Nintendo DS: Final Design & Name

Find out what the Nintendo DS will actually be called and will actually look like inside.

Despite Nintendo of America's now infamous Reggie Fils-Aime ("taking names" has even been used in a recent Xbox Live advertisement) stating at E3 that Nintendo DS would "arrive with a new name", Nintendo today confirmed that the final name for the machine will be Nintendo DS after all. Something that frustratingly, we'd heard a few days ago, but couldn't confirm and therefore couldn't run...

The final name for Nintendo DS is... er, Nintendo DS.

According to today's announcement, "The Nintendo DS name evokes the idea of a portable system with 'dual screens,' providing the rationale for the final name."

The wireless-ready beauty has also has been redesigned to sport a slimmer, sharper look. The retooled Nintendo DS features a thinner, black base and an angular platinum flip-top cover.

The start and select buttons have swapped place with the power button, presumably so that slipping fingers accidentaly turn the unit off less frequentlt. As expected, the unit includes a new storage slot for the touch screen's stylus, and the speakers now broadcast in stereo sound - with or without headphones.

Click for super-res versions of the new photos.

The redesign is, in Kikizo's view, a marked improvement over the original design unveiled a few hours before Nintendo's E3 conference back in May.

Satoru Iwata reminded us on his voew that DS will change the future of hand-held gaming, "Dual screens, chat functions, a touch screen, wireless capabilities, voice recognition - these abilities surpass anything attempted before, and consumers will benefit from the creativity and innovation the new features bring to the world of video games."

Software companies worldwide have more than 120 Nintendo DS games in development. Nintendo alone is developing more than 20 titles, and in excess of 100 companies have signed on to create games for the new system.

It might not play movies, but then, it was never supposed to - it just looks a lot less like a toy than before - and one step closer to the PSP market, which Nintendo keeps insisting shall not be competitive.

Final launch date and pricing details are expected at a "later date". Stay tuned.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com