Nintendo DS.. Good or garbage?

[magic]

I've been looking at getting a Nintendo DS because New Super Mario Bros videos on youtube look really badass. If anyone owns a DS and wants to post their opinion of the system overall, please do! I used to love gameboys and stuff when I was a kid, so something like this may either be awesome.. or complete shit.

To anyone that does post, are there any good Zelda/EQ/WOW type games? Offline RPGs are fun sometimes. (Baldur's Gate, Fable, etc)

TY future posters~

[grindle]

my son has a DS and we also go him a R4 chip R4 Mod Chip (http://www.modchipstore.com/R4-DS-R4DS-Slot-1-solution-homebrew-backups-microsd-16424.html) (not endorsing the site just a quick example .) and he loves it plays it all the time so i think they are a pretty decent investment . It has held up well and is almost a year old and that is with constant use. The only issue i have had is the hinges on the unit seem kind of weak so be careful and if you get one invest in the rechargeable set up for car and such 8-) i hope this helped

[magic]

Thanks for the reply grindle! I'm glad to hear it's held up for a while.. I was concerned because the design looked kind of fragile. Old gameboys could be submerged in water, thrown out of moving cars, jumped on, etc and still worked :p

[Loretta]

I've been looking at getting a Nintendo DS because New Super Mario Bros videos on youtube look really badass. If anyone owns a DS and wants to post their opinion of the system overall, please do! I used to love gameboys and stuff when I was a kid, so something like this may either be awesome.. or complete shit.

To anyone that does post, are there any good Zelda/EQ/WOW type games? Offline RPGs are fun sometimes. (Baldur's Gate, Fable, etc)

TY future posters~

I Love love loveeeee my DS - It actually has rival'd some console systems to me. The versatility is amazing, there is free Wifi connection game you can play online with friends - There is also customizability with the Nintendo Wii where some games you can play with Wii users as a DS player, I found that simply awesome.

Like recently the Sonic All Star racing game (I believe its Wii Compatable) is similar to Mario kart but pretty good graphics for the little handheld.

Zelda: Spirit Tracks just came out and its awesome, complete with in-game cinematics - There are features the DS have that are just pure genius.

For example: Theres a microphone that you sometimes have to yell at or blow on to play a magic instrument, or to blow a torch out or an object in a aimed direction to hit a switch. The stylist works well with some games and is built to be very cool and different as opposed to using the D-pad, where other games the D-Pad is fine.

New Super Mario Bros is a pretty fun game, and there is a Ragnarok Single player game that came out recently that mimics Ragnarok Online, but in a single player setting w/lots of characters in the world to make it feel like your "online" in some ways.

The Final Fantasy remakes are all well done and have higher poly-count then their Super NES counterparts, voice acting was introduced into FF4, and FF5/FF6 will follow soon hopefully.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: This is more of an arcade-action RPG where you solve puzzles similarly to zelda, but with a lot of jumping and carrying things etc. Its very fun and cute to boot. You can play it online on the Wifi with ppl as well and with people on the Wii

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 was a pretty good game, not as amazing as the original for PS1 but it was a well-done game imo, and it kept me busy for hours.

Basically the DS is my favorite all time hand-held and I'd recommend it to anybody, especially if your on the-go and dont have want to hassle and set up a console to a large screen TV. The Wifi capabilities and the utility built into the DS make it a very "fun" piece of hardware.

I bought the R4 chip, and its simply amazing. The R4 chip does require tech-savvyness though, you will have to upgrade firmware and know how to work with flash-drives & files being in the proper directories, as well as applying patches for certain games to run properly on it. It really doesn't take long and its well worth it imo (love it) though and it saves me cost in this economy when I really only spend my $ on the essentials (like hair/clothes and food/rent etc.) :).

So conclusion, very far from garbage, in fact - Pure Gold.

The 3DS is also the next handheld they've been advertising with some technology that makes their games 3D/Holographic or something... I havent looked into it yet though.

[Neno]

I really enjoy my DSi especially during downtime while in groups. If I could go back though I may have picked up a PSP instead just for the access to easier/superior ROM emulation for SNES titles. However after checking out that link to the R4 chip it seems I may have to change my opinion as SNES emulation looks completely possible on the DS. A quick google search lead me to this article about it: http://nineoverten.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-run-snes-games-on-nintendo-ds.html . So thank you for the link above grindle!


There are some decent RPGs out for it now and as mentioned above the FF series is slowly being updated and re-released for it. I played through FF 4 many times both on SNES and emulation and the newest rendition of it for the DS makes it feel like a whole new experience.

I would really recommend going for the DSi over the regular DS as the price difference isn't really that HUGE and you get bigger screens. I saw a commercial the other day for an even newer version of the DSi with a bigger screen so that may be something you might want to look into.

The wifi is nice but if you are some where that makes you load a website first and agree to a TOS to connect you may run into some difficulties but I will routinely take it with me around my campus many times for the ease of being able to check facebook and my email while on the go. The camera on the DSi is also decent and can come in handy for some quick casual picture taking.

Overall I would really recommended one if you are thinking about it and if its not against your personal morals pick up the R4 chip so you can enjoy the classics as well.

[Tallenn]

I like mine, though I don't play it much anymore. I bought it when I was traveling every week, it definitely helped to alleviate the boredom of two 4+ hour plane rides every week.

I don't travel now though, so don't really mess with it... not even sure where it is, exactly...

[Kuld]

I got a DSi-XL recently for Pokemon Heartgold and so that I could go through the FF series, was worth the money imo.

[Mathsdebate]

I bought one ages ago, There is a fair amount of RPG's, its not the prettiest system but it is fun.

Although nintendo have just announced their new handheld is coming out next yearish, not sure if that is a deterent.

[FatMagic]

Got one used... and I love it. I carry it with me everywhere loaded with a Zelda or Puzzle game. I think it's the best Gameboy yet. Definitely worth the investment!

[mudvayne1812]

I've got a DS and its pink =/, but its okay because I put an UnderArmor sticker on it to boost its manliness. I've gotten mediocre use out of it, but it was a good buy to just bs on wifi with my girlfriend at the time with mariokart and what not.

[Loretta]

Id trade u for ur pink ! They were out of pink/white so I picked a blue cobalt colored one at the time from my ex-bf.

[mudvayne1812]

No way, I've grown attached to it. After taking a certain amount of shit for having a ds at all and a pink one at that... its kind of hard to let go =p

[Pyrocat]

So amazingly worth it. I've spent more hours on my DS than I have on my Wii and Xbox 360 combined.

Disgaea
Kirby Super Stars
Pokemon Diamond / Platinum / Heart Gold
Nostalgia
Megaman ZX
Zelda Phantom Hourglass / Spirit Tracks
Infinite Space
New Super Mario Brothers
Puzzle Quest
The World Ends With You
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Harvest Moon Island of Happiness
Mario Kart

I know I'm forgetting quite a few, but I've easily spent 1000 hours on just the games I listed. And you can play it wherever, geek pride withstanding. I've paid for the $120 investment many times over with the fun I've gotten out of my DS Lite.