Nintendo DS - Yay or nay?

> I've been wondering about getting one of these things and
> just want to know if it's worth it and how long the system
> will be supported?

motherfucking yay

there are plenty of titles to choose from that are really good... too many to list here, so here's a <a href=http://www.metacritic.com/games/ds/scores/>handy little list</a> of the top titles for the DS
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> .....just want to know if it's worth it .......

I had a ds a few months back, so my experience may not be too relevant now, but I found that a lot of the games, to put it bluntly, kinda sucked. Don't get me wrong, there were some great games like MK:DS, Trauma Center, new SMB, and the like. As tends to be the case for a nintendo system, the first party is fantastic, but there's a sharp drop-off beyond that.

But like i said, this was months back. I'm pretty sure that the situation should be better now. Besides, there's always the R4DS<img src=smilies/magbiggrin.gif> .

I'm actually considering repurchasing a DS (coral pink, plzthx.), but only if i can get my hands on a Slot 1 passcard type deal.

I've also seen some neat things from the homebrew comunity, like VoIP on DS, which is a definite +1 'worth it'. So I say, go ahead and get one, try it out, and if nothing else, they have good resale value on ebay. <img src=smilies/thumb.gif>
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> I've been wondering about getting one of these things and
> just want to know if it's worth it and how long the system
> will be supported?

I have never for a moment regretted buying my DS (it's not even a DS Lite) for the launch price of $150. The controls on the games I own (with the exception of Luminous Arc, which makes up for it with sound/music, story, and art) have been impeccable, and they've all been really fun.
This may not be important to anyone but me, but it also makes an INCREDIBLE alarm. It's the only thing that can wake me up, since alarm clocks and the radio never did anything for me. It beeps and increases in volume (to a limit you set) until you cancel it or turn the DS off.

I suppose the only "complaint" I have is that pretty much no one uses Pictochat because, well, the games for it are more fun. That's just SUCH an awful problem, right? <img src=smilies/thumb.gif>

I think the question isn't so much "Is the DS is worth it?" as "What games should I buy?" I can recommend quite a few if you want. <img src=smilies/magbiggrin.gif>
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The ratio of good-to-bad games I've played on the DS is seriously higher than any system I've owned in recent memory.

Any two of these titles would have justified the purchase of the system for me:

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow & Portrait of Ruin
Phoenix Wright 1 & 2
Hotel Dusk (UNDER RATED) (like playing through an excellent novel with a great visual style)
Advance Wars DS
Brain Age
Elite Beat Agents (this is the most heartwarming game I've ever played)

New Super Mario Bros. didn't really ring my bell -- but that's probably because I like my platforming of the Castleroid variety.
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> I've been wondering about getting one of these things and
> just want to know if it's worth it and how long the system
> will be supported?

I will also vote Yay...I also want to add to the argument of the others, that there are some nice homebrew programs available, such as my current favorite 'Colors!', an awesome drawing program (that even has wifi uploading to an online gallery of pictures, as well as a playback function that 'plays back' your image, showing it from a blank canvas, with every stroke to completion).

*edit*
I also want to say that unlike PSP homebrew, homebrew is very easy these days with the DS. There are things available that make it easy for anyone with any DS to run homebrew.
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> *edit*
> I also want to say that unlike PSP homebrew, homebrew is
> very easy these days with the DS. There are things
> available that make it easy for anyone with any DS to run
> homebrew.

Supposedly it emulates some SNES games at full speed and sound. Which is a huge accomplishment in itself.
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> Supposedly it emulates some SNES games at full speed and
> sound. Which is a huge accomplishment in itself.

Yeah, been playing Earthbound (has an issue with some battle backgrounds, but it's otherwise perfect) and some other games on it, the snes emulators are getting pretty decent now (SnemulDS being the best one at the moment).

There is going to be a Genesis emulator (JenesisDS) with newly included sound being released soon too (it's in an unfortunately closed beta right now, there are a few test GYM player demos though that sound great) that is full speed as well. Given the speed of the ARM7 processor and memory constraints, it sounds like quite a feat, as I understand it. :) One of those awesome "It can't be done...can it?" moments.

*edit*
Oh yeah, and there are also ports of Doom, Hexen, and Quake, all of which control great, and run pretty well (even Quake).
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> *edit*
> I also want to say that unlike PSP homebrew, homebrew is
> very easy these days with the DS. There are things
> available that make it easy for anyone with any DS to run
> homebrew.
>
You can mention one of those things...go to walmart and get the "games n music" from datel for $20...it only runs homebrew, no commercial roms and it comes with a 128MB micro sd card...you can get a 2GB for another $20-30 and you will be all set with legal homebrew...

I got that and a 2GB DS-X :p

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> Oh yeah, and there are also ports of Doom, Hexen, and Quake,
> all of which control great, and run pretty well (even
> Quake).

you're really selling me on it man. :D i hope some rich santa out there hooks me up.

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> You can mention one of those things...go to walmart and get
> the "games n music" from datel for $20...it only runs
> homebrew, no commercial roms and it comes with a 128MB micro
> sd card...you can get a 2GB for another $20-30 and you will
> be all set with legal homebrew...

Games 'n' Music is ok (no GBA support), but I prefer my M3-miniSD....I use it to play homebrew and as a sort of 'game wallet' with DS and GBA stuff on it. Games 'n' Music also doesn't have any extra RAM for homebrew like DSlinux to use (snemulDS can use it too, but it's not required). Well, not required for DSlinux technically, but some programs cannot run without it (like the webbrowsers).

It's an easy off the shelf way though (and cheap), and the card does have a DLDI (a driver that lets you easily patch any homebrew supporting it to work on any of the DS 'flashcarts') driver, so it should be compatible with most homebrew (there isn't much DS homebrew that needs to load from a GBA flashcart or some other such thing with GBA support these days).
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> you're really selling me on it man. :D i hope some rich
> santa out there hooks me up.

Heh, I was pretty happy about Doom, then I got even more happy about Quake when it was ported. The guy is working on Quake 2, also....That's probably going to be even more of a feat. :)
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I liked the games for it, but no matter which game I played, it seemed that I never stuck with it for more than a couple of minutes at a time...with the PSP games I actually sat down and got into them (the system's more capable so the games are more immersive). Depends on what kinds of games you like though -- DS has some great RPG's :>

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