This might be our first look at Nintendo's next handheld

An information processing device such as a game machine or a mobile phone is provided with an operation unit with one or more buttons, switches or the like for accepting operation by a user. A game machine, for example, is provided with a cross key, an analog stick, an operational push button or the like, to accept operation concerning a movement or an action of a character in a game, or operation concerning various games such as operation for selecting a menu. Furthermore, a mobile phone is, for example, provided with an operational push button on which a number, a letter or the like is written, and with a directional key or an analog stick for, e.g., four or eight directions, to accept operation concerning speaking, electronic mail transmission/reception or the like.

So, what are we looking at here?

It appears Nintendo has patented a device which lets users slide buttons on and off, or switch them around. I also find the emphasis on describing how this concept applies to mobile phones and smart devices interesting- Nintendo's next handheld may not be a smartphone, but it may be a smart device, and it may be the first device on the market to solve the buttons problem.

NeoGAF

Smart Device?

Anyway, two d-pads, finally catching up with the Wonderswan.

Virtual Boy, actually.

And yes, that concept can have as many buttons, triggers, D-pads or analog sliders as you want.

Looks ridiculous. Why in the world would you need a d-pad, one that is swappable with a second analog stick? What are they going to name their next handheld? Going back to the Gameboy name?

How would it be the first device to solve the buttons problem when it isn't a smartphone to begin with? In that case, the shield, archos gamepad, and a bunch of others smart devices did it already.

The sliding buttons seems like a nice idea, left handed love.

I'd rather see what they put inside, and the quality, and size of the screen. No 3d please.

A smart device is not necessarily a smartphone- it could be a tablet (which is what it looks like).

Its a little fugly, then again this is hardly a surprise given Ninty's track record of hardware design.

I am sure one day people are just going to get sick of Nintendo handhelds and their rehashed software.

whatever it is, the next Vita will rock it fo' sho

You're right, the Gameboy Advance SP, the Gameboy Micro, the Nintendo DS Lite, the Nintendo DSi, the Nintendo DSi XL, the Nintendo 3DS XL, the Wii, and the Wii U are all 'ugly.'

As for the second part of your post, you have spoken like someone who is truly ignorant. A bit sad, really.

Do we really need another Nintendo handheld?

Eventually? Do you think the 3DS will last forever?

Jesus they're already releasing ANOTHER handheld?

Not at all- they're researching, developing, and patenting concepts for a new handheld. Every single company always starts R&D on new hardware as soon as their current system releases.

I would also like to point out to people that the 3DS is already three and a half years old.It's got one, one and a half years of life left in it, max.

I don't know if I'm a fan of swapping out the buttons/peripherals like that. But I can guarantee I said the same thing about dual screens, a controller with a screen, motion control, 3D...

...

Well, I'm still not sure I'm a fan of motion controls, and 3D has been nice but certainly not something that I need more of.

didn't the 3DS come out 7 years after the DS debuted?

@charizard1605:

Well in my opinion, which by its very nature cannot be wrong...because it is an opinion....all of those are quite unattractive.

Come on Nintendo are renowned for rehashing software. If you like it...more power to you. You shouldnt take the opinion of others as a criticism of yourself, and you shouldnt play the ignorance card either. It makes you look foolish, not me.

If your opinion is that the Wii and WiiU are attractive then thats fine, but I certainly will not be consulting you if I need to design anything.

After the PSV and 3DS, I'm done with handheld gaming.

I get that, but it still wouldn't be the first one. Wikipad and a bunch of other devices have done this already. I hope it's not a tablet, based on the wiiu gamepad.

I tried to get back into handhelds with the 3Ds and it's just not my thing. I want Vita for off-screen PS4 play.

Eventually? yes.

Personally I'm in for 3 to 4 year cycles in handheld. Keep the price in the $150-$200.

I don't have enough thumbs

FM town CE actually.

Also, uh, I don't think you know what the term Smart Device means, and you are exaggerating.

3DS just started to get interesting, doubt they'll announce a new handheld this E3, maybe a 3DS revision/lite version.

HUH...what is that.

Whatever team that's been behind designing Nintendo's hardware products over the past 2 decades should be fired, castrated, then crucified for creating nothing but abomination after abomination each time getting worse and worse, and the hardware team never learning their lessons from their previous mistakes.

(Obviously I was just joking about the whole castration/crucifixion part, if you're one of those many people online that can't take a joke)

Thank god, end the 3DS please.

That would be a HUGE seller ;) Then when they revert back to the NEW DS a huge seller again. Using the Gameboy name would bolster sales even more... guaranteed. (In my opinion) Sadly that name is probably gone for good.

It's been losing steam actually.

If it comes with whatever else you can slide in that dpad slot then cool, if not then who gives a shit, 2 games will properly use whatever else you can buy to put in there.

Design looks weird. But it made me think, as awkward as it sounds a handheld that had completely customizable button layout would be cool. Placing the analog sticks where you want would be cool. Just customizing the layout to whatever fits the game your playing would be interested, although like I said, it sounds a bit awkward.

Agreed. The device should come with two analog sticks imo. This interchangeable d-pad nonsense is a way of trying to nickle and dime consumers. Devs won't even bother if it's not mandatory.

lol.

Hopefully the 3DS lives for at least another 3+ years. It feels like yesterday the damn thing just came out.

The 3DS has maybe 2 good years left. I read the link/forum and people were saying they did this when designing the 3DS.

This first look probably doesn't tell us much of anything.

Still no dual analog sticks?

Wtf nintendo.

Just a patent, doesn't mean they're using it, companies like Nintendo and everyone else for that matter stockpiles an arsenal of patents in hopes of using them in the future, or to sue competitors with their patent stockpile if they should ever succeed in an area they've patented ideas. Every company does this. They'll stockpile patents they may never use, in hopes that the market and trends may evolve to a point they can use them, or to protect claims to those rights if someone else attempts the same thing.

Drug companies for instance I heard will trademark names to drugs long before anything has actually been developed; for instance, someone probably has patented the term AIDS Away for whenever a generic over the counter drug to treat AIDS becomes available, that way someone will have to pay them to use that name. They probably have more trademarks than just "AIDS Away", they probably went after every conceivable and catchy variant while they're at it.

Nintendo will probably keep the 3DS around until it peeks and sales start declining, at which point they'll probably be looking to put a new device on the market. Until that time though they'll probably support the 3DS to get as much mileage out of it as they can.

Well yeah, that's the thing- it's already peaked and declining.

There seems to be a huge overreaction in this thread. It's a patent, and one that may not even be used fully.

Still, it's interesting. The clamshell design was great, but I find myself enjoying the single screen design more.

@TrappedInABox91 said:

The 3DS has maybe 2 good years left. I read the link/forum and people were saying they did this when designing the 3DS.

This first look probably doesn't tell us much of anything.

Late 2015 or early 2016 would be okay. Though I'd prefer late 2015.

Let me get excited yo!

I like the dual screen design, I think it works great, and keeps the main screen less crowded. Which is crucial on a 5 inch device.

Game Boy Micro

Nintendo QS

• Flip Form Factor, Dual Screen

1. Top Screen 4.8"(960x540)
2. Bottom Screen 4.3"(960x540)

• Display Technology

1. Type - Two IPS Screen
2. Capacitive touchscreen (bottom screen)
3. Corning Gorilla glass, Oleophobic Coating

• Audio

1. Wolfson DAC
2. Stereo Speakers
3. Built in Mic

• Keys/Switches

1. Power button
2. Home button
3. Capture button(Screen grab)
4. Directional Pad(up,down,left,right)
5. Action buttons(Y,X,B,A)
6. Shoulder Buttons( left,right)
7. Analog Stick(s) 2
8. Start Button
9. Select Button
10. Volume Buttons (+,-)

• Wireless Communications

1. 802.11 a/b/g/n
2. Bluetooth 4.0
3. Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G)
4. NFC

• Storage

1. Internal Flash Memory (2GB)
2. External Memory Slot- 4GB Card Included (SDXC support up to 2TB)

• Software

1. Game Cartridge(2GB-8GB)
2. Digital Download
3. No Backwards Compatibility

• Camera

1. Rear Camera 8MP ( Autofocus, LED Flash) Video 1080P@30FPS
2. Front Camera 1.9MP Video 720P@30FPS

• Battery

1. Removable Battery
2. Battery Capacity 3,200mAh

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 805

1. Quad-core Krait 450 CPU at up to 2.7 GHz per core
2. Adreno 420 GPU
3. 28 nm HPm (high performance mobile)
4. 2GB RAM

• Release Date/Price

1. Late 2015/Early2016
2. $250

just for lundy xoxo

Tired of it beating your vita? xP

One day, someone will find this a half-decent joke.

Today is not that day.

This strikes me as a largely experimental and pie-in-the-sky sort of patent application. Though if any company is going to do something this jump-the-sharky, it's probably going to be Nintendo.

I doubt this makes it into a handheld we see in the near future.

Same here. Whenever the next Nintendo handheld is announced, I'll be hoping for the end of the dual screen design.

I've yet to think this is the case, the 3DS has sold about 14 million units a year each of the first 3 years, it hasn't really gone up or down. I doubt Nintendo will abandon this, I'd imagine they'd ditch the Wii U before the 3DS, after all it's the 3DS revenues that help cancel out Wii U losses. Right now the 3DS is the second best selling hardware worldwide after the PS4. I don't see Nintendo abandoning it. The Wii U on the other hand I could see happening in near future, but not this soon, I figure they at least want to see if it's got commercial potential for at least one more holiday season.