Nintendo: Next DS Will Have 'Ability To Read The Movements' Of Players

Nintendo is thinking next steps for its explosively successful handheld platform, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata talks to Japanese media about what the successor to the Nintendo DS may look like. "[It will have] highly detailed graphics, and it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing," Iwata told Asahi Shimbun, as translated by consumer weblog Kotaku. But Iwata also emphasized it's too early to discuss plans for the new hardware, as the extant DS hit all-time highs in 2009. For the time being, according to the report, Nintendo's focusing on adding more wireless hotspots for DS and expanding its partnership with McDonalds. Beyond offering Nintendo wireless hotspots at McDonalds restaurants -- which is also done in the U.S. -- the partnership will offer users exclusive content from the restaurants' WiFi spots, like McDonalds quizzes and manga. Iwata also told the Asahi Shimbun that Nintendo will be ready to show more on its Wii Vitality Sensor in July, aiming to launch it as soon as possible, and that the newest Legend of Zelda game will launch before the year 2010 is out.