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Predictions of The Gameboy Next
Last weekend when I was on the ferry riding home from visiting BBQ I was deep into a game on my Gameboy Advance when my mind started to wander. So I looked at the system in depth and made some predictions about what we might see in the next version of the Gameboy.
The GBA SP isn't really a new platform just a redesign with the exactly same software specs. The Gameboy is Nintendo most successful system since the days of the Nes and this little guy is the reason why the company does not really have to worry about money and the success of the Gamecube for it's survival.
So here are my predictions that are totally off the top of my head and have no impact on what Nintendo may be actually working on. For the purpose of conversation I have decided to call the successor to the Gameboy Advance, The Gameboy Next. At least until Nintendo starts talking about what they are officially going to call it. But it is going to be Gameboy Something.
1.Date. The GBA will probably not be replaced until the next game system come out to replace GameCube in 2005/2006 we will not see the Gameboy Next until 2006.
2.Size. I doubt we will see anything bigger than the current Gameboy advance and perhaps the unit will look like a slightly larger Gameboy SP. But something the size of a notebook or a cell phone is flat out.
3. Competition. Now the Gameboy family has not been with out challengers to its reign. There has been the Sega Gamegear, The Atari Lynx, The Sega Nomad, The NEC Turbo Express, The Tiger Game.com, The Bandai WonderSwan/WonderSwan Color, Gamepak GP32, and the SNK NeoGeo Pocket and Pocket Color.
All have fallen in competition with Nintendo but big N faces some real competition with the Nokia N-Gage cell phone game system. Details about the N-Gage are sketchy at best but it is know to have a much more powerful CPU and has ram to spare as well as wireless network gaming and possibly a cartridge-less game library. Not to mention that Nokia will beat Nintendo to the punch at having a 3d capable hand held that can support types of games that you can only dream about on the GBA. The N-gage is one hell of a wild card and it will be interesting to see how Nintendo fights back. The Gameboy's previous challengers did not deliver the software or hard ware required to make a dent into Nintendo's market share. The Nokia N-Gage is generations ahead of the GBA and looks like they have attracted enough developers to be taken seriously.
4. Screen. The current GBA screen is in a letterbox format and there might be some advantages into keeping it that perspective ratio but since battery life and manufacturing cost is still a major factor we see a crisper higher resolution Gameboy screen but not very much bigger than the GBA. It will probably be standard screen but with a self-lighting option like the GBA SP. This really is the best of both worlds because backlit active matrix screens are hard to use in sunlight and eat battery power.
5.Stereo sound. I really can't figure out why Nintendo didn't put another one of those tiny speakers on the other side of the GBA. The GBA actually has a very nice sounding music chipset that is lost on the tiny mono speaker.
6.Vibration. The PS2, Gamecube, N64, Xbox and Dreamcast have all had some form or a vibration feed back and Nintendo even had some special Gameboy color games that had a rumble system in the cartridge. It might be cool if they could cram a small vibration motor into the Gameboy Next.
7.The Gameboy link port. This is on the GBA and the Gameboy color and it will still be on the Gameboy Next for compatibility sake but I don't think that it will be the only way that the GB Next can communicate with other units.
8.Bluetooth wireless networking. Now this is a plain cool technology that is cutting edge now but will hopefully become cheap and transparent enough to be built into the Gameboy Next. This allows Bluetooth devices to communicate over short distances with out using any wires and at a good speed. The Nokia N-Gage uses it to link up with other units in a short distance with out having to use the phone network or a cable. This could also be built into the Gamecube successor that I have dubbed GameSphere 256 to have fast two way data flow between the console and the hand held system. Bluetooth could also allow the Gameboy Next to go on line using a cell phone or wireless networked appliance acting as a hub to play and trade data on line.
9.Communication with the Gamecube successor. It could talk to the GameSphere 256 right out of the box with no added cables or accessories and easy to implement game development kits to the game developers to take full advantage of this technology. The synergy between the hand held and the console can be one of Nintendo's main and unique weapons against Sony, Nokia and Microsoft.
10.The Cartridge slot will still be around for backwards compatibility sake but it will not be as important as I will explain later.
11. The CPU. will remain a 32-bit RISC chip but it will have greater clock speed and faster access to the Ram.
12.More RAM. GBA has a really surreal and pathetic pittance of ram available and this is what I think is the biggest bottleneck to the graphics and animation capabilities of the GBA. We are talking about less than half a Meg of Ram. Can you believe that? If the GB Next had two MEGs of ram it would allow the 2d and 3d capabilities of the PS One on a hand held device.
13. Analog? I am not sure that Nintendo can keep the size of the unit down to factor in an analog control stick like the Dreamcast but perhaps some analog left and Right triggers would be possible?
14. 4 buttons on the unit and two on the top. I also can't come up with a good reason that the GBA didn't have an X and Y buttons so that the unit would have the same control layout as the Super Nintendo game pad.
So now I come to the greatest and biggest prediction about the Gameboy next.
15.The Death of Cartridges. When you buy a cartridge you are buying a four to eight Meg game that has been burned to a chip that is swapped out physically. This avoids all form of security by using a hardware system to prevent piracy because cartridges are hard to make.
But they are not without their disadvantages. They are expensive to build and sell, they are limited by fixed size, there is a limited supply and they add bulk no matter how small they are they can be a pain to move around 30 small cartridges or so.
Now that brings us to a technology that is in MP3 players, PDAs, digital cameras and the Nokia N-gage. MMC cards are small storage devices that are about the size of a stamp but they can currently store up to 64 Megs or about ten GameBoy Advance games.
This isn't the first time that Nintendo has tried to get around cartridges before. In fact back in Japan they made a disk drive system to be used in the Famicom or Japanese Nes. They used a custom size disk that could not be copied on a computer. Kiosk and vending machines worked well to sell disks that could be rewritten or sold inexpensively. In fact new games were sold for 500 yen or about six dollars.
Using separate multimedia cards or cartridges that act like storage cards along side a basic Digital Rights Management system it would be entirely possible to have the Gameboy Next not use traditional cartridges or be susceptible from piracy. You see every GB Next CPU will have a unique identifier code that will be imprinted on the Game program when it is installed by the kiosk or other install system. So the game can only be used permanently on one GB Next unless the permission for that game is transferred to another Gameboy Next. Even if the game program is erased the Gameboy Next could store the DRM keys for thousands of game softs.
Games could also be stored and distributed in volumes on a Gamesphere disk and could be bought and unlocked over the Internet. But one of the main reasons why this is a good idea is that probably half of the cost of a GBA game is in the manufacturing process. If the cartridge could be replaced with large memory chips with a basic DRM system the games could be sold at half the current prices and have the same profit margins.
16. Price. All of these Ideas are based on 2003 technology and the Gameboy Next will be based on cutting edge 2005/6 technologies. But one thing is certain the Gameboy Next will be around a hundred bucks just like all the other version of the platform.
Despite a changing market with increased competition I don't see Nintendo loosing their lead and no matter what the Gameboy Advance will be followed up with a system that will allow for some great games and that we have a lot of innovations to look forward to.
Jake at March 4, 2003 
Games
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Comments
I think your projections may be correct in some respects. However, I disagree on the death to cartridges. I believe Nintendo would be smart to keep the cartridge based games for their hand-held systems, being as a lot of children are the consumers for these products and cartridges will last longer, are more durable. I can promise you I would not buy a disc based system for my child, knowing that disc would probably last about a week before it was scratched to the point of uselessness. I believe this is one of the reasons they kept the cartridge based system with the GBA and moved forward to the disc based on the GCN.
Posted by: Mici at March 5, 2003 9:05 AM
Good I am glad that some one has finally commented on this post. I wasn't talking bout a disk based system in The Gameboy Next but a re programmable Multimedia card in stead of Carts. Nokia is doing that with the N-Gage and the Korean GP32 is already doing that. If I designed the Gameboy Next I would have the unit boot up to a file manager like to load a game from the internal memory card
http://www.gamepark.co.kr/gp32zone/feature.asp
Posted by: Jake at March 5, 2003 9:26 AM
I hope they don't kill off carts. I know they are technologiccaly inferior to DVD's and CD's but they just look and feel cool.
Posted by: Gavin at March 5, 2003 9:56 AM
Gavin I am not suggesting they should put a mini optical drive in the Gameboy Next but mini rewritable memory cards.
Check these out
http://www.sandisk.com/consumer/sd_card.asp
Posted by: Jake at March 5, 2003 11:04 AM
I personally drew up a concept for the Gameboy Next(mine is dubbed GB-alpha) and need a host, Can we post it with our comment?
Anyways, I disagree with you both on the Game Media format. I think it should be a small, ultra-light, thin, and compact M-DVD (Also my own concept). Kind of like what a mini-disc player would use, except it would be about 1.8 inches square, and about 1 cm thick, that uses a cartridge based slot combined with a normal Gameboy cartridge slot, maybe having a small memory chip in an open spot.
It would dramatically decrease the cost of producing games than chipsets, and be virtually invulnrable to scratches due to the disc being contained in a floppy disc-like casing.
Yes, speed will decrease, but a games today are demanding more and more memory for video games.
One thing also eliminates the possibility of SMC or MMC... Costs!!! It would cost around 300$ to produce a MMC that could hold less data than my M-DVD. The Handheld GBa would boast 64-128bit graphics, with a lighted 320x240 resoloution screen, GBA communications port, a USB port, wireless gaming, 6 regular buttons(A,B,X,Y,+ L and R) 4 other buttons (Lighter, Darker - for the lighted screen - Start, Select) 2 Megabyte internal flash memory (Maybe more, if it is going to be a media player, you could upload MP3's through USB or take pictures using a USB Camera, then store them), 5 inch long, 3 inch high, and .8 thick casing, a lithium-ion 6-hour rechargeable battery, fast polygonal processing, 2 speakers placed above the buttons and D-Pad (so you can hear that sweet, beautiful, CD Quality Effects and Music, oh baby) Superior 3D graphics Make this baby Shine like the sun!
The best games in the history of the Earth would ultimately have to be ported, starting with the Very Best, ending with the greatest.
1.Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX)-(untouched)
2.Final Fantasy 7(PSX)-(upgraded)
3.Secret Of Mana Trilogy (GB, SNES)-(Seiken Densetsu 1,2,and 3)-(untouched)
*Seiken Densetsu 3 which would be Secret of Mana 2 in America, was never released, or translated to that effect, because Square of America decided to go with developing their own Action RPG, that they thought would be better.
The result was Secret Of Evermore (it didn't even get a taste of what Seiken Densetsu 3 would have gotten in USA)
Also- Secret of Mana in America is for Snes,but the same game is Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan. because the first Secret of Mana was made for gameboy, and released in america, called Final Fantasy Adventures (???-Why-???)
4.Final Fantasy 3 or FF6 in Japan(SNES)-
(Completely redone in 3D, or kept the same)
5.Legend of Mana (PSX)-(untouched)
6.The Legend of Zelda: OOT(N64)-(Untouched)
7.Goldeneye 007 (N64)-(untouched)
8.Earthbound (or Mother 2 in Japan)-(Snes)-(untouched)
*this is also very much like the Secret of Mana Confusion. There was an Original Earthbound for NES called Mother released in Japan, But was never Released in America, so they called Mother 2, Earthbound instead of Earthbound 2.
9. The Canned N64 Sequel to Earthbound (unfinished for N64)-(Finished)
10. Mario Returns (NES, GB, N64)-(Mario Bros.-Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3-Super Mario Land-Super Mario land 2: Six Golden Coins-Super Mario 64)-(untouched)
What Games do YOU Think they Should Port To GB-alpha?
Posted by: Samuel Daline at March 18, 2003 7:52 PM
I don't see any probability in Nintendo picking an optical drive like a small DVD drive for several reasons.
1.Power consumption. Drives need motors that suck battery life faster than a solid state memory architecture.
2.Durability. Optical drives work best when they are not jostled shaken and work best right side up. That does not sound like how a typical game boy is played
3.Ventilation. Movable parts like optical drive motors generate lots of heat that would need enough ventilation.
4.Nintendo's past bad luck with movable part drives. They got burned on the Famicom disk drive, the Snes CD and the N64-DD bulky drive.
5. Cost. An Optical drive would have to be half the manufacturing cost of the system. High costs killed the CD-X, Turbo Express, Sega CD, 3DO and the Neo Geo.
But if you have a design of your own making I would suggest that you build a prototype and get a patent and then go talk to some venture capitalists.
There are no modern PDAs or cellphones that use mini optical drives and I think it is the high end cutting edge mini systems like Pocket PC and Palm that are going to shape the next generation of hand held gaming.
You don't need a Gig of data to run a small game system like the GBA. Most GBA games are under 8 Megabytes.
Also I don't think that there would be the same N64 games ported to the new hardware but rather a new batch of games. The next generation game boy will be a more advanced form of the current generation system but the specs that you are talking about sound like the gadget laden PDAs that Sony is making that are close to a thousand dollars. Even in three to five years time I doubt that Nintendo would make a gameboy system that is over a hundred dollars.
Posted by: Jake at March 18, 2003 8:37 PM
The GameBoy NXT should be released with at least 6 buttons like mentioned before. I don't understand why didn't they do this for the Advance but, whatever. Anyway, Keep the screen size about the same but add a couple extra cm to the width and height of it since they always want to go a little better than before. I like the MMC technology but what I wonder is that since games for cartridge average around $30-$40 a pop, why are they selling NGage MMC games for the same price if it is supposed to be cost-effencient? Maybe for the company it might be, and maybe because you can erase and copy stuff onto them but, there are places that sell blank GBA cartridges and Re-Writable cartridges for the GBA that holds your MP3s and or whatever needs that can be copied onto and played on the GBA. If they integrate that into the GameBoy NXT then there won't be a problem for durability for the smaller gamer. Plus, Has anyone thought of those small stamp-like MMC games to be a bit TOO small? I would definitly have trouble keeping track of something like that, let-alone a kid. Also...Those MMC games would look like more of a choking hazard for small gamers than a cartridge.
But whatever it comes out to be, with all the other usless gadgets that will attach to it to benefit only a couple games IE: E-Card Attachment, GameBoy Printer, Connect-a-bility to the new Nintendo System.......I just hope that they learn from this GBA & GBA SP design change and decide that the new GameBoy NXT should come out in the same 2 designs for people with small hands and for people (like me) with big hands that just prefer the look and feel of the original GBA than its newer brother.
P.S: Bring Chrono Trigger to GameBoy PLEASE!!!
Posted by: Blake at September 22, 2003 12:23 AM
I think you are all predicting too much of technology jump for the Gameboy Next. I mean look at it this way, the games on the GBA are awsome yes? So you can create great games without a huge jump in power, so that is not as important as battery life and portability.
Things like a rumble feature, and all these useless add ons every one wants makes the system larger and drain batteries faster. The are eityher entirely useless, or marginally so, and I would throw them out in favor of efficiency in size and battery use, and if Nintendo is making something along the same lines as the SP, then I think they will make similar decisions.
There will definately be a signifigantly felt power increase though, and that will probably mean 3d graphics support. Clever design would allow for an analog stick to accompany the 3d jump. In addition stereo speakers are likely, and wireless GB to GB communication built in is practically garunteed. I think extending this wireless communication to the next GameCube is a wonderful idea, and hopefully we'll see that happen as well.As for the extra buttons, I do not mind the four button set up at all, and I think it is more than sufficient for handheld games, but alot of people seem to want it, so we might see that as well.
As for the storage medium. I still see cartridges in Nintendo's future. The N-Gage has MMC cards, and the PSP will have an optical drive, but I don't know if handheld games will justify the sort of storage space those things have.
Posted by: |>4r|< g4m3r at September 30, 2003 11:54 AM
The head of Nintnedo has said that they are developing an optical drive for use in handhelds. Also I would expect 3d chips from ATI in the next Gameboy
Posted by: Jake at September 30, 2003 11:55 AM
Listen:nintendo should just go along the same way as before.A new gameboy usually comes when a new pokemon game comes out(with new pokemon,not new features like yellow or crystal).Which means we're aiming for 2005.They will keep cartridges, it will have graphics equal to the N64, built-in light,rechargeable battery,rumble, and larger screen. It'll be called the gameboy super, or G.B.S entertainment handheld.
Posted by: Joshua at October 7, 2003 6:50 PM
Unlike the Nokia N-Gage there is going to be some real competition from Sony with the Playstation Portable. Nintendo can't just make another Pokemon game and expect to win. The head of Nintendo said that they are now working on an optical drive to match Sony's PSP. When I wrote this article it was before I got a Sony Minidisc and they anounced the PSP. Nintendo is going to need hundreds of top game developers to fend off Sony.
Posted by: Jake at October 7, 2003 10:41 PM
I think we can predict how powerful a new system will be, that is coming off from another(PS1,PS2,PS3, etc.).Here is what I think the format for Gameboy's are.1st system:8 bit.2nd system:16 bit.3rd system:32 bit.Gameboy Next:64 bit. You can see where I'm coming from.Do the math people.64,128,256,512,real life graphics...technology just gets better and better doesn't it?Before I go, here are more predictions coming from the ol' lov'n ov'n. N-gage:so-so.PSP:Excellent(I've seen a sketch in the latest Electronic Gaming Monthly with Yuna on the front;wink wink, nudge nudge)PS3:Excellent. XBOX 2:Excellent.Game-triangular prism(he he he....)Dies in a good 3 years depending on NEW games.Not the old Marios,and Zeldas.
Posted by: Joshua at October 8, 2003 12:59 PM
The Gameboy Color was 8-bit not 16.
I think that since the Dreamcast you can't measure the power of a game system based off CPU power but on the graphics capabilities.
Of course you don't play system specs but the games that run on the system
Sony had no shown any of the actual PSP hardware. the EGM sketch is not official and is pure speculation.
Posted by: Jake at October 8, 2003 1:12 PM
I think Nokia with their N-GAGE is a company that is stepping way out of their league. And I also think that features are crowding the minds of the system manufacturers now-a-days. Why can't we have a better more up-to-date system without something that makes it stand out from the rest? Nintendo needs to worry more on getting good licences and game developers than wondering weither or not it will have and optical drive in it or it will have more than just a rumble feature. They need to keep (God-Forbid) Pokémon, and Mario and Zelda and Square with Final Fantasy if they can, and just make more games that take more chances. Like that game BMX XXX, now I am not saying that was a good game at all, but because it pushed the envelope on game taboo...it made quite a buzz for playstation. Some of that benchmarking in gaming today could help Nintendo bring back its status. Also...Something Nintendo has that Sony, Microsoft or Nokia doesn't is a history,....a knowing that everybody knows about Nintendo no matter who you are. They were one of the original pioneers of home entertainment systems. People will think more highly of that than playstation anyday. I guess the real point I am trying to make is that Nintendo should focus more on the quality aspect of the new gameboy and its games than trying to fit every possible feature into one little easy-to-carry portable.
I would like the GameBoy to be good, but not overwhelming like the N-GAGE is making out to be.
Good-Night.
Posted by: Blake at October 26, 2003 12:59 AM
I think that the Playstation portable will give Nintendo a run for it's money but not take all the market away from Nintendo and their next gameboy. When I wrote this the PSP was not announced.
Posted by: Jake at October 26, 2003 10:16 AM
the GP32 uses a SMC, in wich is basically a cartdridge, but you just remove the outher shell and cover with a durable thin plastic
Although there are things like encoding files for your Gp32's ID-Code on www.entware.com
Posted by: Grahark at January 9, 2004 8:27 AM
Of course, the next Gameboy will need to compete with the PSP - however, the merits of the Gameboy have not been in it's technical might, but on it's other merits...
Gameboy Pro
Clamshell design, about the same size as the original GBA, but slightly thicker. Two initial colours: Cobalt Blue and Charcoal Grey.
320x240 Photosensitive Front-Lit 3.5" Screen, 120MHz ARM926 CPU with 512KB onchip RAM and on onboard 3D processor (MBX-HRS), 8MB SDRAM, 1.4GB Cartridge-Discs, stereo speakers and LFE "Vibration", hybrid directional pad (pseudo-analog/digital), A-B-X-Y buttons and pressure sensitive L-R trigger buttons. GB/CGB/GBA is "emulated". No WiFi or PC connectivity, MPEG or MP3 playback ability (aside from where games might do so). Built-in Li-Ion battery provides up-to 30 hours continuous playtime, with support of second battery pack (snaps on bottom side). Compatible with existing games and hardware.
Posted by: Nonar at January 19, 2004 6:23 PM
Well that would be nice but there are no hard information at this point just pure speculation on everybody's parts.
Posted by: Jake at January 20, 2004 10:01 AM
Maybe if they use dvd-ram which is disc with protective case,or something like the floppy ,zip ,flash,mini cd disk?Old-Catriges drive should be there for compatibility.Or not ?For less than 100$ u can buy GBASP and play up to 18H non stop.And if u carry both the GBASP & GB next conzole if u are traveling around u may give the other handheld to other guy to play,rather than changing one hand held at about 10-15 min and the time u are playing,the other is trying to see something in your screen.
Posted by: Maddreamer at March 22, 2004 11:18 PM
Well actually instead of having a disk system i think it would be better to have a mini disk system. Disks wont scratch away and are more durabal since they are always in a protective case...man i tell ya its the wave of the future`
Posted by: Ikki at June 5, 2004 1:26 PM
Using a disk system at all is just plain stupid. They should use an SD slot and make all of the software available online or at kiosks. DRM the games like the Revo downloads will and they will save millions in production costs and the user can control how many games they can store. The game manual can be built into the game.
Posted by: qrayg at November 22, 2005 1:48 PM
