New ways to play | Nice and powerful | Online ready
Disadvantages:
Open to lazy ports and ideas
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
For years the handheld market has been dominated by Nintendo, from the Game & Watch that started it all to the ever-popular Game Boy in 1986. It has seen off around nine competitors including the Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket. While their home console market may be slipping (last year Nintendo revenues were made of over 60% from the handheld side of things) their skills in the pocket side of gaming has been solid. Nintendo managed to keep hold of the marker despite its competitors rushing out fancy coloured screens at the expense of battery life. It’s surprising just how little the Game Boy brand has changed over the years. The trusty handheld took a long time in advancing into colour and then becoming the travelling SNES we all know and love today. Things change, though and now that Sony has entered the handheld market Nintendo seem to have a fight on their hands.
So how much do we owe to Sony for making Nintendo reveal the DS? It would be fair to assume the DS might not have been released if Sony hadn’t revealed their PSP and instead Nintendo waiting a year or more to reveal the next GBA. This seems to be the case as Nintendo are keen to stress that this isn’t the GBA2 (we get to know more about that this year) and is instead a ‘third pillar’ between the current GBA and the GameCube. Obviously the DS is a way of not letting Sony grab hold of too much of a chunk of the handheld market. Despite it only taking around ten months from it being announced to being on the shelves the DS isn’t a rush job though. However people are placing it in direct competition with the PSP despite both denying this to be the case, with Sony citing the iPod of all things as a competitor. Indeed you won’t find many reports on either console without it mentioning the other and this review won’t be any different.
The DS (standing for Dual Screen) certainly seems to be the first step in Nintendo’s philosophy of a new style of playing games. While Revolution, the next home console, aims to bring a totally new gaming experience it is fair to say Nintendo have already begun. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat uses bongos as a control method and games such as Wario Ware Twisted and Yoshi’s Universal Gravitation use motion sensors to play. The DS expands on new play mechanics with the help of a few unique functions.
The dual screen is what you will notice first. People were cynical at first as to just how games would use or even need two screens to play on, after all we only have one pair of eyes but the concept has been welcomed by most people and the developers making the games. Both screens can display 3D graphics and bottom of the two screens is touch sensitive which is probably the consoles biggest innovation. More often than not the touch-screen can be used to control the games that you play. Of course you don’t want to get the screen dirty with your thumbprints so you can use the stylus. The stylus (slotting neatly into the DS unit itself) is a little pen type thing that, with a little tap, will be controlling the touch screen with ease. Another control method, and one most used in the 3D platform games of the console, is the thumb strap. This can be hooked up round the unit and, once attached, acts as an analogue stick thanks to the little nub at the end of the strap. The touch screen itself is very responsive and unless you really stab your stylus into it then it should be very hard to damage much less scratch but you can buy screen protectors if you want to. Another way to control games is through your voice. With a mic port on the unit it is possible to blow and shout into it to effect the action on the screens.
A big and important feature for the DS is the wireless multiplayer. The days when you needed endless reams of cables to play with your mates are long gone. Nintendo are obviously keen to bring this feature home as bundled with the console is a free demo of Metroid Prime Hunters and the free software chat programme PictoChat which both show off the wireless potential of the system. What is also an admiral decision is that for some games you will only need one game cartridge to play multiplayer games with the rest of the people downloading the game to their DS system. Obviously this will vary from game to game but certainly most first party Nintendo titles will use this feature. Downloading games is extremely simple; just select the function from the menu at the start and the DS will search for games it can download and once it does it doesn’t take too long for it to do so. The wireless range is about 30feet in total though walls can cause the signal to drop. Of course this will be forgotten when the DS goes online. Finally the online-shy Nintendo are committed to bringing a console online. With the DS you will be able to compete from people all over the world for free via Nintendo servers. Connecting to these servers can be done at wi-fi hotspots wherever you can find them, at home, at work or round towns. Firmer details are still to be decided but it certainly is a fantastic prospect of finally playing games like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing online.
It is worth mentioning that the DS is also backwards compatible with all GBA games, maybe at odds with it being a ‘third pillar’ but very useful all the same as GBA games are still going to be brought out along with DS ones. You can play your GBA games each on the top or bottom of the two DS screens. However the DS will not play your old GB and GBC games and because it lacks cable support it means that you also won’t be able to play any GBA games with multiplayer modes.
So what about the actual power of the system? Well Nintendo prove with Mario 64 DS you can easily run N64 games on the system, indeed the DS version does improve on some parts of the N64. Is it as powerful as the PSP? No. The PSP is graphically more powerful than the DS but the DS still holds its own. First off try to ignore the pixelated shots you find on many websites. The games look far, far better in reality than they do from your nice, big monitor. The Metroid demo looks far crisper and detailed than any of the screenshots I’ve seen for it. Of course it’s not all about 3D and the DS makes 2D look as good as ever. Handheld gaming also sounds better with the DS. Gone are the tin-like sounds of the GBA and GBA SP speaker. The Nintendo DS’s two speakers blast out some good sounds, and blasting out is about right as the volume is far higher than in previous consoles. It can also be configured to stereo or surround sound depending on the game.
Battery life is something that Nintendo have always felt important on home consoles and the DS is no different. This is also where the mighty power of the PSP acts against it. The battery life for the DS is around 10 hours (charging takes about 3-4 hours) which is impressive considering it has two screens front lit, is running 3D graphics and also sending out wi-fi signals when used. This is compared to the PSPs battery life of about 4 hours which certainly won’t come in useful if you’ve got an extra long train journey. Despite past handheld wars I doubt it will be the battery deciding the victor but it does show the noticeable standpoint each company has.
As far as looks go the DS certainly isn’t as sexy as the PSP but with it since being remodelled after E3 it looks a lot more refined than it did. Sporting a sleek silver finish (with more colours on their way) and a clamshell design similar to the SP it can be seen as a just a bigger version of it. The two 3inch screens sport a 256 x 192 pixel resolution, displaying 260,000 colours and they are helped with both being front-lit. The D-pad has grown in size after the shrinking it had on the SP and feels solid and responds well. The four buttons on the right hand side, A, B, X and Y are fairly small but for the most part don’t get in the way of each other. The shoulder buttons are nice and springy enough though a little less ‘clicky’ than the SP ones. The Power button is above the D-pad and people complained that it may be pressed accidentally mid-game but seeing as you have to hold it down and it’s a fair way above the D-pad it’s very unlikely that will happen. The DS isn’t the lightest bit of gadgetry you’ll own but it isn’t too taxing on the pockets and should fit in snugly enough.
There are a few bad points to the console. A big gripe is the lack of a true analogue control method. The thumb strap works well enough but it’s still not as responsive as a proper analogue controller which means that games such as Mario 64 will take some getting used to after the days of precision control on the N64 pads. Also some people will just overlook the DS because it just isn’t as good looking as the PSP though rumours are a remodelled version is in the works. The other potential down side is how the developers will use the DS. Certainly as far as some of the early games go the bottom screen is just there for a glorified control pad or map display, even Mario 64 just uses it as a map (albeit largely useful when you’re looking for red coins). However some early games use it better, such as Wario Ware or Project Rub. It really is dependant on the developer. There are some great games coming out that are using all the features but there will also be some very lazy efforts and morr than likely a few N64 ports, however at least the potential to develop new-style games is there.
There is something the console does very well, better than many consoles before it, and that’s how accessible it is. People who have never played a console before will be able to pick up and play with ease. Having banded around the console to people who didn’t normally play on them they were hooked and picked up the controls of the games in no time. Nintendo wanted to target newcomers as well as seasoned gamers and they seemed to have achieved this if reports of wives and kids hogging the console of people owning a DS are anything to go by. Nintendo are also pushing some of their games to appeal to a far wider audience. Take Nintendogs, a puppy simulator, and sporting use of the touchscreen and voice control where it will respond to its name being called and told when to sit. A totally cute and irresistible little game that seems to appeal to everyone who lays eyes on it and one that would only work on the DS.
The Nintendo DS is an extremely nifty bit of kit and one that many people didn’t think would pay off. It’s fair to say that if Nintendo and Sony did just both bring out run of the mill handhelds with fancy graphics then the PSP would win thanks to its brand image and the casual masses adopting the machine. The PSP may have more graphical grunt than the DS but it seems the DS is a lot more about fun than about trying to push the envelope in terms of fancy graphics. It offers a new way to play and experience games and should pave the way for new game ideas to be brought to the public. I have no doubts recommending the DS to anyone that has the slightest interest in it. It seems that Nintendo have got everything sorted, innovation, plenty of support and online play which makes the DS package very attractive and at only £99 for the system it’s also very friendly on the wallet. It seems the revolution is starting with this so buy one and touch the future.
NINTENDO DS IS
Touchy feely Full of potential A console for everyone
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