Introduction

I am not a gamer even for little gadget, but when it comes to up-to-date stuff especially for kids, I am for it. I got a game boy, and got a game boy advance sp, and I just got my son this Nintendo DS, and it is no longer called with the similar name like game boy or game boy advance or game boy advance sp. It is just a Nintendo DS. It means Double screen.


What is included
I bought this Nintendo DS from Wal-Mart. It costs about $130.00 and it only includes power adapter, two stylus pens and that is about it. And so I got a inexpensive game along with it. To my big surprise, the new little gadget open a new way of hand held game playing.

-- Charger --
When fully charged, the battery will last from 15-19 hours on the lowest screen brightness setting, depending on the type of game activity. On the brightest setting, the battery life is about 5-8 hours. However, the battery can be recharged approximately 500 times. That means if you play every day assuming charging once a day, the battery will last about 1 year and 1/2.

Design
There are two game cartridge slot for this DS. The small one is for the DS game and which the game cartridge insert all the way in. The other end, you can put your game boy advance game in it, but it will look sticking out. Basically, the top part is duel play. You can play your game boy advance game on it and it will only show the top portion of it. The bottom of it however is for you to poke around with your stylus pen. It won't work on the top part of your stylus pen. The one that is in the market now has few colors. The one I got is white.

Features

Stylus (plastic pen) or touch screen function - this is one of the major things that DS has outgrown all the game boy games. With this, you have lots of felicities
in terms of games. Of course, the other buttons remind on the sides which you can play the previous game boy advance game.

Built-in Mic/Speaker - for some game, you can interact with this DS with your voice at the same time hearing it.
You can buy a splitter with a microphone or just simply do it outside.

Wireless - The other good feature about this is that you can play with other DS user without additional cable. However, each system must have the same game cartridge It is called Multi-Card play.

Download Play - This is better feature. You only need one game cd called host system, the other machines will have to download as client system,

More than a game - DS has a built-in feature called PictoChart. Basically, that is for you to chat with your friends within a certain distance, the maximum distance is 65 feet.

Other features

Of course, there are other features in the system such as color setting, username setting, screen language, alarm and birthday.

Why I like it

1. Touch screen sensitivity - I like it because the touch screen feature is very smooth and it is very easier to recognize your action in screen such as circle, touch it. I used to have palm III, and that sensitivity is far more better than what I expect.

2. Chat abilities - It would be nice if this came years before. And if school allows students to use this, all these small papers passing for messages will not be needed. Communication is like a key feature of this game and it makes chatting more fun

3. No need to throw away the old games - You still can play the old game boy advance game.

4. Brighter and Better - Lite version is better than the regular version in terms of brightness. I remember years back for the game boy advance sp, they have some sort accessories like special light attached outside. In this case, no need to spend extra money.

5. Speaker - Some say it is not loud enough. To me, it is enough to disturb other people


Some improvement would be nice

1. PDA like - since it is a PDA like device, why not have more built in feature like calculator, address book, notepad, contact, and so on?

2. Wireless to Game boy advance SP - Okay, this DS can play previous game boy advance game, but you can't do wireless to game boy advance game which means you have one extra device which you may become obsolete. If only a feature that will make your game boy advance game talk to it and play like Single Download Play.

3. Expensive games - It does not come with any games. If you buy 4 games, you can buy an extra unit. The game is average about 25 to 30 dollars.
This unit does not come with any game. So, if they come with a game and lower down the price for the games, it will be perfect.

Conclusion

It is ideal gift idea for kids any age and even adults too. However, you may need to buy more games to completely experience the best of DS which is touch screen, Double screen and wireless feature.

Recommended: Yes