some cool things about the DS

In response to pspfanboys’s 60 reasons to own a psp, there was this lame’ response for owning a ds, which was just a list of games. Sure, we get the point: the ds is about the games, but that list is just an underwhelming way to say why the ds is so good. I offer these reasons not to compete with the psp, which everyone has to admit does a bit more than the ds. But that’s not to say the ds doesn’t have some nifty features, some of which are not necessarily that well known, especially outside of ds fanboys.

Here are a few reasons to own a ds that won’t come close to 60. And, yes, some of these are add-ons and homebrews, but the point is what the ds can do and has going for it.

1. lots of games–The DS has 294 released games as of this post. That’s 9.48 games released per month since the original phat DS released in North America. There are at least 138 announced games to be released for the DS, with more certainly to follow. And there are games almost of every variety, including some non-games, like painting. I could call this out as a separate item, but I’ll fudge it in this category: new games. The DS gets its share of ports, but it also gets a lot of original games, ones that I’ve enjoyed like Contact, Etrian Odyssey, and Star Wars: Lethal Alliance.
2. innovative games–Combine the DS’s features, and you have a lot of potentially different games. For example, the DS is getting Jam Sessions, which allows you to play guitar on the DS. Or Brain Age, which has a life of its own. There’s Electroplankton, a music video game. Then there’s Flipper Critters, a pinball game with a storyline. Spectrobes allows players to upload their scores as well as download videos, special spectrobes, minerals, and more. In Drawn to Life [a more advanced idea of pac pix], players draw characters and other parts of the world, including weapons, which are then used in the game itself. There are games that extend common games, like Meteos in which you use the stylus to move and arrange falling blocks . . . to give you abilities like a rocket engine. These are not all great games: some are very average playing, but . . . they are different, games that you wouldn’t necessarily see otherwise. And I think that now the DS has established an expectation that it will have unique and different games.
3. great game franchises–The Nintendo franchise games are obvious, like Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Party. Consider too older game franchises getting something of a facelift just for the DS, like Final Fantasy III and IV.
4. simplicity–DS is all about the pick up and play. This is actually the result of other things on this list, but I really think it’s worth calling out as a whole. I love this platform for this reason. I’m a parent and get interrupted for one thing or another. Being able to start a game quickly, being able to play anywhere, being able to pause the game simply by closing the DS, having a stylus to click–all these things make this one of the easiest ways to play games.
5. the stylus/touchscreen–I was dubious of the stylus for a while as just a gimmick, but I’m finding that I like the change. It’s an input that is likely to stay unique to a handheld. I find the stylus giving me some of the precision that the mouse provides, as well as letting me take advantage of handwriting or painting apps. Even better, I’m not always forced to use it, giving me a choice about how to play sometimes.
6. the dual screen–Again another perceived gimmick turns out to be useful, not necessarily in every game but in many. Often one screen is where the action is while the other is your HUD or a map. So, instead, of activating a window that lays over the action view, it’s in a separate window. Also, there are apps like the homebrew comic reader that allow you to use the DS like a book, with each screen as a page.
7. Nintendo Fan Network–Go to a football game with your DS: order food and drinks, check stats, watch the tv feeds, play trivia games.
8. rumble pack–Yep, if you like to feel your game device get all rumbly, then you can get an official rumble pak or a third-party one, like this. The list of games supporting the rumble include some of the better DS games.
9. wireless hotspots–In addition to the hotspots at game stores like gamestop and target, McDonald’s has free wifi connections for DS gamers. Europe has a bit more hotspots than the U.S., but the average person is only three miles from a McD. Heck I have 7 within five miles of my house.
10. wifi Connection–Play against or with others via the DS Wifi connection. Here’s a list of current and future games that support it, some to a much lesser degree than others admittedly.
11. ds game hub–This is a nice site for checking out what games support wifi multiplayer and what player and game stats are.
12. game sharing–You know someone who has a DS game you want to try out? Download it from their DS to yours. Want to play a mutliplayer game but don’t have the game itself? Download it from someone who does.
13. gba games–This is backward compatibility, providing access to hundreds of games.
14. demos–You can get demos for the DS the easy way . . . or the easier way. You can download the demos from a EB Games, Toys r Us, Wal Mart, Gamestop or a Target. [See here for a list of places to get them.] Or you can download them on your computer and transfer to your homebrew hardware.
15. homebrew scene–The DS homebrew scene is very active, including emulators, games, and apps. Though it requires additional hardware [for as little as $40-50], the homebrew extends the usefulness of the DS. Got the original Quake lying around on your shelves? Pull it out and play it on the DS.
16. price–Get a new DS Lite for $129 plus tax or a used at game shops for $90 or so. Get the original for even less.
17. headset comm–Several DS games support voicechat for that verbal taunting you have inside you that needs to get out, like Pokemon Pearl, Pokemon Diamond, and Metroid.
18. wii connectivity–DS/Wii connectivity has been talked about for a while with more talk probably coming out of E7 this year. Pokemon Battle has it, and
19. internet browser–There is the official Opera browser which costs extra but works well. There are a couple of homebrew web browsers under work, too.
20. light weight–Weighing at just 7.7 ounces, this is indeed a light console. And at 5.2″ x 2.9″ x .85″, it fits easily into my back pocket. It won’t feel heavy after a hour or four of playing, unlike a certain other handheld.
21. long battery life–Even with the DS on full brightness, I can easily get 9-10 hours of play out of a full charge. I’ve even gotten 12 hours. And even when you do get a warning, you have several minutes, or you can pause the game by closing it until you can recharge.
22. screen brightness–You can adjust the screen brightness to conserve battery life, but, to be honest, the batteries last so long that you don’t need to. But if you plan on being away from an outlet for more than 10 hours, you have this option.
23. videos–You can watch videos on the DS in two ways at least. 1] Get a GBA video cart. These are getting harder to find, but they are often cheap. Shrek came out on this format. 2] Convert one of your legal movie rips to a .dpg format using Moonshell’s tools and play with the homebrew Moonshell video app.
24. instant messaging–Besides the IRC chat in DSOrganize, I know of at least two other IM homebrew apps: DSAim and Beup [for MSN].
25. email–NDSmail is a free hombrew app for checking and sending email, which nows includes an address book. It presents you an onscreen keyboard for typing and works like a charm.
26. music–Just google ds music or mp3 player. There are several options, including Nintendo’s own DS player which uses the GBA slot. However, this DS Mp3 Player isn’t available in the U.S., though you could probably order it from overseas if you wanted.
27. nerfed ds–No, no, you MMORPG dweeps, we’re not talking about taking away some DS skill point . . . it’s a nerf cover for your DS.
28. region free gaming–You can play any DS game on any DS, with the exception of the software designed for a specific DS version. With some online gaming, you can view players by region.
29. ds camera–It’s going to release in Japan, but who knows. Clearly, we all need something else that take pictures besides phones, pens, and, well, cameras.

The DS is a game platform first and foremost, but there’s more to it than just that, as I’ve tried to note. It has some interesting accessories and mods, but perhaps more than anything, it has a community and a culture that are accessible by young and older folks alike can enjoy. to be honest, if I had a psp, I’d probably dig it a lot, too, though for different reasons. But I think between the ease of use and la difference of the ds, I think it’s easy to see why it’s so popular.