DS in Review

So I’d like to start off my review of all things DS by reviewing the handheld system itself.

The system itself consists of a clamshell with a screen on each half. The lower screen is a touch screen. It reacts with either a touch of a finger, a fingernail, or a stylus that comes housed in the back of the lower half. There’s a slot in the bottom of the lower half for Nintendo GameBoy Advance games, and a slot at the top of the lower half for Nintendo DS games. There’s a four-directional pad on the left side and four buttons on the right side of the  bottom screen, and two trigger buttons on either side of the top of the bottom half. There’s also a microphone between the two screens.

There are plugs for headphones and charger, power and volume sliders on the sides. I’m tired of talking about the specs now. It comes in silvery white, black, pink, red (but it was a special edition), black & red, blue & black, and ice blue (which was also a special edition). I have the pink version.

The games vary greatly, and use very unique ways of gameplay. Any thing from using your voice (or breath), touching the screen, using the controls on the DS, and (using an attachment in the GBA slot) shaking the system, or using an extra set of buttons.

The DS system is statistically one of the most evenly distributed between genders. Which means that there are almost an equal number of girls who own the system as boys. That is something that no game system has ever been able to accomplish. It is thanks, mostly, to the variety of games that the system carries. With everything from Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, to Hello Kitty Big City Dreams, there is something for everyone and every age group.

I plan on doing reviews on several games in my library, as well as accessories and the new Nintendo DSi coming out in April.

Until then!

Yours in tech,

Jett