Is the DS in trouble?

[Fraser]

It's not like the DS can ever really be in trouble, considering squillions of them have been sold, but that doesn't mean that the console's future is assured.

Blockbuster games have slowed to a trickle since the release of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (unless you are a Pokemon obsessive) and the console's release schedule in general seems to be a little light in comparison to this time last year. Could the system's development community have been cannibalized by the unexpected popularity of the Wii?

Add to that the fact that the PSP seems to be going from strength to strength just now and it's not impossible to imagine the DS having a disappointing year (though it has set itself an exceptionally high bar). Could the DS be the hare to the PSP's tortoise?

Or is the console on finer form and in better health than it has ever been?

Penny for your thoughts...[/i]

[danskmacabre]

There is a lack of decent new games for the DS atm, however, I don't buy that many games anyway, I generally play the same games for a long time.
Usually Puzzlequest, Etrian odyssey, Mariokart and a few other games.

It IS true the the Wii has eaten into my Game purchase budget as well, what with recently buying Mariokart and a couple of other games.
But then again, it's all going into Nintendo's pockets either way (apart from my PC games purchases)

Also, I think Third party software houses generally don't produce games as good as Nintendo does (and the sales of them reflect that), so maybe they're getting less keen on producing games for the DS.
I hate it when I get burned when inadvertently buying a garbage game, although I will check out videos of it on youtube or something before purchasing, but sometimes they slip through, additionally there are SO many bad games on the DS. I think this is affecting their sales of games and thus new games coming out.

Is the DS in trouble? I wouldn't say "trouble" but yeah, I think it has peaked.

I would buy a PSP if there was some more games I like and it's really cheap now too (too bad it doesn't have a touchscreen).

[SetsFireToPoshHammer]

It is annoying that there isn't much on the horizon just now, unless you like Pokemon. I do think that the DS has suffered a bit as a result of the Wii too. It's understandable that Nintendo wants to push its new console but I think the DS needs a few big announcements for the console to stay relevant, currently it's drowning in shovelware.

I am sure Nintendo won't let the DS fall by the wayside, but I do wish they'd hurry up and get me excited about the thing again, I really feel like it has lost some of its momentum.

[Accelorata Jengold]

Can anyone guess what I am about to say?

I WANT THE VIRTUAL CONSOLE ON THE DS! PLEASE NINTENDO, DO IT NOW!

And even if not, if Nintendo isn't going to come up with any big new releases besides Pokemon for the thing, it would be great if we could at least get some reworked N64 games, like the Mario 64 port that launched with the system.

Obviously what I would really like are some new games, and preferably not Kitchen Sink Cleaning DS, Oboe Hero DS or Tantric Sex DS (actually, that last one might be alright).

Here's an idea - sheep dog training. The game could come with a whistle that you have to use with the mic to keep your flock in line. Actually maybe hold off on that one, I think I want to patent the idea first.

[splat]

I think we'll have to wait for DS or GBA 2 for the really good stuff