The Nintendo DS

The Core RPGC Main Forum
1

I told myself I wouldn’t fall into the pitfall of a new handheld. I did anyway. And I’m quite happy I did.

The Nintendo DS is better than the GBA SP, in the same ways the SP was better than the original GBA. The graphics got boosted to their maximum, going as high as 128-bits. The second screen is handy and useful for many occasion. For most games it can be used as an alternate to the D-pad, as it’ll emulate a control stick.
The system itself have a calendar, a clock, an alarm, 2 game slots. (You can choose between the Gameboy games and the DS games), headphone gears, AC adapter, and the not-so-useful pictochat. Good luck finding another DS at work for that one :roll:
They should had included an electric agenda instead the pictochat. Being able to take notes and plan your days ahead would been a great asset to the system, and could been an excuse for them parents to buy one to their kids. (It’ll help me at school! Yeah, right. >>)

The hardware is 2 game slots. (You can choose between the Gameboy games and the DS games), headphone slot, AC adapter (wich think can double as a game link for GBA games), and two screens, wich one is tactical (sp?). They include a stylus for better precision, and it have proven quite handy, and a handstrap with a tip designed specially for the bottom screen.

The games. I got myself Mario 64 DS. Mario 64 by itself was one of THE games that redefined the whole purpose of gaming, in my own humble opinion. It was a great game, and the port stands up to it. I’ll just miss Metal Mario ( :frowning: )
It took me an hour or two to get used to the system. I discovered the stylus itself was not that great for gaming purpose, but they included the handstrap for that purpose. The mini-games used the stylus with ingeniosity. I could spend hours with that bob-ombs game (First on Wario’s list)
I can see RPGs on it. All the menus would be on the bottom screen, with the stylus to choose what to do. It really takes gaming to a new dimension.

The sound itself, you have three choices. headphones, Stereo, or surround. I never thought of plugging it on my surround system. Got to try it. o_O;
The speakers can be real loud, as loud a TV itself can be. Luckily below half is enough to clearly hear the sounds and music.

I skipped buying the SP when it came out. I never got one. I think this baby makes up for it. If you got the money, its the handheld to get.

2

Hah, I also skipped an SP. The DS is the rock! :slight_smile:

3

I skipped the Game Boy Pocket, the GBC, GBA, and the GBA SP. Maybe I’ll finally upgrade and get the DS, though I think the SP is way sexier and I don’t know if there are any DS games I want yet.

4

That would be cool if they did what you suggested for rpgs.

5

I must stop thinking of this while playing Mario64 DS >_<;;

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=116

Kero, the SP is really worth getting. its now a gameboy. its a whole new system. Grahpic-wise, it’ll be a gamecube in your hands. whee
Calendar and clock, not to mention GBA backtracking, is good enough for me. <3

6

I, too, recently bought a DS. It’s a great little system, although aside from Mario 64 DS the games all suck so far, and I’ve gotta say I’m impressed with it. Although I’m far from impressed that Nintendo decided to make it reverse compatible with the GBA but none of the other GB systems. The best part about Mario 64 DS…is that they could have packaged the mini-games on their own and it would have been worth the buy :stuck_out_tongue:

7

It’s cool, yes, but I’m not even going to consider getting one until the price drops. I never got an SP.

8

Yeah, something I didn’t get either Janog of the Jungle. Now I can’t play the original Pokemon and Revelations: The Demon Slayer. : \ Has anyone here even HEARD of Revelations?

9

Oooh…that sounds cool ^^ Nintendo’s got some good new titles lined up, and the backward compatability is certainly a plus. I’m still gonna wait for the PSP to come out to see which is the better deal, though.

10

The current lack of good games is minor. They’ll come, when they’ll stop producing for the GBA. Its only a matter of time now. Even then, you can still buy the GBA games and play it on the DS.

11

Ugh… Why do people even think the PSP has a fraction of a chance of even being an okay handheld? Have they even fixed the battery deal?

12

That game was fun, but I didn’t get very far due to the poor instructions on how to get to the next areas. :stuck_out_tongue:

13

I remember Revelations. I got stuck after a while cause I got confused and gave up.

14

People can have their own opinions and outlooks that differ from those of others - get over it. I rarely play a handheld for 6-8 hours straight anyway. If need I can use the AC adapter. I’m waiting on a PSP myself. Plenty of games I’m looking forward to and I’ve always wanted a device that would play games, movies, and music (as opposed to a laptop). The PSP has made my dream a reality. And for pretty cheap too, since I can just transfer movies and music to a memory stick for free.

15

No. And apparently the batteries sufdfer from memory too. And trill, have fun getting a PSP. You can buy one for “cheap” (250), but you get it pretty much OEM. To get the full PSP deal, you have to shell out 350 for the “value pack”.

I’m not bashing the PSP, well wait…yes i am. But on the topic of the DS, it rocks, i’ve got one. Got it the day it came out too. But you guys who are waiting to get one arn’t really missing much. =\ The only good games out right now are SM64DS, Feel the magic, and Zoo Keeper (which is just bejeweled). Maybe Mr Driller, but i dunno, something about it doesn’t look as cool as i though it would be.

I love my DS and all, but i’m seriously disappointed in the launch. It seems like nintendo has pushed all their big titles back 'till after DeMasked hits, and that kind of sucks. =\

But the benefit of a DS is that it is a BITCHIN’ GBA. I mean seriously, this is the system the GBA games were made for. Its AMAZING the difference playing on a DS makes, and yes, i had an SP. On the DS, the GBA games have blasting audio (my SP was real quiet), and its pure sound too, not that crappy excuse for a sound chip the GBA/SP had. And oh god, the screen. Its a true backlight, which makes all the difference in the world. The Afterburner/SP had a frontlight, basically leds in front of the screen that shone on it, which led to washed out color and area of brightness. The DS doesn’t have that at all, and playing with the light on makes the colors better. Even playing GBA games on the bottom screen (you pick what screen you want to play on) has better resolution and color than a GBA/SP. Way better. And the top screen is beutiful (yes i spelled that wrong, i don’t care :P), its so clear. Personally, being able to play GBA games on such a great system is worth the money to get one right now. The GBA titles make up for the lack of DS titles.

And hey, book, you can’t plug the DS into a surround sound system, silly. :stuck_out_tongue: Surround just means that the DS emulates surround sound on it’s 2 speakers. Its like Stero-Plus, but if you play SM64DS on the default setting, you get “surround” sound anyway. :stuck_out_tongue: Silly booken.

EDIT: Hey cro, the PSP’s media playing capabilities are shit. You might want to look into that before you get one. Just a heads-up buddy. And you can play movies and music on a DS too…and for alot cheaper. Have fun buying memory sticks, they are expensive and suck, while the DS mplayer uses SD/CompactFlash, which is alot cheaper.

16

Imports don’t come cheap :stuck_out_tongue:

Edit: Dev, do you have a PSP? If not, don’t bother telling me how it is unless you actually know. A 512 MB stick will last quite a while. If I’ve got the money, I really don’t care.
Edit 2: And how the fuck do you get cheaper than free? :stuck_out_tongue:

17

Neither will buying it domestic.

18

Chances are excellent that I’ll stick with my SP. It handles my handheld gaming wants very well. I enjoy the backward compatibility with ALL GB games, and I think it’s seriously fucked up that they wouldn’t offer the same with the DS. It sounds like a nifty system and all, but I just feel kinda meh about it, especially thanks to that.

Also, I didn’t think Nintendo was going to stop producing GBA games just because the DS came out - they were supposed to be separate marketing things.

19

omg t3h ff3!!@!@#! lolzlolzlolzlolzbbqsupermangorrilarapingbatmanwifbbqlolzlolzlolzlolz

Booken, I thought you went apeshit and jumped off a cliff as a result of your chronic masturbation “illness”? :spam:

20

Just tossing in here; someone at another forum who DID import a PSP said that the battery life was improved rather well, lasting at usual 5-ish hours. Not as much as other handhelds still, but an improvement. Though, I’ll wait until I see the lineup comes around. I’m still leaning towards DS, after they have a price drop or somesuch.