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I'd bet this was a feature to support their in-store kiosks where people could play a DS and see the output on a TV. It'd be a lot cheaper and easier to pull s

I'd bet this was a feature to support their in-store kiosks where people could play a DS and see the output on a TV. It'd be a lot cheaper and easier to pull some DS machines off the production line and reflash the firmware than to engineer entirely new units just for the kiosks.

jsheard 6y ago
I don't remember there being DS kiosks with TVs attached, but DS devkits did support external displays so maybe it's a remnant from those https://cdn.retrorgb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/10100846/NitroDSEmulator.jpg https://cdn.retrorgb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/10100846...
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  The article says that the devkits used different circutry.
  - jsheard 6y ago
    That'll teach me for rushing to post a cool photo before reading the article :)
    - djmips 6y ago
      I enjoyed your photo despite this. ;-)
  - Lammy 6y ago
    There was also a third-party USB video capture mod for original "phat" DS models (and amusingly not the DS Lite): http://www.3dscapture.com/ds/ http://www.3dscapture.com/ds/ The fun thing about the developer units is that the handheld part can be switched out. The photo above shows one with a phat DS controller, compare to one with a DS Lite attached: https://cooltrainer.org/nitro-capture/ https://cooltrainer.org/nitro-capture/
    - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
      The circuitry inside the 'handheld part' of the devkits is totally different from a retail unit, as indeed it doesn't contain any processing. So if you had, say, a 'phat' devkit, I don't think you'd be able to fit a Lite as the controller (unless you also had a Lite devkit and swapped the two controllers, I suppose).
      - Lammy 6y ago
        Yeah, the latter. The PSP kit is the same way.
- qbasic_forever 6y ago
  They were definitely out there, I remember playing some DS kiosks at Target. This circuitry is specifically for the later DS lite models that came out in the later days of the DS line: https://consolevariations.com/variation/kiosk/nintendo-ds-kiosk-new-super-mario-bros-editon https://consolevariations.com/variation/kiosk/nintendo-ds-ki...

jsheard 6y ago

I don't remember there being DS kiosks with TVs attached, but DS devkits did support external displays so maybe it's a remnant from those https://cdn.retrorgb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/10100846/NitroDSEmulator.jpg https://cdn.retrorgb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/10100846...

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
The article says that the devkits used different circutry.
- jsheard 6y ago
  That'll teach me for rushing to post a cool photo before reading the article :)
  - djmips 6y ago
    I enjoyed your photo despite this. ;-)
- Lammy 6y ago
  There was also a third-party USB video capture mod for original "phat" DS models (and amusingly not the DS Lite): http://www.3dscapture.com/ds/ http://www.3dscapture.com/ds/ The fun thing about the developer units is that the handheld part can be switched out. The photo above shows one with a phat DS controller, compare to one with a DS Lite attached: https://cooltrainer.org/nitro-capture/ https://cooltrainer.org/nitro-capture/
  - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
    The circuitry inside the 'handheld part' of the devkits is totally different from a retail unit, as indeed it doesn't contain any processing. So if you had, say, a 'phat' devkit, I don't think you'd be able to fit a Lite as the controller (unless you also had a Lite devkit and swapped the two controllers, I suppose).
    - Lammy 6y ago
      Yeah, the latter. The PSP kit is the same way.
qbasic_forever 6y ago
They were definitely out there, I remember playing some DS kiosks at Target. This circuitry is specifically for the later DS lite models that came out in the later days of the DS line: https://consolevariations.com/variation/kiosk/nintendo-ds-kiosk-new-super-mario-bros-editon https://consolevariations.com/variation/kiosk/nintendo-ds-ki...