Nintendo DS
Small secret: I've had my Nintendo DS for over a month now.
The street release date was Friday 11th, and, judging by my local emporium of computer games, business was good. Which is fine, especially because I think it's a great piece of hardware from Nintendo. It packs so many innovative features into one small package; much has been made of the 2 screens (DS = Dual Screens) and touch driven control system (via the stylus, the thumbstrap or fingers!), but it also features a version of wifi (for wireless multiplayer and potentially connecting to the internet), a microphone, and some great extras like PictoChat (a chat program to be used between DS owners). Including backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Advance is a good idea, but it does mean I will have to leave my original GB version of Tetris behind on train journeys (unless I take the GameBoy Advance SP) as it will not play Gameboy Color or Gameboy Original games.
Build construction is good, but not exceptional; for whatever reason, much of the casing is plastic. Offset this with it's rugged feeling, though, and you have less to complain about. It does not have the exceptional looks of the Playstation Portable though...
Battery life is astounding. It came charged, and I've been playing on it intensely at points, and have only had to charge it a few times. Charge time seems short too, and the charger seems to be the same as shipped with the Gameboy Advance SP.
The launch games are probably the weakest area. Every set of reviews (Edge, GamesTM are what I read) has held high regard for WarioWare (Dan: it's great) and, to a lesser degree, Polarium (Dan: It's good), but less so for the other release titles, with a distinctly average feel across the board. The best is yet to come here, clearly.
Still, I don't care, I need to go slice some more food, pick some noses, eject some pencil lead and put out fires by pointing a "tasteful" statue at them.
The street release date was Friday 11th, and, judging by my local emporium of computer games, business was good. Which is fine, especially because I think it's a great piece of hardware from Nintendo. It packs so many innovative features into one small package; much has been made of the 2 screens (DS = Dual Screens) and touch driven control system (via the stylus, the thumbstrap or fingers!), but it also features a version of wifi (for wireless multiplayer and potentially connecting to the internet), a microphone, and some great extras like PictoChat (a chat program to be used between DS owners). Including backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Advance is a good idea, but it does mean I will have to leave my original GB version of Tetris behind on train journeys (unless I take the GameBoy Advance SP) as it will not play Gameboy Color or Gameboy Original games.
Build construction is good, but not exceptional; for whatever reason, much of the casing is plastic. Offset this with it's rugged feeling, though, and you have less to complain about. It does not have the exceptional looks of the Playstation Portable though...
Battery life is astounding. It came charged, and I've been playing on it intensely at points, and have only had to charge it a few times. Charge time seems short too, and the charger seems to be the same as shipped with the Gameboy Advance SP.
The launch games are probably the weakest area. Every set of reviews (Edge, GamesTM are what I read) has held high regard for WarioWare (Dan: it's great) and, to a lesser degree, Polarium (Dan: It's good), but less so for the other release titles, with a distinctly average feel across the board. The best is yet to come here, clearly.
Still, I don't care, I need to go slice some more food, pick some noses, eject some pencil lead and put out fires by pointing a "tasteful" statue at them.
posted by dan at
2:26 pm
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