Nintendo has got it this time...

[sam10685]

i finally went and picked up a nintendo ds lite after accidentl winning NSMB on ebay for 30 bucks. i gotta say... i've been a nintendo fan forever and this is arguably the best gaming system they've ever made. (at least the best handheld.) and it's cheap too... 129 for a brand new one?! how is Sony even still in the handheld market? anyway, this is awesome! hope the Wii is just as cool... (although from what i hear, it'll be a zillion times better than even this.)

[Dagless]

Yea, the DS is pretty much has it. then again one could argue Nintendo knows the handheld market, they know what people want and what price they'll pay.

On the other hand Sony knows the Pocket PC market with their Clie. Which, actually was a dramatically undersold system because of it's high price point compared to the competition.

The PSP is making 2 grave mistakes which are driving it away from consumers. No SD/MMC memory card slot and a high price. Knock it down to DS Lite (£100) levels with a 128mb card and BAM. Because right now if you wanted an internet and multimedia system you buy a Pocket PC for the same price, or if you want games you buy a DS Lite.

[sam10685]

Yea, the DS is pretty much has it. then again one could argue Nintendo knows the handheld market, they know what people want and what price they'll pay.

On the other hand Sony knows the Pocket PC market with their Clie. Which, actually was a dramatically undersold system because of it's high price point compared to the competition.

The PSP is making 2 grave mistakes which are driving it away from consumers. No SD/MMC memory card slot and a high price. Knock it down to DS Lite (£100) levels with a 128mb card and BAM. Because right now if you wanted an internet and multimedia system you buy a Pocket PC for the same price, or if you want games you buy a DS Lite.

isn't there a web browser coming out for the DS? that will be all the multimedia you could want.

[weg]

isn't there a web browser coming out for the DS? that will be all the multimedia you could want.

Yes (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/02/15/), but with the restriction to WEP and a price of $50 (http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Preorder_the_Opera_DS_Browser_for_$50) this won't be a best seller...

EDIT: Here's a review (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152499) of the Opera browser for the DS.

[greatdevourer]

Yes (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/02/15/), but with the restriction to WEP and a price of $50 (http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Preorder_the_Opera_DS_Browser_for_$50) this won't be a best seller... And it apparently does even worse with Flash than the PSP (ie, not at all)

[GFLPraxis]

Yes (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/02/15/), but with the restriction to WEP and a price of $50 (http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Preorder_the_Opera_DS_Browser_for_$50) this won't be a best seller...

EDIT: Here's a review (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152499) of the Opera browser for the DS.

$50 is the price to import it from Japan. Not the price it will launch at.

[MS bulldog]

Yes (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/02/15/)

EDIT: Here's a review (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152499) of the Opera browser for the DS.


unfortunately that is possibly the worst review i've ever read. 1up should be embarassed to have someone review a web browser with no understanding of regular web sites vs. mobile sites and how they are designed and coded.

doubt $50 will be launch price over here...

[weg]

unfortunately that is possibly the worst review i've ever read. 1up should be embarassed to have someone review a web browser with no understanding of regular web sites vs. mobile sites and how they are designed and coded.

doubt $50 will be launch price over here...

If it's half the price I'd be willing to pick it up if it's able to display Gmail and Google Calendar... however, it seems to consist of a DS as well as a GBA module. That's quite annoying...

[ddrueckhammer]

The early reviews of the DS browser are completely odd. I've read alot about this browser on Opera's forums and it loads normal sites at 8-45 seconds with content rich sites coming in at over a minute depending on the connection and site. If you want to email, chat, or look at news blogs etc it is pretty nice and it seems that it will be around $30 if it ever launches in the US. As someone said earlier, if you want faster load times use mobile sites or turn off pictures.

[ddrueckhammer]

The early reviews of the DS browser are completely odd. I've read alot about this browser on Opera's forums and it loads normal sites at 8-45 seconds with content rich sites coming in at over a minute depending on the connection and site. If you want to email, chat, or look at news blogs etc it is pretty nice and it seems that it will be around $30 if it ever launches in the US. The DS Browser probably has slower load times than the PSP but a faster interface so they are probably about equal. It really can't be compared to pocket PCs because it represents a different demographic and price range. As someone said earlier, if you want faster load times use mobile sites or turn off pictures.

Sorry for the double post.

[sk1985]

I wish there would be no more DS talk on a million threads....you guys should just make one thread and gloat about your DS' there. Seriously enough has been said about this system on multiple threads. We all know it's a nice system. It seems like all you guys jumped on the DS bandwagon about 2 years too late.

[zap2]

. It seems like all you guys jumped on the DS bandwagon about 2 years too late.


Um how? Many thread are talking about the DS lite (came out June 11th) and its much better then the DS.. The DS is very good system, what do you care if someone is happy abotu buying one?

[Dagless]

Hey I've been onto the DS since I got an email from Nintendo blabbing about it. before I visited gaming sites too. I rolleyes now.

[Yvan256]

Yes (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/02/15/), but with the restriction to WEP and a price of $50 (http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Preorder_the_Opera_DS_Browser_for_$50) this won't be a best seller...

EDIT: Here's a review (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152499) of the Opera browser for the DS.

I don't see how WEP is a problem. In fact I think the limitation comes from the Nintendo DS itself.

And the real price is supposed to be around 33$US, not 50$US. The 50$US price is for imports. I've heard rumors about Opera DS coming to north-america in october.

As for adding multimedia capabilities to the Nintendo DS, you can with the Nintendo Play-Yan micro (though that's for GBA, so no full-screen for the DS). This one you do have to import.

[thegreatluke]

That's weird. With the exception of this thread, the only (possible) price point I've seen is US$10.
Not that I'm doubting you or anything.

I don't have a link though.

[belovedmonster]

i finally went and picked up a nintendo ds lite after accidentl winning NSMB on ebay for 30 bucks.

WTF? How do you accidently buy a game for a console you dont own?

[Prom1]

Why would anyone surf the internet within 30 feet of the computer? Well its because Mom/Dad is using the computer. or its because its offered as free WiFi over the downtown core of the city for the next 6 months by Hydro1 (at least here in Toronto, Ontario Canada).

This reviewer obviously hasnt used the Opera Mobile browser on any of the smartphones out there and seriously doesnt understand its powers or abilities.

> I the use of the GBA port card as a memory module is not only convenient but ingenious; since its using both the DS card to render pages with the DS' cpu & also routing cached page/favourites into that memory module.I dont any other company will get access on how to do that with the DS. Is there a small memory limitation on the DS? Not that we've seen thus far for games but now imagine how seriously intense gaming can offer with this implementation.

Sony with the PSP is making a great effort but they forgot 1 major thing.

Nintendo rules the portable gaming segment. Nintendo rules the portable gaming segment.Nintendo rules the portable gaming segment.Nintendo rules the portable gaming segment.Nintendo rules the portable gaming segment.

Every other manufacturer has tried & failed to beat Nintendo at this segment & failed. They've tried and died!

Also note that the DS (& Lite included) is THE BEST selling gaming console EVER in Japan. (notice how I never said PORTABLE in that sentence. This is over the PSP, N64, PS2/PS1, GCN, Famicom, etc!)

[Dagless]

Also note that the DS (& Lite included) is THE BEST selling gaming console EVER in Japan. (notice how I never said PORTABLE in that sentence. This is over the PSP, N64, PS2/PS1, GCN, Famicom, etc!)

whoa, really? I knew it was doing well but bloody hell!

[ddrueckhammer]

This reviewer obviously hasnt used the Opera Mobile browser on any of the smartphones out there and seriously doesnt understand its powers or abilities.


This is my whole point. The DS browser is a mobile browser. It is not intended to replace a laptop but it is pretty handy for those of us who don't like to carry our laptop everywhere with us. Also, it isn't going to be powerful enough to watch YouTube videos or other content rich material. It will work for gmail, chat via ebuddy mobile, blogs, news, etc. Mobile sites will open instantly on it. Macrumors, Google, Yahoo, etc all have mobile versions of their sites. I probably wouldn't use it that much at home but I would use it at my University (assuming I can get a WEP key), Starbucks, McDonalds, and various Hotels).

[smitty330]

What ever happened to game gear? That thing was sweet, it was way ahead of its time with the light up screen and what not. It had all the old sega games on it as well. Good stuff, that brings me back to my childhood.

-Matthew

[Zazaban]

I've always said that nintendo is the mac of the video game market. :D

[Tymmz]

What ever happened to game gear? That thing was sweet, it was way ahead of its time with the light up screen and what not. It had all the old sega games on it as well. Good stuff, that brings me back to my childhood.

-Matthew

I wonder the same. I enjoyed the Game Gear a lot.

Till 2003 my dad was still using that thing with the TV-card to actually watch TV.

[sam10685]

WTF? How do you accidently buy a game for a console you dont own?

bid on it at a price you don't think will win you the auction. i was bored.

[weg]

WTF? How do you accidently buy a game for a console you dont own?

And $30 is pretty close to the regular price, so saying that you "won" it sounds a bit weird ;-)

[weg]

I would use it at my University (assuming I can get a WEP key), Starbucks, McDonalds, and various Hotels).

I don't think that any University still uses WEP, no responsible admin would do that. My university uses Web authentication (meaning that I can't play online games with my DS lite).

[Dagless]

The Game Gear bombed because it was expensive. at least here, you could have bought a Gameboy and 3-5 games. It's the whole PSP situation all over again. regardless of technical finesse and accessories/features if the machine is too pricey it won't sell. oh and the battery life murdered kittens.

Gotta love Afterburner on the thing. I bought one off a mate some years ago for a paltry £15.

[ddrueckhammer]

I don't think that any University still uses WEP, no responsible admin would do that. My university uses Web authentication (meaning that I can't play online games with my DS lite).

The public access at mine uses web authentication as well but I have a friend who is an admin who I was hoping could give me some other login option. It would be cool to see if I can log into the web authentication form using the DS browser and then somehow use that connection to play online. I know that the connection would drop when you change carts but I wonder if you would have to re-authenticate or if the authentication is only once every so often.

[HiRez]

It would be cool to see if I can log into the web authentication form using the DS browser and then somehow use that connection to play online. I know that the connection would drop when you change carts but I wonder if you would have to re-authenticate or if the authentication is only once every so often.I'm curious about this as well. It's a browser, right? Shouldn't it work? Why can't it use website-based auth? That's pretty annoying, and so is the fact that it can't do WPA, which I use and which many of the businesses I freelance at use.

[Sky Blue]

bid on it at a price you don't think will win you the auction. i was bored.

It always amazes me how much people over bid on Ebay. Was it new? Did you have to pay shpping on top of the $30. I've seen it for $29.99 in stores, and it's $28 on amazon marketplace...it's no wonder you won the auction.

[chairguru22]

more and more people are seeing what nintendo is really about. and its funny because nintendo 'fanboys' have always known this and now more and more sony and MS 'fanboys' are crossing over.

[sam10685]

And $30 is pretty close to the regular price, so saying that you "won" it sounds a bit weird ;-)

it does sound weird... that's just the ebay lingo. saying you "won" something off ebay means that you bid high enough to purchace the item.

[sam10685]

It always amazes me how much people over bid on Ebay. Was it new? Did you have to pay shpping on top of the $30. I've seen it for $29.99 in stores, and it's $28 on amazon marketplace...it's no wonder you won the auction.

yep... brand new. still sealed. it was actually $28 for the game with 2 bucks shipping. the guy probably stole it to make a quick buck but i paid for it so it's mine now and i didn't steal it.

[jdechko]

But with the whole Web Authentication and WPA is there some way that you could share the internet connection with the DS if you have a laptop? (Use the laptop to connect and bridge connections to the DS)

[rafifreak00]

I remember when the DS came out, the larger, bulkier, silver one. I ran to the store and bought one only to be disappointed with it and I sold it to a friend of mine for 100 bucks...

Touch screen... ehh.. not so great...

[Dagless]

I remember when the DS came out, the larger, bulkier, silver one. I ran to the store and bought one only to be disappointed with it and I sold it to a friend of mine for 100 bucks...

Touch screen... ehh.. not so great...

if you bought it for that alone then shame on you. That would be like buying a PSP for the MP3 playback only. it's not the hardware that that makes the DS, it's the now monstrous list of incredible games.

[Mavimao]

Well, to be fair Jimmi, there weren't that many great games at launch. Even I thought the DS was a disappointment when it came out. Now I find it to be one of the greatest consoles ever - hand held or home based.

[Yvan256]

yep... brand new. still sealed. it was actually $28 for the game with 2 bucks shipping. the guy probably stole it to make a quick buck but i paid for it so it's mine now and i didn't steal it.

Not sure if it's related but here in Canada Toys'R Us had a one week promotion where you could buy NSMB for 5$CAD when you purchased a Nintendo DS Lite.

[Yvan256]

I remember when the DS came out, the larger, bulkier, silver one. I ran to the store and bought one only to be disappointed with it and I sold it to a friend of mine for 100 bucks...

Touch screen... ehh.. not so great...

Depends on which games you tried... Magnetica is a good example of a good touch-screen interface/game. Playing Zuma after that just feels like you're trapped... something's not right, playing with the mouse. :D

[Dagless]

Well, to be fair Jimmi, there weren't that many great games at launch. Even I thought the DS was a disappointment when it came out. Now I find it to be one of the greatest consoles ever - hand held or home based.

Yup, terrible launch line up. Mario 64 was alright, but with the lack of early games that actually used the touchscreen you can't judge accurately judge it. Like (again) buying the PSP with that little analogue nub and not using it to any great extent in games then proceeding to take it back because it sucked. Just a silly reason. IMO.

[elfin buddy]

yep... brand new. still sealed. it was actually $28 for the game with 2 bucks shipping. the guy probably stole it to make a quick buck but i paid for it so it's mine now and i didn't steal it.

Don't ask, don't tell. Morals be damned, eh? :p ;)