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GAME CONSOLE
The Game Boy grows up, hardware and all
Here's a little known Nintendo fact: it has been around since 1889. If you're thinking primitive Game & Watch, you're not even close. Nintendo started by selling playing cards. With that bit of video game history, Nintendo makes another historical move with the release of a portable 3D game device with not one, but two screens - hence, the moniker Nintendo DS, which stands for dual screen. Yes, Game Boy Advance generation kids are smart enough to figure that out for themselves.
While die-hard Nintendo fanboys wish it really meant something nasty, i.e. Die Sony, the DS is an excellent portable game machine in its own right. Eighties kids will immediately recognize the dual screen form factor from Nintendo's double-screened Game & Watch line. The DS takes the concept of dual display further by incorporating a touch screen at the bottom display not unlike those found in PDAs.
If the Game Boy Advance had the power of Nintendo's previous generation console inside it (the SNES), the Nintendo DS has the same underlying technological philosophy. The DS is almost a miniaturized N64, Nintendo's third generation console. You'll notice this right away once you see the DS port of Super Mario 64 DS, one of the DS's launch titles.
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3-inch 256x192-pixel screens (lower touchscreen). Game Boy Game Pak slot. Stereo speakers. Wi-Fi. Microphone. 10 hours' lithium-ion battery life.
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Has the making of a great handheld, but might also be overshadowed by the sexier PSP.
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A little more fiddling with the machine gives a few surprises. The DS is backward compatible with Game Boy Advance games. It also has wireless capabilities built in for multiplayer games and content download via Wi-Fi in the future. Along with a directional key, shoulder buttons and face buttons, a mic has been inconspicuously incorporated into the machine. Games such as Feel the Magic XY/XX, even use the mic as a breath sensor in mini-games where you actually have to blow on the screen to put out candle flames. The touch screen can function as a direct input menu, or in the case of Metroid Prime Hunters, an ingenious touchpad-like device to precisely aim your weapon and control your character. It's the best control scheme outside of a PC for a first person shooter. Along with the touch screen and wireless features, the DS is definitely one of the most innovative handhelds to date.
With all of the DS's features, there is sadly a price to pay. It's not as pocketable nor as sexy as we'd like it to be, spanning the length of two Game Boy Advance SPs put side by side. Its heft definitely makes it look like a brilliant but overweight genius in the class of the newest generation of handhelds. - Ed Geronia Jr.
 Post your opinion or own review!
T3 Magazine Philippines - March 2005 Issue
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