In touch with gaming technology. (Nintendo DS)

Member Name: dididave

Product:	Nintendo DS
Date:	09/11/05 (888 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sturdy, long battery, life, good extras, Nintendo's quality games.

Disadvantages: Not as powerful as the PSP, heavy for its size, developers struggle with touchscreen.

Nintendo are the original hand-held gaming giant. From the popular Game and Watch series of the 1980's to the global phenomena of the Game Boy Nintendo have always dominated and even destroyed the opposition. More powerful hand held gaming devices with better graphics such as the Sega Game Gear and ill-fated Atari Lynx have fell by the wayside. They simply could not compete with Nintendo in terms of game catalogue or game play and with the backing of just about every games developer Nintendo have a had a stranglehold on the lucrative mobile gaming market for twenty years.

The Nintendo DS is the first of Nintendo's hand-held gaming devices to have serious opposition in the form of Sony's PSP. While Sony promotes the PSP as a multimedia device able to play games, MP3's, movies and the like Nintendo have created a machine that is purely about gaming on the move. Contrary to popular belief the DS is not an entirely original idea although it could be said that it is Nintendo's. The dual screen, flip-open design of the DS is reminiscent of the multi-screen Game and Watch hand-helds of the 1980's such as Donkey Kong and Zelda. Nintendo pay homage to these games with the retro design of the DS.

The DS is available in various colours including pink and blue but the most common one is clad in metallic silver and this is the one I have bought three of for my children. Six inches wide by four inches long while closed this is a small piece of technology yet is surprisingly heavy in your hand. This does make the DS appear very sturdy particularly in its rounded rectangular appearance. Dropping this a few times seems to cause no damage and I can imagine it surviving even the obligatory tumble down the stairs. The DS does however seem somewhat susceptible to very slight surface scratching and I would suggest that anyone considering a purchase invest in some laminate skins to protect their DS.

Opening the DS reveal the apparently revolutionary dual screens top and bottom. The majority of gaming is viewed in the top screen with the bottom "touch screen" being used by most games for controls, status bars and maps. Switching the DS it is clearly backlit a lesson Nintendo obviously learnt from the poorly designed Game Boy Advance. Even without a game the Nintendo DS does have function as it has a built in calendar, clock and reminders for Birthdays. However, you do not buy a DS to use a personal organiser although some mention should be made of pictochat. In-built software is so often pointless in hand held machines but pictochat is a great little programme that makes full use of the DS's wireless technology (yes the DS is wireless). Pictochat allows DS users to communicate using instant messaging chat-room providing they are within range of each other. With the option of using a touch keyboard or writing directly onto the screen you can communicate with other DS users up to 100 feet away. This does have its limitations though with the claimed 100 feet really only working outside. It is far less inside.

The touch screen itself could be considered an inaccurate, gimmicky term by Nintendo. You can touch the screen with your fingers to control gameplay but this is messy and not particularly responsive. Much better to use the stylus (it’s a pen without the ink people) to control gameplay. Yes, finally Dave is going to talk about the gameplay! All Nintendo DS's come with the demo game "Metroid Prime Hunters". Slotting the tiny card that constitutes the game launches you virtually straight in to a first person shooter. Your character Samus is controlled either via the touchscreen or a traditional cross-shaped pad and A, B, X and Y buttons. Samus negotiates obstacles fine with the touch screen, which is very responsive. However, at times it can be too responsive and as such finer movements are better controlled with the directional pad as is firing Samus's weapon. The same is true in games such as Mario64DS in which the majority of the game is best played with the conventional controls. I like the touch screen a lot especially as a means of choosing weapons, displaying maps etc. However, it would seem that game developers have as yet, not found their way around the system and at times seem to implement the touch screen because it is there and they feel they must.

Graphically the DS is certainly impressive and is a good as, if not better than the Nintendo 64 on which many of its games it is based. There is a good use of colours in all games a trademark of Nintendo and it is nice to see that with the likes of "Metroid Prime Hunters" shadow and rendering has been employed in order to appeal to the more serious gamer on the adequate 3x3 inch screens. The sound is crisp and clear although nothing spectacular but does sound better with stereo headphones and with the added extra of a microphone with voice recognition which Nintendo promises will be incorporated into games it does the job. Of course the DS cannot compare audio or graphics with the more powerful PSP but then I do not think it tries to. Nintendo's market is obviously the gamer and as such its catalogue of titles already include classics such as Mario, Metroid and Pac Man with legendary games like Zelda and Donkey Kong still to come. Battery life Nintendo claims are six to ten hours but I would dispute this. Using super expensive long-life batteries perhaps but using Asda smart price you are talking four. This is still enough for a serious afternoon of gaming though!

As you can see the future certainly looks bright for the DS. Promises of internet access for multiplayer gaming only cement this fact. Backwardly compatible to the Game Boy Advance the Nintendo DS is a well-thought, well-designed machine that I know my children will love come Christmas. Perhaps it cannot compete with the PSP's processing power or multimedia function but as a gaming machine it is second to none. The most impressive feature perhaps that I have neglected to mention is that my children can play multiplayer wirelessly with just one copy of a game! Add to this a retail price of £89.99 that is ninety-pound cheaper than Sony's offering, games starting from a reasonable £19.99 and you can see why this is the gaming machine of choice for me and no doubt for my children.

Summary: An excellent product at a good price with a promising future.