![]() iPhone gaming built on the foundation of the DS ![]() It saved Nintendo, at least in the form we recognize, in the company’s darkest hour. The DS became the second best-selling console ever made, landing just shy of PlayStation 2. It seemed absolutely doomed, and perhaps Nintendo with it.Ĭustomers disagreed, however. It looked like no other console that had ever existed before, its benefits and potential were fuzzy at best, and it competed directly with Nintendo’s own GBA. This new system, the DS, left observers downright befuddled: While it offered modest 3D capabilities, it also sported two screens, one of which had touch capabilities. The GBA was barely three years old at this point. Seemingly desperate, Nintendo made a surprise announcement: It would release a new handheld system by the end of 2004, slightly ahead of PlayStation Portable and well ahead of the expected generational cycle. If that money-maker were to evaporate, what then? Did SEGA’s exit from the hardware console business portend Nintendo’s future as well? Nintendo makes a bold move The continuing success of GBA and Pokémon had kept Nintendo afloat despite the GameCube-shaped anchor around the company’s neck. Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance seemed a child’s toy in comparison - a criticism that was hardly blunted by the fact that its most popular software involved kiddie mega-franchise Pokémon. The PSP would launch in Japan before the end of the year, it boasted console-quality power, came wrapped in a sleek and decidedly grown-up physical design and most of all promised to run a stunning library of software. The Atari Lynx wasn’t a very influential portable Evan-Amos/Wikimedia CommonsĮven the most durable fortress eventually falls, however, and Nintendo’s small-screen fortunes seemed doomed to fail against Sony’s newly announced portable PlayStation. ![]() Venerable warriors like Atari and Sega had tried and failed to make a dent in Game Boy’s dominance with the Game Gear and Lynx, respectively, as had up-and-comers like SNK and Bandai with the Neo Geo Pocket and Wonderswan. Sega might have retired from first-party status, but Nintendo couldn’t breathe easy for a moment.Īnd fresh threats loomed in the handheld gaming market as well, which had belonged almost exclusively to Nintendo for a decade and a half. Worse, console race newcomer Microsoft’s Xbox had more or less worked its way into a dead heat with GameCube. The company’s latest console, GameCube, had failed to make any real headway against Sony’s mighty PlayStation 2. Things weren’t looking so bright for Nintendo back in 2004.
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