Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS (sometimes abbreviated NDS or DS also as iQue DS in China) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, released in 2004. It is visibly distinguishable by its horizontal clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP, and the presence of two displays, the lower of which acts as a touch screen. The system also has a built-in microphone, and supports wireless IEEE 802.11 () standards, allowing players to interact with each other within short range (30–100 feet, depending on conditions), or over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

The letters "DS" in the name are meant to stand for both Dual Screen and Developers' System, the latter of which refers to the features of the handheld designed to encourage innovative gameplay ideas among developers. The system was known as Project Nitro during development.

On March 2, 2006, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS Lite, a redesigned model of the Nintendo DS, in Japan. It was later released in North America and Europe the following June.

Design and specifications

Inputs and outputs

The E3 2004 pre-release model of the Nintendo DS

The lower display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a pressure-sensitive touch screen, designed to accept input from the included stylus, the user's fingers, or the "thumb stylus": a curved plastic rectangle attached to the optional wrist strap. The touch screen allows players to interact with in-game elements more directly than by pressing buttons; for example, in Trauma Center: Under the Knife, the stylus may be used as a scalpel to cut an incision in a diseased patient. In other games, it may act as a computer mouse, for selecting items in a "point-and-click" interface (Advance Wars: Dual Strike), or for aiming and looking in a first-person shooter (GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, Metroid Prime: Hunters). Other applications include drawing (Pac-Pix, PictoChat, Lost Magic), handwriting recognition (Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!), and analog stick simulation (Super Mario 64 DS, Rayman DS).

More traditional controls are located on either side of the touch screen. To the left is a D-pad, with a narrow Power button above it, and to the right are the A, B, X, and Y buttons, with narrow Select and Start buttons above them. Shoulder buttons L and R are located on the upper corners of the lower half of the system. The overall button layout is similar to the controller of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The Nintendo DS features stereo speakers providing virtual surround sound (depending on the software) located on either side of the upper display screen. This is a first for a Nintendo handheld, as the Game Boy line of systems has only supported stereo sound through the use of headphones or external speakers.

A built-in microphone is located below the left side of the bottom screen. It has been used for a variety of purposes, including speech recognition (Nintendogs, Brain Age), online voice chat (Metroid Prime: Hunters), and minigames that require the player to blow or shout into the microphone (Feel the Magic: XY/XX, Mario Kart DS, WarioWare: Touched!, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, and New Super Mario Bros.) Also, It has been mentioned by Crystal Dynamics that the upcoming Tomb Raider Legend for the Nintendo DS will require players to blow into the microphone in order to blow the dust off and examine certain artifacts.

Technology

The handheld unit has a mass of approximately 275 grams (9.7 ounces). The physical size is 148.7 × 84.7 × 28.9 mm (5.85 × 3.33 × 1.13 inches). It features two separate 3-inch TFT LCD screens, each with a resolution of 256 × 192 pixels, dimensions of 62 x 46 mm and 77 mm diagonal, and a dot pitch of 0.24 mm. The gap between the screens is approximately 21mm, equivalent to about 92 "hidden" lines. The lowermost display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a resistive touch screen, which registers pressure from one point on the screen at a time, averaging multiple points of contact if necessary. The console uses two separate ARM processors, an ARM946E-S main CPU and ARM7TDMI co-processor at clock speeds of 67 MHz and 33 MHz respectively, with 4 MB of main memory which requires 1.65 volts.

The system's 3D hardware performs transform and lighting, texture-coordinate transformation, texture mapping, alpha blending, anti-aliasing, cel shading and z-buffering. However, it lacks any kind of texture filtering, leading to some titles having a blocky appearance. The system is theoretically capable of rendering 120,000 triangles per second at 30 frames per second. Unlike most 3D hardware, it has a limit on the number of triangles it can render as part of a single scene; this limit is somewhere in the region of 4000 triangles. The 3D hardware is designed to render to a single screen at a time, so rendering 3D to both screens is difficult and decreases performance significantly. However, games such as Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble run 3D on both screens at once in gameplay, and still keep good performance and quality.

The system has two 2D engines, one per screen. These are similar to (but more powerful than) the Game Boy Advance's 2D engine.

Games use a proprietary solid state ROM "Game Card" format resembling the memory cards used in other portable electronic devices such as digital cameras. It currently supports cards up to 1 gigabit (128 megabytes) in size (used in Final Fantasy III for instance). The cards usually also have a small amount of flash memory or an EEPROM to save user data, for example progress in a game or high scores. The game cards are 33.0 × 35.0 × 3.8 mm, and weigh around 3.5 grams (1/8 ounces).

The unit features wireless networking capabilities for multiplayer games or chat using Wi-Fi. Wireless multiplayer games, including the PictoChat capability and wireless game download use a proprietary protocol on top of IEEE 802.11, commonly known as Ni-Fi. Many newer games can use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to communicate with other systems anywhere in the world, using any Wi-Fi router or the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector with the usual IP-based protocols, besides offering direct DS-to-DS wireless communications using the older system.

Firmware

Nintendo's own custom firmware boots the system: from here, the user chooses to run a Nintendo DS or Game Boy Advance game, use PictoChat, or search for downloadable games. The latter is an adaptation of the Game Boy Advance's popular "single cartridge multiplayer" feature, adapted to support the system's Wi-Fi link capabilities: players without the game search for content, while players with the game broadcast it.

In November 2004, Nintendo announced its entry into the feature animation business, suggesting that theatres showing these features could install kiosks to broadcast game content to Nintendo DS units via this same feature. In March 2005, Nintendo tested broadcast kiosks in Japan, allowing players to download a demo of Meteos, extra content in Nintendogs, or extra songs for Jam with the Band. A similar download kiosk was at Nintendo's booth at E³ 2005, and had downloadable demos and trailers. It has been confirmed at D.I.C.E 2006 that similar kiosks will be available in GameStop, EB Games, and Game Crazy stores in North America in the second quarter of 2006, with the possibility of Wal-Mart and Target being added later. As of May 2006, Nintendo DS Download Stations have begun to start appearing in these stores, with a limited number of downloadable demos.

The PictoChat program, which is permanently stored on the unit, allows users to communicate with other Nintendo DS users within range over the wireless network by text, handwriting, or drawings, using the DS's touch screen and stylus for input; an on-screen keyboard partially covers the touch-sensitive area while using this mode, allowing for typed and written messages. There are rumors of an Internet-enabled PictoChat in development, though this is unconfirmed.

The DS's main menu also features an alarm clock and the ability to set preferences for boot priority (booting to games when inserted, or always booting to the main menu), Game Boy Advance game screen usage (top or bottom), and user information (name, date of birth, favorite color, time, etc.)

Download Play

With selected titles (such as Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros. and Meteos), it is possible to play multiplayer games with other Nintendo DS users using only one game card. The Nintendo DS unit downloads the necessary data from another unit running the game. Also, many toy stores have "DS Download Stations" where a player can download demos of games. Due to the game being stored solely in the console's RAM (4 Megabytes), the downloaded data is only retained until the Nintendo DS is switched off. The wireless transfer rate of the Nintendo DS is a megabit a second.

Compatibility

Nintendo DS games are on small, flat "game cards", as opposed to the larger cartridges used by the Game Boy line and other previous Nintendo systems.

The Nintendo DS is compatible with Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges; the smaller Nintendo DS cartridges fit into Slot 1 on the top of the system, while Game Boy Advance games fit into Slot 2 on the bottom of the system. The Nintendo DS is not compatible with games for the Game Boy Color and the original Game Boy, due to a slightly different form factor and the absence of the Zilog Z80-like processor used in these systems. This may be an attempt to separate the Nintendo DS and Nintendo's established Game Boy line of handheld consoles; the Game Boy Advance, for example, has the Z80 so it can run legacy Game Boy games. It may also be to keep the Nintendo DS's price down, since including another chip set would likely have significantly added to the cost of producing the unit. In light of this incompatibility, several projects have started to emulate this platform. One such product is the freely available Goomba emulator.

The handheld does not have a port for the Game Boy Advance Link Cable, so multiplayer or GameCube-Game Boy Advance link-up modes are not available in Game Boy Advance titles.

The Nintendo DS only uses one screen when playing Game Boy Advance games. The user can configure the system to use either the top or bottom screen by default. The games are displayed within a black border on the screen, due to the slightly different screen resolution between the two systems (256 × 192px (approx. .05 megapixels) Nintendo DS, 240 × 160px (approx. .04 megapixels) Game Boy Advance).

Nintendo DS games inserted into Slot 1 are able to detect the presence of a specific Game Boy Advance game in Slot 2. In games such as Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Kirby: Canvas Curse, WarioWare: Touched!, Feel the Magic: XY/XX, and Advance Wars: Dual Strike, extra content can be unlocked by starting the Nintendo DS game with the appropriate Game Boy Advance game of the same series inserted. MegaMan Battle Network 5: Double Team can unlock extra content with either games from its own series, or Konami's Boktai series. Also, some games take advantage of Slot 2 as a way to add extra game features, the first of these being an expansion pack for the music game, Daigasso! Band Brothers (announced as Jam with the Band in North America), which adds 31 new tracks to its song list.

The first fully-fledged Pokémon RPGs for the Nintendo DS, Diamond and Pearl, will allow players to link their game with a copy of the Game Boy Advance games, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red or Leaf Green, it is expected to use the Game Boy Advance slot on the Nintendo DS, effectively meaning players can trade Pokémon using only one system.

In addition, the Nintendo DS game Pokémon Dash has a feature unlockable through normal play, in which Pokémon Game Boy Advance game cartridges inserted will unlock between one and six new courses to play in a special mode. The courses are all based on the Pokémon in the Game Boy Advance cartridge's active party, and each Pokémon in the Game Boy Advance cartridge corresponds to a different course, including each individual Unown.

One of the first uses of this feature in Western countries is a Rumble Pak included with Metroid Prime Pinball, which is also compatible with Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Metroid Prime Hunters. It could also be used as RAM expansion in a cart form factor in some games; similar to the Expansion Pak for the Nintendo 64.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

In November 2005 Nintendo launched Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which allows wireless internet gameplay. Connection to the Nintendo Wi-Fi network is currently available at public venues, such as coffee shops and libraries, as well as through a home Wi-Fi network. Nintendo DS Wi-Fi hot spots are now available at some McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. through a deal that Nintendo made with Wayport.. Additionally, Nintendo announced a similar partnership with FatPort to create free hot spots in Canada.

Jim Merrick, former Director of Marketing for Nintendo of Europe, has confirmed there will be around 25,000 hot spots in Europe, including 7,500 in the UK alone. Hotspots operated by BT Openzone or listed on TheCloud.net are, generally speaking, available to Nintendo DS systems in the UK.

Nintendo DS Wi-Fi works with existing open and WEP secured hot spots, but networks that use a captive portal to authenticate users are incompatible because games do not currently include the web browser software necessary to communicate with most captive portals, and networks using WPA are incompatible because the Nintendo DS lacks support for the protocols.

An official accessory to allow the Nintendo DS to connect to the internet wirelessly (suitable for users without a wireless router), the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, was revealed during the DS Conference 2005 in Japan. It is available from the Nintendo.com store, the Nintendo World Store in New York City, and retailers such as Best Buy.

The Wi-Fi network expands multiplayer (exclusively for games designed for online gaming) capabilities beyond the range of 30â€"100 feet, allowing users at the hot spots to interface with each other from around the world. Mario Kart DS, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Metroid Prime: Hunters,Tetris DS, and Lost Magic are the only games thus far to be released in the U.S. with online capability. Future titles currently scheduled for such online compatibility include Contact and other titles.

In its first week of release, Nintendo announced that out of all the copies of Mario Kart DS sold in the United States, 45% of those buyers went online using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Comparatively, only 18% of all buyers who purchased Halo 2 for the Xbox went online within its first three weeks.

As of March 7, 2006, over 1,000,000 unique users world wide have logged onto the Nintendo WFC, creating over 27 million unique connections. There is a scrolling counter on the official Nintendo Wi-Fi website counting unique players and connections.

Battery life

The Nintendo DS contains a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. The expected battery life ranges from 6 - 10 hours on a full four-hour charge. Battery life is affected by multiple factors including: speaker volume, use of one or both screens, back lighting, and use of the inbuilt WiFi. The biggest effect on battery life is caused by using the backlight, which can be turned off on the main menu screen or on selected games (such as Super Mario 64 DS). However, because the screens only have a minimal reflective backing compared to the Game Boy Advance, deactivating the back light renders the on-screen image very difficult to see, even with sufficient ambient light.

The battery is designed to be removed only when it expires and should be replaced. It is removable with the use of a Phillips-head screwdriver. Removing the battery will cause the Nintendo DS to prompt the user to re-enter all of the unit's settings (user's birthday, user's name, etc.), but it will not affect saved data on Nintendo DS Game Cards or Game Boy Advance Game Paks.

To sustain battery life in the midst of a game, users can close the Nintendo DS system. This will pause any Nintendo DS game in the system and place the Nintendo DS into a battery-saving/sleep mode. A system in sleep mode can run for several hundred hours without completely draining the battery. However, closing the shell whilst playing a Game Boy Advance game will not put the Nintendo DS into sleep mode; the game will continue to run normally including the back light. Due to the fact that a Game Boy Advance game only uses a single screen, the expected battery life of playing a Game Boy Advance Game on the Nintendo DS is much higher than when playing a Nintendo DS game on it. In addition, many Game Boy Advance games can be set to enter sleep mode from the game's pause menu.

Replacement batteries may be purchased for USD $15 through Nintendo's online store.

Regional division

The Nintendo DS is region free in the sense that any console will run a Nintendo DS game purchased anywhere in the world; it is the same system everywhere. However, the Chinese version games can only be played on the Chinese iQue DS, whose larger firmware chip contains the required Chinese character glyph images. Nintendo DS of other regions cannot play the Chinese games, while iQue DS can play games of other regions. Also, as with Game Boy games, some games that require both players to have a Nintendo DS Game Card for multiplayer play will not work together if the games are from different regions (e.g. a Japanese Nintendo DS game may not work with a North American Nintendo DS game, though some titles, such as Mario Kart DS, are mutually compatible). With the addition of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, certain games can be played over the Internet with users of a different region game. For instance, players can compete in Mario Kart DS races around the world.Currently, European, American and Japanese DS systems can access download and demo stations to try out new games, but as of 2006, no DS Download Stations have been deployed in Latin America, New Zealand, or Australia.

Some Wi-Fi enabled games allow the selection of opponents by region (e.g. Mario Kart). The options are Continent / Worldwide (as well as two non location specific settings). This selects opponents based in the same geographical area as you. However it needs to be worked out if this is based on the region code of the console in use, the region of the cartridge, or geolocation of the IP address. This should not present problems except in two cases: First, round-trip delay time tends to be worse between continents. Second, people in different continents tend to be in different time zones and thus tend to be available for play at different times of day.

Software library

The Nintendo DS currently has over 100 games available in its library with another batch of over 100 additional titles currently in development.

As of July 2006, the Nintendo DS features games with the following ESRB ratings:
*Early Childhood: 0 games
*Everyone: 114 games
*Everyone 10 and older (E10+): 26 games
*Teen: 22 games
*Mature: 1 game (Resident Evil: Deadly Silence)
*Adults Only: 0 games

Key Nintendo-published titles

The Nintendo DS software library contains such traditional Nintendo series as Super Mario, Mario Kart, Pokémon, and Metroid.Some of the more popular first-party titles include:

Advance Wars: Dual Strike Animal Crossing: Wild World Big Brain Academy Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training 2 Electroplankton Jam with the Band Jump Super Stars Kirby: Canvas Curse

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Mario Kart DS Meteos Metroid Prime: Hunters Metroid Prime Pinball New Super Mario Bros. Nintendogs Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team Pokémon Ranger Pokémon Trozei Super Mario 64 DS Super Princess Peach Tetris DS WarioWare: Touched! Yoshi's Touch & Go

Major third-party titles

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Konami)
Children of Mana (Square Enix)
Contact (Grasshopper Manufacture)
*Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (Square Enix)
*Final Fantasy III (Square Enix)
*Lost in Blue (Konami)
*Lunar Knights (Kojima Productions)
*MegaMan Battle Network 5: Double Team DS (Capcom}
*Mega Man ZX (Capcom}
*Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Capcom)
*Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (Capcom)
*Sonic Rush (Sega)
*Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (Vicarious Visions)
*Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Atlus)
*Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble'' (Capcom)

Official accessories

Game Boy Advance game slot on Game Boy Advance (above) and Nintendo DS (below).

Although the secondary port on the Nintendo DS does accept and support Game Boy Advance cartridges (but not Game Boy Color cartridges), Nintendo has emphasized that its main intention for its inclusion was to allow a wide variety of accessories to be released for the system, the Game Boy Advance compatibility titles being a logical extension. Theorized accessories include GPS receivers, as well as accessories already included in certain Game Boy Advance cartridges such as Tilt-Sensor and solar-sensors.

Nintendo announced at E³ 2005 that it would launch "Headset Accessories" for VoIP enabled games. (This will plug into the VoIP plug next to the Ear Phone jack, not the Game Boy Advance slot.)

Rumble Pak

The Rumble Pak was the first official expansion slot accessory. In the form of a Game Boy Advance cartridge, the Rumble Pak vibrates to reflect the action in compatible games, such as when the player bumps into an obstacle or loses a life. It was released on October 24, 2005 and bundled with Metroid Prime Pinball. It can be used in games such as Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and Metroid Prime: Hunters and is sold as a separate accessory.A specially designed Rumble Pak was released in Japan in late May, 2006 for the Nintendo DS Lite The cartridge is about 1cm shorter to prevent it from protruding out of the Nintendo DS Lite as standard Game Boy Advance cartridges do. A North American version of the accessory is assumed following the June 11, 2006 release of the system.

Play-Yan

The Play-Yan is an adaptor which allows the Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo DS to play MPEG-4 videos and MP3 music from SD memory cards. It is originally marketed as a Game Boy Advance accessory, but can also be used with the Nintendo DS. The adaptor bears a superficial resemblance to the AM3 player (which allowed playback of pre-recorded movie files from read-only memory cards on a Game Boy Advance); the memory card slides into the right hand side of the adaptor, which then plugs into the cartridge slot of the parent console. The adaptor has its own integrated headphone port, but uses the parent console's power supply, controls, and display.

It is estimated that it will offer over 15 hours of MP3 playback and 4 hours of MPEG-4 playback from a fully-charged Game Boy Advance SP. The adaptor launched in Japan in February 2005 for approximately 5,000 yen ($47.47). Nintendo originally planned to release the adapter in the U.S. by the end of 2005, but it appears their plans have changed, as Nintendo has not delivered an announcement of a U.S. release with specific dates as of June 2006.

Nintendo DS Headset

The Nintendo DS Headset is the official headset for the Nintendo DS. It plugs into the headset port (which is a combination of a standard 3.5mm headphone connector and a proprietary microphone connector) on the bottom of the system. It features one earphone and a microphone, and is compatible with all games that use the internal microphone. It is slated for release in Japan on September 14, 2006. [1] [2] [3]

TV Tuner

Nintendo announces a digital TV Tuner card for the Nintendo DS portable game system in Japan.

The Nintendo Digital TV tuner card will come in April when in Japan terrestrial digital TV launches.The second screen of the Nintendo DS comes in handy and is used to switch channels.It is questionable if watching TV on the Nintendo DS will be supported in other markets.

Opera web browser

On February 15, 2006, Nintendo announced a version of Opera, a cross-platform web browser which will take advantage of the dual screens for either zooming in on certain sections of a website or having a longer vertical view. Opera for the Nintendo DS will have an upgradeable firmware, which will enable software updates. The browser went on sale in Japan on July 24, 2006, for JPÂ¥3,800 (approx. $33). A European release date of October 6, 2006 has been announced for the browser. Screens of an English version and promotional material were released at E3; however, Nintendo did not make any announcement of when the browser will be coming to North America.

Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector

This USB-flash-disk-sized accessory plugs into a PC's USB port and creates a miniature hotspot, allowing up to five Nintendo DSs to connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service through the host computers' internet connection. Currently this device is only compatible with Windows XP.

Third party accessories

MAX Media Player

Datel manufactures the MAX Media Player, which features a removable 4GB hard drive to accompany a software media player. The add-on is similar to the 4GB hard drive released late last year for the PlayStation Portable.

A new version compatible with Nintendo DS cards has been released in two separate versions; one for the Nintendo DS and a separate one for the Nintendo DS Lite.

Action Replay MAX DUO

Made by Datel, this is basically a Game Boy Advance Action Replay with extra features. It can be used as a cheat device for Game Boy Advance games. It also can be used to back up saved game data from Nintendo DS cards, or can put premade save files - or "powersaves" into the Nintendo DS cards. Powersaves and codes can be downloaded from the Action Replay web site and uploaded to the device via a USB cable. This device attaches into Slot 2.

Action Replay DS

Made by Datel, this is a cheat device for Nintendo DS games, and can be connected to a Internet ready PC to update its code database, and has features comparable to the PS2's Action Replay MAX... It will also have a parter device released soon that will allow you to hack your own codes.

WiFi MAX

Datel's alternative to the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector.

Unlike the Wi-Fi Connector, the WiFi MAX can be used with other WiFi devices beyond the DS (PlayStation Portable, PDAs, etc). The WiFi MAX can also be used as a standard WLAN adapter if you chose, while the Wi-Fi Connector is limited to only acting as an Access Point.

However, the WiFi MAX lacks the added security functions of the Wi-Fi Connector, in that any device can connect to it, rather than only allowed Nintendo DS units.

WiFi MAX should not be confused with WiMAX, a WiFi router technology that aims for much larger communication ranges and heavier user loads than traditional WiFi routers.

MAX Media Launcher

A device that allows the user to boot homebrew applications from a Game Boy Advance-slot flash device (flash card, Compact Flash adapter, etc).

The MAX Media Launcher is a NoPass device, an alternative to the PassMe type devices. It appears as an official DS Game Card to the DS firmware and thus works on all DS firmware revisions, unlike PassMe.

It is important to note however, that the MAX Media Launcher does nothing by itself, and must be combined with some form of Game Boy Advance-slot storage device to work. The card is also available bundled with the MAX Media Player.

Communicator Headset

Datel's version of the VolP headset.

Marketing and sales

On January 5, 2006, Nintendo issued a formal apology after the Nintendo DS became sold out throughout Japan. No Nintendo system had ever sold out in Japan before.

Nintendo announced on February 15, 2006 that in Japan the Nintendo DS reached 5 million units sold in less than 13 months after its launch which marks the fastest-ever pace for a video game system in Japan.

In Nintendo's press conference at E3 2006, George Harrison (Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communication at Nintendo of America) stated that the Nintendo DS sold over 16 million units world wide since its launch.

In June 2006, 593,000 units of the Nintendo DS were sold.

In July 2006, 377,000 units of the Nintendo DS were sold.

Current Sales of Nintendo DS and DS Lite:
*worldwide: 21.27 million as of June 30, 2006
**Japan: 9.24 million (as of June 30, 2006)
**The Americas: 5.90 million (as of June 30, 2006)
**Other: 6.13 million (as of June 30, 2006)As of June 30, 2006, 4.15 million of the total Nintendo DS unit sales worldwide are of Nintendo DS Lites.

Nintendo has placed the Nintendo DS outside of its highly successful Game Boy line, which is targeted at the pre-existing gaming market. It has been speculated that this was a precautionary measure to ensure the Game Boy brand remained untarnished if the Nintendo DS were to fail commercially.

Nintendo signed a deal with the creators of the new Alex Rider film so that on his mission Alex will be equipped with a DS.

The system's promotional slogans revolve around the word "Touch": in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand: Touching Is Good; in Canada: Don't Touch, Touch; in Japan, and China: Touch!; and in Europe: Touch me!, with the exception of the Spanish A tocar (Let's Touch, or Let's play in the musical sense) since the music duo Estopa is performing all Nintendo DS advertisements, and in Brazil: tocar é legal (Touching is cool). The only exception to this is the new campaign slogan in the United Kingdom, Open up and play (used since the Touch! Generations began).

Sony PSP pictured above the Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is currently seen by many analysts to be in the same market as Sony's PlayStation Portable, although representatives from both companies have stated that each system targets a different audience. At the time of its release in the United States, the Nintendo DS retailed for $149.99 USD. The price dropped to $129.99 USD on August 21, 2005, one day before the anticipated North American releases of Nintendogs and Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

As with Nintendo's previous handheld consoles, the Nintendo DS has been produced in a number of different colors. As of August 2005, eight official colors are available through standard retailers. Titanium (silver and black) is available worldwide, Electric Blue is exclusive to North and Latin America. Graphite Black, Pure White, Turquoise Blue and Candy Pink are available in Japan. Mystic Pink and Cosmic Blue are available in Australia and New Zealand. Japan's Candy Pink and Australia's Cosmic Blue are also available in Europe and North America through a Nintendogs bundle, although the colors are just referred to as pink and blue. However, these colors are only available for the original Nintendo DS model; a different and more-limited set of colors have be used for the Nintendo DS Lite.

Special editions

*Five variants of existing Nintendo DS colors were produced for the Japanese online Super Mario Club. Each color has a wireframe of a character's face imprinted on the front cover of the system. The designs include Titanium/Mario, Graphite Black/Bowser, Gray/Wario, Candy Pink/Princess Peach, and Turquoise Blue/Yoshi.
*Additionally, Nintendo auctioned off three custom Nintendo DS systems for charity at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The systems went to Jay Mohr for $10,000, Poppy Montgomery for $2,500, and Alan Cumming for $1,500. Nintendo added money to the final bids, and a portion of the funds went towards victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
*Rapper 50 Cent ordered a custom-made Nintendo DS from Nintendo, featuring a khaki camouflage design, and the G-Unit insignia on the front cover.
*As a special gift, 55 people who attended the May 9, 2006 VIP party at the Nintendo World Store were able to get a commemorative E3 engraving put on the cover of their Nintendo DS.

Limited editions

Various other colors have been made available in limited quantities:
*Special dark blue Nintendo DS systems were released at Poképark in Japan and Wal-Mart in the US. The systems have the Poképark logo on the front cover, and a Pikachu silhouette superimposed over the right speaker grill.
*A light blue Nintendo DS, with a limited run of 1,000 units, was released in Japan as part of a joint promotional offer with Pepsi.
*Nintendo released a gold-colored Nintendo DS that is exclusive to Japanese Toys "R" Us stores.
*A Nintendo DS with Mew has been released in Japan. It is tinted purple with the Pokémon lightly printed on the front and adjacent to the top screen.
*50 white Nintendo DS units featuring artwork of characters from the popular anime Bleach will be given away by Sega to commemorate the release of Bleach DS: Souten ni Kakeru Unmei.
*Sega is currently holding a contest whose prize is a white Nintendo DS with a skin of Doraemon on the front.

Promotional packages

*The red Nintendo DS model, released in Japan on August 8, 2005, is part of a promotional offer that includes the game Jump Superstars.
*In October 2005, Nintendo released two new colors to North America: Teal and Pearl Pink (not the same Candy Pink as was released in Europe and Japan, but a tint identical to that of the Mystic Pink model released in Australia). These systems are bundled with the game Nintendogs Best Friends Version, as well as a bone-shaped screen cleaner.
*The Electric Blue was released in North America, initially bundled with Super Mario 64 DS, for the same price as a lone DS ($149.99) on June 30 2005. One million copies were sold, making it the best-selling game during that time. As of February 27, 2006 Animal Crossing: Wild World is included with the Electric Blue system.
*The Nintendo DS: Blue and Pink Nintendogs Bundles were released in Europe on October 7, 2005. The two packs contain a pink Nintendo DS system and the Dachshund version of Nintendogs, or a blue Nintendo DS system and the Labrador version of Nintendogs. These were priced at the same price as a lone Nintendo DS (£99). On that same day, the Nintendo DS received a price cut to £89. There are also Animal Crossing - Wild World packs with the Nintendo DS included.
*The Mario Kart DS Pak was released in Europe on November 25, 2005, which contained a silver-colored Nintendo DS and a copy of Mario Kart DS. The same Pak was available in New Zealand and Australia
*The Red Hot Bundle was released in North America on November 29, 2005, including a red and silver Nintendo DS system ("Hot Rod Red"), optional racing decals, a normal Nintendo DS wrist strap/thumb pad, a bonus checkerboard wrist strap (strangely, with no thumb pad), a Mario Kart metal charm, and a copy of Mario Kart DS.
*The Titanium Nintendo DS was released with a demo of the game Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, on November 21 2004 in North America and on March 11 2005 in Europe. The bundle is no longer available in the vast majority of American and European stores.

Software development

Nintendo only accepts official companies with a game development team, and sufficient experience in certain areas for their official developer support program. Additional information is available from the Nintendo Software Development Support Group.

An alternative method is to use publicly available knowledge from sites such as NDSTech, and to use the tools available to create one's own programs. This development route requires a method for running Nintendo DS programs from the Game Boy Advance port. There are five methods available: PassMe, PassMe2, WiFiMe, FlashMe, and NoPass.

Hacking

:''Main article: Nintendo DS homebrew

PassMe

After the first pass through (patching card information) got home brew code running, several people started to produce and sell the so-called PassMe devices. Currently, the BIOS of the Nintendo DS has been disassembled and will lead to pass through-less cards. PassMe v1 could simply use any Nintendo DS Game Card to operate, while PassMe v2 required on-board memory for game specific booting, which would combat with later versions of the Nintendo DS's firmware that blocked non game-specific boots. However, this required SRAM in the media that the PassMe was booting to, and thus did not operate with some media devices, such as the Game Boy Advance Media Player (CF/SD).

NoPass devices

Datel has introduced to the market the first of the aforementioned pass-throughless cards, dubbed "NoPass" by the homebrewing community. It functions similarly to a PassMe, and unlike previous generations, does not need an official game card or an SRAM-enabled storage device. This opens up the option of using the Game Boy Advance Movie Player with newer-firmware Nintendo DSs.

Wi-Fi

Ever since the Nintendo DS's release on November 21, 2004, several groups have been attempting to extend and build upon the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi protocol. Darkain was leading the reverse-engineering of the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi and Ni-Fi protocols at the time the Nintendo DS came out, which has influenced many of the available Nintendo DS Wi-Fi hacks and applications today.

Interestingly, two groups (Project Nitro and Team Xlink) had claimed to be successful in tunneling the Nintendo DS WiFi protocol over the internet creating online multiplayer possibilities around the world using the handheld and multiplayer-enabled Nintendo DS games.

However, Project Nitro never put out any software or evidence to support their claim, and has since completely disappeared (the developers moved on to create DSmeet, a place to meet other NDS WiFi users). Team XLink claimed to have a workable system, but later publicly announced they were no longer working on tunneling the Nintendo DS, saying they were not making enough progress to warrant their continued efforts.

In both cases, it is all but certain there was never any tangible product created.

Recently a new project entitled DSTunnel has come into being. It is a culmination of a hacker's work in reverse engineering the DS's Wi-Fi hardware. While it has shown promise, and a beta version has shown some success, it still has the requirement of the user having a RAlink RT2500 based Wi-Fi card for it to work.

Since early to mid 2006, Nintendo DS developers have been able to create working Wi-Fi applications through the use of Stephen Stair's NDS Wi-Fi Library. Through modifications of this library, people such as Bronto, of NDSMail, have created functional Wi-Fi apps. The DSLinux has also employed Wi-Fi in their port of the Linux operating system. (See below)

Linux

There is currently an ongoing project aiming to bring the Linux operating system to the Nintendo DS, "DSLinux". As of February 2006, this project has successfully executed a 2.6 kernel, the retawq text-only web browser, simple shell, telnet, SSH, telnetd, some text-based games, touchscreen support, sound (beta) and Wi-Fi support.

Nintendo DS Lite

Nintendo DS Lite

On January 26 2006 Nintendo revealed the Nintendo DS Lite. It features a smaller form factor, at 133.0 x 73.9 x 21.5mm. It has a brighter screen with four adjustable brightness levels. The battery life has been increased to 18 hours on the lowest brightness setting (roughly equivalent to the brightness of a standard Nintendo DS). The Nintendo DS Lite also features the Nintendo DS twin-screen logo on its front. Unlike the standard Nintendo DS, the "Nintendo" logo is only featured on the bottom of the console. It was released on March 2, 2006 in Japan, at ¥16800 (around US$ 130). Australia received the Nintendo DS Lite on June 1, 2006 for a retail price of AU$199.95. It was also released in North America on June 11, 2006 at US$129.99. The Nintendo DS Lite was released on June 23, 2006 in Europe. Europe has both black and white versions of the system. Reggie Fils-Aime later announced the original model of the Nintendo DS will be phased out completely once the Nintendo DS Lite is launched.

Some changes from the first design include: the Start/Select buttons are moved down, the microphone is centered between the two screens, and the power button has been changed to a spring-loaded switch on the right side of the console. The stylus is thicker and longer, and is stored in the right hand side of the unit. The Nintendo DS Lite has similar design elements with Nintendo's upcoming home console, Wii, such as the design of the D-Pad and face buttons. Game Boy Advance cartridges are still supported, but stick out of the system by 1 centimeter due to the smaller size (similar to the way original Game Boy cartridges work on the Game Boy Advance) also allowing it to support E-Reader, something the original Nintendo DS could not do without modifications. The system is available in Japan in the following colors: Crystal White, Ice Blue, and Enamel Navy, with Noble Pink coming July 20 and Jet Black coming September 2. Australia and North America received only a white version (called "Polar White" in these territories), while the European launch also includes a black version.

Emulators

There are a number of emulators for the Nintendo DS, which are commonly used for homebrew game development,

The current Nintendo DS emulators available include iDeaS, DeSmuME, Dualis, and DSemu. However, since these emulators are still relatively new, they will not properly run most Nintendo DS ROMs if they can run the ROMs at all.

Ensata developed by Intelligent Systems as well as iDeaS can play Nintendo DS games completely (although gameplay is slow).

Emulating the Nintendo DS poses several interesting challenges due to its innovative touch-screen. This feature makes it difficult for emulators to capture the true experience of Nintendo DS gameplay.

Reaction

*In February 2005 Wired Magazine described the design of the original Nintendo DS design as "clunky." In a later article, they criticized the screen size and limited game selection at the time (particularly in the area of professional sports games).
*In March 2005 The Register acknowledged that while the Nintendo DS had inferior hardware specifications to the PlayStation Portable, "Nintendo hasn't lost its magic, just taken it in a weird new direction".

Rumors

*After being sold to Microsoft, there were rumors that developer Rare would still develop for the Nintendo DS. In its January 2006 issue, EGM reported a rumor that Rare was "staffing up for two Nintendo DS projects, one being a Banjo-Kazooie platformer."The Q (January, 2006). "The Rumor Mill". Electronic Gaming Monthly #199: p. ???. On May 10, 2006, Rare confirmed on its official website that it is collaborating on games for the Nintendo DS, the first being Diddy Kong Racing DS.

Trivia

*Several games have been released with titles or subtitles that form acronyms of the letters "DS", including Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Dig Dug: Digging Strike, Digimon Story, Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy, Guilty Gear Dust Strikers, Lunar: Dragon Song, Mr. Driller Drill Spirits, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, Tenchu: Dark Secret, and World Championship Poker: Deluxe Series
*The protagonist of Trauma Center: Under the Knife's name is Derek Stiles, so his initials are also DS. Stiles is also a pun on Stylus, the pen used on the touch screen.
*The final boss of Kirby: Canvas Curse/Kirby: Power Paintbrush is named Drawcia Sorceress (and later, Drawcia Soul), also initialed DS.
*In Trace Memory, the main character uses a DTS, a handheld that looks identical to the Nintendo DS. (In the UK, where the game is known as Another Code: Two Memories, the device is called a DAS.)
*In Yoshi Touch & Go, the first level on Score Attack has coins made up into the letters DS
*In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, some NPCs use a handheld identical to the Nintendo DS.

Game & Watch

*The DS's code name was "Nitro", a name reflected in the title of the game Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour. It is also reflected on the DS, accessories, and game cards, where the product number starts with NTR-. There is also in the "Nitro Grand Prix" in Mario Kart DS.
*Unlike the past several Nintendo consoles (Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64), games exclusive to the Nintendo DS do not feature the "Only For" label on the North American game boxes.
*In mainland China it is marketed as the iQue DS (not to be confused with the Nintendo iQue) where it contains additional firmware to support Chinese characters. All other regional variations of the Nintendo DS are identical.
*The Nintendo DS bears a striking resemblance to Nintendo's first hand held, the Game and Watch, specifically the Donkey Kong version.
*It has been said that the upcoming Pokémon Diamond and Pearl games will have a Pokédex that is designed to look as the Nintendo DS.[4]
*In the Game Boy Advance game Megaman Battle Network 6, there is a portable gaming system present in Lan Hikari's bedroom that "has dual screens and a touch pad", and is obviously a salute to the Nintendo DS.
*In the popular Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, the episode titled French 101 reveals that Cody Martin has a Nintendo DS.
*Since the release of the Nintendo DS Lite, the original Nintendo DS has been dubbed the "DS Phat" or "Fat DS" in many online discussions and forums.
*Dr. Gregory House of the popular television drama House is sometimes seen playing a Nintendo DS.
*In the U.S. sitcom Two and a Half Men Jake Harper can be seen in the second series playing a Nintendo DS, although all of the characters refer to it as a Game Boy possibly because Game Boys are more widely known.
*The Nintendo DS uses ports 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), 27900-27901, 28910, and 29900-29901, as well as a few others to connect to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
*In the film Stormbreaker, the main character Alex Rider uses a Nintendo DS as his main gadget, he is also given Mario Kart DS. This is due to an agreement between Nintendo and the film's producers, and an up-to-date take on the book (In the novel Stormbreaker he used a Game Boy Color).
*A device similar to the Nintendo DS was used in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Gamecube by a NPC.
*In an episode of the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh, the character Megan yells at Josh for taking her "Pintendo GS", in a clear reference to the Nintendo DS.
*Vel of the movie Firewall is seen playing a Nintendo DS before he tackles a boy for answering a phone.

See also

*Comparison of handheld gaming consoles
*History of video games
*Nintendo DS launches
*List of Nintendo DS games
*List of Nintendo DS WiFi games
*List of Nintendo DS Rumble Pak games
*List of Nintendo DS downloadable games

References

External links

Official sites

* Official Nintendo DS website - (English, Spanish and French) (requires Macromedia Flash Player)
* Official Nintendo DS UK Site
* Nintendo DS homepage (Japanese) - Images of the Nintendo DS in closed and opened condition (requires Macromedia Flash Player)
* Official Japanese Site
* Touch! Generations
* Official Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection website
* Touching is Good - Nintendo of America's Nintendo DS advertising campaign

Fan and resource sites

* Compatibility of NDS with GBA Flash Cards - Article discussing the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance Flash memory linker carts.
* Linux DS - Linux port for the Nintendo DS.

Wi-Fi community sites

* DSCommunity.co.uk UK based community site for all things to do with the Nintendo DS including gaming events, friend codes, wi-fi game tournaments, forums, news and reviews and more.
* FriendCodes.com - Great place for users to organize Wi-Fi games and discuss the Nintendo DS.
* DS Connect - Great place for DS gamers to setup Wi-Fi tournaments, organize localized Nintendo DS parties, easily search members, chat, and participate in the forums.