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PDA reviews, phone reviews, Tablet PC reviews, game reviews and more! Smartphone & PDA Phone Reviews
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Nintendo DS Handheld Game ConsoleEditor's rating (1-5): Reviewed January 2005 by Marc Morgan (contributing writer) and Introduction by Lisa Gade (Editor in Chief) Read our Nintendo DS game reviews Introduction The Nintendo DS, when first announced, was big news. It smacked of innovation, being the first dedicated handheld gaming device to feature two displays with one being a touch screen. Very cool-- but there's more: the DS has integrated WiFi wireless communications and a microphone that can be used in game play. It can play new DS games as well as Game Boy Advance games, but not the older Game Boy Color and earlier games. It only costs $149. Excellent! And of course, the Nintendo Game Boy line of products have been overwhelmingly popular with young and not so young gamers for years. Case in point, this review: written by Marc who is in his late teens, and our Editor in Chief, for whom the teenage years are but a fleeting memory. Unfortunately, the DS became even bigger news when it was released in the US for the Christmas 2004 shopping season in inadequate numbers. Nintendo couldn't get the units out in volume and the 1.2 million made available by Dec. 31 weren't nearly enough to meeting soaring demand, with only a fraction of those units were available before Dec. 25th. Now the units are in stock at most retailers. Fortunately our reviewer Marc Morgan had the presence of mind to pre-order his DS so he was able to contribute to this review back in December. We decided to hold off publication until the rest of the world could get their hands on one too. We rarely cover dedicated gaming devices here
at MobileTechReview. After all, PDAs make excellent gaming machines
while doubling as the perfect way to organize your life and stay
connected. They have vivid color touch screens which are larger
than Game Boy and DS displays and faster processors. So why cover
the DS? It's innovative and will move the handheld gaming experience
to new (and better) territory. It has a touch screen, and given
our PDA heritage, we're attracted like a moth to flame to any device
with a touch screen. The DS has gaming ergonomics while PDAs generally
do not. There are plenty of PDA games for PDAs (take a look at
our 250 PDA game reviews if you don't believe us), but even those
can't compare to the wealth of titles available for GBA. The Tapwave
Zodiac aimed to be both a PDA and a gaming machine, but the limited
number of tier 1 titles for the Zodiac have relegated it to the
niche market. Lastly, the DS is fun, and not every gadget need
be a serious device If you're a Game Boy fan or are shopping for someone who is, seriously consider upgrading to the DS. It can play existing Game Boy Advance titles, has a rechargeable battery and backlighting that's actually adequate unlike the Game Boy Advance SP. Parents will no longer worry about their children's eyes and older folks will be able to see the screen. The improved screen and backlighting have brought out levels of color and detail in GBA games that were lost on the SP and original Game Boy Advance machines. Want to know more? Read on!
Above: the Nintendo DS closed,
with strap attached. |
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Design and Ergonomics
Closed, the DS looks like a GBA with a case/cover over the screen. It looks a little squarer though and requires larger hands since the bottom corners are not rounded off. On the front edge from left to right, you'll find the volume slider, embedded microphone, GBA cartridge slot, charge indicator light, power/wireless indicator light, and headphone port. Both the left and right sides of the DS are smooth, with no buttons or sliders. The back, from left to right has the R button, the stylus, the wrist strap, the DS game card slot, a port for the power adapter, and the L button. When opened, on the bottom, from left to right you'll find the power button, D-Pad, touch screen, Start button, select button, and the A, B, X, and Y buttons. The top clamshell features another (non-touch) display surrounded by stereo speakers. The DS cartridge slot is smaller than the GBA slot, and the cartridges are a bit larger than SD cards. To insert the cards, you push it into the slot until you hear a "click" sound. To get the card back out, you push it down again, and it will pop out. The GBA slot works like a normal GBA, you need to pull the card out.
Performance
The DS features two processors: one ARM9 and one ARM7 running at 67Mhz and 33MHz respectively. The unit has 4 megs of memory, a BIOS, a system clock, and it stores preferences and your name. It even stores your birthday to give you a pleasant surprise on the big day! The games play smoothly, load smoothly and do not lag. I have yet to play a game over the built in wireless, but those who have report that the games play smoothly using multi-card-play and single-card-download-games. Currently there are no expansion options, but it is rumored that the GBA slot will be used for extra memory or other expansion options.
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Display and Sound The DS features two 256x192 pixel, 0.24mm dot pitch, 3" TFT color LCD screens, one of which (the bottom) is a touch screen that works with stylus and finger. They are both capable of displaying 260,000 colors and 3D graphics. Both the screens are backlit and easy to see outside and indoors, and in the dark. You can see both screens at many angles, but straight-on is the best viewing angle. When open, the top screen can be either locked at 180 degrees flat with the other screen or just less than 180 degrees to have a slight angle. I found that having it locked at just less than 180 degrees is the best to see both screens clearly. Also, usually the top screen is used for the action in a game and the lower screen is used to display maps, menus and controls. When playing DS games, you can use the included stylus or the thumb "stylus" attached to the wrist strap to control your character. The thumb stylus is really a flat, smooth plastic disc that works surprisingly well. When a GBA game is playing, it will play on the screen you select from the options menu, and the screen that is not in use will turn off. I found that the graphics were clearer and brighter in the DS than on the GBA. The DS features stereo speakers that can offer a simulated-surround experience. You can clearly tell the difference between left and right speakers during game play, and some games (such as Metroid Prime) take advantage of this and you can tell where an enemy is by the sounds made. You can also use any headphones on the DS. Games and Software The DS comes with a demo of Metroid Prime: First Hunt, a first person shooter, and the full version is going to come out in March 2005. At press time, a handful of tiltles are available. These include: Super Mario 64 DS, Madden NFL 2005, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, The Urbz: Sims in the City, Ridge Racer, Spiderman 2, Mr. Driller, DS Ping Pals and Asphalt Urban GT. Nintendo's web site lists many forthcoming popular titles. Look forward to ports of your favorite N64 games, as the DS has the power to play them. You can play multiplayer games via the wireless feature built-in on the DS and some games only require one card to be there at a time to play wirelessly. Battery Life DS has a 850 mAh Lithium Ion rechargeable battery. The battery is user replaceable and lives under a door retained by a single screw on the bottom of the unit. The battery lasts for about six hours of game play with the backlight on, and charges in about four. When you close the unit's screen, the DS goes into sleep mode and uses very little power. Wireless The DS features 802.11b wireless using Nintendo's own driver. The device doesn't include a web browser or email and is currently limited to Nintendo's bundled PictoChat wireless text and picture messaging. Unfortunately, a router cannot be used to play online as the connection is only peer-to-peer (DS to DS). The wireless is used for playing multiplayer games, chatting via PictoChat and using the DS Download Play, a built in feature that allows you to play a DS game without the card as long as someone else with the game has it in their DS. Conclusion A great set of screens that are much brighter and sharper than previous Nintendo handheld machines' screens. The touch screen is great and will lead to more innovative games, as might the integrated mic. Wireless communications mean that you can enjoy multiplayer games as well as chat via text and hand-drawn messages. Good battery life. Affordable price. Backward compatible with all GBA games. The only drawback is the unit's size and angular design which will be hard for very young players and those with small hands. How does it compare to the Sony PSP? We've only played with the Japanese version of that handheld gaming console but we can tell you that the PSP is a more elegant and gorgeous piece of hardware. The screen is simply stunning, larger and the game graphics are excellent. The PSP also has a faster processor, but the downside to that speed and display is shorter battery life than the DS. That said, the DS is less expensive and more innovative thanks to the dual screens, touch screen and mic for interactive gaming. It's not an easy choice! How does the DS compare to PDAs and phones,
especially gaming oriented ones like the Tapwave
Zodiac and Nokia
N-Gage QD? It doesn't. The DS is simply a gaming machine and
lacks the organizational, syncing and communications features
of those devices. Price: $149 US Web Site: www.nintendods.com Comparison Shopping: Where to Buy
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