Well, maybe it would be a feature to consider to drop if the new design was made mainly with size in mind. But I think besides an even smaller DS would be easier to carry, a too small design would be prone to be less comfortable for the hands to hold it during long gaming sessions. My personal order of preferences for the new design:



Comfortable > Smaller > Longer Battery life

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What about the rumble pack that comes with Metroid Prime Pinball and works with Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time? That get's plugged into the GBA slot, and i'm confident that Nintendo will be releasing more DS accessories that go in the GBA slot. After all, they said the GBA slot would be mostly used for accessories for the DS, not just games.

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What about the Rumble Pack? There might be quite more games in the future that will use it. Do Nintendo really want us to miss that out? And other possible expansions that might use the GBA-slot. And don't forget about how many that owns GBA games, and don't want to carry around both a GBA (SP) and a DS.



I would say, it will defently stay.

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I'd happily lose it. I used it for playing GBA games because the screen was better than the GBA SP, but then I got a Micro and now prefer playing GBA games on that.



A redesigned DS without a GBA slot would have to have another way of achieving the rumble effect, though, as that's currently achieved with a rumble cart.

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Goodbye homebrew/roms if they nix the GBA slot. Probably not a bad idea for N to do that.

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I don't feel much like owning an SP, I've always disliked it. So, if DS dropped GBA support I'd have to get either a Micro or go back to my old GBA (which I still keep around to play GB/GBC games on)...



Problem is, I can't stand the old GBA for GBA games due to the horrible darkness of the screen. And if I got a Micro, I'd not be able to play my old GB/GBC games unless I kept my GBA around and, ack, now I'm juggling three handheld systems.



Keep the GBA slot in the new DS.

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the gba slot will still exist because nintendo have created a rumble pack for the ds which goes into the gba slot, and when metroid prime hunter comes out it will use the rumble function = better gaming experience than psp

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What about the games that you put in the GBA slot to unlock things in your DS game. Like in Metroid Prime, you would hook up your GBA with the Metroid Fusion cart in it and it unlocked bonus stuff to do on the GC. I don't think the big N would sacrifice that.

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

i play plenty of gba games, not to mention the fact pokemon pearl and diamond is supposedly going to let you transfer from gba to ds cart.

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I wouldn't mind losing the GBA cart slot but Nintendo should build in vibrating feature into the new DS then (this is easily done as most PDAs have them anyway). But I am vary that Nintendo might release new paks in the future that takes advantage of the slot. I can see a future GPS attachment that could enhance games (like Gizmodo's Colours). eg. GPS on GBA slot and map on DS cart.

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Hey guys just think. If Nintendo takes the GBA slot away, doesn't mean you can't keep your old DS!!! And for some who don't have a DS, but still want one with GBA capability, you'll still be able to buy the original DS at online stores. Also I agree with #9. They can still put in a vibrating feature for those with Metroid Pinball.

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I would never buy a DS without the GBA slot. I wouldn't be able to play my homebrew DS games without it.

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I really don't think Nintendo should get rid of the GBA slot. Now that the Castlevania double pack has come out, that's all I play on the DS. But then again, as long as the new games don't require a new DS, then what do I care? I already have my DS and it fits easily in my cargo pockets.

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My vote says they'll keep GBA slot, because like people have said already, it's used for more than just GBA games, and having built-in rumble support in the new version isn't going to render the GBA slot useless since there are other things that can be done with it, like unlocking bonus content as people have posted, plus releasing expansion packs, like the one released for Band Brothers.

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Without the GBA slot, the Band Brothers expansion I just ordered would be worthless.

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Nintendo Wont lose the GBA slot, They my drop GBA playabilaty but lose the slot unless thry make a new port on the back for accorries that are comeing out soon and already out (Rumble Pac)

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yep a redesign wouldn't lose the GBA slot, it's too important.



Accessories + expansions for games.

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Nintendo might drop the GBA slot if it is part of a larger strategy to make the back catalog available online (just like the Revolution). The DS is already able to go online, so Nintendo could drop the gba slot and ship the redesigned DS with built-in rumble pak and a small hard drive where you could keep the GBA games you've downloaded.

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I say loose the gba slot. The new sp has a screen that is ten times better than the ds for GBA games. Trust me, I shelled out for a new SP because it really made the game look amazing. Go and check it out at the store. Back to my point, screw the gba slot. Redesign the ds with a rumble feature and a way to transfer from gba to ds and all of your problems are solved.

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I would like them to keep it in. Mainly for the accessories that are coming out/out already for the GBA slot. Rarely do I play GBA games anymore but it's just that much more of a selling point that it does play all of those games. I don't think Nintendo is going to lose the GBA slot. That's my personal guess, I've pondered the same thing. I think the new design should have ADDED functionality (really, I just think it's going to be a new design, if anything a brighter screen or something) it wouldn't be too smart if they started taking things away. It would also confuse the market even more. GBA, GBA SP, GBA Micro, DS, DS 2...how many parents are going to know the difference between all of these?

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