[General Discussion] What's Your Dream Handheld?

This is deliberately stolen from Kotaku but I thought it was interesting and would make some good discussion and idea churning.

So guys, if you could design a handheld gaming device what would you put in it? What do you believe should be in the next Nintendo or next Sony handheld system, or perhaps even in a system by a new comer to handheld gaming like Microsoft or Apple?

Please organize your thoughts and explain and/or show how they would work if they're complicated. Mock-ups would be very appreciated.


So I'll show you guys what I came up with. It's a fairly long read but hopefully it should make sense. I decided to come up with what I think would be a logical step in the evolution of the Nintendo DS.

Acer's Nintendo Handheld:

Here's what I would love in a handheld (specifically a Nintendo handheld):

2 swappable control zones
-one with d-pad and analog stick 1
-one with 4 face buttons and analog stick 2
-have small rumble and accelerometers
-reversible and rotatable positions
-face buttons have LCD letters/colors or adjustable if position is rotated

This allows for players to choose to have d-pad/analog stick 1 on the left or right side and which they prefer on top or bottom and likewise for 4 face buttons/analog stick 2 while keeping the face buttons oriented correctly if its position is rotated. It's the perfect solution for left-handed and right-handed gamers. The contacts will transfer information and send power for perhaps LCD face button information and of course rumble.

Perhaps tilt control will be built into the system instead of having accelerometers built into the control zone pieces.


16:9 OLED multi-touch sliding display
-horizontal and vertical modes
-storage area with protective screen for sliding display

The brightest low-energy display with no need for back-lighting; this display is replaceable in case anything should go wrong. Slid into its highest position a storage screen located behind the display's horizontal position can be activated to come out with a light push to which the display can safely be slid into and protected. At its highest position the display can be rotated 90 degrees into its vertical mode and slid down into the middle, left, and right position based on where the screen is most convenient for the player and locked into place. Games will obviously need to be displayed in the correct position or will perhaps have different display options.


Media and storage
-8 GB Flash HDD for storing multimedia, protected games, demos, homebrew, and updates
-USB 2.0 port
-SD card port for protected propriety SD game cards and normal SD cards that can be stored on the 8 GB Flash HDD
-DS slot for playing DS games
-GBA slot for playing GBA games and system add-ons

New games will come on propriety SD cards and will lock to your account and if you wish to resell your game then it will be cleared from your account either by you or by retailers such as Gamestop and EB who will be required to clear account status on these SD cards by loading it on their PC and running it through a program if you were to sell it to them. You can load data via the SD port, USB 2.0 port, or via WiFi and save it onto your HDD. You can purchase and download full games be they new or from the Virtual Console and store them on your HDD instead of dealing with retail. Downloaded games will also be locked to your account.

Games can be played using vertical or horizontal modes using the whole screen or splitting the screen in half like DS games. I can imagine some pretty sweet SHMUPS for this system in the vertical mode using the whole screen.

DS games that use the book-style will use the horizontal mode with the right side being touchscreen enabled. Most other DS games will use the vertical mode with a black bar in the middle to separate the two screens with the bottom area being touchscreen enabled.

GBA games can be played in horizontal or vertical mode. In vertical mode it will be like the DS where you can choose bottom or top locations. In horizontal mode you can choose between having GBA games play in their original size or have the scale up a bit to the display's size.


Communication
-WiFi
-Built-in microphone, and microphone jack next to headphone jack
-Account linked to system
-Free Online System
-No Friend Codes

You have an account that is linked to your system and maintained by your system and a buddy list that shows what games you and your buddies have. Whenever you go online your account and system information is updated in the database. You also have the ability to share games via WiFi for a limited time (great for multiplayer; save data will not be erased) and trade/give away your games to people via WiFi by having the game(s) you wish to trade/give by link to their system using your account's game list for downloaded games or by unlocking SD game cards from your account.


Other stuff
-2 speakers
-1 headphone jack
-L & R shoulder buttons
-long-lasting rechargeable battery
-16 hour battery life
-about the size of the PSP
-Gamecube horsepower
-HDD is upgradeable thanks to ability to transfer via USB 2.0
-New custom controls for the 2 control zones can be made
-$200

I'd probably call it the Nintendo SD for Sliding Display, SD cards, Super Duper, etc. I'm sure someone could come up with a much better name.

Here's a mock-up I've created for this. I hope you like it.:

I look forward to seeing what you guys can come up with. Have fun! =D

Jam it back in, in the dark.

That sounds pretty awesome! Let me tell you about mine! My dream handheld is called Ballsaco. The advertising writes itself! "Hey Joe, what are you doin'?" "I'm playing with my Ballsaco!" "Okay" then twenty seven seconds of blank screen. Ballsaco would be just slightly bigger than an Xbox. The screen would be the exact same one found in the original Game Boy's, except it'd be on a spinny wheel. The wheel would turn while you play, to keep you alert! It'd be like playing two games at once! The speed it turns at is all connected to the game you're playing, via high tech silicon chips and so forth. So if you're playing level 1 of Tetris, the screen will move slowly. Everyone around you will laugh because they'll know you're playing Tetris like a wuss. The faster Tetris gets, the faster the screen turns!

It'd have eighteen face buttons, and thirty three shoulder buttons. Only four face buttons work though, with no markings on which is which. Also they constantly change. If you press the inactive ones, you'll get a tiny little electrical shock due to bad wiring. Again, more little innovations to keep the player excited! Every single shoulder button acts as the power switch, which is ALSO located right under the joystick. Don't let your thumb slip!

Joystick? Well yes! D-pad's are so 1980's, joysticks are here and they are the future! It is the 00's and there is time for joystick. It's a very big joystick, with a pointed end and coated in exclusive mega quality Turtle Wax. Ballsaco would use the trusted cartridge media, being about the physical size of a Neo Geo game, but with a bit less memory space. 5kb in total. Even though it's using cartridges, they're so advanced that allowing battery backup through them would sap all the oxygen on the planet. So much like the PSP, you'll need to buy a memory stick. But I know they can be a bit pricey, so Ballsaco uses 3.5 inch floppy disks. You can find them at the dump now, that's FREE!

Ballsaco runs off only one battery. A car battery. That'll get you a full three hours of game time! Even at full volume! It uses the same speakers found in other powerful devices such as Game & Watch and $3 FM radio picked up in strange shop at the end of Chinatown. No headphone jack is included, but you can send away for one. It's only an extra $49.95.

Ballsac also includes a free game! None of this demo junk! You get a COMPLETE copy of Hang Man X: The Deading. Featuring crisp, clear stick men sprites and a pumping soundtrack of the same beep looping over and over. It's multiplayer if you let your friends play with your Ballsaco. They'll never want to put it down!

Other games avaliable at launch include

- Car Race
- Jumping Fat Man
- Virtual Dog Bath
- Where's Walrus
- Space Shoot: The Alien Revenge
- Two Pin Bowling
- Shadow The Hedgehog Brain Training



There's nowhere I can't reach.

Something that can interact with every single electronic thing-a-ma-jig in the world. If I could start my car via DS, that'd be a great start!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Torte

Something that can interact with every single electronic thing-a-ma-jig in the world. If I could start my car via DS, that'd be a great start!

Heck GBA can do more than start a car: http://www.turboxs.com/more_info.php?ID=131

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

My dream handheld? Well...

You guys love your DSes, right? My dream handheld is basically a cute, tiny android girl personification of everyone's favorite little touch-and-rub game box. Ideally she can transform back and forth between her DS form and girl form, but one could play games on either. She'd be able to return any affection you had to give.

I don't know if I'd actually play games on her or not but she'd be a truly beloved little companion in any scenario. Just don't let her near any stupid kids or sociopathic assholes who think breaking her might be cool. Without you, she'd be hopelessly lost.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Would she all be miniature because her other mode is a handheld? Tiny and cute transformer handheld sounds awesome! =D

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Of course. One could even name her, and each one at the store would look unique and different, coming in a variety of costume/"hair" colors.

I hope EBGames wouldn't have a store model of one of them, though... that would be super cruel.

FELIPE NO

Would it be worse for her to be on display only and never truly loved? =(

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?