OFF TOPIC: My daughter (13 3/4) wants a Nintendo DS....

[inspector gadget]

Slightly off topic but under accessories... My daughter Daisy would like a Nintendo DS for Chrimble, is this a good machine, like will it still be fashionable in February? where should I look for games and the trimmings? are all the retailers playing fair?

My wife has been to Argos and is now recovering with some parrotseatemall. I hope you guys are on the ball with these whizzo fandangoes and any advice welcome and always usefull

regards

gadget

[MichaF]

will it still be fashionable in February?

Like almost everything with a processor in it, it will probably be outdated the moment you leave the store :wink:

[Dave E]

I bought my wife a DS Lite a few months ago, and she's still playing it. It's a cool little gadget, plenty of games out for it and still more coming out. Fundamental platform changes don't happen more than every couple of years, and the DS Lite only arrived this year. (I don't think the Lite is much different from a regular DS, it's the updated model, comes in a couple of colours, costs about £100?)

[inspector gadget]

costs about £100

well the ones in Agros are a penny cheaper :? but why a DS lite? was the former a heavy bugg*r or summat? does it contain less fat? was the head of marketing into txtspk?

i'm looking serious now and will not be viewing the offerings at our favourite auction house thanking yaw...

gadge

[abraxas]

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Two good friends of mine ... one has a DS and the other a PSP. Give me a couple of days to give you a rundown.

I have sort of been planning to get a PSP (the current hottest portable console) for myself this Xmas as I want to play GTA on it. I already finished all three of the PC versions years ago.

At the end of the day it depends if she wants to play any specific games on the DS ... or if her friends also have the same console (for networking), etc.

If she is just to play by herself, tell her to try the PSP too. I think it will have a longer play-life and more choice of titles.

john

[maxegb]

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If she is just to play by herself, tell her to try the PSP too. I think it will have a longer play-life and more choice of titles.

john

True, but also you need to take into consideration the "cute" factor of some nintendo games ( e.g. Nintendogs)
I bought every console of the last 5 years ( yes, i have a dreamcast too )and i have to say the PSP is wonderful in terms of graphics and line up of games ( ridge racer is awesome ).
But being a long-time Nintendo fan i would say a DS with it's choice of more thinking, less adrenaline(and violence)-packed games would be a better idea fora teenager, especially a girl.

Having said this..peer pressure is the key. She will ask for the console her friends have.

[endure]

I've got a DS lite and it's an excellent bit of kit. If you get 'Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?' with it your daughter will probably never get near it :D It's got good software for children and adults alike. It looks very Ipodish (available in black or white). The black looks better but is a fingerprint nightmare. Try looking in a Game store or one of the larger Asdas. They usually have a demo machine available to play with.

[Dave E]

I've got a DS lite and it's an excellent bit of kit. If you get 'Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?' with it your daughter will probably never get near it :D It's got good software for children and adults alike. It looks very Ipodish (available in black or white). The black looks better but is a fingerprint nightmare. Try looking in a Game store or one of the larger Asdas. They usually have a demo machine available to play with.

Let's not forget that it's out in pink soon, as well...

[pengator]

Let's not forget that it's out in pink soon, as well...

NoOoO, sacrilege :shock:


...say after me, please; "White" :wink:

[inspector gadget]

I'm sure I heard Nintendogs mentioned :D and the Brain drain soulds like it could be fun :D :D

yep I think we are onto something chaps..

GTA eh, I must admit the boys were into Grand Tourismo.....

oh the agony...

[sparmar1]

I have a DS lite and PSP and whilst the PSP has better graphics, MP3 capability etc., it's been in it's case for months and the DS has me playing Brain Training or Mario every other day :)

My wife loves her pink one too, Nintendogs is her fave :wink:

Sanjay

[quoll]

DS Lite all the way. It is technically the same as the DS but slimmer and sleeker - and comes in colours including pink (ugh). My daughter has a DS and is intensely jealous of my wife, who has a DS Lite (in white).

There is a reasonable range of games - Nintendogs is popular - plus some more 'grown-up' stuff like Brain Gym and Sudoko. You can also now get a web browser for it which uses the built-in WiFi.

High street retailers carry stock, but I have always bought both the kit and the games for them online.

[jseeds]

I too bought a DS lite for my wife a few months ago - we fight over it! Excellent range of games and the touch-screen interface is more intuitive than the typical joy-pads (which it also has)...I've been playing the New Super Mario Bros and Clubhouse Games (a compilation of board, card, and pub games). GO for it!

[raysablade]

Does seem to be a girl thing although maybe not not 13-14year old. My wife, a 45 year old Accountant, has a DS Lite with; Brain Training, Zookeeper and Nintendogs. She normally takes it to meetings in preference to her laptop.

The kids tell me there are a good offers on at ToysRus.

[swedeone3]

Santa will be bringing (2) DS Lite's this year. Luckily, the little guy is still into trains and trucks. :)

[Ron Jr]

My daughter has the PSP. Graphics for a hand held is incredible. John I have GTA LCS for the PSP and can not play it. Try it before you buy it.

[Qatar-wol]

One thing sony got wrong with the PSP is that most of the early games were ports or versions of home console games, and were unsuited for mobile play. Yes, the graphics on the PSP are amazing, but Nintendos games are (generally) more suited to portable 'pick up for five minutes' playing.

Go for the DS!

[abraxas]

My daughter has the PSP. Graphics for a hand held is incredible. John I have GTA LCS for the PSP and can not play it. Try it before you buy it.

Can you elaborate please ... I tried it on a friend's console and apart from being small and slightly faded in comparison to the PC version it seemed ok ... mind you I only had a go for a few secs.

john

[Dave E]

My wife is still hooked on Nintendogs after several months, not to mention Zookeeper. Animal Crossing seems to be popular as well. Brain Training is good fun, I have a go at that when I can nick the thing from her!

As an aside, there seem to be more 'female friendly' games for the Nintendo, ie those which do not purely depend on shooting or driving.

[Phil Lee]

I'm also thinking about a DS Lite. It is thinner, has a brighter display and better battery life than the original DS. We're going to New Zealand in March and I fancied one for entertainment on the flight. The DS Lite does have a significant advantage as a handheld in that it has a touch sensitive screen. This means that RTS games are possible as well as your standard arcade fair. Age of Empires is coming out for it soon. I really wanted one for the next Zelda game but that has been delayed until late March. I still might get one for Mario though. Mario World is a direct port of Super Mario 64 and looks superb.

[psikat]

DS lite is the way to go. Buy imported games online or buy direct from oerseas trader on ebay. It works out cheaper and you get a wider range of games and earlier releases. Ages of Empire cost me about GBP15 new on ebay.

[ben4watches]

Can you play the DS one handed?

I ask this as Sally, SWMBO, as some o you may know suffered a stroke a few years ago and only has the use of her right side.

I think she would enjoy the DS if she could use it one handed.

Cheers,

Ben.

[Dave E]

Can you play the DS one handed?

I ask this as Sally, SWMBO, as some o you may know suffered a stroke a few years ago and only has the use of her right side.

I think she would enjoy the DS if she could use it one handed.

Cheers,

Ben.

A lot of the games are played using the stylus and the touch-sensitive screen, so as long as you put it somewhere secure, there's no reason why you wouldn't be able to play one-handed. There are probably some games it may not work for, but Brain Training and Nintendogs would both work this way just fine (and Zookeeper I think).

[inspector gadget]

Can you play the DS one handed?

I ask this as Sally, SWMBO, as some o you may know suffered a stroke a few years ago and only has the use of her right side.

I think she would enjoy the DS if she could use it one handed.

Cheers,

Ben.

Hi Ben,

my sons mother in law :shock: Beatrice... French eccentric et al , suffered a brain haemorage a couple of years back and I am reliably informed that she has no problem with her DS dispite only having the use of her left hand....

Gadget

[ben4watches]

Can you play the DS one handed?

I ask this as Sally, SWMBO, as some o you may know suffered a stroke a few years ago and only has the use of her right side.

I think she would enjoy the DS if she could use it one handed.

Cheers,

Ben.

Hi Ben,

my sons mother in law :shock: Beatrice... French eccentric et al , suffered a brain haemorage a couple of years back and I am reliably informed that she has no problem with her DS dispite only having the use of her left hand....

Gadget

That sounds like a real world thumbs up :wink:

Cheers,

Ben.

[worlok]

Screw all these new fangled games. I prefer the classic arcade games from my misspent youth, Pacman, Galaxian, Galaga, Battlezone, Missile Command, Centipede, Xevious, Pole Position, etc etc. I got some of those handheld multi game units that attach to the TV set. I got 2 with the classic arcade games and one is of the old Mattel Intellivision. I LOVE Astrosmash. :twisted:

[RobDad]

My son, who is 5 1/2, loves his DS - especially the new Star Wars game. I have a PSP I never use, and actually prefer the playability of the DS.

The DS Lite has better battery life than the original DS apparently, and my son's is always on the charger so I'd go for the Lite!

[inspector gadget]

Right OK then thats it i'm convinced now so its look for some bundles that have a few good games (phew they are a score each ish) and a PINK DS lite..... I'll look in on possible stores to get the dogs eye on the easiest escape route :D :D

gadget

[Ron Jr]

My daughter has the PSP. Graphics for a hand held is incredible. John I have GTA LCS for the PSP and can not play it. Try it before you buy it.

Can you elaborate please ... I tried it on a friend's console and apart from being small and slightly faded in comparison to the PC version it seemed ok ... mind you I only had a go for a few secs.

john

The D-pad that you use to move and steer with is not friendly with me. I go to move in one direction and end up somewhere else. I have played all of the GTA games on my PC (all 100%) and I wanted to play LCS so bad but I just can't use the PSP. For the little while I did play it I enjoyed being back in LC especially trying to find the differences between LCS and GTA3. I'm hoping it will be ported to the PC soon. VCS was just released And I would like to play that one also.

[abraxas]

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Thanks Ron ... I'll try and play it longer on my friend's console, before I make a decision.

john

[Ron Jr]

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Thanks Ron ... I'll try and play it longer on my friend's console, before I make a decision.

john

I'm planning on trading my PSP version for the PS2 version just to play the game. Maybe tomorrow night.

[Gruntfuttock]

Screw all these new fangled games. I prefer the classic arcade games from my misspent youth, Pacman, Galaxian, Galaga, Battlezone, Missile Command, Centipede, Xevious, Pole Position, etc etc. I got some of those handheld multi game units that attach to the TV set. I got 2 with the classic arcade games and one is of the old Mattel Intellivision. I LOVE Astrosmash. :twisted:

Even more off topic than this thread is to start with :wink: ; if you love these type of games, track down a copy of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) on the web.

[Ron Jr]

Screw all these new fangled games. I prefer the classic arcade games from my misspent youth, Pacman, Galaxian, Galaga, Battlezone, Missile Command, Centipede, Xevious, Pole Position, etc etc. I got some of those handheld multi game units that attach to the TV set. I got 2 with the classic arcade games and one is of the old Mattel Intellivision. I LOVE Astrosmash. :twisted:

Even more off topic than this thread is to start with :wink: ; if you love these type of games, track down a copy of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) on the web.

Had MAME years ago. It's fun figuring out which button does what.

[worlok]

Screw all these new fangled games. I prefer the classic arcade games from my misspent youth, Pacman, Galaxian, Galaga, Battlezone, Missile Command, Centipede, Xevious, Pole Position, etc etc. I got some of those handheld multi game units that attach to the TV set. I got 2 with the classic arcade games and one is of the old Mattel Intellivision. I LOVE Astrosmash. :twisted:

Even more off topic than this thread is to start with :wink: ; if you love these type of games, track down a copy of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) on the web.

Had MAME years ago. It's fun figuring out which button does what.

Yeah. I got MAME. :twisted:

...and BTW just TRY playing Williams' Defender on MAME - or ZAXXON. Not very playable. :(

[Ron Jr]

Screw all these new fangled games. I prefer the classic arcade games from my misspent youth, Pacman, Galaxian, Galaga, Battlezone, Missile Command, Centipede, Xevious, Pole Position, etc etc. I got some of those handheld multi game units that attach to the TV set. I got 2 with the classic arcade games and one is of the old Mattel Intellivision. I LOVE Astrosmash. :twisted:

Even more off topic than this thread is to start with :wink: ; if you love these type of games, track down a copy of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) on the web.

Had MAME years ago. It's fun figuring out which button does what.

Yeah. I got MAME. :twisted:

...and BTW just TRY playing Williams' Defender on MAME - or ZAXXON. Not very playable. :(

Thats what i was saying. I downloaded MAME years ago and tried an easy game Frogger I think. Worked fine so I started to download more Rams had well over a hundred could only get a handfull to work. But the ones that did were great. Elevator Action and Spy Hunter :P .