Reviewed: November 21, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Manufacturer
Nintendo

Type: Portable Game System
System: Nintendo DS

Rating: 9.6

Features

The Nintendo DS provides users with a unique gameplay experience using features never before offered by any other home console or hand-held game system. This portable personal entertainment and communications unit provides gamers with new perspectives on dual screens, new control using both touch and voice, and new connections with two kinds of wireless gameplay.

At 5.85” wide / 3.33” long / 1.13” tall the DS is significantly larger than the SP, but the added size makes it easier to grip for extended periods of use. The placement of the buttons and the D-pad are perfect. Opening the unit reveals twin 3” backlit color LCD screens capable of displaying 256x192 resolution with a .24mm dot pitch and 260,000 colors.

Controls are fairly standard for a handheld device. You have your four face buttons, which share the same lettering as the Xbox but are switched around just enough to confuse owners of both systems. The D-pad offers excellent control in all directions and the left and right shoulder buttons are perfectly placed for easy access with your index fingers.

But the input doesn’t stop with the buttons. The bottom display on the DS features a transparent analog touch screen overlay that not only allows you to input information by pointing at icons and buttons with the stylus, you can even draw and write freehand or interact with games by pointing at the screen. The DS also has a built-in microphone for voice recognition and a jack for a future headset with mic.

Multiplayer gaming has never been easier. Gone are the days of link cables and wireless adapters. The DS features built-in wireless networking using Nintendo’s proprietary format and IEEE 802.11 to seek out other units up to 100’ away. This makes it extremely easy to connect to other DS gamers who are playing the same game, and in some cases you can download a “client” portion of a game from another DS and join in some multiplayer fun even if you don’t own the game. It should be noted that multiplayer GBA games lose their multiplayer functionality when played on the DS.

While the DS is certainly destined to make the GBA obsolete, rest assured your existing game library will be well cared for. The DS features a front port that is ready to accept all of your GBA game cartridges. Even the external extension connector remains the same, so you can continue to use your existing car charger or headphones from your GBA.

The built-in stereo speakers offer some of the best sound and music you’re likely to hear from a handheld system. Even though the speakers are only 5” apart the stereo separation is huge, and some games feature virtual surround sound that really expands the audio.

The DS features a Lithium ion battery similar to the one in the GBA SP. It charges in about four hours and lasts up to ten based on your usage. A sleep mode system is built into the DS to preserve your battery life whenever you close the unit.

No system is worth its circuitry without the games to play on it and the DS launches with nearly a dozen titles from Nintendo and numerous third-party publishers like Activision, EA, and Ubisoft. There are more than 30 titles already announced for release over the next six months, and with backwards compatibility for GBA games, the DS has a massive library of established and upcoming titles.

Of course the big question most people are asking is, “Why should I pay as much for a handheld as a full console?” Well the DS isn’t your ordinary portable game system. In addition to featuring the most powerful dual processor game engine, the graphics rival anything you can see on the PS2, arguably shrunk down to 3”. The DS is literally a console system that fits in your hand.

So what should you expect when you get your DS home? The DS is a complete package. You get the game system, an AC charger, a wrist strap that doubles as a touch screen pointing device, a pair of styli (one stores in the bottom of the unit), and for a limited time you can get a demo of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt! Metroid will blow you away with its graphics and ingenious dual-screen gameplay, and doesn’t fall far from the quality of the recently released sequel on the GameCube.

After you get the DS charged you’ll need to do some initial setup like picking a language, inputting the date and time, your name and birthday. I’m not sure what the purpose of the birth date question is unless Nintendo is going to try to enforce the ESRB ratings based on the age of the gamer profile.

After a quick reboot you are back at the main menu and ready for action. The entire lower screen is broken up into menu selections while the top screen displays an analog clock and a calendar. You can even set an alarm. Despite the business-like look of the system and the initial screen display, this is about as PDA-like as it gets. No day planner or contact manager here.

From the main menu you can choose to load a DS or GBA game. Since each game occupies its own custom slot you can keep two games loaded at any time and access either cartridge from this screen. You can also go online from the main menu. The DS will seek out other DS systems within a 100’ radius, either for PictoChat, or to download a portion of a single-card multiplayer game.

Depending on the game, you can have up to 16 players all coming together without wires, and sometimes you only need to have one copy of the game to share the fun. The built-in PictoChat software is quite clever and allows you to send text messages with the visual keyboard, or you can simply handwrite your messages or draw images. There is even a light and heavy line-weight option.

The DS games come on a tiny chip that resembles a memory card you might use in a digital camera or MP3 player. It snaps into the slot in the back and is ready to go whenever you activate it from the main menu. GBA cartridges snap into the front slot.

I’ve never been a huge fan of handheld gaming. I’ve never liked the sacrifices in sound and video and frankly, most of the games just bored me. The Nintendo DS has changed all that. Nintendo has provided a powerful and portable gaming platform, and software developers are already releasing some system-selling titles, titles that are original and good enough that I had to have a DS the day it shipped.

It might cost as much as a full-sized system, but there is a whole lot of console power in this PDA-sized package. If you have to take your gaming out of the house and you want the best looking and best playing portable games going, the DS is the system you want.