It's not impossible. Sony completely removed b/c for the PS2 from the PS3. It might be as simple as Nintendo taking the four GC controller ports and GC memory card slots off the Wii. Those cost money to manufacture. Any money saved equals a more profitable business model.

Disclaimer: THIS IS PURELY SPECULATION

Consoles always undergo a series of redesignes during their lifetime. Some are drastic, like the slimline PS2 or the DS Lite and others are not so obvious, like the Gamecube model without progressive scan support, or the Xbox 360's with CPU's that run cooler.

Recently, an analyst broke news to Gamespot about DS and Wii redesigns in the works. While not much was mentioned about the Wii, the analyst did say that the DS would be losing it's GBA cartridge slot. It struck me as rather odd for two reasons: First, some software requires the GBA cartridge slot (a cartridge used in combination with a DS card), and second, GBA's and GBA software is still selling well enough to be a noticable chunk of profit.

What would a Wii redesign mean? Well, most likely a way to manufacture the console cheaper and faster. What would be one of the first features to go? Gamecube backward compatibilty unfortunately. Here's a few good reasons why:

- Gamecube was Nintendo's worst selling TV console in it's history

- Many Wii owners did not ever own a Gamecube

- The Gamecube market is dead, no new software is being produced

- A future initiative to sell Gamecube games on the VC would be much more profitable

- Gamecube backwards compatibility is not a strong selling point for the Wii

While it probably doesn't take much for the Wii to run Gamecube games given the similar CPU's, alot of money could be saved if each Wii unit didn't have four GC controller ports and memory card slots.

I'll probably make an effort to buy a Wii faster than I had planned to because of this line of thinking. It's ironic that Wii's are in such short supply. If this becomes true, it will make those who already own a Wii thankful they went through such hardships to get one early. If Sony can drop backwards compatibility for the more successful PS2 and sell more consoles.....why can't Nintendo?

The DS was supposed to be a" third pillar" in Nintendo's marketing stategy. Alot of people took that literally and didn't realize that Nntendo was basically saying, "if the DS doesn't work, we'll be bringing out a newer iteration of the Gameboy line." Well, the DS did work, so there is no good reason to continue the GBA line.

While I love the DS, I didn't like it as much as the GBA, probably because I'm more confortable with the standard control scheme. I would have prefered that I didn't have to draw magic symbols in Dawn of Sorrow, or that New Super Mario Bros. had come out on the GBA, since it doesn't use hardly any of the DS's special features.

But I'm getting more and more into the DS now. Brain Age is an incredible piece of software. Phantom Hourglass has proven to me that the touch screen is a viable control scheme when done properly. I think the first year or two of the DS yielded some pretty half-assed software, and that's where the bitterness comes from. The DS has really come into it's own now, and it's not an issue anymore.

Within the next two years a successor to the DS will be announced. Will the same thing happen? Will DS users call it down, like GBA users the DS? Seems silly to me.

I think the game's bosses were too easy. Other than that, amazing game. One of the best I've ever played.