Rumor: Next DS to feature built-in camera and mp3 player

Nintendo may have been bluffing when the company stated that a DS redesign wasn’t in the works. Japanese newspaper Nikkei has reported that Nintendo is working on a DS redesign that will hit Japan before the end of 2008. Supposed new features referenced in the Nikkei story include a camera, increased Wi-Fi abilities and the ability to play music. The alleged price for the system remake will be around 20,000 yen/$188.

There are also more possible features. NeoGAF and Wired reported that Monex briefly ran a version of the Nikkei story which also claimed that the retooled DS will share information with Wii units by using an SD card and have bigger screens than the existing models.

Nintendo is going to hold a Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco and Tokyo, according to Nintendo Wii Fanboy and Wired. So by October 3, 2008, we’ll know for sure the future of the DS.

Surprisingly, I’m not excited. Even though there could be camera related DS games, I can’t seem to be hyped up about this news. I think it is because it is turning a machine designed solely for playing games into a mass media device.

Nintendo should just stick with a single version of a system, and not decide to retool it every few years, making the previous model obsolete. Save this new redesign for its next handheld.

Read [Nikkei Net] Via [NeoGAF] Also Read [Wired] Also Read [DS Fanboy] Also Read [Reuters] Read [Nintendo Wii Fanboy]