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Nintendo DS Launches
The DS system has launched today, allowing everyone with a interest in dual screen action to get their fill. Gamespy has a Beginner's Guide to the system available, while Gamespot has a detailed page reviewing the system and some of the first games available. Bionic_Baboon wrote in with a press release about the sale of the system at EB Games on Businesswire.
I've been waiting forever for the competitor to Nintendo's DS to come out.
The only think I have agest it is that it looks in the pics to be quite large for a gameboy. You would think that they would try to make it smaller before they put in the 2nd screen...
~ Mooga
...editors, please please fix that headline. Someone might read it, you know.
Hint: The company is actually called Nintendo.
Mine has a bad pixel on the top screen and they tell me it will be 3 weeks before they can exchange it... with eb's 2 week exchange policy they will probably try to screw me :(
Other than that its very large but more comfortable to play.
- nintendo
will launchBusiness Voyeur
While [kidnapping them] is admittedly not the best way to get a girl's attention, it certainly doesn't leave much room for misinterpretation.
(From the XY/XX review)
Doesn't anybody else think it would be the other way around? Kidnapping somebody is bound to get their attention whatever chromosomes they have, but it certainly doesn't scream, "I want your babies", even if you rape them.
For what is tipped at a next-gen handheld im a little dissappointed at the quality of the graphics in those screenshots - looks kinda like a low resolution N64 - lots of primary colors I cant say it blows me away.
Im sure even so it will sell after all its still a "Gameboy" and thats not just a product its a brand. Things should hot up a little when the PSP arrives on the scene which technologically blows the DS out of the water. I doubt sony will compete on price though, it remains to be seen what happens- none the less the future has to start somewhere....
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
DS is a third system not a replacement for the GBA according to nintendo. Basically, they will still be introducing a ton of new GBA games, and DS games too.
It has been known that he DS was going to launch before Xmas for almost a year now - well before you bought your GBA SP. You should have done some research first. Though, take some comfort in the fact that the DS is backward compatible with all Gameboy and GBA games, so the upgrade will be smooth if and when you do.
Shit, I also bought the GBA SP a few months ago. I bought it mainly because it's a very easy game system to develop homebrew games on. (See gbadev.org or my web page, above.) At the time, I did not even know about the Nintendo DS. Anyway, I ended up picking up the DS today because it looked too good to pass up.
I am hoping that the homebrew community can get together and quickly figure out a way to get our own binaries to run on this thing, because as a hacking system, it looks sweet. It's got WiFi and a touch screen dammit! Imagine the games you could develop for it! I imagine you could get Linux to run on this thing and use a virtual keyboard on the bottom touch-screen to input into a terminal.
The Japanese have "interesting" courtship strategies?
Nintendo is usually very good about responding when there is defective hardware.
That's what's making me hold of a bit. There aren't really any launch games I want coming out, but if we get a flashcart(or some way to use our old GBA flashcarts), the types of things we'll be able to do will be sweet($150 PDA that plays Nintendo games, officially, with their support). I'm tempted to get one just to play around with the supposed network boot functions.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
VERY interesting to know that they will still be releasing GBA games, though! Didn't know that!
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
It's smaller and lighter than the orignal GB, and easily pocket-able. As for the touch screen, that may be a love-or-hate thing, but I love it, and most other people seem to also. Just try it and see, at least once, in the store. Metroid is pretty damn good, and exceptional at showing how advantagious the touch screen can be for precise control, since you can play with or without it, and with is definitely better for control.
Wow, I feel like a drug dealer now... First try is free...
The SP is able to play GB Advance games, so it's not totally backwards compatiable, but it's still really good.
-- taking over the world, we are.
according to nintendo.
Don't believe everything you read in press releases.
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
I picked one up. I'm not impressed with the games that much at all. Mario is kind of boring. Metroid Prime will probably be good, but, the demo doesn't allow you to invert your aiming. Since I always invert my mouse when playing FPSs, this is really annoying and very hard to get used to. I picked up Asphalt Urban GT also, but I haven't opened it yet. Still trying to decide whether or not to return it. The reviews didn't look so hot.
The unit as far as technology goes is pretty sweet. The touchscreen thing is cool, and the wireless is neat. If there was an open SDK for developing apps for it, people could come up with some pretty neat stuff to run on this. I'm sure game shops will have some neat stuff also, it will just take time.
Physically, the unit feels kind of cheap. Button layout is not ergonomic at all, and it feels like it was just slapped together. It just feels like there is empty space inside of it, which means it probably could have been smaller. In any case, it doesn't look like they put nearly as much effort into the actual construction and physical design of the unit as they did into the actual guts of it. For $149 though, you can't expect that much.
I would assume when the game library grows, they will do away with the 2nd cartridge slot and make the unit a bit more compact.
Honestly though, I bought the unit for the potential of what will come, not for what's currently available. And I like gadgets.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
I just picked one up today. The DS kinda snuck up on me, I didn't even know about it until a few months ago. While one reason I got is because I trust Nintendo to support the hardware well and release the best first-party games(as well as developer support from companies like Sega), the real reason I wanted one is the potential of the hardware crammed into this little package. There is already a pretty good community of amatuer Game Boy Advance development using flash cartridges and neat doodads like the GBA Movie Player. I beleive that a lot more could be done with the capabilities of the DS. A touch screen, integrated wireless networking, microphone, and 3D hardware in a handheld system for $150? Think of the possibilities...PDA functions, web browser, MP3 player, emulators, homebrew 3d games...
There was a site recently called DSLinux that claimed they would give $1000 to the first person who could successfully run Linux on the DS...unfotunately, the site seems to be no more...while I find that odd and a bit disheartening, I hope others will take up where they left off. After all, wouldn't it be so much more fun to hack on a sleek portable system like this than a clunky XBox that can't do that much more than your average low end PC?
Sleep is futile.
That'll all depend on how well it sells of course.
Shoot Pixels, Not People!
I am certain word of mouth on the unit at elementary school and middle school will ensure the success of this system.
I am just curious what Nintendo will do next. The addition of a second screen was pretty creative, but where will they go next?
-pete
[one downside is the lack of games, but that will change soon]
OK, it seems that every store and mail order shop is already sold out, but a few are taking orders to ship when they get new units.
Does anyone know if this is an "artificial" shortage to build up "Tickle Me Elmo" type hysteria leading into Christmas, or is Nintendo really having trouble producing enough units for the Christmas season?
I missed my chance to pick on up at the local Target. I was trying to buy two (one for each of my kids), but when I got to Target at 1:30PM on Sunday, a woman in front of my bought the last one they had.
I'm not buying one from an eBay or z-Shop scalper, but I'm wondering if I should try to place a "send me one when you get them" online order, or just chill and wait for the local Wal-Marts to get a few hundred on the day after Thanksgiving (or the week before Christmas).
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
From the article: "In an interview conducted by Bloomberg Japan, Nintendo confirmed that the Nintendo DS, its newly announced portable dual-screen gaming system, is not being created to take over the Game Boy Advance's market. The company also confirmed that a separate machine is being developed as a next-generation successor for the GBA. According to Nintendo's public relations chief Yasuhiro Minagawa, "The development of succeeding machines for the GBA and Game Cube are in the works, separately from the Nintendo DS."
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.