario 64 DS looks terrible, the draw distance is weak, and the textures are pathetically bad. Still going to buy one... eventually...

[PrOfUnD Darkness]

Maps? what's the fun? :-)
The second screen should be used to the gamer draw you our map with the pen while moving on the dungeon.


PD


would have come in handy for phantasy star one.
lets see....i need to go right....enemy....go forward....enemy.....left....left....left....WTF!! !

That game needed maps, badly. And it needed more originality. It was like dungeons and dragons meets star wars. Which could put it at #1 on the nerd's favorite game list. :smt043

[jollyrogerdev]

It's pretty hard to compare DS graphics with n64.
The n64 has a vector processor to handle the 3d math and a proper hardware triangle rasterizer that includes texture perspective correction and bilinear filtering.
They may do this in software with the ARM9 because of the small size of the screen, but I doubt the speed and complexity will match the n64.

Jollyroger

[Greatsaintlouis]

Yeah, as someone said, the DS won't have a Z80 in it, and no support for classic GBC/GB games. This really bugs me, as I currently schlep quite a few classic games with me on trips, and I'd hate to have to bring along my SP as well just to play them. Here's hoping some enterprising Hong Kong company comes out with a hardware emulator, and barring that, maybe it's time I invested in a Gameboy Player - it's sad the excellent Super GameBoy doesn't do GBC.

[Calpis]

Argh! I was planning on not even buying a SP, just jumping straight for DS. But without a Z80, I don't know what to do.

[Mr. Casual]

Get a gba sp, Ds, and a Psp. Problem solved. :smt023

[cahaz]

Get a gba sp, Ds, and a Psp. Problem solved. :smt023

nah, get the gbc and the ds :smt023

wait, the sp is stillysh and have a backlit screen....ARghh , though choice.

[Calpis]

I'm thinking I'll have to :\

For collectability's sake, I'm thinking of getting a GBA, SP, DS and a freaking PSP. As I see it now though, thats too much money wasted on handheld crap I won't play. I'm still waiting to find my sealed Japanese toaster GB. I also want a clear GB Light, since one was eBay sniped from me :_(

[Funkstar De Luxe]

I think it is a mix bag. If you look carefully, the character models (Enemy and Main characters), are all near GCN quality.

No where near man. What video did you see? It looks like a n64 pushing a few more pollys but with PSx textures

[ASSEMbler]

Sadly Kyuusaku it has been said the DS won't have a Z80 processor, so it will only be back compatible with GBA games.


They're probably already making a Z80 cartridge module or emu in hong kong right now...

[TheDeathcoaster]

Sadly Kyuusaku it has been said the DS won't have a Z80 processor, so it will only be back compatible with GBA games.


They're probably already making a Z80 cartridge module or emu in hong kong right now...

I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo are making an official addon that does that. You know, milk the fans for as much cash as they can...

[madhatter256]

Sadly Kyuusaku it has been said the DS won't have a Z80 processor, so it will only be back compatible with GBA games.


They're probably already making a Z80 cartridge module or emu in hong kong right now...

I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo are making an official addon that does that. You know, milk the fans for as much cash as they can...

That has been Nintendo's business plan since SNES. :smt043

[Calpis]

The thing is, I don't want a 3rd party POS peripheral, must have a physical Z80.

[madhatter256]

When this thing comes out, the old GBAs will cost like $20 here. I'll buy one then a nice big flash cart for "development".

[cahaz]

When this thing comes out, the old GBAs will cost like $20 here. I'll buy one then a nice big flash cart for "development".

20 bucks??! holy sh*t! where do you live ? Wonderland?

[madhatter256]

Well its not for sure. I mean I saw one go for $35 at EB. they have tons of used GBAs

[Calpis]

on eBay you can get new GBAs for $35.