The Nintendo DS

[Balou]

Ok, one last question about the Nintendo DS before I head out and buy one:
Is it possible to use other "touch pens" without damaging the DS touchscreen, for example from Wacom tablets, PDAs or Palms?

I read that the pens that come with the DS are very tiny and flimsy. So I thought I might want to get a better one right from the start, for my big, huge and inflexible European hands ...

[mr_sockochris]

Of course. Believe me, the DS touchscreen can take more punishment than you would think anyway. My white DS has been through hours of Meteos and Ouendan over the past few months, yet there still isn't a single scratch on the screen.

[SupremeAC]

Of course. Believe me, the DS touchscreen can take more punishment than you would think anyway. My white DS has been through hours of Meteos and Ouendan over the past few months, yet there still isn't a single scratch on the screen.

I just stumbled by this thread to mention that a price drop is due tomorrow, but now I read you own a white DS: How does it look? I've been thinking of importing one myself due to the uglyness of the standard grey... I just stopped at Game Mania an hour or so ago to have a look at the 'teal' one, and while it is more appealing, I'm still not convinced. You don't happen to have any pictures representative of how it looks in reality uploaded to the net?

[muse hunter]

heres a a pic of a white DS



and just for good measure a pic of a black DS, which in my opinion looks far better than the white one, i plan on getting this version myself once both mario kart and animal crossing are released on the format.

[SupremeAC]

heres a a pic of a white DS



and just for good measure a pic of a black DS, which in my opinion looks far better than the white one, i plan on getting this version myself once both mario kart and animal crossing are released on the format.

That's why I asked for a representative picture Have you seen pics of the teal DS Nintendo's releasing in Europe tomorrow? Well, I saw one in store today and let me tell you, it's a night and day difference.

[nekroxide]

I was faffing about earlier, here's a badly focused shot of the graphite DS:



It looks sleek, smooth and much better in the flesh than in the catalogue/promo shots

[Balou]

Well, I just got my Nintendo DS (silver). My first impressions were how small everything is. When I first saw the NDS package I thought: "Where did they put the power plug?" - thinking that the DS would be as big as the whole packaging.

I tried pushing every button and was surprised how stiff everything is. I expected it to be more like a SNES controller... I understand now how fighting games suck on handhelds.

So far I just booted up once because I accidentally pushed the power-button. I used the stylus to get through the setup and all felt very responsive and comfortable. Oh, and the DS seems to smell very much like a new N64. (I think my PS2 and Xbox smelled differently when I first opened the package)

Now the DS is charging up. When it?s finished I will give Advance Wars Dual Strike and Super Puzzle Fighter II a try.

By the way, in the manual they mention that you can replace the battery pak yourself. I always thought you?d have to send it back to Nintendo...

[SupremeAC]

Well, I just got my Nintendo DS (silver). My first impressions were how small everything is. When I first saw the NDS package I thought: "Where did they put the power plug?" - thinking that the DS would be as big as the whole packaging.

I tried pushing every button and was surprised how stiff everything is. I expected it to be more like a SNES controller... I understand now how fighting games suck on handhelds.

So far I just booted up once because I accidentally pushed the power-button. I used the stylus to get through the setup and all felt very responsive and comfortable. Oh, and the DS seems to smell very much like a new N64. (I think my PS2 and Xbox smelled differently when I first opened the package)

Now the DS is charging up. When it?s finished I will give Advance Wars Dual Strike and Super Puzzle Fighter II a try.

By the way, in the manual they mention that you can replace the battery pak yourself. I always thought you?d have to send it back to Nintendo...

I know what you mean with the 'stiffness' of it all. When I first touched a DS it felt rather cheap, of lower quality build and materials then the GBA SP. And it still does, but you get used to it

As for the battery, if my mind isn't playing tricks on me you couldn't replace the SP battery with regular screwdrivers, as the lid was fastened with them special Nintendo screws. On the DS it's just one regular cross-headed screw though. Makes sense since they're selling extra battery packs online.

[Balou]

Ok, I just tried to load up Puzzle Fighter 2 and it didn?t recognise the cart.
I then switched it to automatically boot up inserted games when turned on and it instantly played the GBA game. However, if I insert the cart while the DS is already turned on it won?t register it all.
If I disable the automatic boot-up and have a GBA cart inserted, it does recognise it. But if I pull the cart out while the DS is still turned on, the system freezes!!
That?s a bit annoying and I?m wondering if there isn?t something wrong with it.

What?s also a bit irritating, is that it often asks to be shut down after I entered any menu selections. For example, I entered Pictochat just for fun and it won?t let me exit again without turning the DS off!?!
And is there a way to get rid of the initial warning when the DS is turned on?

I have yet to try Advance Wars, but the above mentioned flaws and cumbersome navigation of the menus makes me feel a bit dissapointed.

[msm13579]

I don't think your supposed to plug in or remove carts while it's on, just like most (every?) cart based console, snes, n64, megadrive, master system, game boy, etc.

[Paleface]

In short:

you have to skip the warning every time.
you have to reboot to quite pictochat - or setup. This is irritating.

Recognising carts: you can insert a DS card dynamically - at any time. To insert a GBA cart, it has to be *present* when the machine is turned on. However, you don't have to have it on auto-boot. So if you put the cart in, turn the console on, you can tap the bottom bit to load it. What you can't do with GBA carts is put them in after the OS has booted.

Does that make sense?

[msm13579]

Recognising carts: you can insert a DS card dynamically - at any time.

thats cool, didn't know you could do that

[superkully]

As for the battery, if my mind isn't playing tricks on me you couldn't replace the SP battery with regular screwdrivers, as the lid was fastened with them special Nintendo screws. On the DS it's just one regular cross-headed screw though. Makes sense since they're selling extra battery packs online.

The battery compartment for the SP too has a phillips head screwdriver. You'll need a glasses screwdriver for it as it is dinky.

[Balou]

Thanks for your replies. Maybe I was just expecting a bit more in terms of menu navigaion and this sort of thing. But I?m optimistic that I can live with it.

Quite in contrast, I?m very impressed by the touch screen. It?s a different to way to play and I like it very much - even with the tiny standard stylo.
Having now played Advance Wars DS, I?m also positively suprised by the graphics. The menu, cut scenes and map all look very detailed and sharp. Maybe both screens could have been just a little bit bigger though.

Now I?m looking forward to play Castlevania and see how this type of game turn out on the NDS.

Oh, and my unit does not seem to have any dead pixels as far as I can tell.