Hmm, I'd just like a bigger DS Lite, it's quite obviously designed for little hands. Although I guess it's really sleek they way it is. BRING ENAMEL NAVY STATESIDE OMG and I'll sell my Onyx ASAP and get one. Bigger screens and better 3D would be nice, bit of built in flash memory and dual multi-touch screens would be uber. Positions should stay the same, but if it was possible to make them flush that would be great. Bigger A/B/X/Y buttons might be better, they're seriously smaller than GBA I think. VC integration is a no-brainer, I wouldn't be too surprised if they were already making a VC cart for downloading games from Wii. Decent web browser would be nice, but if not I'm sure someone would make a better one in homebrew anyway. Wi-Fi Pictochat with friend's list and ingame notifications of messages or friends being online would be great, perhaps a smaller LCD on the side for that. Better overall online functionality, one code per system. That really makes more sense for DS than Wii because people don't normally share handhelds. In-game voice chat with options to turn it off, off by default maybe for the kids? At least for friends, lack of ingame communication makes tactical games impossible.

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I agree with others, we should expect system will be able to play the same online games on VirtualConsole. That is going to be a big money-maker for Nintendo and if they can successfully make it mobile they will capture more dollars from that. If they do that I could see some form of Opera Browser being built into the system.

I could also see use of solid state accelerometers (eg - to turn in Mario Kart) as an addition to create another level of control. They have the technology in the Wii controler, and I could see this being used in the next handheld.

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the next handheld from nintendo should obviously be able to play game cube games as those discs are perfect for handhelds. this would obviously be the next-gen game boy. by doing that, they will encourage 3rd parties to create new content for the game cube line, which in turn can be great items for people to collect and play on both their wii's and new game boys. the other thing is the new GB should obviously have wi-fi online play capabilities; that way the new content can take advantage of wi-fi. however, i think the DS line should continue.....but obviously with more tricks up their sleeve since the DS line will probably be the more innovative of the 2 lines. nintendo should obviously look to apple for inspiration (iphone) on what kind of new features to include in their new device. but they are very innovative in their own right, and it'll be interesting to see what they come up with. i do think the dual screens is here to stay though. as far as what else could go into such a device, its hard for me to forsee. as long as they focus on gameplaying, and not too much multimedia like the PSP, i think most fans will be satisfied. in any case, they'd be foolish not to continue their game boy line as well as their DS line.

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here we go...

1. Better graphics (duh)
2. Fully backward compadable (GB - DS)
3. Two screens but both are touchable
4. Multi contact points for touch screens
5. Wi-Fi chat / VOIP
6. Joystick
7. Built in rumble
8. More Wii interaction (Mii's, Download mini games from Wii games, etc.)
9. More stuff to just can't think...

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GBA support seems unlikely if a new format is used.

As people have pointed out, dual screens can be emulated on a single large touchscreen.

An analog stick would be a must, imo - a good long lasting one.

A better online system would be great - perhaps a lobby for all games in firmware, and the ability to pop in a game after being in the lobby. Something like using Gamespy to find a game, then popping in the CD to play on a PC.

I'm still not sold on motion sensing in a handheld for the sole reason that it's hard to look at a moving screen.

Other gadgets such as a light sensor (already featured in a GBA game, iirc) could be included, but since it would barely ever be used, it still makes more sense to include it on the card.

Virtual Console / emulation support would be incredibly sweet, even if you needed a Wii and special rewritable card to use it.

Sit and wait, I guess...

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Oh! And I know that Nintendo have always stuck gaming without branching into multimedia too much, but i would love a few simple things in a new handheld:

* Web browser
* Text editor
* VOIP client

Basic multimedia support (image, sound and video files) would be nice as well, but not a must imo.

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I think if they make a variation to the DS again, they will effectively remove the GBA slot, and probably work on making the screens bigger.

One thing everyones forgotten is that the DS was never, and still isn't intended to take over the Gameboy brand, even though it is in that camp. A possible true Gameboy successor might still be worked on right now. The whole concept of the DS and now the Wii is for 'market disruption, and penetration' I still think we're in for some pretty amazing surprises on the hardware front.

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I'd like to see the device be slimed down. It's too thick, and too big. I can't put it in my pocket.

So the size of the device should be a major thing when doing the next DS.

I like the idea of having one big screen versus two seperate screens.

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1.Add multi-touch
-Would allow say joystick and stuff on a touchscreen
if dev wanted it
2.Firmware updates
-I wouldn't have minded an update that allowed color pictochat or wifi pictochat and wifi settings
3.Wireless
-Add range
-ADd speed
-Possibly auto-swap hotspots
4.Processing
-Lets see people can buy computer ram of like 512 for $50 so we take off the size and stuff and give us more ram like 64 megs instead of 4
-Make better processing allow for 3d on both screens

5.Better media
-I mean the cartridges. Put it on something that can hold more but still load very quickly
6.Internal flash
-We like game saves on one ds prevents accidental erasing
7.Make it more community centered like people have said
-Chat rooms
-Friends lists
-In game notifications
-Age seperation? Like people who are 12 and under must use friend codes and don't have wifi chat except for ones already set by parent.
8.Downloadable permanent software
-Like a browser and vc games
9.Be cheap
-People are willing to probably go as high as $200 at first as that is when you get your gamers and slowly drop it down
10. Analog stick
-Why not
11.Pressure sensitive buttons
-Same thing We is upgradin

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For backwards compatibility, what about some kind of peripheral that you could hook up to your DS2(whatever) that would accept old cartirdges from your DS1 and GBA and allow you to upload them to flash memory? Is such a thing even possible? Such a thing would save a tremendous amount of space, making room for more power/more features/more whatever.

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@everyone suggesting analog sticks.
How would you fold the the thing with an analog stick on it? And if you had to take it off that would be stupid. I am pretty sure that some companies already make analog sticks that attack to d-pads anyway, not sure if any are for the ds though.

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My take on the next iteration...

Imagine the iPhone screen and #13 and #14's suggestions. The entire thing is touch screen, and when in portrait mode, the lower half can be used for the stylus. Of course, there's this whole thing about the technolog being patented by Apple.

Another hope that I have would be handheld support for those tiny gamecube discs. They're just waiting to be played on a handheld based on their size!!!

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I designed a concept Gameboy Omega on my site a few months back:

http://madiart.blogspot.com/2006/09/gameboy-omega.html

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I actually had specced on this myself just recently. I'm sure almost none of this will be used, but it certainly is a lovely dream. For one thing, use the DS light set up, but switch a few things around.

Add some basic hardware upgrades like a small hard drive(maybe what, 5 gig?). Obviously some slightly better processing speed and an improvement to the speaker/headphone/microphone sound quality.
The Touch screen will remain the same size, but the top screen will be widened to a size similar to that of the PSP, the speakers may need to be moved down to the bottom half of the DS.

Add in compatability for playing GB color and regular GB games. Heck, I think they might already work, but for some reason, the DS has little pegs in the way so GB games don't fit, I wonder if they'd be recognized if they did. Instead of the weird screen stretch thing that the GBA did, the old games will remain at their old screen sizes, and regular GB games will be shown in the black and white that the GB pocket used, rather than the Green and Yellow spectrum that the original Gameboy used.

Add in the capability of telling the DS to treat its own wireless signal as a Multiplayer link for all GBA, color and regular Gameboy games, provided you are in range with someone who has the same game inserted. This would be done in that main options menu prior to loading the game up.

Add in the ability to store wireless WEP keys and such to the DS itself, rather than in the games. This would then be able to be used to connect to a special website online that would allow people to connect online while being sorted by their respective games. This would work not only for DS games, but also for the older GBA, GBC and GB games. Along with this, people could now store friend codes to their Gameboy and use this to allow people to use pictochat via online as well as helping decide who to play with Via online. Voice and sound would also be added onto the picto chat. this will allow the DS to be used as a semi VOIP phone as well.

The DS should also be made to recognize and communicate with the Wavebird's wireless signal. Being allowed to be assigned a frequency manually (with an auto support for the 1 - 16 frequency that the wavebird uses) and then treated as if it is a GBA once it is connected to the gamecube.

Reverse the attachments. Instead of the wrist strap being at the top, put it at the bottom so people can wear the wrist strap while still playing. Instead of the DS being plugged in at the top, they're plugged in at the bottom so that the GBA games get plugged in at top and don't stick out the bottom, but stick out behind the top screen when it's open.

Improve the wrist strap for accuracy. Instead of jsut being this sort of curved thing, give the wrist strap a little more of a sharper bump to it. That way for games that use the wrist strap as makeshift joystick control, you can have better control as it would nearly become its own mini stylus. By using this in tandem with the Stylus, it would be possible to use the touchscreen to actually work as mini computer keyboard while not limiting you to typing with one hand, though you would be limited essentially to a two fingered typist.
The Dpad will be replaced with a concave shallow joystick to allow 8 directional recognition. The L and R buttons will both become Triggers that can sense pressure, as was done with the Gamecube controller.

The charging port will utilize a mini-USB jack that is common with portable harddrives and cameras and MP3 players. This port will also allow data transfer as well, as this will make it possible for the DS to be hooked up to a Wiimote.
In order to allow the DS to be hooked up to a Wiimote while simultaneously being charged, the DS charging cable will be made with a splitter cable, both cables will plug into the DS charging port, the other end of one cable will consist of a wiimote plug, while the other end of the other cable will go to a regular sized USB plug. This usb plug will be able to hook up to any usb port to draw power from, as well as being able to be hooked up to a 9 volt car outlet adapter, or a regular wall outlet adapter(the wall adapter will come included)
To supplement this, the DS will have an option on the main screen to allow you to view the Mii's and other personal data you have stored on the Wiimote. This program will also allow you to draw customized faces for your Mii that can then be stored to your Wiimote.

One DS game will also include a camera attachment. The color camera itself will plug into the DS slot, but it will also come with a GBA SD reader that can be used to store the pictures to an SD card, which can be used to download the pictures from your game. This of course would also be able to use the Wii's SD memory card. The top screen will show what the camera is going to take a picture of, while the bottom screen can be used to navigate option menus and view the archives of pictures. The L trigger will work as an auto-focus, while the R trigger will take the actual pictures, while the a, b, x, and y buttons will handle things such Zoom and manual focus. the joystick will be used to help navigate the menus shown on the touch screen.

There, I'm pretty sure that's just about the ultimate spec. None of it should really be hugely costly either, most of it is all programming and firmware features and small changes to hardware layout, rather than major hardware upgrades. It allows for features to access both the capabilities of the Wii and the DS together, and improve the online experience without actually REQUIRING it. If anyone from Nintendo happens to be reading this, please get these implemented!

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Seamless communication between the DS and the Wii. Ex: Miis, ONE FRIEND CODE, Virtual Console, ect. I would love it if the DS Menu was setup channel sytle, similar to the wii. I also thought the idea of a built in Clubhouse Games instead of pictochat was marvelous. Price: 130-230 I think anything above 200 would be pushing it, and the lowest price that nintendo will sell the new sytem for will be the same price as the DS.

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multi input system for the touch screen.

Wider screen.

increased graphics

cart based system

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I think the most likely things to be added to the new console would be;
multi-touch (the evolution of touch screen)
game boy virtual titles (if works with wii why not on ds)
mii integration (mii were originally created to be made on the ds so adding it to a new ds would be a no brainer)
wii 2 conectivity (they're gonna keep tryin till it works)
maybe a roll-up screen which means the device can be small and have a big screen, which can be seen as two screens or one big screen (nintendo wanna show normal people some new technology that will amaze them but also help them)

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