Nintendo DS Reviewed, Internal Structure Exposed

Pascal writes "Lik Sang received an initial batch of Nintendo DS systems and went ahead with their own hands-on reviews. Apart from some interesting GBA SP accessories cross-testing and their own impressions about the new Nintendo baby, they also had one of their traditional open-up sessions, exposing the guts of the new handheld to the public." Kotaku has a look from earlier in the week as well.

Comments

Dominance

[AbsurdProverb]

I honestly think Nintendo has clinched the handheld race again with this device. I realize its still early and that the PSP is still a bit of an enigma, however the DS is so damn nice. I've played one pretty thoroughly at the local store display and its like someone took the Ngage and did it right; minus the cellphone aspect. The stylus driven FPS Metroid plays very well surprisingly. Control through the stylus has a very short curve unless you have limited gaming experience prior. Graphics and interface aside, wi-fi connectivity and communication are the icing on the cake. Its effectively a very sharp looking, easily controled personal organizer with Nintendo games on it. Of course I'll be buying a PSP eventually because I am a huge fan of some of Sony's titles, but the DS is too nice a piece of hardware to not buy first.

So where are the chips?

[Anonymous Coward]

There were what, like 3 ICs in that thing?
Either the Lik-Sang guys didn't photograph it from the right angle (doubtful), or we're truly in the era of VLSI.

Most impressive.

Porting Linux...

[ThisNukes4u]

This is not a joke. I am wondering if anyone might know of the possibilities of porting uClinux to this. The possibilities would be nearly limitless, what with the wifi capability and dual-screens.

Has the must get factor

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that the DS is truly got the trendy "must have" factor surrounding it now. This thing is gonna sell out(if hasn't already) this holiday. I don't know if that means that it will peak early and then lose out to the PSP in the long run. But based on the Nintendo handheld dominance and awesome title base I think that this thing will translate to a long term dominater. Sorry Sony you don't have much a chance to dominate the handhelds.

On the subject of the DS vs. PSP

[Silvercloud]

...It's all a matter of games, namely whomever releases Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger first wins [My money]. I suspect the PSP, but FFIII is being released on the DS, so who knows?
A portable FFVII at launch would clinch things for the PSP, but I doubt Sony is clued in enough to realize that...(though they do have an FFVII spin off RPG called Crisis Core, but that's due out in 2006, so it's not going to be a factor in determining early market share)

Re:On the subject of the DS vs. PSP

[xenocide2]

Square saved sony once, but don't look for the same miracle twice. Final Fantasy 7 was a big draw for the PSX, but FFX:2 has ben a large detriment to fans. Before, they'd have been willing to switch to another system see a new game, but people like my roommate were rather pissed off at the level of emasculation required to complete ffx2. Combine this with your theory of releasing old games rather than new ones, and you'll that they've become marginal. Are you really looking forward to playing a transgender sailor in the world of Ivalice?

Moreover, Square already brought the FF series to the WonderSwan, but it too was fated to fall. Remarkably, the PSP looks like a Wonderswan ultra. When I look at the PSP, I'm supposed to think "ps2 in my hands." I no longer trust Sony. If you went by the numbers released by the manufacturers, then the PS2 is like 4 times better than the Gamecube, which is a hard sell. Sony has a history of inflated specs and a propensity to blame the difference on programming error. When you can't actually do an Gran Tourismo endurance race on one charge, expect to hear blame on Digital Polyphony. But maybe playstation purchasers are okay with lowered expectations, maybe they're fine with stealth espionage card games.

Nintendo DS and Wireless Downloading

[rubberbando]

If the DS can download a game from another DS using one cartridge, doesn't this open the door for someone using a computer (probably with a little emulation) to send a rom image to the DS?

This could open up a quite a bit of possibility for homebrewed games :-) and of course piracy :-/.

Potential's there, but...

[hoser]

With Metroid Prime Hunters I'm really considering getting one of these. I plan to travel around a lot in the next couple of years, and my Gamecube ain't portable and my Powerbook ain't exactly... er, powerful.

So the DS looks great. Portable FPS's and stylus-driven RTS games has just about sold me. There's one small problem: Nintendo is the home of cartoony, kid-friendly games.

I hear good things about Advance Wars, but I'd also like to see something without manga-looking characters. Gimme somehing like Command & Conquer or Age of Empires! Metroid Prime Hunters is a little more up my alley but I have a bad feeling other DS FPS games we see are likely to involve running around as Mario, chucking marshmellows and Kirby and Yoshi in the land of ice cream sundaes. I wanna see some blood! Gimme some PC-calibre FPS's for the DS!

Unusual Killer App

[cmpalmer]

You know how everyone argues about e-books? Whether they cause eye strain, or how much better an ink-on-paper book looks/feels/smells?

I don't think this makes as much difference to kids. My daughter (13), my son (10) and one of their friends (12) are all hooked on reading e-books on Palm devices. They are used to spending hours looking at a GB screen, so scrolling through a Harry Potter book on a Palm is a natural activity for them.

So, I think there ought to be an real e-book reader app for the Game Boys. I've bought the GB movie thing from Lik-Sang and it supports .txt file reading, but doesn't have book marks, so it's not terribly practical. Does anyone know of a program that supports .pdf, MobiPocket, PalmReader, or HTML e-books that can be burned on a GB cartridge?