The Bottom Line: Without a doubt, great system. A little expensive but I feel that if you actually have a use for a portable system, it's worth the money.
After one too many night shifts with little or nothing to do, I decided it would be well worth my money to invest in something to help pass the time.
My oldest brother had the original Game Boy (it was almost the size of a dictionary!). Since then I have always used actual "console" platforms, never giving thought to portable systems. In my opinions it was not at all worth sacrificing what I was used to on a console, just for portability. I do give credit to Sega Game Gear, however I never owned one (was jealous of my cousin who did). I watched the Game Boy Color come and go, and then the improved "smaller, slimmer" Game Boys fade. I will admit, I did buy a USED Game Boy Advanced (pre-back light) long after they had been out. I used it for about 4 days before deciding it was crap without back lighting.
Yatta yatta, time passes, hear we are today! I have now owned my Nintendo DS for probably about 10 months and it is easily one of my TOP THREE favorite purchases as far as portable entertainment goes. Better than any portable CD player and even better than the iPod feature on my Motorola SLVR cell phone. OK, OK, I could almost go as far as to say this was the BEST portable entertainment unit I've ever purchased.
I bought my Nintendo DS at Wal Mart for about $199, I think. I purchased the special "Mario Cart DS bundle pack" - so it came with the Mario Cart game, a special lanyard, some stickers, and a RED DS system with wall charger.
The first night I had so much fun playing Mario Cart, I couldn't believe how good the game looked on this little portable system. I had never played a DS before, so it took me a few minutes to figure out the Touch Screen etc... I love the little things they do with the dual screens. Displaying maps, game progress, etc... So far the only three games I have played on it are Mario Cart DS, Mario 64 DS, and Super Mario Brothers DS. (Hey I'm just a Mario fan!)
I love the size of the wall charger. The prongs fold into the charger itself so it is easy to tote around. I bought an inexpensive Nintendo DS soft shell carrier and everything fits in there great. I don't use the lanyard at all, so I can't comment on the durability of that. The cord used to attach the lanyard to the DS seemed very strong, however.
The battery life on the Nintendo DS is nothing to be ashamed about. I rarely charge it - since I play so "off and on" I can't get an accurate reading of "hours played," but it charges fast, holds a charge, and you can even play while it's charging.
It has a very nice look, size, and weight to it. I am fully grown and it is a very nice fit in my hands. The controls feel like the original NES controls, but with the Super NES control scheme. It has four buttons (A,B,X,Y) and than upper - Left and Right buttons. The system folds in half with a sturdy hinge and is still only roughly 1.5" thick. Nothing feels cheap or chincy on this product.
The sound is the best I've heard from a portable system. I suppose it is considered "stereo" because it has a right and left speaker. It sounds perfect to me.
A feature I rarely use (except for those old Atari style games that you could buy for the GBA) is the GBA slot. You can play all the older GBA games on the same system as the DS games. Great feature simply because it doesn't make the consumer feel like they are "starting over" again with a new system. I doubt this feature is used very often because the DS games themselves are so much fun.
Overall this was a great purchase and I would recommend to anyone! Young and old alike can appreciate the Nintendo DS. At first it may seem a little expensive, especially with portables coming out that can play movies like the Sony PSP, but I honestly think it is still worth the money. If you want to watch movies, that is what you buy a portable DVD player for.
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