Publisher: Nintendo
Ages: six and up.
Daytrum Editor's Choice
With wireless communications, voice control capabilities and two LCD screens, one of which accepts touch inputs, the Nintendo DS offers a major innovation in hand-held game playing. We were thoroughly impressed after our first, hands-on look.
As mentioned in previous Daytrum stories, Nintendo DS is a dual-screened, hand-held video game system. The attractive silver-and-black device has the overall footprint of the original Game Boy Advance system, but makes use of the folding "clamshell" design of the newer Game Boy SP.
The blend makes for a device that protects the LCD from scratches with its flip-top cover and is comfortable to hold and use. It's not cramped like the Game Boy SP. Two speakers on the unit's face let you hear virtual surround sound-an improvement over prior handhelds. The DS uses a new media format that's smaller than that for the Game Boy Advance. According to Nintendo, the new media format has no moving parts that could be misaligned if the unit is dropped or jarred.
Overall, the DS feels like the next logical evolution in Nintendo's hand-held gaming platform. The DS has two beautiful backlit LCD displays. The lower display accepts the touch input from a thumb-pad that resides on the wrist strap or a stylus. The DS has its own rechargeable battery that is designed to offer ten hours of use and a headphone jack-a glaring omission on the Game Boy SP. By the way, the graphics capability of the DS is equivalent to that of the old Nintendo 64 console system.
We immediately felt comfortable with the placement of the buttons. With its pen/stylus input and integrated slot that holds the pen when you're not using it, the DS feels much like a personal digital assistant-the kind business types carry to organize their schedules and contacts.
The only thing missing is support for the Game Cube/GBA cable. But we're fairly sure that Nintendo has something up its sleeve to address this option, which was promoted in the company's recent The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure (Daytrum Review). And the unit's wireless capabilities may provide some intriguing new options here.
The DS comes with PictoChat, a free software feature that is embedded in the system hardware. PictoChat lets you write messages with an on-screen keyboard or stylus and send them wirelessly to other DS users nearby. You can also text chat and draw messages.
Based on our evaluation with a couple of the new titles (we'll cover these new DS games in upcoming reviews), the DS and its dual screens offers some innovations. In Activision's Spider-Man 2, you view the action in the top screen while viewing information in the bottom screen. In a typical hand-held game, the information screen would have replaced the action screen or been superimposed over it.
In Nintendo's Super Mario 64 DS, you view the action in the top screen and view a map of the area below, and even navigate using the touchscreen. There's also an intriguing mini-game where items fall from one screen down to the other, effectively creating a larger vertical screen. There are some definite possibilities here.
Of course, a game platform is nothing without titles. In this regard, Nintendo says that some 100 companies have signed on to create games for DS, and the company itself is developing its first 20 titles. Another big plus, the Nintendo DS can play Game Boy Advance games (single-play mode only).
With the Nintendo DS, Nintendo has delivered an innovative and viable new game system with lots of potential. For now, it looks as if Nintendo will continue to safely rule the hand-held gaming world.
11/22/04 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
