New Nintendo DS equipped with camera and music playback

by Stevie Smith - Sep 29 2008, 15:32

The rumours have been festering since before this year’s E3 Media and Business event in California, but it would now appear that a third generation of Nintendo DS is about to make its official entrance to the hotly-contested videogame market.

More pointedly, a report initially run in Japanese financial publication Nikkei Business Daily has indicated that Nintendo is on the verge of unveiling yet another revamped DS handheld platform, which, amongst other features, will come equipped with an onboard digital camera and music playback.

According to the report, the as-yet unnamed handheld, which follows the original clamshell Nintendo DS and its sleeker DS Lite successor, will be released to retail before the end of 2008.

Although a potential U.S. release is reportedly still “being considered” by Kyoto-based Nintendo, the global undeniable popularity of the DS (it’s currently the market’s best-selling piece of videogame hardware) should see it hitting international markets soon thereafter.

Beyond the inclusion of an integrated camera and music playback functionality, which will likely expand the console’s multimedia credentials, the newspaper report offers that its Wi-Fi network communication abilities will also be bolstered through the revamp.

Other feature and function rumours associated with the new DS include gameple incorporation via the new camera, bigger dual screen displays, and also the ability to transfer data from the Nintendo Wii home console or via SD memory cards.

In terms of pricing, it is believed the introduction of new features will see the DS costing somewhere in the region of 20,000 Yen (approx. $190 USD), which isn’t a huge leap from the current 16,800 Yen (approx. $160 USD) attached to the existing DS Lite model.

While Nintendo has not yet offered any official comment on the Nikkei Business Daily report, current related Web whispering suggests the gaming giant could well provide platform fans with confirmation and more in-depth details at forthcoming press events due to be held in both Tokyo and San Francisco this coming Thursday.

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