What a difference a few months makes. Looking sharper, sleeker and a great deal more shiny than the prototype that was shown at E3, Nintendo have today revealed the final design for the Nintendo DS with which intends to upstage Sony's PSP handheld.
The Nintendo DS, which was originally chosen as a code name for the handheld, has been chosen to be kept as the official name due to consumers already identifying that the DS means Dual Screen.
It is now much thinner with an angular platinum flip-top cover, the buttons have been increased in size and the shoulder buttons have been moved to a more optimum position. As the device has a touch screen, a new storage slot has been added to store the screen stylus and stereo speakers have been mounted aside the screen and now play stereo with or without headphones.
Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, was modest about the expectations of the new device:
"The Nintendo 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."
It may be innovative, but it's games that sell consoles and Nintendo claims that in excess of 100 software companies have signed up to create games for the system, with over 120 DS games currently in development, with Nintendo adding more than 20 titles itself to this number.
Nintendo look as if they've taken the criticism on board, made the necessary adjustments and is now ready for when the handheld battle begins.