More about the DS/GBASP Multimedia Player

December 17th, 2004, 12:04 Posted By: wraggster

Turns out it might not be 'all about the games' for Nintendo after all - a slew of fresh info about the Japanese giant's upcoming Play-Yan device, which lets you play MP3 music files and MPEG4 video files on your GBA SP or DS.[br]And we're very excited. For a start it's now being widely reported that Play-Yan is compatible with DS, although this has not been officially confirmed and every prototype shot we've seen shows the system slotted into a GBA SP. Still, with Sony's PSP counting multimedia playback as a killer app it would seem crazy for Play-Yan not to be compatible with DS.[br][br]And there's no physical reason why it shouldn't work in DS. Designed in conjunction with Panasonic and expected to launch in Japan in February 2005 with a reasonable 5000 Yen price tag (about £25), Play-Yan looks like a normal GBA cartridge - so it'll certainly fit into the DS's GBA cart slot. [br][br]You'll get your music and movies onto your GBA or DS by transferring files onto an SD card, which will then slot into the Play-Yan cartridge. We've heard that the device could even come bundled with a 256 Mb SD card, which would hold around 2 hours of video or 4 hours of music, but you can pick up compatible cards pretty cheaply these days.[br][br]In terms of battery drain, Nintendo reckon you'll be able to squeeze 15 hours of music or 5 hours of movie from one charge - read it and weep, PSP fans. The reason for the extra-long music playback time is that after 30 seconds of inactivity your GBA will continue to play music but go into sleep mode, saving your precious charge.[br][br]Organising your music collection looks to be simple, too. Your tracks are organised into separate folders that you access by moving a wee stick man around and then selecting what you want to hear. There's even a headphones socket built into the Play-Yan cart, so you can enjoy stereo sound in private.[br][br]In terms of movie playback, you'll be able to enjoy video up to a resolution of 320x240 in MPEG4 or SD-Video format - so you should be able to watch video from a compatible digital camcorder. Reports state that the playback quality isn't earth-shattering but pretty impressive for a GBA screen (apparently when used on a DS the playback is identical, much like playing a regular GBA game on the new system) and you've got full control over the video via the D-pad and buttons. Pressing left and right on the D-pad seeks forward and back, up and down on the D-pad adjusts the volume, the left trigger adjust volume and the start button pauses.[br][br]There are a couple of disappointments: apparently Nintendo won't bundle SD card file transfer software with Play-Yan, so you'll have to look after that yourself. And worse - Play-Yan is only confirmed for Japan at the moment, and the initial launch will be a limited online roll out. We're praying Nintendo bring the peripheral to the US and Europe.[br][br]Potential availability problems aside, Play-Yan sounds like a fantastic piece of kit to turn your GBA or DS into a multimedia hub. Sony must feel slightly worried that the mooted battery drain stats are so low and Play-Yan's price is surprisingly affordable, suddenly bringing DS's features in line with PSP. [br][br]Or will those Nintendo fans who continually yelled 'it's all about the games!' stay true to their words and ignore Play-Yan's music and movie multimedia orgy?[br][br]We'll bring you more on Play-Yan soon.

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