DS - System of the forever?

[SamXX]

The DS has lasted well for such a long time now and it's only now that it's starting to fade a bit. I still love my DS and have had one since launch now but it's just getting less and less great original games now.

This, I agree with. I think we hit a peak around a year or so ago and it's definitely starting to settle down. I'm sure a DS2 will be announced this year, probably at E3... and my wallet will cry.

Mine will too, I've already spent all my money for the next year or two!

There are still some amazing games coming out on DS, such as more Professor Layton and Miles Edgeworth but there's just not as many "epic" titles.

 

[Bulerias]

The only thing I don't get is pricing. If the DSi XL is $189, and the Wii is $10 more, how will they price the DS2? What could justify its price tag being higher than a home console's? Unless they make it a portable-console hybrid (which I doubt), I think we'll see all the DSes and the Wii drop in price (DS Lite, $99, DSi, $129, DSi XL and Wii, $149). But then again, that'll make the DSi XL cost the same as the Wii... which is kind of absurd.

Nintendo basically screwed themselves in terms of pricing when they made the Wii what it is, graphically. They're a generation behind in home consoles and roughly par with handhelds. The DS2 will likely be graphically superior to the Wii, if the Tegra 2 chip rumors are true. And with the Wii selling like hotcakes... what are they going to do? Will the average consumer care?

It's an interesting situation, much more interesting than any they've had in their entire history as a gaming company, I think. But I really do think a DS2 is coming sooner rather than later. Whenever I start buying games en masse for a console, the new one rolls around... happened with the N64 and GCN, and now that I'm catching up on the DS backlog...well...

 

[Zex]

Sa' lotta' games.

 

[Tyeforce]

Maybe if it could play Gameboy and Gameboy Color Games, but the Dsi can't even play Advance ones, so the DS Phat and Lite are close at being the best, but not quite there.

The DS's library is pretty self-sustaining sans backwards compatibility, but you're right, the DSi is just a notch below the other DS iterations. Gotta have some portable Fire Emblem 7 and 8 goodness at all times, yannow? Although who knows, DSiWare could be a decent substitute... it isn't yet, but maybe in the future.

The DSi isn't a notch below the DS and DS Lite at all... It's quite a few notches above. So it doesn't have backwards compatibility with GBA games, big deal. That's what a Game Boy Advance is for. Or Game Boy Advance SP. Or Game Boy micro. Or Game Boy Player. Or Nintendo DS. Or Nintendo DS Lite. If you love GBA games so much, I'm sure you already have one of those six systems to play them on. The Nintendo DSi was made with the current generation in mind, not games for a nine year old system that stopped being produced years ago. The main reason why the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite have a GBA slot is because GBA games were still being produced at the time. They're not anymore, so Nintendo used the space that the GBA slot took up to add other upgrades, such as a bigger, brighter screen, bigger stylus, two cameras, and SD card slot, a faster CPU (almost twice as fast as the DS Lite's), more RAM (four times as much as the DS Lite), and internal flash memory, among others. The DSi may lack GBA support, but the upgrades and added features more than make up for the loss of backwards compatibility, especially if you still have another system that will play GBA games.

And there are many great DSiWare games available. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, WarioWare: Snapped!, Art Style: PiCTOBiTS, Flipnote Studio...etc. And there are even better things to come:

http://www.youtube.com/v/SWAg1s7xfz0

 

[Micah]

My brother broke my old GBA so I have to play my GBA games on my Lite. :/

If I had a DSi I'd be screwed.

 

[Tyeforce]

My brother broke my old GBA so I have to play my GBA games on my Lite. :/

If I had a DSi I'd be screwed.

You can have both a DS Lite and a DSi, you know... Or just buy a used GBA, GBA SP, or GBm if you only had a DSi. I'm sure one of those wouldn't cost much at all.

 

[Bulerias]

Maybe if it could play Gameboy and Gameboy Color Games, but the Dsi can't even play Advance ones, so the DS Phat and Lite are close at being the best, but not quite there.

The DS's library is pretty self-sustaining sans backwards compatibility, but you're right, the DSi is just a notch below the other DS iterations. Gotta have some portable Fire Emblem 7 and 8 goodness at all times, yannow? Although who knows, DSiWare could be a decent substitute... it isn't yet, but maybe in the future.

The DSi isn't a notch below the DS and DS Lite at all... It's quite a few notches above. So it doesn't have backwards compatibility with GBA games, big deal. That's what a Game Boy Advance is for. Or Game Boy Advance SP. Or Game Boy micro. Or Game Boy Player. Or Nintendo DS. Or Nintendo DS Lite. If you love GBA games so much, I'm sure you already have one of those six systems to play them on. The Nintendo DSi was made with the current generation in mind, not games for a nine year old system that stopped being produced years ago. The main reason why the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite have a GBA slot is because GBA games were still being produced at the time. They're not anymore, so Nintendo used the space that the GBA slot took up to add other upgrades, such as a bigger, brighter screen, bigger stylus, two cameras, and SD card slot, a faster CPU (almost twice as fast as the DS Lite's), more RAM (four times as much as the DS Lite), and internal flash memory, among others. The DSi may lack GBA support, but the upgrades and added features more than make up for the loss of backwards compatibility, especially if you still have another system that will play GBA games.

And there are many great DSiWare games available. Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, WarioWare: Snapped!, Art Style: PiCTOBiTS, Flipnote Studio...etc. And there's even better things to come:

http://www.youtube.com/v/SWAg1s7xfz0

Taking a feature out and substituting it with another is common corporate practice.

The GBA slot wasn't removed to make room for a faster CPU. Keep in mind, faster CPU =/= physically larger CPU. The real reasons are cosmetic and financial. They wanted to slim down the handheld further, and to save a couple of bucks on production. As a consumer, I don't care about either reason.

 

[Bacon Boy]

Nintendo's gonna juice the success from their systems as much as they can. The WiiMotion+ was just a way to make it seem like a newer system by adding better controls. I do have to say that the opening graphics for the winter olympics were amazing for the Wii. But still, Nintendo is going to keep what is working for them. They don't seem to be intent on changing anytime soon.

 

[Micah]

My brother broke my old GBA so I have to play my GBA games on my Lite. :/

If I had a DSi I'd be screwed.

You can have both a DS Lite and a DSi, you know... Or just buy a used GBA, GBA SP, or GBm if you only had a DSi. I'm sure one of those wouldn't cost much at all.

My old DS was broken. I had a choice between a Lite and a DSi and I chose the Lite. (This was a month ago).

 

[Bulerias]

Yep, cosmetic. 3mm larger with a GBA slot:

http://www.destructoid.com/fail-dsi-prototype-did-have-a-gba-slot-removed-due-to-size-109677.phtml

 

[Tyeforce]

Maybe if it could play Gameboy and Gameboy Color Games, but the Dsi can't even play Advance ones, so the DS Phat and Lite are close at being the best, but not quite there.

The DS's library is pretty self-sustaining sans backwards compatibility, but you're right, the DSi is just a notch below the other DS iterations. Gotta have some portable Fire Emblem 7 and 8 goodness at all times, yannow? Although who knows, DSiWare could be a decent substitute... it isn't yet, but maybe in the future.

The DSi isn't a notch below the DS and DS Lite at all... It's quite a few notches above. So it doesn't have backwards compatibility with GBA games, big deal. That's what a Game Boy Advance is for. Or Game Boy Advance SP. Or Game Boy micro. Or Game Boy Player. Or Nintendo DS. Or Nintendo DS Lite. If you love GBA games so much, I'm sure you already have one of those six systems to play them on. The Nintendo DSi was made with the current generation in mind, not games for a nine year old system that stopped being produced years ago. The main reason why the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite have a GBA slot is because GBA games were still being produced at the time. They're not anymore, so Nintendo used the space that the GBA slot took up to add other upgrades, such as a bigger, brighter screen, bigger stylus, two cameras, and SD card slot, a faster CPU (almost twice as fast as the DS Lite's), more RAM (four times as much as the DS Lite), and internal flash memory, among others. The DSi may lack GBA support, but the upgrades and added features more than make up for the loss of backwards compatibility, especially if you still have another system that will play GBA games.

And there are many great DSiWare games available. Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, WarioWare: Snapped!, Art Style: PiCTOBiTS, Flipnote Studio...etc. And there's even better things to come:

http://www.youtube.com/v/SWAg1s7xfz0

Taking a feature out and substituting it with another is common corporate practice.

The GBA slot wasn't removed to make room for a faster CPU. Keep in mind, faster CPU =/= physically larger CPU. The real reasons are cosmetic and financial. They wanted to slim down the handheld further, and to save a couple of bucks on production. As a consumer, I don't care about either reason.

Then if you really prefer GBA compatibility, the DSi just isn't for you. Nintendo still makes the DS Lite for a reason, you know. But just the fact that you like it better doesn't change the fact that the DSi is better than the DS and DS Lite. The only thing that the DS and DS Lite have over the DSi is the GBA Slot, which most people wouldn't consider a huge loss worth complaining about.

 

[Kanye Omari West]

The DS has a lot of great games that make it stand out.

But it's far from the best console ever.

I've noticed Nintendo just puts more features to bring casuals in, like the Wii. Half my relatives know Wii because of Wii Fit and the motion sensitivity.

So it's like features = popularity

 

[Bulerias]

Most people wouldn't consider the removal of a gargantuan gaming library a huge loss? Uhh...

It's purely a convenience issue, doesn't mean that the console is "not for me". You don't need to go out of your way to defend every single move Nintendo makes...

 

[Bulerias]

"The DSi was originally scheduled to have two slots for cartridges, something that Iwata said is in demand both by customers and Nintendo employees."

 

[Cottonball]

Dsi love.. is that accepted? ;]

 

[Jas0n]

Maybe if it could play Gameboy and Gameboy Color Games, but the Dsi can't even play Advance ones, so the DS Phat and Lite are close at being the best, but not quite there.

The DS's library is pretty self-sustaining sans backwards compatibility, but you're right, the DSi is just a notch below the other DS iterations. Gotta have some portable Fire Emblem 7 and 8 goodness at all times, yannow? Although who knows, DSiWare could be a decent substitute... it isn't yet, but maybe in the future.

The DSi isn't a notch below the DS and DS Lite at all... It's quite a few notches above. So it doesn't have backwards compatibility with GBA games, big deal. That's what a Game Boy Advance is for. Or Game Boy Advance SP. Or Game Boy micro. Or Game Boy Player. Or Nintendo DS. Or Nintendo DS Lite. If you love GBA games so much, I'm sure you already have one of those six systems to play them on. The Nintendo DSi was made with the current generation in mind, not games for a nine year old system that stopped being produced years ago. The main reason why the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite have a GBA slot is because GBA games were still being produced at the time. They're not anymore, so Nintendo used the space that the GBA slot took up to add other upgrades, such as a bigger, brighter screen, bigger stylus, two cameras, and SD card slot, a faster CPU (almost twice as fast as the DS Lite's), more RAM (four times as much as the DS Lite), and internal flash memory, among others. The DSi may lack GBA support, but the upgrades and added features more than make up for the loss of backwards compatibility, especially if you still have another system that will play GBA games.

And there are many great DSiWare games available. Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, WarioWare: Snapped!, Art Style: PiCTOBiTS, Flipnote Studio...etc. And there's even better things to come:

http://www.youtube.com/v/SWAg1s7xfz0

Taking a feature out and substituting it with another is common corporate practice.

The GBA slot wasn't removed to make room for a faster CPU. Keep in mind, faster CPU =/= physically larger CPU. The real reasons are cosmetic and financial. They wanted to slim down the handheld further, and to save a couple of bucks on production. As a consumer, I don't care about either reason.

Then if you really prefer GBA compatibility, the DSi just isn't for you. Nintendo still makes the DS Lite for a reason, you know. But just the fact that you like it better doesn't change the fact that the DSi is better than the DS and DS Lite. The only thing that the DS and DS Lite have over the DSi is the GBA Slot, which most people wouldn't consider a huge loss worth complaining about.

The point is, they could have included the GBA slot into the DSi rather than making people buy both a DSi for the upgraded features that you've previously mentioned and a DS Lite to play GBA games :/

 

[Tyeforce]

Most people wouldn't consider the removal of a gargantuan gaming library a huge loss? Uhh...

It's purely a convenience issue, doesn't mean that the console is "not for me". You don't need to go out of your way to defend every single move Nintendo makes...

A gaming library that isn't played much at all today. Don't get me wrong, I love the Game Boy Advance, but there's rarely a time where I would rather play a GBA game than a DS game, and I'm sure most people would agree. Times have changed, as well as the gaming generation. Sure, it can be nice to play an older game every once and awhile, but Nintendo has offered six different ways to play GBA games. If you love GBA games so much, you should already have one of those systems. And if you don't, you can get one for dirt cheat, so there's no excuse to say that you don't have a way to play GBA games if you have a DSi.

My main point is that saying that the DSi is worse than the DS Lite simply because it lacks the ability to play games of the previous generation (while completely ignoring all of the upgrades and added features, I might add) is just ridiculous. You don't judge a console based on the last generation. That's the past, not the present.

 

[Tyeforce]

"The DSi was originally scheduled to have two slots for cartridges, something that Iwata said is in demand both by customers and Nintendo employees."

Yes, I read that. But I think that the exclusion of the GBA Slot in the DSi was a good choice, and Nintendo obviously thought the same. Why? Because it allows the DS Lite and DSi to coexist in the same time period. The DSi is better than the DS Lite in every way except cost and the lack of a GBA Slot. If you prefer to stick with the current generation and have the added features of the DSi, then the DSi is for you. If you can't afford the extra $40 or if you just have to be able to play GBA games on your DS, then the DS Lite is for you. It's about options. And Nintendo's even adding a third option for people who prefer bigger screens (among other things) in the form of the DSi XL. Just because one option may not be the right one for you doesn't mean that it's worse than the others.

 

[Ciaran]

"The DSi was originally scheduled to have two slots for cartridges, something that Iwata said is in demand both by customers and Nintendo employees."

Yes, I read that. But I think that the exclusion of the GBA Slot in the DSi was a good choice, and Nintendo obviously thought the same. Why? Because it allows the DS Lite and DSi to coexist in the same time period. The DSi is better than the DS Lite in every way except cost and the lack of a GBA Slot. If you prefer to stick with the current generation and have the added features of the DSi, then the DSi is for you. If you can't afford the extra $40 or if you just have to be able to play GBA games on your DS, then the DS Lite is for you. It's about options. And Nintendo's even adding a third option for people who prefer bigger screens (among other things) in the form of the DSi XL. Just because one option may not be the right one for you doesn't mean that it's worse than the others.

Thank you, the head of nintendos marketing department.

 

[Fishchan]

Actually the only thing I play on DS is Professor Layton and Pok