DS Lite - just amazing

[RTSDaddy2]

Ok, so I had some extra Christmas money from the wife's family, and a gift card from one of my kids, and bought myself an Onyx DS lite.  I'm sitting here this morning, unable to sleep, and decided to play a little "Cooking Mama."

I'm making a stew recipe, and one of the directions is to blow on it.  Not seeing any button for "blow", I decide to blow into the microphone, very gently, and sure enough it registered that I was performing correctly.  Now to quote a dear friend of mine, "How do it know?"      

We've had this conversation before, so I don't want this thread to degenerate to it again, but this is worth saying once more.  Once again, the PSP MAY have the DS beat on graphics...but when you come up with games like Cooking Mama, True Swing Golf (which, in my opinion is FAR better than the Tiger Woods golf for DS, having played both), as well as other quirky little games....well, I'll still take innovative games over graphics any day.

BTW, while we're on the subject, I shared this story with Stobe the other day.  Bought an R4 and a CycloDS from him to play homebrew stuff and one of the first things I downloaded was a homebrew version of "Deal or No Deal."  It's pretty good, but the funny part is I shared this with my sister, who is JUST addicted to this show...and now she's trying to decide if she's got enough money to buy her a DS Lite!   My Mom, bless her heart, is taken with "Brain Age"...she loved the touch screen and being able to write your answer verses pressing a button. 

These people are not gamers - far, far from it.  Yet they've been smitten with both the DS and the Wii.   Has / Is the Big N's new plan succeeding? If it got these two, one can only say "Yes" to that so far!

[somunny]

RTS - Try Elite Beat Agents, if you can.  Great game.

[SirPoonga]

If you get the New Super Mario Bros one of the mini game is to blow into the mic to blow Yoshi attached to a balloon through the sky.

There's alot of good games for the DS.  I like Elite Beats, Metroid Pinball, Phoenix Wright, Club House Games, and TetrisDS.

[TOK]

I've only messed with the DS a little bit, and one part of your post pretty much summed it up... I've been a gamer forever, and the stuff I tried seemed to be appealing to non-gamers or kids.

I never played the game you're talking about, and while the mic use sounds innovative, its difficult to imagine something less appealing than a cooking simulator... Do they have a lawn cutting or gutter cleaning game?

[Samstag]

I've only messed with the DS a little bit, and one part of your post pretty much summed it up... I've been a gamer forever, and the stuff I tried seemed to be appealing to non-gamers or kids.

I never played the game you're talking about, and while the mic use sounds innovative, its difficult to imagine something less appealing than a cooking simulator... Do they have a lawn cutting or gutter cleaning game?

How about the lawyer simulator?

[lcddream]

I've only messed with the DS a little bit, and one part of your post pretty much summed it up... I've been a gamer forever, and the stuff I tried seemed to be appealing to non-gamers or kids.

I never played the game you're talking about, and while the mic use sounds innovative, its difficult to imagine something less appealing than a cooking simulator... Do they have a lawn cutting or gutter cleaning game?

nah...you just got to try some other games, there are a ton of great games for the ds.

Meteos
New Super Mario
Metroid Pinball
Metroid
Elite Beat Agents
Nanostray (great shmup)
Mario vs Donkey Kong
Mario Kart
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Advance Wars DS
Sonic
Final Fantasy 3 (redone in 3d)

...the list goes on.

[RTSDaddy2]

Munny,

I just saw your post - ironically, Elite Beat Agents demonstrated at a local Best Buy was actually what sold me on wanting a DS lite.  That thing is just too much fun.  Caught myself playing it for about 45 minutes yesterday - time just stood still.

I've seen the new Super Mario too, but haven't gotten far into it.  Metroid Hunters I thought I'd love, but for some reason it just hasn't done much for me yet.  Again, perhaps as I get further in....

The one that surprised me is the DS version of "Trauma Center."  I hate the TC Wii version...just too much stress, too hard to control.  However, the stylus version for the DS is, in my opinion, a thing of brilliance.

I can't say enough about Elite Beat though...it makes such GREAT use of both screens, as well as the touch screen....it's truly a marvel.

[lcddream]

for those of you who like elite beat, and are looking for more rhythm tapping action check out the original japanese version of elite beat agents  Ouendan. Pretty much the same game japanese style.

http://ds.ign.com/objects/746/746980.html

[Franco]

Must agree, the DS does kick ass. I got mine about a month ago and my PSP hasnt had a look in since. I never thought I would be a fan of the touch screen games as I thought myself more of a traditional gamer but I must admit some of the touch screen games have got more of a look in than the D-pad control ones. Even when playing the D-pad ones, it is still nice to be able to use the touch screen for additional controls, for example enabling the power ups in New Super Mario Brothers or selecting weapons on Nanostray, both of which can be done with your thumb.

The games that have been rockin my boat are:

*New Super Mario Brothers
*Mario Kart
*Trauma Center: Under the Knife
*Warioware Touched (also has a 'blow' game, you have to blow up a balloon until it pops!)
*Metroid Pinball
*Elite Beat Agents
*Brain Age/Brain Training
*James Pond: Robocod
*Mario vs Donkey Kong 2
*Meteos
*Nanostray

[romperwomb]

My daughter LOVES Nintendogs, makes use of the mic with simple speech recognition.  She also has been playing The Little Mermaid game.  You have to open treasure chests by singing certain notes.  She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it so she brings it to me when she's stuck.  It's a blast squealing the notes out while she's aping Ursula the seawitch "SING YES SING!"

[TheResidentEvil]

i am still using the regular DS but i want a lite instead. Who wants to trade?! 

[RTSDaddy2]

Whilst we're here, let's take it to the next level.  Not only are the DS games original and innovative, you have to factor in things like the R4 card, M3 Simply, etc...

These allow emulation of other systems.  So now, according to my count, with an R4 and Cyclo, the DS Lite (at least) is capable of emulating GBA, GB Color, and original GB, as well as NES and Sega 8-bit systems.  Currently there is a nice Sega Genesis emulator out as well, though it is soundless for the moment.

Let's talk gaming libraries:  What is that....5 to 6 systems that the DS lite is / is becoming backward compatible to?

This to say nothing of the Wifi experience with a DS lite.  This is the first system I've tried online gaming with, but blamed if I haven't enjoyed the heck out of it.  I suck at Clubhouse bowling, but have found that I play pretty good Texas Hold 'Em.   Just the playing the game with someone else adds to the fun....just wish picto chat worked with Clubhouse...sometimes the "preconstructed messages" don't work for what I want to say.

Mine's now doing all this, plus movies and music.

So, tell me again - why would I want a PSP?

[KenToad]

PSP has an amazing power/size ratio, but it's just too expensive for me at least, especially given the cost of a decent-sized memory stick.  I liked Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror a lot, but it is ironic that the nearly insufferable D-pad is utilized not for movement but for cycling weapons/equipment.  All the direction buttons are so far apart that it's ideal for inventory.  I had the crampy experience of trying to play SF Alpha 3 Max with that silly D-pad.     

I don't fly or go by Mass Transit that often so I can't really see me watching a lot of movies on a PSP, so the whole multifunction thing is lost on me.

The DS Lite is within my price range and I love the current selection of games, so it is really the only option for me.  I would definitely not buy the DS Lite for emulation right now, though, since most of the emulation is on the GBA hardware and a GBA Micro, for example is $50 at Mal-Wart.  The PSP is certainly king there, even with the sucky D-pad that you'll be using for most older systems. 

The DS browser is another story.  For me, it should have been text based and integrated, just for emailing or forum browsing, for example.  As it stands, long load times kind of diminish the product.  The PSP, however, really has a bigger problem, which is an incredibly tedious text-entry system.  It's slower than cell phone texting.  I guess the browser will work fine for people who have a set of bookmarks or just click hyperlinks to go everywhere, but I would hate to even try to respond to an email on the PSP.  I also don't want to lug around a proprietary keyboard.

Anyway, I would like to see Ocarina of Time and the original Goldeneye ported to the DS Lite, just because.    

[ChadTower]

I almost always wait until the next gen stuff comes out to pick up any particular system.  Get it cheap, often get it used, that sort of thing.  The DS may be one of the rare times that I actually buy a system while it's still current and will buy it new.  I don't have a ton of confidence in the used DS market given the touchscreen.  Handhelds tend to be pretty beaten up once they hit the secondary market.

[KenToad]

That's exactly how I feel.  I'm amazed that EB Games is offering refurbished units at only 10 bucks off retail.  With something like a touchscreen, I just want to make sure that it's me, if anyone, who abuses it.

[shmokes]

Well, a refurb unit will have a new touchscreen.  Refurbs are always scratch-free, etc.  However, for only $10 off I wouldn't bite.

The DS is funny for me.  Of all the systems I'd like to own, it's at the top of my list.  But I'll likely never own it because I am just almost never in a situation well-suited to portable gaming.  And when I'm at home, I'd rather play something on a big screen, preferrably with other people.

[pointdablame]

So, tell me again - why would I want a PSP?

I really don't want to start a war here, but I'm sorry... you're just way off here.  Have you really used all of that stuff on your DS just yet?  You're either looking through some really rosy lenses or haven't really dove into it all quite yet.

The PSP is the far superior system for homebrew and emulation.  In fact, its not even close.  The DS will do GB/GBC/DS/NES games no problem.  The sega emulators are fine, but not great.  The PSP in comparison has a LOT more emulators and is much richer in that area.  As for homebrew... its not even close.  PSP has a lot more options.  Part of that is the fact that DS homebrew is young in comparison, but I doubt it will overtake the PSP scene anytime soon.

Video on the DS is a nice little perk with a card, but the resolution is atrocious.  PSP beats it by a mile. I can't actually watch video on my DS, but I will on my PSP if I don't have an alternative.  The PSP screen is awesome and it lends itself much better to video than the DS screen.

 I don't particularly like the idea of playing music on either my DS or PSP, but they both do an adequate job at it.  I saw a really nice Ipod-ish skin for the DS that looked nice, but I haven't used it.  Neither of them are a good audio player though.

WiFi is great on both systems in my opinion, but the DS has more fun games (again, IMO) for wifi play.

Having said all that, I play my DS more than my PSP, so don't take this as a bash to the DS.  My post is just meant to set some things straight.  You may not WANT a PSP, and you may FEEL that the emulators are adequate, as well as video, et al... but the PSP really has the DS beat in these areas.  The PSP has some catching up to do with GAMES though, which is hugely important, and a big reason why my DS sees more playtime.

[crashwg]

I am just almost never in a situation well-suited to portable gaming. 

Beats the heck out of a magazine on the john! 

[boykster]

I don't have a DS, but I play my PSP every single day........

[spiffyshoes]

As far as being portable is conserned the DSLite wins hands down over the PSP.  The battery life on the DSLite is something like 14hrs on low brightness, and it fits more comfortably in your pocket.  The PSP isn't a bad console though.  It is very cool to be able to play all of the PSOne RPG's and other great hits on the go as well as a handfull of PSP games that are actually pretty good like GTA, Burnout, and Tony Hawk.  Not to mention it's video options are way better than Moonshell on the DS.  But the PSP despite it's name just isn't very portable.

I have both just because I'm one of those freaks who just has to have every system out.  Surprisingly my sister likes the PSP better than the DSLite though.  I bought two DSLites with the intenion of letting her or one of my friends borrow the second one for playing multiplayer with me but I can't even get her to touch the DS.  But she loves playing GTA on the PSP for some odd reason.  Phsss... Girls!!!!  I'll never understand them.

[ChadTower]

Well, a refurb unit will have a new touchscreen.  Refurbs are always scratch-free, etc.

Do you have a source that actually says this?  When I went looking for a used SP, all four of the "refurb" units the guy at Gamestop (which is also EB as we know) were scratched well beyond being acceptable as a refurb.

[spiffyshoes]

In my experience the refurb units are usually worse than the used ones.

[RTSDaddy2]

pointdablame:  Just FYI, I really wasn't trying to start a war either.  One of these days I'll learn to listen to that nagging little voice that says "think it, but don't say it!"

I never claimed to be an expert - there are those on here who know FAR more than myself -  but the PSP's that I've seen in store demos look awful to me.  The screen is just too dark (I'm very nearsighted, so that could also be a problem) and I don't see objects on screen well if there's not enough light.

That said, everyone has their opinion, and if yours is true (I do not know), then I will second it.  Again, I was just poking a little fun, no harm meant to the Sony crowd. There are definite drawbacks on the DS as far as emulation goes...often the in-game text looks very crunched. 

Even so, the DS is quite a bit cheaper and - for the money - will continue to win my vote hands down.  No, the video's aren't movie quality...but they look good enough to us (we can see everything), and again beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[pointdablame]

pointdablame:  Just FYI, I really wasn't trying to start a war either.  One of these days I'll learn to listen to that nagging little voice that says "think it, but don't say it!"

I never claimed to be an expert - there are those on here who know FAR more than myself -  but the PSP's that I've seen in store demos look awful to me.  The screen is just too dark (I'm very nearsighted, so that could also be a problem) and I don't see objects on screen well if there's not enough light.

That said, everyone has their opinion, and if yours is true (I do not know), then I will second it.  Again, I was just poking a little fun, no harm meant to the Sony crowd. There are definite drawbacks on the DS as far as emulation goes...often the in-game text looks very crunched. 

Even so, the DS is quite a bit cheaper and - for the money - will continue to win my vote hands down.  No, the video's aren't movie quality...but they look good enough to us (we can see everything), and again beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It didn't seem like you wanted a war, I just find the need to put disclaimers in some posts here sometimes as it sparks a ton of crap.

Like I said, I LOVE my DS, and play it more.  But there are pros and cons to everything, and emulation is not a selling point on the DS if you ask me, compared to the PSP.  Size, battery life, price.... definitely.  But the PSP is very good at a few things, and emulations and video are a few of them.

As for the screen, I'm tempted to say you saw some badly scratched up displays or a screen that was on a low brightness.  The PSP screen is very VERY nice, and is one of the major high points in my mind.  It was the brightest LCD I'd seen until the DS Lite came out, which is slightly brighter at the brightest setting (unless you mod the PSP to run on the AC power brightness setting).  You should really try to find a PSP in the wild and give it a shot, it's a very nice screen.

[ChadTower]

One thing to consider is that not everyone needs every device to do everything.  I don't own either, have no interest in the PSP and some in the DS, but wouldn't really care much if my handheld could play every game for every other system.  I personally judge a system by what it brings that is unique rather than what it brings that everything else always has.

[crashwg]

The DS gets more play in my house than all other video games combined BTW...

Hoooray Nintendo! 

Matter of fact we're looking at getting a second for some multi-player action.  I want the Navy one which is Japanese but at about $200 I haven't bit the bullet yet.  Anyone in Japan wanna hook me up with a good deal? 

[RTSDaddy2]

Point (and others):

I went back to look at a PSP again, and I will stand down and off my comments about the screen.  The second one I saw really showed off the use of that big wide screen and how bright it is.  Got me thinking a used PSP from Gamestop or EB might be in my future, just for the emulation and video.

At the same time, however, it seems to me that the DS is just getting started in having really great homebrew stuff come out for it...might wait and see where we are in a year or so!

[Hoagie_one]

I played every game on teh PSP that I wanted to play.  I messed with homebrew and custom firmwares and It just sits now.  Love my DS though.

[KenToad]

Point (and others):

I went back to look at a PSP again, and I will stand down and off my comments about the screen.  The second one I saw really showed off the use of that big wide screen and how bright it is.  Got me thinking a used PSP from Gamestop or EB might be in my future, just for the emulation and video.

At the same time, however, it seems to me that the DS is just getting started in having really great homebrew stuff come out for it...might wait and see where we are in a year or so!

Yeah, agreed about the emu scene.  I'm really excited about the snes development, have played Super Metroid for an hour or so using the SneMulDS .04b

I'm amazed and can't wait for future updates.  Never did beat Super Metroid and find myself playing games more on the go than at any other time. 

On a crazy side note, I've been doing the stamp thing on Clubhouse Games and of course the dual touch screen is ideal for card games.  Just recently I got a set of scanned Magic: the Gathering cards.  I sold my collection in '94 and I'm really itching to get a game on, so I wish I had the coding skills to make a Magic online game for DS, using maybe the original Beta set.  I've already tried OCTGN, but of course I don't really game at home anymore, so ...

Anyway, 

DS Lite is amazing.

[shmokes]

I am just almost never in a situation well-suited to portable gaming. 

Beats the heck out of a magazine on the john! 

I guess I'm just pretty regular    Three or four minutes doesn't make a very satisfying gaming session for me.  For people who have, shall we say, more difficulty in the bathroom, I can see how having a portable system would be pretty nice.

[shmokes]

Do you have a source that actually says this?  When I went looking for a used SP, all four of the "refurb" units the guy at Gamestop (which is also EB as we know) were scratched well beyond being acceptable as a refurb.

No, that has just always been my experience with refurbs, including a digital camera, an iPod (it is beyond the realm of possibility that someone could have ever owned an iPod without scratching it), and an Xbox.  All had obviously been put in brand new cases with the protective plastic that you peel off before use covering the shiny parts.  I don't know what Nintendo's policy is, but I think that's pretty standard thought the electronics industry.  The most important thing, I think, is that it is refurbished by the manufacturer and not by Gamestop or something.  The Xbox I got was at a Game Crazy.  I initially picked up a used one to save $20 more dollars since I didn't care about the warranty I was planning to void five minutes after I got home, but the fan was terribly loud so I took it back and got a refurb.  The refurb was indistinguishable from a new part.  Something that is a little bit surprising, but actually makes sense, is that I read somewhere that refurbished electronics have a much lower failure rate than new ones.  It makes sense really since refurbs have generally been individually tested and evaluated by a real person to make sure they work, while new parts go directly into the box from the assembly line.

[lcddream]

I guess I'm just pretty regular    Three or four minutes doesn't make a very satisfying gaming session for me.  For people who have, shall we say, more difficulty in the bathroom, I can see how having a portable system would be pretty nice.

It isn't just for the bathroom. When my Finance is watching whatever girlie show she wants to watch on the tube, and I want to play a game, the DS is a superb option.

[ChadTower]

No, that has just always been my experience with refurbs, including a digital camera, an iPod (it is beyond the realm of possibility that someone could have ever owned an iPod without scratching it), and an Xbox. 

The local Gamestops don't carry manufacturer refurbs.  They only seem to carry Gamestop refurbs.  They have a display for manuf refurbs but if you actually try to buy one they will first discourage you, saying that the Gamestop one comes with the retail warranty and thus you can bring it back to the store rather than mail it to the manuf... then they point out the price difference, since the manuf refurbs usually cost more than the Gamestop refurbs... then they just say they're out of the manuf refurbs anyway and don't know when they'll get more.  Some even go so far as to tell you you can't open the sealed box before buying the Gamestop refurb.  When you do open it it's clearly a regular used item that they actually tested as opposed to the usual used Gamestop hardware that wasn't tested at all.

Bathroom gaming is kind of icky.  I wouldn't be able to do that without washing the console after I washed my hands.  Ew.

[SirPoonga]

Bathroom gaming is kind of icky.  I wouldn't be able to do that without washing the console after I washed my hands.  Ew.

Why? You wipe you butt with the console?  You read a magazine while in the bathroom?  I don't see it any different than that.

[ChadTower]

You don't carry the magazine around with you and you don't keep the magazine for years or spend hundreds of hours reading the magazine.  Think environmentally here.  Germs are airborne too.  Read up a bit on how toilets mist particles of their entire contents when you flush them.  People just assume that whatever goes into the toilet stays there and that is not even close to the truth.  In reality that stuff ends up everywhere all over the entire room over time no matter how often you clean it.

Anything you bring with you into the bathroom comes out covered in particles of whatever you put in the toilet.

[RTSDaddy2]

Well, this thread has certainly gone to pot...

[pointdablame]

Well, this thread has certainly gone to pot...

I like to call it the ChadTower effect^TM

[KenToad]

I thought the potty issues gave the thread some much needed resuscitation.

Speaking of resuscitation, have you DS owners checked out Comic Book DS yet?  Abso-freaking amazing image viewer with a built in .cbr and .cbz convertor, so you don't have to do your own renaming.  Check out the info, some free downloadable comics and a neat embedded YouTube video here:

http://gnese.free.fr/NDS/ComicBookDS/

[TOK]

Anything you bring with you into the bathroom comes out covered in particles of whatever you put in the toilet.

I think the scientific term for this phenomenon is Budweiser butt. 

[ChadTower]

.cbr and .cbz readers own.  I'm in the process of reading through the entire run of The Amazing Spiderman right now, straight from issue #1 on up.