Rumor: Next Gen DS to be powered by Nvidia Tegra

Interesting, the DS and Wii are both the most in need of an upgrade, and the DS has been out for 5 years now, so a new DS debuting late 2010 would be cool. Get the first punch in before Sony releases a PSP2.

I'm very excited to see what type of games get developed for a more powerful Nintendo handheld. Particulary Pokemon. I also would like to see the next generation of DSware from nintendo get more support and is actually capable of hosting games that are as quality as Castle Crashers or Shadow Complex are. downloadable retail games would be nice as well, ala games on demand or the PSP PSN store.
 
For those of you with some knowledge about computer video cards, how powerful is Tegra? Is it somewhere near something like original Xbox level?
 
[quote name='laaj']For those of you with some knowledge about computer video cards, how powerful is Tegra? Is it somewhere near something like original Xbox level?[/QUOTE]

It's apparently used in the new Zune HD, so you could check that out and maybe get an idea.
 
From what I heard, the chip in Zune HD was going to be just a touch below the original Xbox which means quite powerful. And no way in hell Nintendo is going to use it since their R&D for graphics technology is a pack of smokes and a hamburger.
 
[quote name='laaj']For those of you with some knowledge about computer video cards, how powerful is Tegra? Is it somewhere near something like original Xbox level?[/QUOTE]

GeForce 9 based hardware

Just shy of xbox first gen.

Not too shabby, but kinda have to agree with Paco, we're not going to see any games pushing this chip to sweat any....

it's the DS ....

But it's interesting that it'll definately be backwards compatible, at least in software. Pray that they keep a slot 1 for us old gen'ers.

I might upgrade then.
 
Indeed, would the OP update the title to reflect the status of this item as a rumor? One that NVIDIA themselves seems to be pushing.
 
[quote name='xycury']GeForce 9 based hardware

Just shy of xbox first gen.

Not too shabby, but kinda have to agree with Paco, we're not going to see any games pushing this chip to sweat any....

it's the DS ....

But it's interesting that it'll definately be backwards compatible, at least in software. Pray that they keep a slot 1 for us old gen'ers.

I might upgrade then.[/QUOTE]

I call bullshit. The Xbox was based on Geforce 3 level hardware. If the Tegra is based on Geforce 9 then it is significantly more powerful. Maybe it's a variant of the FX line which is the budget line.
 
[quote name='Paco']I call bullshit. The Xbox was based on Geforce 3 level hardware. If the Tegra is based on Geforce 9 then it is significantly more powerful. Maybe it's a variant of the FX line which is the budget line.[/QUOTE]

If it's going to be in a sub $200 portable (I doubt Nintendo will make its MSRP more than $200, probably more like $150) and it's going to have to be much smaller and use less power than a chip that would go into console.

I think it'll be roughly as powerful as the chip the Xbox on paper but it'll likely have fancier capabilities (lighting, shaders, etc.) so it'll look much better.
 
[quote name='Paco']I call bullshit. The Xbox was based on Geforce 3 level hardware. If the Tegra is based on Geforce 9 then it is significantly more powerful. Maybe it's a variant of the FX line which is the budget line.[/QUOTE]

There isn't anything to compare to a direct line. So calling bullshit on a rank that isn't even classified is funny. So I'm calling batshit.

Tegra has G9 hardware. But the capabilities, since it's a mobile chip could only be ranked close to xbox level.

Christ, you can take a flagship product, like the 58xx series from ATi/AMD, stick it in a notebook, and it will still play like SHIT.

And you're probably right, it'll be more based off of the FX series, smaller, tiny components, limited clockspeeds.

The do have to fit in whatever the next DS line will be made.
 
Note, this all assumes Nintendo bites, thus far Nintendo (and Sony and Microsoft) have been very happy with the ATI chips powering their consoles.

Nintendo has never been very keen on having cutting edge hardware, rather opting for tested, vetted, and most importantly slightly cheaper components.
 
[quote name='Zing']Here is a more likely rumor: this article is full of shit.[/QUOTE]

Not quite, there is a lot of facts in this article, but the source should be clear. NVIDIA is promoting their new chipset heavily. They need a cash cow stat and getting a Zune or Nintendo DS using their chipset is such cash printing bovine.
 
even a late 2010 would mean we would never see it over here till summer 2011....i though nintendo already said a new handheld would be out by 2012
 
It's kind of hard for me to imagine that the DS has been out for nearly 5 years now... I bought mine the day it was released and the memories of that day are still fresh.

But anyway, even though Nintendo has a tradition of going for slightly less powerful technology and instead choosing to focusing on games, its not impossible that they'd go the Nintendo 64 route and try to have the strongest hardware.

I know the DS has been very successful against the PSP, but one of the major things going for the PSP is it's more powerful hardware that allows for certain styles of games not possible on the DS and it wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo decided to finish off Sony's handheld by taking away one of it's major party tricks.
 
Nintendo is not specifically looking for "less powerful technology." They just have a price point in mind and buy the best they can for that price. Maybe they're getting a sweet deal on the Tegra 2.
 
[quote name='Nohbdy']The rumor has surfaced again, only this time it's beefier: the DS successor is meant to be powered by the Tegra 2, which NVIDIA touts as 4 times more powerful than the original. For comparison, the current Tegra is running on Zune HDs: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ds2-vs-psp2-article[/QUOTE]

I'm intrigued, the Zune HD advertises 8 hours of HD video. If that is anywhere near the case that could translate rather nicely for a handheld running some a little less CPU intensive as decoding HD video.
 
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