The end of November saw select members of the press and industry gather in
The games available were the early launchers: Super Mario 64 DS and Metroid Prime Hunters, plus PictoChat was also there for some fun. Overall it was just the opportunity to try out the DS first hand that made the night great. It’s sleek and sexy and the touch screen and use of stylus is easy to come to terms with. Its only downfall, if any, may be its size. Compared to the SP, it’s pretty large and awkward at first – think the problems with small hands and the large X-Box pads. But after a while of playing, you seem to get use it the shape.
As well as the touch screen, it has an embedded microphone for voice recognition, plus the ‘old school’ A/B/X/Y face buttons, control pad, L/R shoulder buttons, and Start and Select buttons. What’s also good is there is no issue whether you are left or right handed. Hold the stylus in the hand of your choice, and where necessary you can set up the controls to allow you to use either side as the control pad. Nifty, eh?
As for how it looks, the DS has a slim sharp look with a thin black base and angular platinum flip-top cover. Capabilities like it’s touch screen input, voice recognition and wireless communication set it apart from other game devices, and its fun PictoChat software allow you to play around with messaging. Using the DS’s wireless connection abilities for you to message up to 16 other DS-owning friends at one time. You can write whatever you want on the screen using your stylus or the on-screen keyboard – even draw your own pictures, and then pass them back and forth between each other, adding whatever you want.
It looks like it could be set to transform the industry by changing the way gamers relate to their games and each other. Two screens offer two perspectives on the action at once and the touch screen makes accessing items or moving characters as easy as a tap or drag on the screen. Within Metroid, for example, you tap on a specific spot on the screen and you turn into your morph ball. Voice recognition could let players simply tell the game what they want it to do.
In terms of wireless gaming, personally I love it, after only playing Metroid! The graphics are great, there are no hiccups and it’s just a blast! It uses the IEEE 802.11 standard and Nintendo’s proprietary format, and the wireless range is 30 to 100 feet. Best of all, multiple users can play multiplayer games using just one DS Game Card, another value adding feature.
Stat-wise, the DS includes two processors, 3-D capabilities on both screens, 16-channel sound and a rechargeable battery that features a low-energy-consumption design. Its battery life is roughly 10 hours – and in comparison to Sony’s estimated 4-6 hours (in reality 2) it’s really in a league of its own. One media bay handles new DS game cartridges that hold one gigabit of information and more – and by the way, the new game cards are absolutely tiny. The second media port allows for compatibility with Game Boy Advance games, which also adds to the console’s value, as well as possible future accessories.
Overall, the console looks great and plays great on the games currently available to the press. Its capabilities haven’t been stretched yet, but it could be pretty interesting when they do. The touch screen and voice recognition could lead to a wider variety of games than before, and all the options it offers really make it a great value machine.
Although there was no confirmation on the
Keri Allan
