Nintendo will release a new Game Boy in 2007.

2006-02-08

A main reason given for a new Game Boy being sensible in ~2007 is a comparison to the current reality of both GBA and DS doing decently. From that it is extrapolated that DS and newGB could have a similar relationship. I find this to be a flawed way of looking at things, though.

As is, Game Boy Advance is where the publisher goes if they've got a simpler 2D game that won't benefit from the DS's increased power, resolution, extra screen, microphone, touch screen, or wifi; and they want it to reach a larger possible audience. A consumer would pick a GBA over a DS if they wanted something cheap and small. Other than the GBA link port, DS is a pretty clear superset of GBA.

But what would the situation be with a DS as the value console and a newGB as the upscale one? Assuming the newGB is like the GBA and PSP, it would essentially have a subset of DS's capabilities, but with better graphics and sound. Playing DS on newGB wouldn't be feasible. Neither machine would be a clear improvement upon the other. If I'm a publisher with a "simple" game (say an N64/PS1 port), where do I put it? On the DS where there are more input options and an existing userbase, or the newGB where there are graphics capabilities ~3 years more advanced, and maybe a more proper analog control? As a consumer, there would no longer be one basic cheap machine to choose... you'd either pick the basic or the cheap machine.

Before DS's release I thought things like New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS seemed pretty poor ideas for a company really serious about having three pillars. If DS had stuck to only things that really took advantage of its touch screen, a newGB with a more oldstyle screen/control setup wouldn't really create a conflict. But for better or worse, DS has software of all types, and isn't just the touch screen machine. Since the new features have proved more of a benefit than a detriment to DS, I don't know why Nintendo wouldn't be happy to just continue on with their next machine being an improvement upon the DS, rather than going back to the GBA/PSP way.

As is, the only reason they've needed to try and sustain two handhelds for so long is because competition from Sony forced the DS to market earlier than they would've released a new portable, and dumping support from a 3.5 year old machine to put all the eggs into the basket of the weird new machine would've been stupid. If it weren't for PSP they surely wouldn't have wanted to have only 3.5 years between their handhelds, and without some other external stimulus they won't want to again. Yes, it can be pointed out that the time difference from GB Color to GB Advance was similarly small... but I really think that's another very unique circumstance. GB Color was a crazy late half-update to 9 year old hardware, with many of its games made to still work on the original Game Boy. GBA was just the universe righting itself.

In 2004 and early 2005, talk of a new GB in 2007 was believable as a DS backup plan. In 2006 it's silly. DS made it.