Next Generation DS Lite on the way?
Are we finally there? Have we reached the point where the handheld console is ready to be taken to the next level? The Nintendo DS was released in 2004, the DS lite in 2006, and now, at least according to Hirokazu Hamamura, president of the game magazine publisher Enterbrain, Nintendo’s next generation handheld is on the horizon. He maintains the DS lite is ready for a successor and that Nintendo will announce one at this year’s upcoming E3 gaming conference in July.
Will Hamamura’s forecast come true and is it based on special insider information at Nintendo? Nintendo has so far declined to comment, but Hamamura’s remarks seem to have had the effect of stirring up the guess work among the gaming press. In fact, given the two year release span between the DS and DS lite, a 2008 release seems highly probable. Several gaming websites have followed suite with Hamamura’s notions and are even hypothesizing what the next-gen handheld would be called. So far names such as the “Extreme” or the “Liter” have been circulating.
While Nintendo has had unprecedented success with their handheld DS lite models, with sales totalling over 45 million units sold world wide, recent statistics in Japan show Sony’s PSP actually outselling the Nintendo model. Perhaps this will be the best indication of Nintendo’s desire to develop a next generation model.
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