[Melanie68]

I finally played with a DS at EB Games tonight. That's a schnazzy little piece of equipment. The colors and sharpness are impressive. I'll bet Phoenix Wright and Another Code look really nice on there. The only thing I found (and I'm sure it would get better as you use it), is I don't pay attention to both screens. I tend to ignore one of them. I also found out I suck at Mario Kart.

[Starflux]

There are little games that ask of you to pay attention to both screens at the same time. It has surprised me how well it usually works.

[mszv]

Hi,
I have no direct experience with DS screen protectors, but I do have a recommendation!

Proporta makes very high quality stuff for portable devices. I know about them because of their items for Palm OS PDAs - personal digital assistances. They have a screen protector and cases available for the DS.

I've dealt with them before - excellent company and they get the stuff to you very quickly.

http://www.proporta.com/

I'm trying to save money, but I'm getting closer and closer to buying myself a DS. This is the first portable gaming machine that I really want to buy, aside from playing games on my Palm, now a Palm T/X.

[fov]

Thanks for the link! They have some nice cases.

I'm a little nervous about trying a screen protector, because I read that some don't work very well and leave adhesive behind on the screen. Maybe I should stop being so paranoid and just play with it.

The DS is my first handheld (and actually my first console, ever!) and I'm really glad I bought it. It seemed like a kind of silly thing to purchase, when I was first thinking about it, but I'm having fun with it.

[Kingzjester]

Originally Posted by fov

Thanks for the link! They have some nice cases.

I'm a little nervous about trying a screen protector, because I read that some don't work very well and leave adhesive behind on the screen. Maybe I should stop being so paranoid and just play with it.

The DS is my first handheld (and actually my first console, ever!) and I'm really glad I bought it. It seemed like a kind of silly thing to purchase, when I was first thinking about it, but I'm having fun with it.

Don't sweat the scratchy screen that much. It is amazingly hardy. Even the displays they have at Walmart are fairly a-ok; chances are you won't be abusing them nearly as much.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by fov

Thanks for the link! They have some nice cases.

I'm a little nervous about trying a screen protector, because I read that some don't work very well and leave adhesive behind on the screen. Maybe I should stop being so paranoid and just play with it.

The DS is my first handheld (and actually my first console, ever!) and I'm really glad I bought it. It seemed like a kind of silly thing to purchase, when I was first thinking about it, but I'm having fun with it.

When playing phoenix wright do you use the stylus or your finger?

[fov]

Haven't started Phoenix Wright yet.

For the games I've been playing, I'm using the stylus to "stab" and the little thumb pad thingie (attached to the wrist strap) for dragging (like to turn stuff in Trace Memory in a circular motion). But I've been using the d-pad and buttons more than the stylus.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by fov

Haven't started Phoenix Wright yet.

For the games I've been playing, I'm using the stylus to "stab" and the little thumb pad thingie (attached to the wrist strap) for dragging (like to turn stuff in Trace Memory in a circular motion). But I've been using the d-pad and buttons more than the stylus.

tumb pad? is that official or a third party thing?

[Kolzig]

The thumb strap is official, it comes with the DS.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

The thumb strap is official, it comes with the DS.

I never got one

[fov]

You didn't? That's weird. It was in a little plastic wrapper tucked in with the manual.

EDIT: Wrist strap. If your DS is still under warranty, contact Nintendo. Maybe they'll send you one.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by fov

You didn't? That's weird. It was in a little plastic wrapper tucked in with the manual.

EDIT: Wrist strap. If your DS is still under warranty, contact Nintendo. Maybe they'll send you one.

...Oh that, yeah i got one of those



Me

[mszv]

On screen protectors, I'd guess that Proporta probably makes (or sells, not sure what brand they sell) good ones, given their track record with Palm Screen protectors, and Palm add-ons in general. That's been an ongoing issue with Palm PDAs - you want a screen protector that gives good visibility but protects the screen and doesn't leave a residue. That problem has been solved for Palm screen protectors - there are great ones on the market. it seems to me that the expertise would transfer nicely to the Nintendo DS.

I just got my Nintendo DS - Christmas present to myself, but I haven't set it up yet. Since I already like gaming on my Palm PDA, I'm all primed to really enjoying gaming on the DS. I like using a stylus.

Speaking of a stylus, sometimes I have problems with those skinny styluses. It's hard for me to use a pointing or writing device that is so narrow in width - for any period of time. Fortunately, there's lots of stylus/pen combos on the market - I've got several floating around. Particularly if I use a screen pretector - I can't see how it will hurt the DS, if I switch to one of those pointing devices. Oh, with a pen/stylus combination, it's extra important to use a screen pretector. You don't want to mark up the screen, because you had a moment of inattention and used the pen thing, instead of the stylus thing.

Being a big fan of a form fitting aluminum case for my Palm T/X - that I never take off - I ordered the Proporta aluminum case for the Nintendo DS. I like a form fitting case that I can leave on all the time. That way I can (hopefully) just throw the Nintendo DS in my bag, and have it whenever I want to play with it. I cart around so much "portable" electronic stuff in my bag anyway, what's one more device? I tell you - I wish the convergence thing (devices good for more than one thing) would happen quicker!

On buying a Nintendo DS - I've got all these games for the PC that I keeping telling myself I want to play, but I'm sort of off PC gaming. I'm hoping that the Nintendo DS will bring me back to gaming fun, and then I'll even start to play my PC games again.

[fov]

Originally Posted by mszv

On buying a Nintendo DS - I've got all these games for the PC that I keeping telling myself I want to play, but I'm sort of off PC gaming. I'm hoping that the Nintendo DS will bring me back to gaming fun, and then I'll even start to play my PC games again.

What's been fun for me (so far, anyway) is browsing all the games (DS and GBA). I never paid attention to them before so I had no idea what was available. I'm never surprised by PC games anymore (know too much about them and what's coming out when), so it's a nice change.

What color did you get?

[mszv]

At the closest Fry's Electronics, they only had blue and (I think) grey. I got the blue one.

They were out of Animal Crossing and Phoenix Wright, so I just got Trace Memory and Sims 2. I think I'll start with Sims 2 - which looks like it's a little different from the PC Sims versions. I can't wait to play it. "Village Sim" is a big favorite of mine on the Palm T/X, so I'm looking forward to playing a sim game on the DS - Sims 2 and Animal Crossing.

If I can't find Animal Crossing and Phoenix Wright, I'll order them.

Oh that's right - GBA games run on the DS too. I've got to check them out.

What fun!

[Starflux]

You know, I have kind of the opposite, Fov. A few years ago I shifted from PC gaming to Gamecube/GBA/DS gaming, and now I'm far more informed on what's coming out here than on the PC. The thing is, as I glance over to the PC games now, they come off as really trite and alike. WO2-shooters, dozens of samey strategy-games, some realistic sci-fi FPSes... I know these games also arrive on most of the consoles, but owning a Nintendo console suddenly means that I'm seeing way more original stuff.

It's funny, because for a long time I was biased about consoles and found their titles lacking in depth. I guess the current generation (not the next) finally did away with that. Especially the Xbox with ports of Morrowind and the like showed that you could have depth on a console.

My point it I only rarely go back to new PC-gaming (titles I don't already have) because there's not much that captures my interest anymore. Oblivion is about the only title I want at this point.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

I finally played with a DS at EB Games tonight. That's a schnazzy little piece of equipment. The colors and sharpness are impressive. I'll bet Phoenix Wright and Another Code look really nice on there. The only thing I found (and I'm sure it would get better as you use it), is I don't pay attention to both screens. I tend to ignore one of them. I also found out I suck at Mario Kart.

For a game like phoenix wright the one screen is all you really need to pay attention to, the touch screen is just for the GUI

[mszv]

Played with my Nintendo DS some more, started Sims 2 - fun!

As I suspected the thing that doesn't work for me is the width of the stylus - it's even tinier in width than the standard Palm stylus. I like using stylus, but it's too hard to grip for any period of time, for my aging hands. As soon as my screen protector comes, I'll switch to a fatter stylus/pen combination - i'll try the ones I used on my Palm T/X. The pointing part looks pretty much the same.

I think I'll also send a suggestion to Nintendo. If this little fun device is also marketed to adults - Nintendo should sell a stylus that's bigger in width.

Given that I play games on my Palm - I keep tapping the screen that is not a touch screen, along with the one that is - I forget!

[fov]

I got Sims 2 also. It is fun, and I like how they give you goals (unlike the PC Sims games). I also got The Urbz (EB had it preowned), and am having a surprisingly good time with it... maybe more than Sims 2.

Ask Fry's if they can order Phoenix Wright for you. I was told by a representative at Capcom that the stores need to restock with the publisher (not the other way around), so they might not get more in unless you ask. (And I'm curious to know what they say!)

Flux: Since you know a lot about the games coming out for the consoles, can you recommend some good ones for the GBA and DS? I like story in my games but arcadey and platform stuff is okay, too. I think one reason the games for the consoles may seem more original than for the PC is because the controls allow for a different kind of creativity. You couldn't port Trace Memory on the PC and retain the creativity of the puzzles, simply because you can't do some of the same things you can on a DS (like rotate it around or blow into the microphone).

[Starflux]

I'm don't really have any gripes with originality in the interface or anything, but simply storywise. Well, of course there are many exceptions, but unless you go into smaller games you'll only find the same type of games.

Anyway, if you like a nice adventure with some story, you'll like Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the DS. I haven't played it but it's the sequel to a great GBA game "Mario & Luigi" (didn't see that one coming, did you?). It's RPG-platformish and features a solid adventure and very fun designs. A personal platform favourite of mine is Castelvania, of which there's also a new installment on the DS.

But I really wouldn't want to claim I'm an expert on the topic.