Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3624 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Released on: 2005-10-07
• Platform: Nintendo DS

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Nintendo DS is no ordinary console. What on the face of it appears to be merely an upgraded Game Boy Advance is packed with a suite of never-before-seen features which make it unique within the gaming world.

The most obvious new feature is the two screens (DS stands for dual screen), the bottom of which is a touch screen. This makes an enormous difference to the way you play and interact with the game, as you use a stylus or the handy thumb strap to control the action.

The way this works in a game varies enormously, with first person shooter Metroid Prime: Hunters using the touch screen and D-pad to create a control system that’s just as responsive as a PC keyboard and mouse. Other games, like Yoshi’s Touch & Go, have you actually drawing on the touch pad to create platforms, while other games use the extra screen to display inventory or map info.

But there’s more to the DS than even that. It also has a built-in microphone (one new medical game has you operating on patients with the touch screen and reassuring them everything’s going to be okay via the microphone) and it can be connected wirelessly to sixteen or more other consoles. Not only that but some games and utilities even allow it to connect online via Wi-Fi.

Although the DS is far more powerful than the GBA – it can display 3D graphics somewhere between a Nintendo 64 and the GameCube--it is still backwards compatible, so you can play all your old GBA games in single player mode on the same console.

With a battery life of between 6 and 10 hours the Nintendo DS gets pretty much everything right. With a range of games that seem to offer far more originality and imagination than any other home or portable console this is could well be the most exciting new console of 2005. --David Jenkins

Technical Specifications

• Size (when closed): 148.7mm wide, 84.7mm long, 28.9mm tall
• Top screen: a backlit, 3-inch, semitransparent reflective TFT color LCD with 256 x 192 pixel resolution and .24 mm dot pitch, capable of displaying 260,000 colours
• Touch screen: same specs as top screen, but with a transparent analog touch screen
• Wireless communication: IEEE 802.11 and Nintendo's proprietary format; wireless range is 30 to 100 feet, depending on circumstances
• Other features: embedded PictoChat software that allows up to 16 users to chat at once; embedded real-time clock; date, time and alarm
• CPUs: One ARM9 and one ARM7
• Sound: Stereo speakers providing virtual surround sound, depending on the software; integral headphone socket
• Battery: lithium ion battery delivering six to 10 hours of play on a four-hour charge, depending on use
• Two separate game slots, one for Nintendo DS games and one for Game Boy Advance games. The Nintendo DS is fully backwards compatible with all Game Boy Advance titles. The new format for games also means that the Nintendo DS has no moving parts that can be misaligned if the unit is dropped

Customer Reviews

DS lite? Who needs it.
I love my grey brick. It has always been a great friend. When I feel bored I pick it up and play a game. It could be any game because most of the ones I own are great. I can't be bothered with the DS lite. It just doesn't feel nintendo-ish. This is great bit of kit. The touch screen isn't a gimmick it is a revolution, and it is nice to see that developers aren't making gimmicky games based around the touch screen. Traditional games are being revamped for the DS, along with new franchises like Nintendogs. This console proves that games aren't always about graphics but they are about gameplay and new ways of doing things. I think nintendo are going down the right path with this and the wii. I just hope their next console isn't too gimmicky.

Very Pleasing
I have had my DS for over a year now and I have to say that I am very impressed! At first I thought it be awful when comparing it with the PSP but after playing on it for a few months, I noticed that the DS was innovative compared to the PSP. Yes I know that the PSP have the ability to play music, films, has better graphics ect, but does that make it a hand held console or a Media player? The DS on the other hand is all about the games, take Animal Crossing for example, yes it seems to be babyish and graphically inferior to the PSP, does that make it a bad game? No, of course not! It is a very fun and exciting game to play on and I have yet to play on a game even remotely more gripping on the PSP. As for the DS's features, they are all very good, the touch screen, microphone and the 2 screens are not gimmicks as they are often seen, they are a new and easy way to play games, some thing different in this ever raging handheld console war.

DS or PSP? - depends what you want it for
DS or PSP? Many gamers will have to make this decision this Spring/Summer. I see a lot of reviews here that are extremely biased for or against either machine. I will try to be impartial. I have no real allegiance towards either brand so my money is up for grabs!

Before yesterday I had been leaning towards the DS for a number of reasons. Firstly, I have a PS2, and I most of the titles coming out for the PSP will also be available on the PS2. Getting a DS would allow me to access a totally different set of games. Also, the main use of a hand-held for me would be on my daily commute to and from work. I need light-hearted pick-up-and-play games, which Nintendo do really well. The games available on Sony formats are typically more 'serious.' As well as being a games machine the PSP can also play MP3's and film. This is fantastic but in my case I already have an MP3 player, and watching films on the go is something that I am not fussed about. All I want my handheld for is games so if I got a PSP would not use these innovative functions. I have also heard reports here and on other sites of some flaws with the PSP, namely jamming buttons, over zealous ejection mechanisms and dead screen pixels. I have heard of no such problems with the DS. Some people harp on about the shorter battery life with the PSP, but this should be expected given it is a much more powerful machine.

Yesterday I went into a gaming shop during my lunch and they had a DS and were doing demos. They game they were using was Mario. I have to say that what I saw in the 30 or so minutes I was there knocked my eye out. The screen colours are vibrant and graphics excellent although admittedly short of PSP standard. The guy doing the demo was moving Yoshi about using the stylus on the bottom screen and the controls looked responsive and slick. He then went on to show us the organiser functions, messaging etc and I just could not believe that this could be mine for under £100. It seemed to me that you are getting a lot of console for your money. He also let me have a feel of it. It felt to me like it was well put together, but this should be expected from a company with so much hand-held experience. It was light, and the distribution of weight between the top and bottom screens seemed spot on. My only criticism would be that the buttons were a bit small (and I am not a big bloke), but I could get used to that.

I said I would try to give an unbiased review, so to tell everyone to get a DS and not a PSP would be rubbish, especially as I have not had the chance to see the PSP in the flesh as I have the DS. What I would say is this; if you want a value-for-money, reliable console strictly for gaming, the DS is a very good bet, especially if you already have a PS2 and would like to play different games. I am sold on the DS and will be getting one for sure.