NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – While Nintendo's next generation console gaming system likely won't hit living rooms until 2006, that doesn't mean the company won't introduce new hardware this year. A new analyst report suggests the company is planning to ship the next version of the Game Boy portable gaming system by the end of 2005.
If so, that would be the third new handheld gaming system in as many years for Nintendo, whose Nintendo DS was one of the hottest items of the 2004 holiday season and Game Boy Advance SP was one of the must-have gifts of 2003. The new Game Boy would face stiff competition, though, from Sony's PSP – which will hit U.S. stores in March.
"We believe it is likely that the next version of the Game Boy Advance SP will ship as early as this holiday, ahead of most expectations of calendar year 2006," wrote P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research.
The new system, he predicts, will launch at a $99 price point, with prices on the Game Boy Advance falling to $49. Nintendo DS prices, he wrote, will likely remain unchanged.
Nintendo representatives were unavailable for comment.
Official confirmation of the new Game Boy could come as early as March 10, when Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is scheduled to give a keynote speech entitled "The Heart of a Gamer" at the upcoming Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.
It's unclear at this point what sort of advances might be found in a new Game Boy. While this may be a graphical leap forward like many next generation consoles, it could just as easily be an incremental step, slightly enhancing the company's current offering.
Releasing a new Game Boy on the heels of the Nintendo DS, which features two screens and a touch pad, might seem a bit odd, but Nintendo has been quite vocal in saying the two systems are built for different audiences. The Game Boy has traditionally been aimed at children, while Nintendo hopes to reach an older audience with the DS.
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