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Nintendo DS Review and Internal Pictures
OctaneZ writes "Lik Sang couldn't help themselves, and have already torn open their Gameboy DS. Among other things they found, the DS shares both its power and battery with the GB, and the 802.11b range is 10 to 30 meters, depending on the surroundings."
The Wireless mode of the Nintendo DS is really impressive. Whether you play VS mode with Mario 64 DS, or if you send messages to each other using Pictochat, the range goes as far as 10 to 30 meters, even passing through walls and doors. We expect kids to go wild with it during boring school sessions in the next couple of months. Not to mention the cheating tool it can become... Nintendo just opened itself another niche market. The technology used for wireless connectivity is IEEE 802.11b, which some of you might already know from Wireless home or office networks. I can just imagine schools setting up jammers for 802.11b just because everyone brought in their DS to play during math class. Or even cheated on tests. On the Other hand, I think that this brings portable gaming another step closer to computers (even possibly further). 3D rendered graphics, and in-game chat? That's awesome. Now we just need to be able to interface the DS with a Computer network for multiplayer that way!
~Ilyanep
To get message, take amount of carrier pigeons at each stage mod 2. Then decode binary.
but will it have wireless internet access? is it capable of rendering websites via html, wml or perhaps msntv techniques? and can its 802.11b hardware act as a repeater, so wireless games and wireless internet can be daisy-chained?
Gameboy is a completely different product line.
Just like Sprite is a completely different product line than Coca-Cola.
Nintendo may not be applying the "Gameboy" brand to their newest portable console themselves, but if it has an LCD screen and a D-pad+buttons controller layout and a GB Advance cartridge slot and plays GB Advance games...
I'm just curious what the wi-fi communication does to the battery life on this thing. Anybody read numbers on the max. battery life playing with wi-fi and without?
There's been a lot of hype about how the Nintendo DS is going to be in short supply here in the US.
I didn't make a reservation and Sunday morning I went over to Best Buy (here in Salt Lake City, Utah) and they had a big stack of the Nintendo DS systems. And they said they had lots more in back -- and laughed at the idea of a shortage.
Are there shortages? Or is it just hype to get publicity and increase the demand?
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Can anyone tell me why there is a RSASecured logo on the back of the unit and on the box?
Amazon is no longer listing them for MSRP, but the Amazon Marketplace prices are up to $350. *This* kind of behavior is what causes supplied to run out. It's not that people can't find them for Christmas presents, it's that people are snarfing them up to scalp on Amazon and eBay.
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
That may be all well and true(arguably of course), but when your handheld dies by the time it's booted and loaded a game you'll appreciate the NDS's 10 hour battery life. Personally I disagree with everything you said though, you can't appreciate the dual screens until you've used them. The hinge is nice in some cases because you can have you hands horizontal and the screen more vertical so you can avoid having to sometimes hold your hands at awkward angles to play the game. And Sony really screwed up by using discs. But hey... thats all just my oppinion.
Regards,
Steve
This brings new meaning to ASL. Instead the 'L' would now be "2 rows behind you"
KARMA POLICE ARREST THIS MAN HE TALKS IN MATHS- radiohead
Alright so you returned the game system because it wasn't a PDA? If you were expecting a PDA, why didn't you buy one in the first place? Why did you buy a GAMING system?
I'm not returning it because I expected it be a PDA. I'm returning it because the UI is very bad and the sound quality is poor. There's no way that I should have to reset the machine this often.
Half the functions on the main menu are a trap. If you just want to play a game, you start up in the menu. That takes 2-3 seconds, yes. 40% of the screen real estate on that tiny touchpad is taken up by functions that involve submenus. If you go into *any submenu* by accident, you will have to reboot the machine.
Let me repeat. Exiting any submenu to the main menu reboots the machine. That is NOT the same as any console. On the Gamecube you can access the clock, the memory menu, and the television settings menu without individually power cycling to switch menus. You can then exit those settings menus and select your game. Ditto the X-Box dashboard. The way the DS is set up is archaic and reminds me of my Apple II.
My comment on the PDA was only in relation to the comment to which I was replying. He suggested a PDA cart. I wanted to give him a heads up that it's impossible. I tucked the UI gripes in as an aside.
As for "was that just what I wanted it to be" they did in fact describe a sleep-mode that would wake you up if another DS was nearby in sleep. They said Pictochat could then be used to discuss with the other owner what game to play. The sleep mode is present. It is documented in the manual, so I'm not just spinning in the world of hype. It's just that the implementation is very poor.
Just like Sprite is a completely different product line than Coca-Cola.
And Yum! Brands owns Taco Bell and KFC. You must already know that a) at some point all analogies fail and b) in some respect any two things have a point of comparison, so why not just go ahead and explicitly form your argument instead of couching it in obliqueness?