Nintendo's DS has seen success bordering on the scary. But, as well as eating into the PSP's potential market-share, did it also stop another Nintendo handheld device from ever hitting shelves? Pictured right is what the US Patent Office calls 'Electronic apparatus having game and telephone functions'. SPOnG's just going to call it 'The Mario Phone'.
As well as giving Nintendo's DS and Wii a run for their money in the innovative gaming stakes, the device could also have been a worthy challenger to Apple's hybrid iPhone. The patent application shows that the design features two processors, one for all the things that phone's do and one specifically for gaming.
The patent was originally tabled in 2001 but took until June last year to be issued. Amongst the names of those filing the patent is Satoru Okada, the general manager of Nintendo Research and Engineering. With the man who spear-headed the GBA and DS attached it seems that at one point Nintendo must have been relatively serious about the Mario Phone.
Would you have played New Super Mario Bros. on your phone? Answers in the Forum please.
Source: Digital World Tokyo
As well as giving Nintendo's DS and Wii a run for their money in the innovative gaming stakes, the device could also have been a worthy challenger to Apple's hybrid iPhone. The patent application shows that the design features two processors, one for all the things that phone's do and one specifically for gaming.
The patent was originally tabled in 2001 but took until June last year to be issued. Amongst the names of those filing the patent is Satoru Okada, the general manager of Nintendo Research and Engineering. With the man who spear-headed the GBA and DS attached it seems that at one point Nintendo must have been relatively serious about the Mario Phone.
Would you have played New Super Mario Bros. on your phone? Answers in the Forum please.
Source: Digital World Tokyo
Companies:
Nintendo
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Comments
Showing the 20 most recent comments. Read all 22.
DaPistolPat 7 Feb 2007 20:43
3/22
the only thing iphone did that is inovative, is making a cell operational without having buttons.
Apple is one of the worst companies on earth because of their approach to customizablillity and functionallity of their products. The iphoney will be the end of many if it becomes popular, which im guessing it will bomb.
Apple is one of the worst companies on earth because of their approach to customizablillity and functionallity of their products. The iphoney will be the end of many if it becomes popular, which im guessing it will bomb.
hollywooda 8 Feb 2007 10:11
4/22
if the phone is as reliable as the ipods they can stick it!....sideways.......dry
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DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 10:22
5/22
hollywooda wrote:
if the phone is as reliable as the ipods they can stick it!....sideways.......dry
If the iPhone is as reliable as my iPods have been, it will be the most reliable phone I've ever owned.
iPods, like phones, are disposable items, the more you use them, the more likely the are to break. Every phone I have ever had had died in less than a year. Throw it away, and buy another one.
That said, my original 5Gig iPod is going strong, as is my 3G. My Nano I dropped on a Ski slope in Chamonix, though I bet the person who found it is still using it. I only just got a clip Shuffle - but it is everythign I want from an MP3 player....
hollywooda 8 Feb 2007 10:27
6/22
you must be one of the lucky people, everyone i know who has had an ipod has had trouble with it, maybe we were unlucky but i thought they were pretty notorious for being a bit iffy.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 10:36
7/22
hollywooda wrote:
you must be one of the lucky people, everyone i know who has had an ipod has had trouble with it, maybe we were unlucky but i thought they were pretty notorious for being a bit iffy.
C'mon, be realistic. If there were really problems with most iPods, how would they have come to not just lead the market, but to absolutely dominate it. Most buyers are happy with their iPods.
If you and all your mates have problems, you represent a statistical anomaly. Almost everyone at SPOnG has an iPod. Except for Andy, everyone has been happy with them - and even Andy still uses his...
Jay 8 Feb 2007 10:44
8/22
DoctorDee wrote:
I only just got a clip Shuffle - but it is everythign I want from an MP3 player....
If the battery technology in them is anything like the original Shuffle, you've got about 11 months useage left out of it. Providing you don't use it that much.
hollywooda 8 Feb 2007 10:49
9/22
just because something is the market leader, that doesn't automatically make it the best product. The ipod became a phenomenon, people don't say, "do u have an mp3 player?", they say "have u got an ipod?" there are probably plenty of other mp3 players out there that are more reliable & with better functions but apple have massive product power with the ipod.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 12:25
10/22
Jay wrote:
If the battery technology in them is anything like the original Shuffle, you've got about 11 months useage left out of it. Providing you don't use it that much.
It was £46. If it last 10 months I'll be happy. If I don't lose it before then, I'll be exstatic.
Amanda's Mk1 Shuffle is still going strong, I got her it on the day of release.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 12:27
11/22
hollywooda wrote:
just because something is the market leader, that doesn't automatically make it the best product.
I agree entirely. But if, as you are suggesting, it's a s**t product that always breaks down... it doesn't get to number 1.
Most users means most word of mouth. If that word of mouth is bad... you sink like a lead thing in aerated water.
hollywooda 8 Feb 2007 12:56
12/22
i think we'll have to agree to disagree here, sorry.
Ditto 8 Feb 2007 13:27
13/22
DoctorDee wrote:
iPods, like phones, are disposable items, the more you use them, the more likely the are to break. Every phone I have ever had had died in less than a year. Throw it away, and buy another one.
If this happened to me I would be expecting a replacement from whoever I bought it from. I expect a phone to last 2 years.
Jay 8 Feb 2007 13:29
14/22
DoctorDee wrote:
It was £46.
You have a point
DoctorDee wrote:
Amanda's Mk1 Shuffle is still going strong, I got her it on the day of release.
That's not bad at all really. I swear the battery in mine died about 2 days after the year's warranty ran out. Keep meaning to have a whinge to Apple but I'd probably be wasting my time.
BTW, on a completely different note, did you have fun at the weekend? :)
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 13:38
15/22
Adam M wrote:
I expect a phone to last 2 years.
I agreet hat they should from an ecological point of view - but in reality, everyone gets a free upgrade every year, so who needs a phone to last longer.
Mine generally have to endure getting dropped, getting fallen on, getting dropped in beer, being used as a makeshift hammer, getting used as a makeshift bottle opener. etc.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 13:40
16/22
hollywooda wrote:
i think we'll have to agree to disagree here, sorry.
Well, you can agree what you like. But the facts are not with you. While the best product is often not the number one product, where serious compeititors exist, the worst product never is.
hollywooda 8 Feb 2007 13:46
17/22
i didn't claim it was the worst product or even that it was "s**t" as u put it, i said ipods (in my opinion) are unreliable!... & if they take the same approach to the phone, then i'm not interested....
Ditto 8 Feb 2007 13:58
18/22
DoctorDee wrote:
Adam M wrote:
I expect a phone to last 2 years.
I agreet hat they should from an ecological point of view - but in reality, everyone gets a free upgrade every year, so who needs a phone to last longer.
The problem is that you're assuming *everyone* is on a contract that is expensive enough to include a new phone. I expect that there are at least as many people who cannot afford a contract are on a pay-as-you-go tariff, potentially the weight could tip in favour of the pay-as-you-go tariffs, although I don't have figures.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 13:59
19/22
hollywooda wrote:
i didn't claim it was the worst product or even that it was "s**t" as u put it, i said ipods (in my opinion) are unreliable!
But reliability is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of record. If the iPod is unreliable, and other MP3 players are not, then the iPod is worse than them. If an MP3 player is unreliable it is, in my opinion, s**t.
I am not saying that you are lying, or that you are mistaken. I accept that you have found the iPod to be unreliable. But I think your experience is anomalous.
If everyone shared your experience, the iPod would not be the number one selling MP3 player.
Apple has a good (not faultless) record for reliability and customer service. They do f**k up, but they usually put things right.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 14:09
20/22
Adam M wrote:
The problem is that you're assuming *everyone* is on a contract that is expensive enough to include a new phone.
Fair point. And my bad.
Though I guess there are plenty on contractors selling their phones on eBay after 12 months to keep non-contractors supplied.
hollywooda 8 Feb 2007 14:17
21/22
if u look about on the internet reviews are mixed & in my experience talking to people that's pretty much the consensuses. I think most people just take it that there ipod freezes or the battery dies really quick or that the ipod has no idea how much charge it's holding, because in most peoples mind mp3 players are new technology & most people are still on there 1st players (which 9 times outta 10 will be an ipod) so in time maybe people will shop around & realize not all mp3 plays behave in this way.... or maybe ipods will get better, i only have an ipod mini, maybe apple have ironed out all the creases in the new nano's?
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2007 14:52
22/22
hollywooda wrote:
i only have an ipod mini, maybe apple have ironed out all the creases in the new nano's?
I think Minis were the most trouble prone iPod. I never had one, but I knew people who did, and they did have some problems. And Apple did discontinue them pretty damned quick.
Nanos, as far as I can tell, are pretty close to faultless.
As for iPod's locking - they do occassionally, but in my experience, a scroll-wheel reset solves thing. In the few occassions I have experienced where it doesn't, a restore from the updater software fixes things.