Nintendo DS to fall to $129?

[Shane R. Monroe]

Word on the street is ... the DS is going $129 in celebration of the release of Nintendogs ...

Nice, you'll be able to get TWO DSs for one PSP!

[ArcadeNut]

Hmmm... I might even buy one then :-)

[Darksol]

Might be just the catalyst I need to buy one! The same week Advance Wars: Dual Strike is coming out!

[Shane R. Monroe]

I figure that will drop used DSs down to $99 or even $89 ... time to pick up a spare.

[nukinetix]

Nice ... I'll get a second one even if it's just for multiplayer mario kart :)

[Strafe]

Cool, I am planning on buying one for Advance Wars Dual Strike.

[YoshiM]

Dang....now if you're able to have multiple humans play on one copy of Animal Crossing DS, this may be a game purchase that won't make my wife's eyes roll. LOL

[Darksol]

No more guessing. The $20 dollar price drop has been confirmed for August 21st one day before the release of Nintendogs in the US.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Nintendo_Drops_Pricing_of_DS_by_20/1124211865

And Advance Wars: Dual Strike drool :)

Some really good marketing on Nintendo's part.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Oh yeah! Bring forth the scarificial puppies! Every dog has his day, and Aug 21 looks to be Nintendo's!

[baalaagaa]

Nice I might finally pick one up at that price if we get the price cut in Aus.

The DS so far in Australia has been a dud, a few of the major retailers don't even stock it anymore. The store my wife works in have had more pre orders for the PSP then they have sold DS.

The PSP will be $400 when it launches on the 1st of september & you can get a brand new PS2 with a game for $250. So I don't know why anyone in there right mind would buy a PSP.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

The DS so far in Australia has been a dud, a few of the major retailers don't even stock it anymore. The store my wife works in have had more pre orders for the PSP then they have sold DS.

That information has surprised me I thought the DS was breaking records in Austrialia and constituted a significant portion of the DS's now 6 million unit sales.

[baalaagaa]

The GBA maybe has sold 6 million but definately not the DS since it's only been about six months since it was released here

[Zaphod]

Nintendo is really weird with Australia I here, not giving them much support or attention.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

The GBA maybe has sold 6 million but definately not the DS since it's only been about six months since it was released here

My apologies, I was refering to worldwide sales figures. I read that the DS was doing very well in Australia and that a significant number of units had been sold.

[baalaagaa]

Nintendo is really weird with Australia I here, not giving them much support or attention.

I've noticed that too, there was plenty of advertising upto the release date but since then nothing.

PSP on the other hand has been plastered over everything.
It's like nintendo has given up allready :(

[chrisbid]

here is a bit of news i saw in the Digital Press forum...

GameCrazy is selling their remaining DS packages with the Metroid Prime Demo for 109.95. That particular SKU has been discontinued, but it appears that nobody has alerted employees/managers about the price drop. If you do not have a DS out, you might want to go check it out. Besides, the limited number of MP demos on the market may make it somewhat collectable.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Don't give up on Nintendo ... they are shrewed business people ...

They've managed to sell a crap load of product with very little sales dollars - all saved cash that boosts their bottom line.

I have a feeling that we'll see a LOT more push with WiFi coming as well as the "big" post-launch big N titles (like Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, etc).

There are a LOT of people getting their hands in the DS pie. Its very encouraging. People are recognizing its UNIQUE strengths and exploiting them. Stellar!

[Spin]

I for one was waiting for the right reason.
I will get a used unit!

I guess I am cheap.
or broke.
whatever.
The price drop will draw me in.
Spin

[Demolition Man]

What... so Nintendogs isn't drawing you in Spin? Come on, admit it... getting to have a virtual dog on the go doesn't appeal to you in anyway what so ever? :D

[Flare]

I for one was waiting for the right reason.
I will get a used unit!

I guess I am cheap.
or broke.
whatever.
The price drop will draw me in.
Spin
Somehow, the thought of owning a used device that contains a touch screen gives me the willies; I mean, God know how much abuse the screen has taken no? And not everybody likes to use protector screens.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Somehow, the thought of owning a used device that contains a touch screen gives me the willies; I mean, God know how much abuse the screen has taken no? And not everybody likes to use protector screens.
I gotta go with you on this one Flare ... I've seen the touch screens on the demo units ... looks like someone took a razor blade to it.

Still ... If I can see, touch, and try it ...

I dunno .. it stiill might be similar to using someone else's toothbrush ... which I actually did this weekend (Flare left it out ... mine was in my bag ...)

[Flare]

I dunno .. it stiill might be similar to using someone else's toothbrush ... which I actually did this weekend (Flare left it out ... mine was in my bag ...)
Ha... well... I showered first... so think about the last thing I washed and the first thing you washed. (blatant Friends quote) :D

[Shane R. Monroe]

Well, Nintendogs did what I thought no game could do:

Make my wife want a DS.

She is now the proud owner of an Electric Blue NDS ...

[Womp]

Well, Nintendogs did what I thought no game could do:

Make my wife want a DS.

She is now the proud owner of an Electric Blue NDS ...


Good thing too Shane, from what I understand Nintendogs has only ONE save slot. Thats pure evil IMO.

Figures it came down to $129, I got mine only a month ago.

Love it though, the screen is fantastic and playing the GBA stuff on it is like playing a whole new game again.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Good thing too Shane, from what I understand Nintendogs has only ONE save slot. Thats pure evil IMO.

Figures it came down to $129, I got mine only a month ago.

Love it though, the screen is fantastic and playing the GBA stuff on it is like playing a whole new game again.

I was an early adopter this time around - the GBA SP enforced my beliefs that Nintendo was listening to the people and doing things right (I swear they listen to my IMs and read this forum). I knew I was ready to buy into the DS.

I believe in innovation ... and I'm NOT the only one that believes that Nintendo is the only one doing it (almost EVERY interview I did at CGE, the same story was told - Nintendo is the only one doing it).

Dammit Chris ... its REALLY good to have you here

[kinglumby]

Nice I might finally pick one up at that price if we get the price cut in Aus.

The DS so far in Australia has been a dud, a few of the major retailers don't even stock it anymore. The store my wife works in have had more pre orders for the PSP then they have sold DS.

The PSP will be $400 when it launches on the 1st of september & you can get a brand new PS2 with a game for $250. So I don't know why anyone in there right mind would buy a PSP.


Not sure where you get the information from but the news on the Nintendo.au site is a little different:

Australia, Melbourne, March 2nd 2005 After it first week on sale the Nintendo DS has broken all current Australian launch sales records* for fastest selling console.

From Thursday 24th February to close of business Sunday 27th February the Nintendo DS sold through a staggering 19191** units to consumers eager to touch the future of gaming.

Nintendo Australia also reports that Super Mario 64 DSa and WarioWare<: Touched! were the two highest selling games across all formats.

We are ecstatic at the success the Nintendo DS has shown during this launch period. This is a huge result and we are delighted with it, says Rose Lappin, Director of Sales and Marketing, Nintendo Australia. We look forward to continuing the drive with some strong titles still due for launch and the great support we have received from both retailers and third party publishers.


But then again you Tasmanians were always a little Odd!!! Only joking.

I see a lot of DSs around the place and the popular games like YT&G, Zookeeper are hard to find. I have bought most of my games on Ebay. Picked up Kirby and Advance Wars Dual Strike for cheaper than Australian shops (around $58 AU). That's the beauty of being Region free. And there is no pirating yet.

[baalaagaa]

But then again you Tasmanians were always a little Odd!!! Only joking.

I see a lot of DSs around the place and the popular games like YT&G, Zookeeper are hard to find. I have bought most of my games on Ebay. Picked up Kirby and Advance Wars Dual Strike for cheaper than Australian shops (around $58 AU). That's the beauty of being Region free. And there is no pirating yet.

Hey we have two heads because we are twice as smart!

My local Kmart has heaps of those games in stock for $60-70 a pop.

20,000 in pretty lousy when according to Sony (so take it with a grain of salt) say they have that many on pre order & expect to sell 250,000 by christmas.

And they may do it to, Sony’s marketing division have done a great job promoting it. It's the latest hot gadget every kid wants one. I don’t know if you saw it but on TV about a week ago where they gave a bunch of kids aged 8-16 a DS & PSP to try. All but a couple of the kids chose the PSP over the DS saying the DS was to childish (and this is coming from ten year olds :rolleyes: ) and slagged it off because it doesn't play movies & mp3's.

It's all well & good Nintendo being innovative but that’s not going to cut it with generation gimmie. They the want newest & brightest whiz bang tech & they want it NOW for instant gratification & will toss it aside as soon as the next big thing comes along.

I'll ask the wife if she can "liberate" the real number of pre orders from Kmart stores nation wide. There has been allot of parents preordering / laybuying them for there kids for christmas. And that’s a $400 gift! I can imagine the look on parents faces if i'd asked for a $400 toy for christmas, it would be shock followed closely by laughter.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

All but a couple of the kids chose the PSP over the DS saying the DS was to childish (and this is coming from ten year olds :rolleyes: ) and slagged it off because it doesn't play movies & mp3's.

It's all well & good Nintendo being innovative but that’s not going to cut it with generation gimmie. They the want newest & brightest whiz bang tech & they want it NOW for instant gratification & will toss it aside as soon as the next big thing comes along

As sad as that sounds i think your right, thats kind of the impression i've been getting when i walk into video game stores. From customers and staff. GAME has really p*ssed me off. they gutted the DS section and put it in a dark, dingy corner at the back of the shop and made a massive PSP display that takes up a quarter of the store. Sad.

But 5.5 million DS units (or more) worldwide is still a great sign.

$129 is £72 man people in the UK get raped. Like $6.45 per gallon of petrol.

[Shane R. Monroe]

And they may do it to, Sony’s marketing division have done a great job promoting it. It's the latest hot gadget every kid wants one. I don’t know if you saw it but on TV about a week ago where they gave a bunch of kids aged 8-16 a DS & PSP to try. All but a couple of the kids chose the PSP over the DS saying the DS was to childish (and this is coming from ten year olds :rolleyes: ) and slagged it off because it doesn't play movies & mp3's.

It's all well & good Nintendo being innovative but that’s not going to cut it with generation gimmie. They the want newest & brightest whiz bang tech & they want it NOW for instant gratification & will toss it aside as soon as the next big thing comes along.
I dunno man ... I was in great fear of PSP overtaking the market - but so far, I've only seen ONE in the wild (and that is a techno early adopter geek). Conversely, I've seen at least 3 DSs in the wild and restaurants and at my martial arts class - this coming from a dude that doesn't go anywhere. When I play the DS in public, I get asked about it constantly - kids esp. seem fascinated by it. The barking of my puppy will get me MORE attention :)

Personally, I think there is room in the market for 2 dedicated gaming handhelds. Come November, the DS will be every bit able to go online, surf (apparently), etc. and it will be free of all things. When the Play Yen makes it over here, the DS will be playing MPG4 movies just as well. Via homebrew, I have a great sounding MP3 player (the sound out of the DS speakers is amazingly good) - even if it LOOKS like crap still :)

The GAMER will embrace the DS. Generation Gimmie wanting to play PS2 games on the go will embrace the PSP. That's fine. I don't really WANT my DS market polluted with Gimmie Games (although I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing Burnout Legends).

[Shane R. Monroe]

A nice release list of DS games coming this year ... My desires are bolded. Man, I'm gonna be spending cash this year ... I am so screwed ....

Aug. 22: Advance Wars: Dual Strike from Nintendo
Aug. 22: Nintendogs from Nintendo
Aug. 23: Pac n' Roll from Namco
August: Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour from Konami
Sept. 19: Tak: The Great Juju Challenge from THQ
Sept. 26: Trace Memory from Nintendo
September: Lunar Dragon Song from Ubisoft
September: Ultimate Spider-Man from Activision
Oct. 17: Scooby-Doo! Unmasked from THQ
Oct. 24: Metroid Prime Pinball from Nintendo
Oct. 24: Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires from Namco
October: Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects from Electronic Arts
October: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney from Capcom
October: Texas Hold 'Em from Majesco
October: Trauma Center: Under the Knife from Atlus
Nov. 1: SeaWorld: Shamu's Big Adventure from Activision
Nov. 1: The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer from THQ
Nov. 7: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger from THQ
Nov. 9: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from Electronic Arts
Nov. 14: Mario Kart DS from Nintendo
Nov. 28: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time from Nintendo
November: Disney's Kim Possible: Kimmunicator from Buena Vista Games
November: Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 from Atari
November: King Kong from Ubisoft
November: Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team from Capcom
November: Need for Speed: Most Wanted from Electronic Arts
November: Pac-Man World 3 from Namco
November: SBK: Snowboard Kids DS from Atlus
November: Sonic Rush from Sega
November: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe from Buena Vista Games
November: Viewtiful Joe Double Trouble from Capcom
Dec. 5: Animal Crossing from Nintendo
December: Golden Nugget Casino from Majesco
December: Ultimate Card Games from Telegames
Fall: ATV: Quad Frenzy from Majesco
Fall: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow from Konami
Fall: Dig Dug Digging Strike from Namco
Fall: Dragon Booster from Konami
Fall: Frogger: Helmet Chaos from Konami
Fall: Shrek SuperSlam from Activision
Fall: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare from Konami
Fall: The Sims 2 from Electronic Arts
Fall: Tony Hawk (working title) from Activision
Fall: Zoo Tycoon from THQ
Q4: Blades of Thunder 2 from Summitsoft
Q4: Mini RC Rally from Summitsoft
Q4: Texas Hold 'Em Poker Pack from Summitsoft
January: Age of Empires: The Age of Kings from Majesco
January: Bust-A-Move from Majesco
January: Guilty Gear Dust Strikers from Majesco
Q1 2006: Dynasty Warriors (working title) from Koei
Q1 2006: Metroid Prime Hunters from Nintendo
Q1 2006: Ultimate Brain Games from Telegames
Early 2006: Nicktoons Unite! from THQ

[Shane R. Monroe]

BTW, my wife is already hopelessly addicted to Zookeeper ... sigh ... ever heard the words "I want my own copy"? Puyo Pop Fever will be next :)

[meu2]

Initially I was disappointed to hear that Metroid Prime Hunters had been moved back to 2006 but looking at the forthcoming releases I couldn’t afford it if it came out this year! And with the extra time it might be online enabled.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Thats a hell of a list, Trace memory *points* hahaha at last a game we got before the american release. The return of the point and click yay.

I've been giving serious consideration to a japanese title called Jump Superstars (http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=252&products_id=6654&) its kind of like super smash bros with japanese anime characters. It's meant to be huge in japan, its top of the import chart on lik sang and they've even released a special edition of the DS to coincide with the launch. Check out the screenshots, wacky.

Ah and yes Pac 'n Roll here's a Gamespot review (http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/pacnroll/review.html) i'm just going to stop reading them.

[Shane R. Monroe]

No one has anything good to say about Pac & Roll, which is rather disheartening, but then again - everyoned called Yoshi Touch & Go a tech demo, so ... I don't listen to them anymore.

[Spin]

I like the quote "In the end, however, there just isn't all that much depth to Pac 'n Roll"
Little depth, Count me in.
Simple fun.

I think this will be a lot of fun.
Thank god the Pacman world is gone.
I wish the face and corney look would go but hey it looks fun.

Spin

[Womp]

No one has anything good to say about Pac & Roll, which is rather disheartening, but then again - everyoned called Yoshi Touch & Go a tech demo, so ... I don't listen to them anymore.

No way dude, I'm all over Pac N' Roll. You basically repeated earlier what I myself had thought, Marble Madness. As soon as I saw the screen shots I knew it'd be mine. Besides being a Namco whore (And a Pac-Man lovah), the whole updated Marble Madness with the "analog" stylus control has me throthing at the lips man.

BTW, you like Yoshi Touch & Go eh? I only tried the demo a few moments but maybe I'll give it another shot...It didn't really do it for me.

You got a review? :)

[Womp]

Dammit Chris ... its REALLY good to have you here

Thanks man! I've been making it onto IRC more often lately and never see you around. NE Mentioned your forum and I never realized you had one, this rocks! I love gaming talk and discussing the DS is the latest thing for me.

I love how you use the DVDTalk formula too, I like the familiarity...heh

[Womp]

BTW, my wife is already hopelessly addicted to Zookeeper ... sigh ... ever heard the words "I want my own copy"? Puyo Pop Fever will be next :)

Ditto that man. I got that damn Zookeeper and the wife was like "OOOH GIMME GIMME". Puyo Pop Fever is supposedly the best way to waste the second screen on the DS so far. Its really useless. Might be better off with the GBA version since it may be cheaper and they are basically the same game, albiet the DS has the touching aspect....hmm.

To be honest? I prefer the GBA port of Super Puzzle Fighter, excellent game using the same basic formula. Check it out, looks gorgeous on the DS screen.

[Shane R. Monroe]

No way dude, I'm all over Pac N' Roll. You basically repeated earlier what I myself had thought, Marble Madness. As soon as I saw the screen shots I knew it'd be mine. Besides being a Namco whore (And a Pac-Man lovah), the whole updated Marble Madness with the "analog" stylus control has me throthing at the lips man.

BTW, you like Yoshi Touch & Go eh? I only tried the demo a few moments but maybe I'll give it another shot...It didn't really do it for me.

You got a review? :)

Dammit, thought I'd already written one for http://reviews.monroeworld.com but I didn't ...

Here is a mini review:
http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12081&postcount=3

Heck, here is the body:

If you are expecting story, adventure, all that modern gaming goop that gets in the way of a good time - then stay the hell away. This has NO story (thank GOD), no plot, no 20 minute cut scenes. This is touch-arcade game play. The game really comes in two parts - the falling baby, and the horizontal scrolling part. The Falling Baby The baby is falling from the sky. You draw clouds on the bottom screen to help guide the falling toddler to the safe ground. Along the way, you protect him against bad guys, capture bad guys Quantum style by circling them (then hurdle them at the baby to get bonus points), and direct the baby to get coins. This is totally remenicint of BRAT on the Amiga where you basically draw and manuever a never stopping charge as they relentlessly try to kill themselves. Its fun. The Horizontal Game Mario and Yoshi constantly walk across the scrolling screen. You must protect them by stopping enemies, jumping/covering chasms, etc. Along the way - the real point of the game - SCORING POINTS!!! Remember that? Where you played a game to SCORE POINTS? That's what this game is all about. You can draw clouds formations to guide Yoshi around (up in the air, over chasms, and even slow him down a bit). You can also capture enemies, coins, etc. with circle formations, and throw them at Yoshi to collect. Tapping the screen anywhere will throw an egg that way, and the egg follows through to the top screen (scoring coins, killing enemies, etc). Your eggs will run out - eating fruit will get you more, either by Yoshi touching it, or you hitting it (causing it to fall to the ground where you eventually eat it) with an egg, or encircling it in a cloud and tossing it to Yoshi. Sometimes, you make clouds you don't want (or screwed up making a circle). Blow on the screen, and the clouds blow away! Dayom .... owns. What makes this game crazy is that you can easily get to the goal - but the goal isn't the point here. You can get from point A to B without doing anything but BASIC protection - and have ZERO points at the end. Or, you can play the game MAD FURY and shoot, snag, kill, maime, and go NUTS grabbing points - which is where this game rules. You get out of this game what you put into it. I haven't played the multiplayer game yet, but I'll let you know. The game oozes with style. The demo modes are KICK ASS - showing you EXACTLY how to play. And ... if this wasn't all enough ... the GOOD DEAL first party game regular price of $29.99 makes this a ZERO BRAINER to pick up.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Thanks man! I've been making it onto IRC more often lately and never see you around. NE Mentioned your forum and I never realized you had one, this rocks! I love gaming talk and discussing the DS is the latest thing for me.

I love how you use the DVDTalk formula too, I like the familiarity...heh
Well, you ARE like my digital brother ... man, the good times we've had through the years ...

Yeah, I like VBulletin ... $65 a year kinda sucks, but they are on top of things and the admin screens kick the ass out of everything free. I don't mind paying for quality.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Puyo Pop Fever is supposedly the best way to waste the second screen on the DS so far. Its really useless. Might be better off with the GBA version since it may be cheaper and they are basically the same game, albiet the DS has the touching aspect....hmm.

To be honest? I prefer the GBA port of Super Puzzle Fighter, excellent game using the same basic formula. Check it out, looks gorgeous on the DS screen.

I've compared both versions of Puyo Pop - you're right about the waste of screen, and honestly, the touch aspect rather gets in the way (its no Meteos).

BUT, the audio is like tons better, and I didn't already own it - and at $29, I'd be damn surprised if I could buy it new for that on the GBA.

Let's not be coy ... Super Puzzle Fighter kicks MAJOR ASS on the GBA, I play it alot too. I've been playing that Polarium. I've never been good at that sort of game ... the 'toggle' stuff ... like Lights Out. I'm not Powder .. I can't see patterns like that ... that's like ... work or something. Might as well play Everquest and sell bones all day... oh, wait... that's Larry Kaplan (in his part 2 interview this month). American Farmer, the Video Game ...

Hands down the BEST puzzle game right now is Scrabble Blast (http://www.zoodigitalpublishing.com/site/index.php?page=product&platid=6&id=158) GBA ... bastard owns my soul Satan style. It was on sale for $9!!!! so I picked it up and man ... what a game. Talk about interrupting my sleep patterns. I'm waiting for Ultimate Card Games DS so I can play Spades with humans online ...

Thank god for Nintendogs to break the spell.

[Bill_Loguidice]

Well, I've had my DS since Monday - it's the silverish one with the Metroid demo. I haven't touched the Metroid demo (I played it in a kiosk when the system was first released - I'll try it eventually), but that's because I bought Kirby Canvas Curse. GREAT game, lots of fun and it makes perfect use of the capabilities of the system. Nintendo knows how to polish a platformer and the stylus technique is inspired.

With that said, I am a *bit* dissapointed with the screen(s) quality. It's not even in the same ballpark as the PSP screen and it seems to pick up harsh glare much more, especially at my work's flourescent lighting. I *do* like - despite the comparitive ugliness of the design overall - the spread out nature of the standard controls. I was never a fan of playing games a lot on my SP, as my hands were too close together, but couldn't go back to the regular GBA as that lacked the all important light to - you know - actually see what I was playing. So that's a big plus for the DS in my book. I also like how you can have a DS and GBA game loaded at the same time (though again, it would have been REALLY nice for it to be able to play pre-GBA games too so I wouldn't have to worry about the SP).

I also recently got an N-Gage QD, but have not had a chance to get to any of the games, though there are some intriguing ones in there. What little time I've had with the controls, despite the diminuitive size, it seems fairly comfortable. With that in mind, I suppose the GB Micro might have some hope, but I see little reason for its existence still other than to take away from the DS...

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

This seems a decent place to put this.

Resident evil Remake on the DS (RE4 style) (http://forum.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=60438)

Apologies for the forum link but there's some good pics about half way down the page.

Yep Kirby is a superb game, can't put it down.

[Shane R. Monroe]

With that said, I am a *bit* dissapointed with the screen(s) quality. It's not even in the same ballpark as the PSP screen and it seems to pick up harsh glare much more, especially at my work's flourescent lighting.
Screen protectors solve the glare problem as well as protecting the screens. I recommend 'em.


I also like how you can have a DS and GBA game loaded at the same time (though again, it would have been REALLY nice for it to be able to play pre-GBA games too so I wouldn't have to worry about the SP).
The solution here is a $50 flashcart to hold an emulator and games on. Truly, it makes more sense to have a GBA cart filled with your GB/C games than to port those big bastages around with you.


With that in mind, I suppose the GB Micro might have some hope, but I see little reason for its existence still other than to take away from the DS...
I'm going to convince Jeri Ellsworth to make us a C64 swap board for the GBA Micro so I can have a portable C64 with great screen :)

I really don't mind the style of the DS - it all makes sense from a functionality point of view. The PSP SCREAMS to be scratched (Yeah, you're going to carry that special cloth bag around all the time). I MUCH prefer the clamshell. I find the NDS speakers actually better than the PSPs (granted I've only used the PSP a few times). The homebrew MP3 player kicking around sounds MAGNIFICENT - so does Mario 64DS too. Games that make use of it, damn, the surround pseudo thing works damn good. I usually don't play with sound, and when I do, its nothing short of amazing (certainly miles better than the GBA).

[Shane R. Monroe]

This seems a decent place to put this.

Resident evil Remake on the DS (RE4 style) (http://forum.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=60438)

Apologies for the forum link but there's some good pics about half way down the page.

Yep Kirby is a superb game, can't put it down.

Good deal ... I'm almost done with RE4 now, need a new survival game :)

Glad you're enjoying Kirby .. I'm about 5 worlds in ... taking my time ... gettin' da coins ...

[Womp]

The speakers really surprised the hell out of me when I got the thing. If you want a nice demo of the sound this thing can put out, slap in Meteos, great stuff!

I've had Kirby since the day I bought it, but I also had Meteos and Mario 64 as well and damnit Meteos ate up all my time. I am saving Kirby for later on to tackle as I've only played it for a bit.

[Zaphod]

Screen protectors solve the glare problem as well as protecting the screens. I recommend 'em.


The solution here is a $50 flashcart to hold an emulator and games on. Truly, it makes more sense to have a GBA cart filled with your GB/C games than to port those big bastages around with you.


Brilliant! I never thought of that, stupid me. Need to get some screen protecters too. Now if I could only get it to connect to my GC I could just get rid of my GBA (not that I ever would understand, I would just put it in storage, games and hardware should never be sold).

[Bill_Loguidice]

One of the things in my "starter bundle" for the DS were screen protectors for the top and bottom screen. The glare is still a bit rough. On the plus side, I like having GBA games play on the top screen - even with the letterboxing it seems superior to the SP and again, the controls are generally better on the DS compared to the SP, at least for me (though I'll need a little time to get used to the DS triggers and weight). I don't need one for the PSP because I don't touch the screen and yes, always keep it in the "cloth bag". I just left the pseudo screen protector that came on the N-Gage QD from the factory, so that I'll just toss into my bag. The QD is built more durably anyway than either the DS or PSP, simply because of its form factor and phone nature.

Emulation is not a factor for me on the go. I have plenty of commercial games to keep me occupied. I may experiment on the QD a bit, since I have a flash card for that (so it's free) and a utility CD, but unless the PSP's 2.0 firmware gets hacked, I'm not going to bother on either the PSP or DS due to the hassle and extra cost (on the DS).

[batwinky]

i bought five new games to ds today:

Nanostray
Meteos
Kirby Canvas Curse
Nintendogs Dachshund & Friends
Advance Wars Dual Strike

so i am looking forward to many hours of playing ;O)

[Gamemaster_ca_2003]

A nice release list of DS games coming this year ... My desires are bolded. Man, I'm gonna be spending cash this year ... I am so screwed ....

Aug. 22: Advance Wars: Dual Strike from Nintendo
Aug. 22: Nintendogs from Nintendo
Aug. 23: Pac n' Roll from Namco
August: Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour from Konami
Sept. 19: Tak: The Great Juju Challenge from THQ
Sept. 26: Trace Memory from Nintendo
September: Lunar Dragon Song from Ubisoft
September: Ultimate Spider-Man from Activision
Oct. 17: Scooby-Doo! Unmasked from THQ
Oct. 24: Metroid Prime Pinball from Nintendo
Oct. 24: Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires from Namco
October: Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects from Electronic Arts
October: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney from Capcom
October: Texas Hold 'Em from Majesco
October: Trauma Center: Under the Knife from Atlus
Nov. 1: SeaWorld: Shamu's Big Adventure from Activision
Nov. 1: The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer from THQ
Nov. 7: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger from THQ
Nov. 9: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from Electronic Arts
Nov. 14: Mario Kart DS from Nintendo
Nov. 28: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time from Nintendo
November: Disney's Kim Possible: Kimmunicator from Buena Vista Games
November: Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 from Atari
November: King Kong from Ubisoft
November: Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team from Capcom
November: Need for Speed: Most Wanted from Electronic Arts
November: Pac-Man World 3 from Namco
November: SBK: Snowboard Kids DS from Atlus
November: Sonic Rush from Sega
November: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe from Buena Vista Games
November: Viewtiful Joe Double Trouble from Capcom
Dec. 5: Animal Crossing from Nintendo
December: Golden Nugget Casino from Majesco
December: Ultimate Card Games from Telegames
Fall: ATV: Quad Frenzy from Majesco
Fall: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow from Konami
Fall: Dig Dug Digging Strike from Namco
Fall: Dragon Booster from Konami
Fall: Frogger: Helmet Chaos from Konami
Fall: Shrek SuperSlam from Activision
Fall: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare from Konami
Fall: The Sims 2 from Electronic Arts
Fall: Tony Hawk (working title) from Activision
Fall: Zoo Tycoon from THQ
Q4: Blades of Thunder 2 from Summitsoft
Q4: Mini RC Rally from Summitsoft
Q4: Texas Hold 'Em Poker Pack from Summitsoft
January: Age of Empires: The Age of Kings from Majesco
January: Bust-A-Move from Majesco
January: Guilty Gear Dust Strikers from Majesco
Q1 2006: Dynasty Warriors (working title) from Koei
Q1 2006: Metroid Prime Hunters from Nintendo
Q1 2006: Ultimate Brain Games from Telegames
Early 2006: Nicktoons Unite! from THQ

Ok 2 Questions

1. Where is Intellivision Lives
2. Why are you exicited about The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Ok 2 Questions

1. Where is Intellivision Lives
2. Why are you exicited about The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Intellivision Lives will ship by Christmas (I pilfered this list - it isn't on there).

And dude, Narnia is a hack & slash game ... Like Diablo or Champions of Norrath. I'm a BONE DEAD SUCKER for those kinda games...

[Womp]

Intellivision Lives will ship by Christmas (I pilfered this list - it isn't on there).

And dude, Narnia is a hack & slash game ... Like Diablo or Champions of Norrath. I'm a BONE DEAD SUCKER for those kinda games...

HOLY ****!! Its like Diablo!? I didn't know this...Dude, online?? :eek:

If Diablo made it to the DS online, well, I'd hate to be that pair of underwear I was wearing when the news came out. :D

[Shane R. Monroe]

HOLY ****!! Its like Diablo!? I didn't know this...Dude, online?? :eek:

If Diablo made it to the DS online, well, I'd hate to be that pair of underwear I was wearing when the news came out. :D

Not online, but LAN. Blizzard is apparently going to try a DS game ..

[Womp]

Not online, but LAN. Blizzard is apparently going to try a DS game ..

Ahh, damn...

I did read that blurb about Blizzard the other month stating they had sent out cards asking if people would be interested in seeing their products on the DS. I hope it happens.

[Womp]

Intellivision Lives will ship by Christmas (I pilfered this list - it isn't on there).

Intellivision Lives, while OK, is IMO only worth it for Biplanes, Night Stalker and Astrosmash. A lot of the others just haven't aged too well, and these are games I STILL have the carts, boxes and overlays for in my closet. Using the DS touch pad would probably make it better for games like Sea Battle or Utopia which I would hope would have 2 player linking for, but I won't hold my breath as these companies have been friggin lazy.

Bottom line, Intellivision Lives is but a faded memory of itself without the Imagic and Coleco **** in there. Simply adding Demon Attack and Atlantis into that bundle (With the possible inclusion of the excellent Lock N' Chase port) would have me dancing in the daisies. Those two games were radically different on the INTV than the 2600 versions with graphics comparable to an actual arcade machine at the time. A LOT more substance and amazing stuff going on there. Atlantis had that little mini saucer you could launch when all hope was lost for that one final chance of saving the game. And Demon Attack, when that mother ship that took up the screen appeared.... :eek:

Nothing compares...I am so glad my dad opted for the INTV when I was a kid, fun times. He recently found INTV Lives for the Gamecube at Toys R Us for $5, we came home and played goddamn Biplanes for about an hour and a half. That game STILL owns us. INTV and C64 were the 2 biggies for me, unlike most people my age groomed on 2600 or NES.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Intellivision Lives, while OK, is IMO only worth it for Biplanes, Night Stalker and Astrosmash. A lot of the others just haven't aged too well, and these are games I STILL have the carts, boxes and overlays for in my closet. Using the DS touch pad would probably make it better for games like Sea Battle or Utopia which I would hope would have 2 player linking for, but I won't hold my breath as these companies have been friggin lazy.
I'll see if I can get the final games list ... As far as I know, there will be 2 player linked versions.


Bottom line, Intellivision Lives is but a faded memory of itself without the Imagic and Coleco **** in there. Simply adding Demon Attack and Atlantis into that bundle (With the possible inclusion of the excellent Lock N' Chase port) would have me dancing in the daisies.
We'll see. Intellivision suffered from lack of third party, licensed titles IMHO. Enhanced ports of other games is really the power of the Inty.


Nothing compares...I am so glad my dad opted for the INTV when I was a kid, fun times. He recently found INTV Lives for the Gamecube at Toys R Us for $5, we came home and played goddamn Biplanes for about an hour and a half. That game STILL owns us. INTV and C64 were the 2 biggies for me, unlike most people my age groomed on 2600 or NES.

Colecovision and C64 for me, brotha.

I think Intellivision Lives for the DS will be a great experience - esp. if the price is right.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I've been giving serious consideration to a japanese title called Jump Superstars (http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=252&products_id=6654&) its kind of like super smash bros with japanese anime characters. It's meant to be huge in japan, its top of the import chart on lik sang and they've even released a special edition of the DS to coincide with the launch. Check out the screenshots, wacky

quoting myself, how sad.

Yep Jump superstars has reached number 1 in japan hell of an honour, also the two now famous non games gentle brain excercise and brain training for adults are making a strong come back after dropping a few weeks ago.

Hardware wise well wow, the DS sales have rocketed to over 100 thousand units in a week (possibly due to JSS and the DS special edition) thats almost as much as all the other console sales combined.

http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=8134

[Shane R. Monroe]

I'll be curious to see how Nintendogs affected US sales this month.

[Demolition Man]

If its any indication at my store its helped out quite a bit so far with DS hardware sales. :D

But we'll see....

[Bill_Loguidice]

If its any indication at my store its helped out quite a bit so far with DS hardware sales. :D

But we'll see....

It will be interesting, but then we'll have to compare it to the PSP's first big software title, Grand Theft Auto. The DS has certainly used its time to market advantage well of late, with some killer titles that the PSP has yet to match.

[Shane R. Monroe]

If anything will put PSPs into people's hands en masse, it will be GTA doing it.

Honestly, GTA SA really ended my desire to keep playing the series.

[Demolition Man]

Who knows... maybe the next GTA can be a 1960s themed game. ;)

[Shane R. Monroe]

That sort of thing could save the franchise. Give me a goddamn 20's gangster game ... tommy guns, the whole works. I'd be down for that ...

[Zaphod]

Arn't people getting tired of GTA yet? Yah, 3 was great, and VC added some interesting content, but SA is just a snooze. With the PSP version they are going back to liberty city (GTA 3). Will anyone play this in public seeing as there is so much violence in it? I could see a lot of mad mothers when some punk teenager shows the thing to their 6 year old.

[Bill_Loguidice]

Will anyone play this in public seeing as there is so much violence in it? I could see a lot of mad mothers when some punk teenager shows the thing to their 6 year old.

I don't think that's the best indicator of a game's value. Let the parents parent and let any game be released. We have a ratings system in place, so let's just let the marketplace decide what's worthwhile, not the valuable innocence of our children. I can protect my daughter from the "evils" of gaming just fine on my own thank you. No need for me to tell other people what they can or can't play.

[Shane R. Monroe]

GTA has an image to uphold; that's senselessly killing hookers at your hideout. I'm a big fan.

However, GTA on the PSP is really the poster child of my belief that the PSP offers really nothing new to gamers other than portability.

At least when I get the same old crap on the DS, they at least TRY to add something of value to it. Even THE URBZ which is merely a c*&^hair above the GBA cousin gives us an 'always available' UI with faster, easier touch screen controls. Anyone that plays these games will unmistakeably be grateful to avoid always bringing up that DAMN UI.

I guess what really bothers me the most about the PSP is that there really isn't new territory to explore except MAYBE wifi play.

Yet, every month or two I'm being astounded at what the DS developers are figuring out to do with the unique hardware combo of the DS. Nintendogs is a perfect example of pure f'ing magic at work. Even if you aren't interested in virtual pets, you HAVE to just sit there with your mouth open watching someone with a well trained dog at the Obedience competition responding directly to word of mouth.

Once developers really get good at this, we're going to see all kinds of CRAZY sh*t. I can see Nanostray's sequel - complete with voice recognition to change weapons (since everyone hated the touch screen selector). I'd kill to see like Psi-5 Trading Company with a stylus control interface and voice commands to make the robots repair. Really, if done right, voice recognition and stylus input can benefit almost ANY game if executed properly (ignore Echelon and the LipStik). Imagine like Gradius where you can select your next powerup to use by voice ... or save your game without rolling through a dozen screens just by saying "Save Game" .. arming your fighter just by saying the name of your weapon ... Can you imagine a Baulder's Gate style game where inventory is controlled with a touch screen vice all that scrolling around? Can you imagine Resident Evil 4's 'attache case restructuring' system using a touch pad vice basically playing Tetris to make all your crap fit?

I dunno .. I haven't really been overly excited about video games in awhile. The DS excites me.

[Bill_Loguidice]

My problem with using the microphone in DS games as a primary control mechanism is that that limits the portability of the device for me. It's one thing for me to be blowing and talking into the DS at home, it's quite another to be doing that in public, where sometimes silence is quite a necessity.

[Shane R. Monroe]

My problem with using the microphone in DS games as a primary control mechanism is that that limits the portability of the device for me. It's one thing for me to be blowing and talking into the DS at home, it's quite another to be doing that in public, where sometimes silence is quite a necessity.
You make a good point ... I've gotten a couple of weird looks for training my dog in public. Of course, its a great conversation opener and always draws admiration for the DS all around :)

I use Nintendogs as a PFM game because even if you WERE in a library where you couldn't scream ROLL OVER when you needed to, there are plenty of things you can do in total silence (taking a long ass walk, basic care and feeding, even two of the three competitions do not require voice recognition.

This is what I mean by "well done". The difference between "Gimmick" (again, see Echelon/Lipstik) and "well done" (Nintendogs) is thinking things through and making the best use of technology without overdepending on it. Even Warioware Touched allows you to play non-mic games (granted if you play any of the mixes, you'll going to run into it).

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I've been trully amased at the use of the microphone in two games. The first being Nintendogs, superb I havn't had a single problem in terms of voice recognition when i say sit the little b*stard sits everytime. Increadibly well implemented.

The second is Yoshi Touch & Go, damn what genius thought of using the microphone like that, you blow the clouds away how elegant.

As to using the microphone out in the wild, yes I do feel self conscious which is why I tend to take games which rarly use it. Glad i've got it with me though esp on those 3 hour doctors waiting times kthnx NHS.

[Shane R. Monroe]

The second is Yoshi Touch & Go, damn what genius thought of using the microphone like that, you blow the clouds away how elegant.
I gotta say that blowing away the clouds is one of my fondest early memories of the DS. I was just blown away ... (no pun) ... and before Nintendogs it was one of the most impressive things to do around a non-believer.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I tell you somthing i've seen the DS have a wonderful effect on people, My dad who enjoys the occasional rampage on GTA, loves electroplankton he hooked it up to the PC and spent ages on it recording stuff. And when i showed him nintendogs (the voice commands and bubble toy) he couldn't beileve it

Now this happened at the Gamestation in tamworth, an elderly couple took a DS bundle to the counter (£129 with mario 64 and another game of your choice ;) ) made the transaction and the guy said "oh thier gonna love this" possibly refering to a grandchild "oh no" replies the customer "this is for me" now there's an untapped market for nintendo.

Edit: Ah i almost forgot, if you want to impress people whip out Pac pix everyone loves that game.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Pac pix makes people want to touch the DS ... I've seen it time and again...

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Pac pix makes people want to touch the DS ... I've seen it time and again...

I still havn't completed all of the chapters damn 8th.

Great story how the game came about, The DS 'Inspired' them to create the game. How lovely

and just think those are the kind of games were getting now what are they going to be like in 2-3 years time

[Shane R. Monroe]

Oh yeah .. we're still first generation games.

Nothing is more fun than making a retarded pacman and turning him loose ...

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Well done nintendo for not missing this trick,

A new channel 4 program Its me or the Dog (http://www.ricochet.co.uk/html/progs/progs-meorthedog.htm) where unruley canines and there owners are trained by dog training expert Victoria Stilwell which is to air on wednesday is sponsered by guess what....can you guess....Nintendogs.

I have no idea how this Nintendo DS channel 4 tie up came about but i'm glad to see them really pushing it, as i have mentioned before the entire channel 4 line up is sponserec by the nintendo DS

[Shane R. Monroe]

The sheer amount of tie in capabilities with Nintendogs is almost grossly underestimated. Seriously, you could tie that into almost anything. I can see dog shows all over the world being sponsored ... dog tracks ... hell, with an unlockable dalmation - I can see it being "FireFighter's Best Friend" ...

People constantly question Nintendo's seeming lack of advertisements ... its hard to buy publicity like this.

If Nintendo wanted to really take advantage, they'd drop a cargo box filled with 1000 fully charged Nintendo DSs on the Superdome where all the refugees from Hurricane Katrina are huddled up without power, rescuing. The side of the crate could have big Nintendog logos with something like "This puppy can't be killed by a hurricane".

Damn, bad taste eh? Its just been that kind of morning ...

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Ever wanted to be a male cheer leader?

http://www.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/ouendan/preview_6132078.html

I suppose if you like rhythm games this might be for you.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

This is one for the Uk DS owners :p

I basically sent I splooging love letter to Nintendo's service centre, with one of the questions being about release dates, as it seems every single game store makes up there own lists.

They sent back a great email with the set in stone, 100% official 1st party pal release dates.

METEOS - 23/9/05
Advance Wars: Dual Strike - 30/9/05
Nintendogs - 7/10/05
Mario Kart DS - 11/11/05
Touch Golf - 18/11/05 - hello, hello whats this?
Kirby: Power Paintbrush - 25/11/05

[Shane R. Monroe]

Touch Golf: http://ds.ign.com/objects/748/748544.html

[Shane R. Monroe]

Touch Golf Video (http://media.ds.ign.com/media/748/748544/vid_1122096.html?mu=http%3A%2F%2Fstreamingmovies.i gn.com%2Fds%2Farticle%2F614%2F614966%2Ftouchgolf_0 51705_01_wmvlow.wmv)

Here is a direct link to the video .... I really like Tiger Woods drive style ... I dunno about this one ... But I'm a video game golf slut, so I'll probably have it.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Thanks for the link, looking great.That one must have slipped the radar.

Speaking of tiger woods is it worth getting?

[Shane R. Monroe]

I totally like Tiger Woods ... I hate that EA made it and that I contributed to their coffers, but it was one of the only early games, and I love golf ... so I got it.

Graphically, they could have done a BIT more with it - no doubts. But everything else is good. Lots of courses, love the drive and putt system, lots of replay with purchasing golfer enhancements ... I'd TOTALLY recommend it.

I would also recommend going USED ... as it is one of the more pricey titles for the DS.

[Bill_Loguidice]

Yes, it's funny how EA has the highest priced games on both the DS and PSP. I wonder if they'll continue the trend on Xbox 360...

[Shane R. Monroe]

Yes, it's funny how EA has the highest priced games on both the DS and PSP. I wonder if they'll continue the trend on Xbox 360...
They finally got beat ... MADAGASCAR retails for $39!!! ON THE DS!!!!

I can PERSONALLY assure anyone (including myself) that it ain't worth $40 without even playing it.

Here is a review (http://ds.ign.com/articles/623/623086p1.html).

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

They finally got beat ... MADAGASCAR retails for $39!!! ON THE DS!!!!

Yep its the highest price DS game over here aswell, $64.50 can you say raped?

[Demolition Man]

I would also recommend going USED ... as it is one of the more pricey titles for the DS.

EBGames.com had it awhile ago new for $9.99 but they sadly just raised it back up to $29.99. They do have it preplayed for $14.99 but after seeing it go new for less I'd give it a month or two before its available at most retailers for at least $9.99.

[Shane R. Monroe]

BAHAHAHAH.. I picked up Yu-Gi-Oh for the DS (I used to love computer based MAGIC THE GATHERING, and this looked similar) and saw Madagascar has been dropped TEN BUCKS to $29.99 .. no DUH ... make it 12.99 ... :)

[Womp]

Touch Golf Video (http://media.ds.ign.com/media/748/748544/vid_1122096.html?mu=http%3A%2F%2Fstreamingmovies.i gn.com%2Fds%2Farticle%2F614%2F614966%2Ftouchgolf_0 51705_01_wmvlow.wmv)

Here is a direct link to the video .... I really like Tiger Woods drive style ... I dunno about this one ... But I'm a video game golf slut, so I'll probably have it.

That looks sweet! I heard about this but this is the first time I've seen it in action, it looks quite cool although I'll wait for a review.

I've always been a big fan of the Hot Shots series on PSX and Mario Golf so I would love to get a good golf game for the DS. Tiger Woods wasn't looking all that for me.

[Bill_Loguidice]

I've always been a big fan of the Hot Shots series on PSX and Mario Golf so I would love to get a good golf game for the DS. Tiger Woods wasn't looking all that for me.

I actually prefer Hot Shots Golf on the PSP over Hot Shots Golf on the PS2. If you really want a Tiger Woods game, the portable format may not make the most sense, particularly on the DS. I think as with most games on the DS, a golf game designed around the systems unique abilities make the most sense.

I'll become very excited when the online features for the DS kick in, making a lot of competitive games all the more attractive for me.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I'll become very excited when the online features for the DS kick in, making a lot of competitive games all the more attractive for me.
I think this is the biggest difference between you and I Bill. You want to play with other people - I really don't. It definitely seems to drive your favored directions.

Maybe with the right games on the right platform, I'll warm up to it. I do plan on getting Ultimate Card Games DS online.

[Bill_Loguidice]

No, it is not a driving force for me. However, with my wife only willing to play on the occasional blue moon and limited access to friends, online is really the only way I can get close to human competition when I desire it.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Yep its the highest price DS game over here aswell, $64.50 can you say raped?

dosn't stop people buying it though, morons

Elspa UK DS chart (http://www.elspa.com/about/charts/charts.asp?d=20050827&chartType=34)

[Darksol]

I think this is the biggest difference between you and I Bill. You want to play with other people - I really don't. It definitely seems to drive your favored directions.

Maybe with the right games on the right platform, I'll warm up to it. I do plan on getting Ultimate Card Games DS online.

Playing with a group of friends is desired off-line AND on-line. Who wants to put with a some whiny brat kid playing Halo online asking his mom for chocolate milk :)?

[Bill_Loguidice]

You're absolutely right, Darksol. Of course "friends lists" help a bit and I suppose it is important to try and play with NEW people - you never know who you'll end up befriending. I'm intrigued by the added features to online matchmaking for the Xbox 360, which will have further levels of grouping and a more refined tattle-tale system. It's all progress towards making online gaming more tolerable and I hope some of that can translate to the handheld arena as well.

[Darksol]

You're absolutely right, Darksol. Of course "friends lists" help a bit and I suppose it is important to try and play with NEW people - you never know who you'll end up befriending. I'm intrigued by the added features to online matchmaking for the Xbox 360, which will have further levels of grouping and a more refined tattle-tale system. It's all progress towards making online gaming more tolerable and I hope some of that can translate to the handheld arena as well.

I am all up for meeting new people, but once I get a core group together I'll stick with them until I need to go get a new group of people. IMs like Xfire supposedly help you with this kind of 'buddy' system. I don't play enough PC games online otherwise I would using Xfire all the time. I still like going to LAN parties with people that I KNOW.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

damn september's a good month for DS releases in the UK (release dates based on the always reliable Gameplay.com)

Zoo tycoon, Ok the pc version wasn't great but if they do it well on the DS it could be good, out 9th september. quite a few pre orders on this as well

Meteos at last, really looking foward to this one 23rd september, a ton of preorders on this (well duh)

Castlevania: Dawn of sorrow, oooo this could be superb, 30th september.

Advance wars: Dual Strike, castlevania and this on the same day damn :D I loved the first GBA one and this is meant to be even better, no brainer (or is it?)

Megaman Battle Network 5 - Double Team, to be honest I havn't got a clue about this one, apart from its a card battler set in the megaman universe, out on the 16th september

Madden 06, Meh 30th september

Fifa 06 30th september, Now i'm not sure what to make of this one, I'm not a huge fan of the Fifa series (i'm a pro evo man) but if this is done well (built from ground up and differn't gameplay than the console versions) it could be a must get, if its just a lazy port with some ghey touch screen after thoughts no thanks. Also if you want more of the general gamers in the UK to be more interested in the DS this is the right way to do. Put footbal manager (formaly championship manager) on there as well and Nintendo wouldn't be able to keep up with demand.

For you guys in the US I cannot overstate how popular football manager is 15 to 50 year old's play it, groups of friends have all nighters on it (speaking from experince) the biggest commercial radio station in the UK talksport with a regular audience of 10 million listeners raves about it. with the touch screen interface it would be a marvel on the DS I just hope the collyer brothers and sega see fit to release it (so I can get leeds promoted, aint gonna happen :p )

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, penciled very lightly in for 16th september, oh sh*t what am I going to do, we've had a month and a half of no releases then all this happens, This game is firmly on my list oh well looks like i'm going to have to choose carefully. I can't wait to look like a nob shouting 'Objection!' into the DS.

Dynasty Warriors 30th september, If you believe that release date you'll believe anything

Big Mutha Truckers another one for the 30th september and again, I don't believe it

Edit: A couple of things, I bought Mr Driller DS for £13 what a great game to just nip in and out of and bargin at that price (part of blockbusters get rid of anything nintendo offer) and Crash team racing (http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/productpage.asp?productcode=DS0068&title=crash_tag_team_racing) is coming out for the DS (UK release date 28th october) could be great.

[batwinky]

i bought five new games to ds today:

Nanostray
Meteos
Kirby Canvas Curse
Nintendogs Dachshund & Friends
Advance Wars Dual Strike

so i am looking forward to many hours of playing ;O)

got the games today and so far i have played mostley with nintendogs and meteso but kirby and advance wars is also nice, i haven't played nanostray enough to have an opinion on it yet

[Demolition Man]

Playing with a group of friends is desired off-line AND on-line. Who wants to put with a some whiny brat kid playing Halo online asking his mom for chocolate milk :)?

I would so I can laugh at him. :eek:

[baalaagaa]

I finally caved in & purchased a DS & an import copy of nintendogs. That game is more addictive than crack! Once the wife had a go it was over for me, I cant get the thing off her! looks like I’ll be buying another ds.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Nintendo DS USB access point at Play.com (http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=search&searchtype=allproducts&searchstring=Nintendo+DS+USB&page=search&Go.x=47&Go.y=6)

Released on the same day as mario kart in the UK.

Latest japanese multiformat sales figures (http://www.m-create.com/eng/e_ranking.html)

Looking good, 4 DS games in the top 10 and great to see castlevania there, assuming that the UK release date stays the same its pretty good how fast they've managed to get it over here.

and the two edutainment games are still there, amazing.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Hey, I played the E3 demo of that Brain Game ... it kicks ass ... its no wonder its on the charts ... not here though ... Intelligence is a crippling attribute in this country ...

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Gamespots fall DS accessory guide (http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-x-2538-x-x-x&body_pagenum=1)

Quite useful, its a shame most of the items listed won't appear in the UK.

and this Transformers style DS armour grrrrr (http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-b6-70-pax.html)

[Shane R. Monroe]

Heh ... my kid got the Nintendogs skin for her DS ... I think she put it on wrong - it won't close all the way now heh ...

While most of these accessories fall into the 'consumerware goofy crap' there are some nice gems in here.

And that "5 hour battery life" simply isn't accurate. I get a LOT more time on my charge.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

And that "5 hour battery life" simply isn't accurate. I get a LOT more time on my charge.

Yeah same here, I dont know where they got that from. I'm amazed how many hours I get from playing the GBA games. Finger tip stylus? eh no thanks.

Edit: Oh by the way well done to any northen island fans *davykelly* here, wasn't sven on top of things :rolleyes: . Oh well at least we've still got the cricket 4 wickets already oh sh*t :p

[Demolition Man]

I usually get about 7 hours on my DS. Given the fact that its using two screens I'm very impressed. :D

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Super Monkey Ball DS (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/07/news_6132697.html)

I think we all knew it was coming but its nice to see it confirmed.

Edit: I remember someone (possibly shane) talking about the possibilty of using a DS game card and GBA cart together well here's what I think is the first example of just that DS Daigasso! Band Brothers request selection (http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9g-70-xpy.html) it basically adds tracks to those already in the game.

[Womp]

Yeah same here, I dont know where they got that from. I'm amazed how many hours I get from playing the GBA games. Finger tip stylus? eh no thanks.

Edit: Oh by the way well done to any northen island fans *davykelly* here, wasn't sven on top of things :rolleyes: . Oh well at least we've still got the cricket 4 wickets already oh sh*t :p

I actually have a Mad Catz finger tip stylus that I stumbled upon at WalMart during an emergency trip for toothpaste one day. It was $3.99 so I thought, "What the hell?" and snagged it. It cups over the base of your thumb and velcro's around, nothing much to it. You'd be surprised to know its really quite good for a game like Super Mario 64, I honestly don't think I'd be able to play it as well without it.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I love the included thumb shield that comes with the DS ... I can't play SM64 or similar games without it.

[Womp]

I love the included thumb shield that comes with the DS ... I can't play SM64 or similar games without it.

That thing is fine, but this is more accurate, its got a point and allows you to actually SEE the screen below it if need be.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Hmmm... I might have to look into it .. of course, its another thing to LOSE ... the thumb shield is right there ...

[gondar]

I finally bought a DS, it's absolutely mad I tell you. Damn you all for recommending it, now I don't get so much work done ;)

I bought Super Mario DS 64, Another Code ,Yoshi's Touch and Go and got the Metroid demo with the machine. Another Code was a bit of a let down, finished it the first day. Very cool puzzles however. The mini games in Super Mario frigging 0wnz, and I just can't get enough of Yoshi.

I would have picked up Nintendogs and Kirby a long time ago, they have however not been released here in Sweden yet :( . Guess I'll just pick them up later.

I'm already thinking about picking up one more DS, but I guess I'll wait until there are more multi player games out (again we're talking Sweden here).

Shane (or anyone else that have tried it), how good is Tiger Woods on the DS?

[Shane R. Monroe]

Welcome to the world of DS!

The minigames in Mario kick major ass ... I love the slingshot paratrooper game.

And kudos on the Yoshi - I think its HELLA fun. Now, you need Meteos. Brilliant multi-play. Yoshi is good multiplay, so is Mario (for awhile). Episode III is the BOMB multiplay. Ridge Racer ain't bad. Nintendogs works great multiplayer so you can trade cart exclusives and puppy breeds.

I really enjoy Tiger Woods. I think the drive system is brilliant, graphics are good enough, and the courses are abundant. Tons of stats to buy into. My only bitch (other than supporting EA) is the price is too high - but its dropped and the used price is like 17.99 which is JUST FINE for the game. I like it alot.

[gondar]

Welcome to the world of DS!

The minigames in Mario kick major ass ... I love the slingshot paratrooper game.
Thank you, and hey... that's my favorite too. Of course I have not unlocked more than the extra Yoshi games yet ;)

What surprised me the most was that I actually enjoyed the Metroid demo. I usually really HATE that sort of games. I can't explain it better than for once I felt I was in control. I guess the way you control games does that much of a difference (Robotron, Outrun, Operation Wolf etc). Which is probably why my PSP owning friend went to buy a DS himself a few minutes ago, after trying mine *hehehe*.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Another convert ... well done, my son.

I just converted my coworker from bitching about the humdrum Xbox he was more or less tricked into (his words, not mine) to going DS. Now he's a DS slut. He was even IMing me over the weekend (off hours) to tell me how much Meteos was owning his ass :)

[batwinky]

I would have picked up Nintendogs and Kirby a long time ago, they have however not been released here in Sweden yet :( . Guess I'll just pick them up later.

I live in sweden and have both those games, bought them from the us with 3 other games for $200 plus shipping

[gondar]

Really? That's not so bad. How long did you have to wait for them? And how much was the shipping? I might take that in consideration in the future.

If you look at sales figures for the DS it should be noted that we are behind in releases though. People in general look at the games available in the store, and I think the DS will have another sales boost when Nintendogs hits our shores. :)

[batwinky]

Really? That's not so bad. How long did you have to wait for them? And how much was the shipping? I might take that in consideration in the future.

it took 9 days for it to come to sweden, shipping $92 a little high but that was with insurrance.

[Womp]

I have to say that although I am far from having all the mini games unlocked in SMB64 DS, that the slingshot one is my favorite as well...Great stuff.

[Shane R. Monroe]

You know what is WAY addictive? That stupid bouncing turtle shell game. Man, I've logged HOURS playing that, trying to outscore myself. BRILLIANT ... (makes me want to play it)

[GrilledMonkeyFat]

If I ever get a DS, I've got some reviews comin'. Looks like I'm missing a lot.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Super Monkey Ball DS screenshots (http://media.ds.ign.com/media/770/770336/imgs_1.html)

[Shane R. Monroe]

Looks great! Can't wait!

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Im liking the look of the Air hockey mini game, great idea.

Edit: Sega casino (http://ds.ign.com/articles/650/650306p1.html) im into casino games so this makes me happy :D

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

You guys get a price drop now so do we,

Nintendo DS £89.99 from the 7th of October (http://www.nintendo-europe.com/NOE/en/GB/news/article.do?elementId=lsHI9OTJL2Hpez3WsDGtHo4dbTnqy lsr)

Same situation as the US, inline with the launch of nintendogs.

There is also the Nintendogs bundle with special edition DS, a copy of Nintendogs and accessories. For £99.99 bargin