The C-E staff give their views on gaming's most important issues.

With the news that the GBA 2 will be shown at E3 along with the rest of the next generation breed, some of us were left wondering about the DS. Can the two consoles really co-exist? Will they harm eachother? Are we being fed two new handhelds instead of one?

With the Nintendo DS, is there really a need for a GBA2?

Iun:

Whether we like it or not, the DS is an inferior machine technically to the PSP.

But more importantly than this, the PSP is all-singing, all-dancing, and in the minds of consumers, that is far more of a concern than decent battery life and "proper" handheld games designed to be played on the move.

The Gamecube would have sold a heck of a lot better if it had taken DVD's instead of the piracy-proof proprietary disks. Speaking as a retail employee, it's a heck of a lot harder to sell the 'Cube or the DS because their counterparts have the functionality that they lack.

Heck, even backwards compatibility is a concern, although very few people use the capacity. Many purchasers of PS2s are swayed by the fact that you can play your old PSone collection on the new machine... even though the old PSone is likely to outlast the newer PS2 in terms of not breaking down.

Consumers want their product to be the definitive word in the field of what they are buying so that they can convince themselves it's a worthy purchase because they'll never need anything like it again.... until the next one comes out.

Wildo:

Well as we know the DS is Nintendo's third pillar and therfore it is not offocially classed as a Game Boy, even if it is a handheld console. Nintendo have always stated this and also mentioned on many an occasion, that the DS has never been a direct competitor to Sony's PSP.

I'm sure many a person has read the recent rumour about the GBA2 being able to produce GC styled graphics and having analogue controls. This (according to rumour of course) would make the GBA2 more of a games dedicated handheld while the DS is more of a mutlimedia/PDA styled handheld.

With only speculation flying about at the moment considering the GBA2 and what it will actually be capable of, there is no real way in which we can talk about it. Although as far as we know this should be the PSP's competitor.

It's clear that the DS is not everybody's cup of tea and that many a Game Boy owner will not wish to go for the DS instead of their GBA. With the potential of a new GBA on the horizon, it could get many a dedicated GB fan dancing for joy as they have something new to play with as well.

Basically in a round about way I'm saying bring on the GBA2, and long live the DS. Both machines are capable of exsisting in such a gadgety era.

Justin:

A need for a GBA2? Well, I personally think it would be a very smart thing for Nintendo to release their next Gameboy in Spring 2006. That would at least give the DS a chance for the NDS to start off, and probably would not confuse the market to much.

If they were to release it the end of this year, they may be making a lot of NDS owners mad. Many/most people would think of it as the replacement for the DS. "Already another Nintendo Handheld?" It would likely make loads of people mad, and angry. Though, if Nintendo did play their cards right, I think they could get it out in early 2006, and probably not disturb the market too much.

Do we need the GBA2 to compete with the PSP? I think not. Though, for those people that are into the most powerful system, there is one bomb that would knock the PSP off it's feet. If Nintendo were to release a new GBA, that is more powerful than the PSP, I do think they would win back most of the PSP buyers. They like the PSP graphics, it is obvious. If the PSP had PS1 graphics, would it be selling this well? I think not.

So, to cap it off, I think Nintendo should not release a GBA2, at least not this year. I also think that it would not be needed to fight the PSP, but it would definetly help.

Craig:

There is no question that they need a GBA2/Next. The DS, although a fantastic little system, isn't as appealing to the mainstream as the PSP.

If Nintendo where to release a GBA2 which offered more than the PSP in terms of in-game graphics and actual console appeal, the GBA/SP owners would all want one. As well as anyone else who has that as their appeal.

They need a handheld which will appeal to a more grown up demographic. A child will buy something that looks mature to seem more mature. Yet an adult won't buy something that looks kiddy, for fear of looking kiddy.

Dennis:

I honestly believe there is. Quite a lot of people did not believe the whole "third pillar" story by Nintendo when talking about the Nintendo DS. The DS however didn't focus on the best hardware there is, but on a whole new concept of gaming: using different methods like the microphone and the touch screen.

Secondly, the Nintendo DS is actually targeting a different audience than the Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance did. The latter aimed at the younger audience, with the GBA SP targeting the young adults as a small exception, while the Nintendo DS is actually aiming at the more mature gamers.

Sony came in with the PSP, a powerful handheld trying to take up a fairly big part of the market. In my opinion, Nintendo actually needs to introduce a new iteration of the Game Boy-series: a more powerful approach, less focus on the new gaming-methods. Of course many gamers who recently bought a Nintendo DS will be pissed off at first sight of a 'GBA2', but think about why you bought the Nintendo DS...

You wanted it for the new gaming experience. You wanted to control games using your voice, your drawing skills. You wanted to see games on two screens, maybe even from two different perspectives. The Game Boy series are not about that, and in my opinion should never try to do so. Keep the Game Boy where it is, make it more powerful and introduce it as soon as possible.

Tom:

I absolutely believe there is a need for the GBA2 to be released. Nintendo has to provide products to cater for every audience, as it is a company whose entire income comes from games and consoles. It has to ensure that someone can look through the product lineup from Nintendo and be able to see a console they want.

Also, as has already been said, the DS is inferior to the PSP, and the only way to defeat the PSP is to provide direct competition in the form of a more powerful, single screen handheld games machine. When average Joe buys a console it is the numbers that make the deision for him, not who has the greatest tradition or who is most innovative.

Kalpatron:

If the next Game Boy is at an affordable price, just like the DS, I don't mind. Nintendo always care about the price of their consoles. But I really think that Ninty needs the next Game Boy in order to compete with the PSP. I believe that it won't have any battery problems or anything, but in the other hand it will be much more powerful than the PSP. Now if it's going to use GameCube's media, I'm in. It'll be a must have :)

Dominic:

There is a need for a GBA2, but just not yet. I think the DS can push itself for a couple of years. Personally I wouldn't release the next Game boy till about late 2006/early 2007. I think that giving the DS time would pay off. It seems a lot of people are interested in it. I've shown mates and work collogues it and they seemed to enjoy it and be interested in getting one.

It's different and unique and although sometimes they say being different isn't always a good thing, Nintendo have got something going here already. If they just get the backing from 3rd parties, I can see some very great original games coming to the system. The future's bright and very two screened.

Jordan:

As others have mentioned, the GBA2 still isn't needed for a while. Sure the PSP is a hell of a lot more powerful than the DS but it has major drawbacks like battery strength. With new batteries not coming till the back end of 2006 it would be good to launch the GBA2 in 2007 or so.

Besides Nintendo needs to focus on its current handheld, the DS needs strong online titles to get its user base to keep off the PSP. Lets just hope this head start it got on its rival will help.

Conor:

To be honest, it is going to be difficult for Nintendo to sell the GBA2 and DS side by side.

One possibility, as others have noted here, is for the DS to be the venue for handheld innovation and the GBA2 to continue the Game Boy tradition with a broad library of titles and superior hardware. But this will be hard to sell to the general public.

Just today when I was getting on the school bus when a younger lad mentioned the DS to me. What did he call it? The "Game Boy DS". To him, there was no "third pillar". A handheld from Nintendo? Must be the new Game Boy then. This is the attitude of most people, and it's not hard to see why. Nintendo are going to have an extremely difficult time selling the idea that the two handhelds are each worth having.

The same can be said about developers. If Nintendo aren't careful, chances are we'll be seeing a similar core of games on both consoles, the only difference being a useless second screen for the DS version and some nicer graphics for the GBA2 version.

We'll have to see some major differences between the two handhelds and some definite marketing from Nintendo if this is to work.

Well, that's our lot! You can give your own views on the co-compatability of the DS and GBA2 below. Expect a new Staff Roundtable in two weeks (I promise!).