Dual screen gaming madness with 3D graphics, advanced audio and high speed gaming !
Disadvantages:
Only a few, read review !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
"What really? No way!"
That was my response to a few mates who were going on how they are going to buy Nintendo DS' instead of Sony's new handheld PSP, them being devoted Nintendo fans and all.
All they rambled on about were the dual screens with the innovative touch sensitive screen, the enhanced colour support, the built-in microphone, the 3D graphics, wireless networking battles and enhanced audio reproduction. But they failed to mention how brick like it was in size and proportion, but ah well I still got one for the hell of it!
Since I bought this before it was out in the UK, I had to get it imported (sorry can't tell you my supplier, CIAO rules), but I managed to get my hands on an ASIAN version that uses the same power supply as in the UK with the same 3 pin plug. So if you want to import then buy an ASIAN model from Hong Kong etc that supports 220V and not the Japanese and American that supports 110V. Otherwise your device will blow up as soon as you plug it in without a stepdown convertor.
Imagine my anticipation for my Nintendo DS to arrive, twirlingmy fingers into knots as I was extremely anxious to test it out ASAP. As soon as I received it I wasted no time ripping apart the wrapper and checking the contents of the box inside.
The Nintendo DS is like two silver Gameboy Advance SPs stuck together side by side with 1 screen at the top, 1 at the bottom and 2 extra buttons on the right, above the B and A buttons (unsurprisingly named X and Y, all Nintendo fans from SNES days will understand). Stereo speakers are mounted on either side of the top screen, whilst the built-in mic and the power lights at mounted below the bottom screen. The select the start buttons are above the YBXA buttons and the power button is above the cursor keys on the left hand side. Both screens have backlight that can only be switched off in the operating system of the DS. At the back of the device is the stylus slot for a 2.5" plastic grey stylus, the 2 shoulder buttons L and R, the Nintendo DS game slot and the power charger port which incidentally uses the same charger as the Gameboy Advance SP. At the front of the device is the volume slider, the Gameboy Advance game slot and a earphone/microphone port for a headset. At the bottom is a cover that hide the battery compartment. Games have to be clicked into the DS slot like with SD cards whilst GBA games can be slotted in normally.
At first sight it wasn't that pretty to me to be honest. It feels like a large GBA SP and is rather too plasticky for my liking. But I decided to pry deeper and find out about what's beating inside of it that's making my mates drool enough to save the world rom drought.
Processor: Yes all devices need a heart for it to run and that doesn't skip here with the Nintendo DS. This devices actually has 2 processors to run it, which of course means that it is alot faster than the GBA SP by a long way. The main processor is an ARM9 running at 67MHz, the other processor is an ARM7 running at 33MHz. Both processors have been seen before in Handheld PDAs so their appearance here surprises me. Much speculation by my mates have decided that they are there so that both screens can run without slowdown, but I think they are there since the Nintendo DS can play GBA SP games as well as it's own.
RAM: This is the brain of the device used to store data before the processor can process them. It supports 4MB of main RAM with 656KB for the video memory.
Graphics: Nintendo's own graphics chip allowing not only very good 2D graphics but also amazing 3D graphics as well. It is capable of drawign up to 120,000 polygons per second with other advanced 3D graphic effects such as fogging. As a comparison that's about the same as the original Playstation 1's capabilities so it's not bad at all.
Screens: The screens are both rated at a resolution of 256 x 192 pixels, that's higher than the GBA SP. They can both display 260,000 colours at once on screen and the bottom screen is touch sensitive.
Wireless: Uses 802.11b wireless networking the same as with the wireless netwrokign we have with PCs, but with a bit of Nintendo wizardry added to extend the battery life while it's on. It is guaranteed to work up to 30 feet, but in a long corridoor with nothing to get in the way of the signal is can reach up to 100 feet and even further.
Battery: The battery used by the DS is a Lithium Ion battery. The battery life of the DS is quoted at 10 hours continuous play and that is very trueas it does last that long at continuous play with volume at maximum and backlight on. With the backlight off and the volume turned down it can even last much longer.
Sound: The sound chip is also Nintendo made and has built-in stereo speakers for users to listen to it in true stereo.
That is the basics of what is inside the machine, and although it is not as powerful as the Sony PSP it is still a very capable device with a lot of potential. Even if it has been designed to be rather big and bulky, it is actually very light thanks to the plasticky casing. The screens don't require extra protection since it can be flipped closed and prevent it getting scratched or dusty. The speakers do an exceptional job of playing back stereo sound with excellent audio reproduction but as always earphones are a better way to enjoy audio. A very cool thing about the DS is that any DS or GBA game from any country or region will work on it, no region protection etc so importing is a viable option.
The operating system for the Nintendo DS is very clear and fast. It boots up with a nice little melody whilst displaying both screens in white and a menu at the bottom for you to browse with the stylus or the cursor keys. You will notice that after the initial time/date wizard that you are shown very well layout screens designed by Nintendo. If you have a game in either of the slots then the bottom screen will show you what game you have inserted and it allows you to select it with the stylus or the DS' buttons to play. The touch screen is so good that it doesn't require you to calibrate it. You can of course set the device to auto boot any games that are already in the DS when you switch it on (DS games take priority over GBA games). There are other features on the DS that are worthy of a mention as well. They are Pictochat and DS game download.
Pictochat allows DS users to chat to each other in silence by using a software keyboard or by writing quick messages on the screen and sending it to other users. I've tested it with mates and it connects extremely quickly and efficiently for fast chatting. You have 4 chat rooms to select from and as long as you and your mates choose the same ones you can be sure you can be cussing that retard right in front of them without them knowing hehe.
The DS game download doesn't really download games off the internet as some people think, it really allows other DS owners to load parts of a game from one DS onto theirs so that they may play multiplayer games. It only works with games that support it though. I haven't had the chance to test this yet since the game I have doesn't have multiplayer function built-in so I cannot comment on how good it is.
To test the DS itself I have decided to play the game Feel The Magic: XY XX. It uses most of the Nintendo DS' functions and does it extremely well to! The game is a wacky and zany adventure about a guy who wants to chat up this girl. To do so he joins the Super Performance Group called Rub Rabbits in order to do loads of crazy stunts and impress the girl. The game has you singing into the mic, rubbing the screen to get rid of spikes, and even blowing onto the screen to move a boat. The DS boots the game extremely quickly that you have no loading screens at all to look at during the game (except for the occasional break time screen that allows your hands a rest from the crazy rubbing). The game integrates the microphone very well with every breath you make easily captured. For the blowing games it cleverly catches your breath with the mic and the pressure of your breath on the screen to determine if you are blowing are not, and if you are how strong you're blowing. For touch sensitive games that have you rubbing the screen, it is very responsive and you can see how much control you have in the game with the stylus. Although the characters in the game are black silloettes with very basic coloured clothing, it still uses 3D graphics for alot of the mini-games and has really good 2D graphics (especially in the bossfight called Plant). It plays very smoothly with no slowdown whatsoever since it is running off a high-speed cart afterall. The music in the game sets it apart from the Gameboy Advance, with more instruments and alot more speech than the average GBA SP game. This game really shows off how good the audio capabilities of the device are with the crazy music and sound effects.
So far a very good performance of the hardware and the game, but of course there are a few gripes that stop it being amazing. The 3D graphics, though very fast, have a similar jagged effect to that of the Playstation 2 graphics. It's not a real big problem but sometimes it can ruin some detail of the models i.e. jagged bum instead of a smooth one. The screen's backlight can only be switched off using the software operating system settings and not with a button like on the GBA SP. That function on the GBA SP was very handy and let me switch off the front light in the sun and increase battery life so not having that convenience here it rather dissapointing to me. GBA games that have multiplayer function won't be able to do multiplayer gaming unfortunately since the DS does not have a link cable port so that is a shame. Finally this device doesn't allow you to play older Gameboy games. It would be nice if we could play all the classics from the first Gameboy and Gameboy Color that would make the DS have a much larger software library, but ah well guess Nintendo are trying to phase out the oldies.
Overall this is a very good sequel to the popular GBA SP with advancements in most areas. Although a few things do stop it from being supreme, at the asking price it is at (import at £100 for console only and games around £25) it is amazing value for money and much cheaper than the Sony PSP's release asking price of approx £229. A plus factor to the DS is that all the latest handheld Metroid, Mario and Zelda games are coming out exclusively for it so if you want to play these games on the go then you've got no other better choice!
Bonus: Nintendo are offering a free replacement or free repair for any Nintendo DS that has dead pixels on any of the 2 screens (meaning the pixel doesn't show the right colour or it's totally not working.) This applies to usa European people as well. I find this is a great service and I find it very reassuring in purchasing a Nintendo DS.
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