I'm not finding it. I found a story that the DS is sold out all over Japan and that the DS has 8 of the top 10 sales spots in Japan, but nothing related to the redesign.

BTW this is pretty damn dominating.

1. NDS - Brain Training 2 - Nintendo - 290,000
2. NDS - Animal Crossing: Wild World - Nintendo - 133,000
3. NDS - Mario Kart DS - Nintendo - 115,000
4. NDS - Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training (Brain Training for Adults - 114,000
5. NDS - Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - 98,000
6. PS2 - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Square Enix - 83,000
7. NDS - Yawaraka Atama Juku (Brain Training for Kids) - Nintendo - 63,000
8. NDS - Tamagotchi no PuchiPuchi Omisecchi - Bandai - 62,000
9. NDS - Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon Blue - Pokemon - 57,000
10. GBA - Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon Red - 49,000

I have no idea why they would do a redesign with it selling so well. I will be interested in looking at a new version, but won't be bothered if it turns out not to be true.

Just a guess here, but maybe gimmepilotwings mistook the "concept image" in the article that tanman posted (http://joystiq.com/2006/01/11/ninten...ming-jan-16th/ ) as the actual redesign? I know that was my first impression until I read the disclaimer at the end of the article.

Get a few more sales from people who already bought one and want to upgrade on top of all the new sales they would get anyway.

Plus the redesign is probably cheaper to produce somehow, so they can add profit.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=14035

Nintendo's DS shortages may herald imminent redesign

Rob Fahey 17:06 12/01/2006

Long-awaited slimline Nintendo DS could hit shelves within weeks

A number of independent sources have suggested that a redesigned version of Nintendo's DS console will be unveiled next week, with new more compact hardware expected to replace dwindling stocks of the current system.

Rumours of a redesigned DS have been circulating for several months, but received a boost last month when Japanese magazine Famitsu reported that a Nintendo hardware redesign was in the pipeline - which instantly suggests the DS, since the GameCube is to be replaced by the backwards-compatible Revolution later this year, and the GBA was redesigned as the Game Boy Micro only a few months ago.

Nintendo's US marketing manager Reggie Fils-Aime also confirmed late last year that a redesign of the DS was on the cards, and now leading Hong Kong based videogames import retailer Lik-Sang has reported that the new hardware will be unveiled on Monday in Japan.

Lik-Sang's report ties in with comments made by a Japanese retail source who spoke to GamesIndustry.biz this week, saying that stock levels of the Nintendo DS continue to be low in the wake of the console selling out over the New Year period, but that Nintendo representatives have advised them that a major announcement will be made shortly.

UK retailers we spoke to this afternoon, however, claimed to have heard no information from Nintendo regarding any imminent redesign or change to the Nintendo DS strategy in this territory, but were aware of persistent rumours of redesigned hardware, with one saying that he had heard from a major publisher that a new DS would be on shelves worldwide "by E3 at the latest" - referring to the major industry trade show which takes place in mid-May.

The move would make strategic sense for Nintendo, which has sold over 13 million units of the Nintendo DS worldwide in the past year, and is believed to have fairly low levels of stock of the existing hardware in the retail channel in most of its major markets at present.

It also ties in with the company's past behaviour - the GBA SP, a major redesign to the Game Boy Advance hardware, was also pushed into the marketplace early in the new year to capitalise on the low stocks of existing hardware after the holiday season.

Nintendo itself has yet to comment on the rumours, and is unlikely to do so until an official announcement is made in Japan next week.


Chris

It is interesting that the story is focusing on the reason for the redesign being that there are low inventories of the existing model. They are suggesting that the new design will be easier to produce than the older current model???

Chris

I think they just mean that it's a convenient time as they don't have a ton of old DS's around that most people won't want after the redesigned one comes out.

I just wonder how much the new desigin will retail for.

Probably be $150 as well, I'd imagine.

I agree.

My bad, forgot about the price drop as everyone is buying the bundles.

It was $150 last year bundleless, I'm sure they'd go back to full retail for the new one and slide the old one down to $99 permanently.

How could they lower the price on the current one if what that report says is true? It looks like all of the stock of the current one is just about gone, and right before stores are totally DS free, they'll ship out the new model, only at the same price.

Makes sense to me considering that the new model seems to be a complete replacement.

I thought the bundleless one was dropped to $129.99 last year before the bundles showed up?

Was that just a temporary thing? Or a sale that ended up in multiple stores?

Awesome. Even though I quite like the current DS I think it's definitely heavier and a little larger than it needs to be. I would have no problem dropping $ for a new design. I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding someone to take my old DS .

No idea. I'm just remembering what they did with the GBA -> SP transistion. Where they jacked the SP up to the original price of the GBA & phased GBA out with a lower price IIRC.

That's possible. I doubt it though as:

1. The SP was a huge improvement with the lit screen and clam shell design. The redesign DS won't be able to offer those kind of radical improvements.

2. Nintendo has to be more careful now as they have stiff competition from the PSP were they had no competition when the SP came out.

The DS did get a price drop though, as the non-bundle is still 129.99.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...games&n=507846

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=3610979

So I'm going $129.99 still on the redesign (assuming it's not bundled). Would be a smart idea to bundle it with the new Mario game whenever that comes out though. Would sell like hot cakes.

I guess it depends on what they do with the redesign. If it's better screens & improved battery the COGs would go up.

My guess it it will just be a slimming up and lightening of the design, with the same or similar screens aand battery (as most are pleased with them as is).

I'm thinking they want to keep extending their lead on the PSP so a price increase seems unlikely especially if they are stopping production of the current model. The original GBA was sold for years after the SP came out but this sounds like the new DS systems will completely replace the current line. I do hope they manage to extend the battery life enough to allow for brighter screens. The screens on the DS could be much brighter.

That aside I received my copy of Electroplankton today and played it while waiting for my hair cut and later again while my truck was getting washed. Just as much fun as I remember from the Japanese version. My favorite is still the Marine Snow. You can really get lost in that one with its cool piano sounds. Its nice to actually have it in English so I can figure it all out. BTW it comes with a foil look to the cover like the Japanese version, but no headphones. It has a nice big (but oddly smelly) booklet so figuring out all the features will be much easier.

I personally think its a cool piece of software, but its definitely not going to be for everyone so be careful before ordering it.

I was happy with it & still am for the most part, but wow when you compare it to the PSP there's a world of difference.

Played about another hour straight of Electroplankton. For anyone that gets this I really recommend the Beatnes and Marine Snow plankton. I really got going on a fun little beat with the Beatnes and messed with that one most of the hour. The others are fun too, but so far those are my favorites.

Yeah, the PSP screen is nicer. But it comes at a price with the shorter battery life. I guess it would be cool if Nitendo can make the screen larger and clearer and keep the battery life at 10 hours. But then again N64 style graphics aren't going to be helped as much as the PSPs nearly PS2 caliber graphics, so it's not that big a factor really.

I never had any probs with the PSP battery life on my trip. It handled homebrew apps & Lumines wonderfully.

It's not the graphics that are helped by a better screen, it's the viewability of the screen in different circumstances that improves.

The PSP battery life isn't sucky, but it's not 10 hours either.

I've not had a problem seeing my DS screen every, and I've played indoors and out, in cars, on planes, in bright light, in total dark etc. and never had any problems seeing it perfectly. So I was just trying to think of a reason a better screen is needed.

Don't get me wrong, the PSP screen kills it. But I'd be hard pressed to shell out $130 or more for a new DS just for a better screen. A more comfortable design with bigger buttons would tempt me somewhat (especially if they every put out any decent fighting games) but I'd probably still pass.

I'd like the option for a brighter screen, particularly with an adjustable brightness. I find the DS screens to be a bit dim in natural light, particularly direct sunlight.