Handheld game console
The Nintendo DS[a] is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. 🍏 The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen",[7] introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens 🍏 working in tandem (the bottom one being a touchscreen), a built-in microphone and support for wireless connectivity.[8] Both screens are 🍏 encompassed within a clamshell design similar to the Game Boy Advance SP. The Nintendo DS also features the ability for 🍏 multiple DS consoles to directly interact with each other over Wi-Fi within a short range without the need to connect 🍏 to an existing wireless network. Alternatively, they could interact online using the now-defunct Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. Its main competitor 🍏 was Sony's PlayStation Portable during the seventh generation of video game consoles.
Prior to its release, the Nintendo DS was marketed 🍏 as an experimental "third pillar" in Nintendo's console lineup, meant to complement the Game Boy Advance family and GameCube. However, 🍏 backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance titles and strong sales ultimately established it as the successor to the Game Boy 🍏 series.[9] On March 2, 2006, Nintendo launched the Nintendo DS Lite, a slimmer and lighter redesign of the original Nintendo 🍏 DS with brighter screens and a longer lasting battery. On November 1, 2008, Nintendo released the Nintendo DSi, another redesign 🍏 with several hardware improvements and new features, although it lost backwards compatibility for Game Boy Advance titles and a few 🍏 DS games that used the GBA slot. On November 21, 2009, Nintendo released the Nintendo DSi XL, a larger version 🍏 of the DSi.
All Nintendo DS models combined have sold 154.02 million units,[10] making it the best-selling Nintendo system, the best-selling 🍏 handheld game console, and the second-best-selling video game console of all time, overall, behind Sony's PlayStation 2.[3][11] The Nintendo DS 🍏 was succeeded by the Nintendo 3DS in February 2011.
History [ edit ]
Development [ edit ]
Development on the Nintendo DS began 🍏 around mid-2002, following an original idea from former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi about a dual-screened console.[12] On November 13, 2003, 🍏 Nintendo announced that it would be releasing a new game product in 2004. The company did not provide many details, 🍏 but stated it would not succeed the Game Boy Advance or GameCube.[13] On January 20, 2004, the console was announced 🍏 under the codename "Nintendo DS".[14] Nintendo released only a few details at that time, saying that the console would have 🍏 two separate, 3-inch TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and up to 1 gigabit (128MB) of semiconductor memory.[14][15] Current Nintendo 🍏 president at the time, Satoru Iwata, said, "We have developed Nintendo DS based upon a completely different concept from existing 🍏 game devices in order to provide players with a unique entertainment experience for the 21st century."[14] He also expressed optimism 🍏 that the DS would help put Nintendo back at the forefront of innovation and move away from the conservative image 🍏 that had been used to describe the company in years past.[16] In March 2004, a document containing most of the 🍏 console's technical specifications was leaked, also revealing its internal development name, "Nitro".[17] In May 2004, the console was shown in 🍏 prototype form at E3 2004, still under the name "Nintendo DS",[18] which Reggie Fils-Aimé announced would change for launch. On 🍏 July 28, 2004, Nintendo revealed a new design that was described as "sleeker and more elegant" than the one shown 🍏 at E3 and announced Nintendo DS as the device's official name.[19] Following lukewarm GameCube sales, Hiroshi Yamauchi stressed the importance 🍏 of its success to the company's future, making a statement which can be translated from Japanese as, "If the DS 🍏 succeeds, we will rise to heaven, but if it fails we will sink to hell."[20][21]
Launch [ edit ]
President Iwata referred 🍏 to Nintendo DS as "Nintendo's first hardware launch in support of the basic strategy 'Gaming Population Expansion'" because the touch-based 🍏 device "allows users to play intuitively".[22] On September 20, 2004, Nintendo announced that the Nintendo DS would be released in 🍏 North America on November 21, 2004, for US$149.99.[23] It was set to release on December 2, 2004, in Japan for 🍏 JP¥15,000;[24] on February 24, 2005, in Australia for A$199.95;[25] and on March 11, 2005, in Europe for €149.99 (£99.99 in 🍏 the United Kingdom).[26] The console was released in North America with a midnight launch event at Universal CityWalk EB Games 🍏 in Los Angeles, California. The console was launched quietly in Japan compared to the North America launch; one source cited 🍏 the cold weather as the reason.[27]
North America and Japan [ edit ]
The Nintendo DS was launched in North America for 🍏 US$149.99 on November 21, 2004; in Japan for JP¥15,000 on December 2 in the color "Titanium". Well over three million 🍏 preorders were taken in North America and Japan; preorders at online stores were launched on November 3 and ended the 🍏 same day as merchants had already sold their allotment. Initially, Nintendo planned to deliver one million units combined at the 🍏 North American and Japanese launches; when it saw the preorder numbers, it brought another factory online to ramp up production. 🍏 Nintendo originally slated 300,000 units for the U.S. debut; 550,000 were shipped, and just over 500,000 of those sold through 🍏 in the first week. Later in 2005, the manufacturer suggested retail price for the Nintendo DS was dropped to US$129.99.
Both 🍏 launches proved to be successful, but Nintendo chose to release the DS in North America prior to Japan, a first 🍏 for a hardware launch from the Kyoto-based company. This choice was made to get the DS out for the largest 🍏 shopping day of the year in the U.S. (the day after Thanksgiving, also known as "Black Friday").[28] Perhaps partly due 🍏 to the release date, the DS met unexpectedly high demand in the United States, selling 1 million units by December 🍏 21, 2004. By the end of December, the total number shipped worldwide was 2.8 million, about 800,000 more than Nintendo's 🍏 original forecast.[29] At least 1.2 million of them were sold in the U.S. Some industry reporters referred to it as 🍏 "the Tickle Me Elmo of 2004".[30] In June 2005, Nintendo informed the press that a total of 6.65 million units 🍏 had been sold worldwide.[31]
A Nintendo DS, skinned in blue
As is normal for electronics, some were reported as having problems with 🍏 stuck pixels in either of the two screens. Although return policies for LCD displays vary between manufacturers and regions, in 🍏 North America, Nintendo chose to replace a system with faulty pixels only if the owner claimed that it interfered with 🍏 their gaming experience. There were two exchange programs in place for North America. In the first, the owner of the 🍏 defective DS in question would provide a valid credit card number and, afterward, Nintendo would ship a new DS system 🍏 to the owner with shipping supplies to return the defective system. In the second, the owner of the defective DS 🍏 in question would have shipped their system to Nintendo for inspection. After inspection, Nintendo technicians would have either shipped a 🍏 replacement system or fixed the defective system. The first option allowed the owner to have a new DS in 3–5 🍏 business days.
Multiple games were released alongside the DS during its North American launch on November 21, 2004. At launch there 🍏 was one pack-in demo, in addition to the built-in PictoChat program: Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt (published by Nintendo and 🍏 is a demo for Metroid Prime Hunters, a game released in March 2006). At the time of the "Electric Blue" 🍏 DS launch in June 2005, Nintendo bundled the system with Super Mario 64 DS.
In Japan, the games were released at 🍏 the same time as the system's first release (December 2, 2004). In the launch period, The Prince of Tennis 2005 🍏 -Crystal Drive- (Konami) and Puyo Puyo Fever (Sega) were released.
Europe [ edit ]
The DS was released in Europe on March 🍏 11, 2005, for €149. A small supply of units was available prior to this in a package with a promotional 🍏 "VIP" T-shirt, Metroid Prime Hunters - First Hunt, a WarioWare: Touched! demo and a pre-release version of Super Mario 64 🍏 DS, through the Nintendo Stars Catalogue; the bundle was priced at £129.99 for the UK and €189.99 for the rest 🍏 of Europe, plus 1,000 of Nintendo's "star" loyalty points (to cover postage). On 23 January 2006, 1 million DS units 🍏 had been sold in Europe, setting a sales record for a handheld console.
The European release of the DS, like the 🍏 U.S., was originally packaged with a Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt demo. The European game cases are additionally about 1/4 🍏 inch thicker than their North American counterparts and transparent rather than solid black. Inside the case, there is room for 🍏 one Game Boy Advance game pak and a DS card with the instructions on the left side of the case.
Australia 🍏 and New Zealand [ edit ]
The DS launched in Australia and New Zealand on February 24, 2005. It retailed in 🍏 Australia for AU$199 and in New Zealand for NZ$249. Like the North American launch, it includes the Metroid Prime Hunters 🍏 - First Hunt demo. The first week of sales for the system broke Australian launch sales records for a console, 🍏 with 19,191 units sold by the 27th.
China [ edit ]
"iQue DS", the official name of the Chinese Nintendo DS, was 🍏 released in China on June 15, 2005. The price of the iQue DS was 980 RMB (roughly US$130) as of 🍏 April 2006. This version of the DS includes updated firmware to block out the use of the PassMe device, along 🍏 with the new Red DS. Chinese launch games were Zhi Gan Yi Bi (Polarium) (Nintendo/iQue) and Momo Waliou Zhizao (WarioWare: 🍏 Touched!) (Nintendo/iQue). The iQue name was first used for a device that was based on Nintendo 64 hardware in 2003, 🍏 after China banned sales of home video games in that region years prior.
Games available on launch [ edit ]
Promotion [ 🍏 edit ]
The system's promotional slogans revolve around the word "Touch" in almost all countries, with the North American slogan being 🍏 "Touching is good."[32]
The Nintendo DS was seen by many analysts to be in the same market as Sony's PlayStation Portable, 🍏 although representatives from both companies stated that each system targeted a different audience.[33][34][citation needed] Time magazine awarded the DS a 🍏 Gadget of the Week award.[35]
At the time of its release in the United States, the Nintendo DS retailed for US$149.99. 🍏 The price dropped to US$129.99 on August 21, 2005, one day before the releases of Nintendogs and Advance Wars: Dual 🍏 Strike.
Nine official colors of the Nintendo DS were available through standard retailers. Titanium-colored units were available worldwide, Electric Blue was 🍏 exclusive to North and Latin America. There was also a red version which was bundled with the game Mario Kart 🍏 DS. Graphite Black, Pure White, Turquoise Blue, and Candy Pink were available in Japan. Mystic Pink and Cosmic Blue[36] were 🍏 available in Australia and New Zealand. Japan's Candy Pink and Australia's Cosmic Blue were 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 were 🍏 available only for the original style Nintendo DS; a different and more-limited set of colors were used for the Nintendo 🍏 DS Lite.
Sales [ edit ]
As of March 31, 2024, all Nintendo DS models combined have sold 154.02 million units, making 🍏 it the best-selling handheld game console to date, and the second best-selling video game console of all time.[3][37]
Legacy [ edit 🍏 ]
The success of the Nintendo DS introduced touchscreen controls and wireless online gaming to a wide audience. According to Damien 🍏 McFerran of Nintendo Life, the "DS was the first encounter many people had with touch-based tech, and it left an 🍏 indelible impression."[38]
The DS established a large casual gaming market, attracting large non-gamer audiences and establishing touchscreens as the standard controls 🍏 for future portable gaming devices. According to Jeremy Parish, writing for Polygon, the Nintendo DS laid the foundations for touchscreen 🍏 mobile gaming on smartphones. He stated that the DS "had basically primed the entire world for" the iPhone, released in 🍏 2007, and that the DS paved the way for iPhone gaming mobile apps. However, the success of the iPhone "effectively 🍏 caused the DS market to implode" by the early 2010s, according to Parish.[39]
The DS also enlarged the market for female 🍏 gamers. According to Nintendo in 2006, 44% of DS owners were female, with the majority of Nintendogs owners being female.[40]
The 🍏 success of the DS paved the way for its successor, the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld gaming console with a similar 🍏 dual-screen setup that can display
on the top screen in stereoscopic 3D.[41]
On January 29, 2014, Nintendo announced that Nintendo 🍏 DS games would be added to the Wii U's Virtual Console, with the first game, Brain Age: Train Your Brain 🍏 in Minutes a Day!, being released in Japan on June 3, 2014.[42][43]
Hardware [ edit ]
Stylus for the DS Lite
The Nintendo 🍏 DS[44] design resembles that of the multi-screen games from the Game & Watch line, such as Donkey Kong and Zelda, 🍏 which was also made by Nintendo.
The lower display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a resistive touchscreen designed to 🍏 accept input from the included stylus, the user's fingers, or a curved plastic tab attached to the optional wrist strap. 🍏 The touchscreen lets users interact with in-game elements more directly than by pressing buttons; for example, in the included chatting 🍏 software, PictoChat, the stylus is used to write messages or draw.
The handheld features four lettered buttons (X, Y, A, B), 🍏 a directional pad, and Start, Select, and Power buttons. On the top of the device are two shoulder buttons, a 🍏 game card slot, a stylus holder and a power cable input. The bottom features the Game Boy Advance game card 🍏 slot. The overall button layout resembles that of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller. When using backward compatibility mode on 🍏 the DS, buttons X and Y and the touchscreen are not used as the Game Boy Advance line of systems 🍏 do not feature these controls.
It also has stereo speakers providing virtual surround sound (depending on the software) located on either 🍏 side of the upper display screen. This was a first for a Nintendo handheld, as the Game Boy line of 🍏 systems had 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, chatting 🍏 online between and during gameplay sessions, and minigames that require the player to blow or shout into it.
Technical specifications [ 🍏 edit ]
The system's 3D hardware[44][47] consists of rendering engine and geometry engine which perform transform and lighting, Transparency Auto Sorting, 🍏 Transparency Effects, Texture Matrix Effects, 2D Billboards, Texture Streaming, texture-coordinate transformation, perspective-correct texture mapping, per-pixel Alpha Test, per-primitive alpha blending, 🍏 texture blending, Gouraud Shading, cel shading, z-buffering, W-Buffering, 1bit Stencil Buffer, per-vertex directional lighting and simulated point lighting, Depth Test, 🍏 Stencil Test, Render to Texture, Lightmapping, Environment Mapping, Shadow Volumes, Shadow Mapping, Distance Fog, Edge Marking, Fade-In/Fade-Out, Edge-AA. Sprite special 🍏 effects: scrolling, scaling, rotation, stretching, shear. However, it uses point (nearest neighbor) texture filtering, leading to some titles having a 🍏 blocky appearance. Unlike most 3D hardware, it has a set limit on the number of triangles it can render as 🍏 part of a single scene; the maximum amount is about 6144 vertices, or 2048 triangles per frame. 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. The DS is generally more limited by its polygon budget than its pixel fill rate. There are 🍏 also 512 kilobytes of texture memory, and the maximum texture size is 1024 × 1024 pixels.
The system has 656 kilobytes 🍏 of video memory[48] and two 2D engines (one per screen). These are similar to (but more powerful than) the Game 🍏 Boy Advance's single 2D engine.
The Nintendo DS has compatibility with Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is used for accessing the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, 🍏 compete with other users playing the same Wi-Fi compatible game, PictoChat[49] or with a special cartridge and RAM extension, browse 🍏 the internet.
Nintendo claims the battery lasts a maximum of 10 hours under ideal conditions on a full four-hour charge. Battery 🍏 life is affected by multiple factors including speaker volume, use of one or both screens, use of wireless connectivity, and 🍏 use of backlight, which can be turned on or off in selected games such as Super Mario 64 DS. The 🍏 battery is user-replaceable using only a Phillips-head screwdriver. After about 500 charges the battery life starts to decrease.[50]
Users can close 🍏 the Nintendo DS system to trigger its 'sleep' mode, which pauses the game being played and saves battery life by 🍏 turning off the screens, speakers, and wireless communications; however, closing the system while playing a Game Boy Advance game will 🍏 not put the Nintendo DS into sleep mode, and the game will continue to run normally. Certain DS games (such 🍏 as Animal Crossing: Wild World) will also not pause, but the backlight, screens, and speakers will turn off. Additionally, when 🍏 saving the game in certain games[51] the DS will not go into sleep mode.[52] Some games, such as The Legend 🍏 of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, use the closing motion needed to enter sleep mode as an unorthodox way of solving puzzles,[53] 🍏 or include gameplay sequences that require the console to be closed, such as Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck.[54]
Accessories [ edit ]
Although 🍏 the secondary port on the Nintendo DS does accept and support Game Boy Advance cartridges (but not Game Boy or 🍏 Game Boy Color cartridges), Nintendo emphasized that the main intention for its inclusion was to allow a wide variety of 🍏 accessories to be released for the system.
Due to the lack of a second port on the Nintendo DSi, it is 🍏 not compatible with any accessory that uses it.
Rumble Pak [ edit ]
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 in North America 🍏 and Japan in 2005 bundled with Metroid Prime Pinball.[55] In Europe, it was first available with the game Actionloop, and 🍏 later Metroid Prime Pinball. The Rumble Pak was also released separately in those regions.
Headset [ edit ]
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 3.5 mm (1/8 in) 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 was released alongside 🍏 Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in North America, and Australia.
Browser [ edit ]
On February 15, 2006, Nintendo announced a version of 🍏 the cross-platform web browser Opera for the DS system.[56] The browser can use one screen as an overview, a zoomed 🍏 portion of which appears on the other screen, or both screens together to present a single tall view of the 🍏 page.[57] The browser went on sale in Japan and Europe in 2006,[58][59] and in North America on June 4, 2007.[60] 🍏 Browser operation requires that an included memory expansion pak is inserted into the GBA slot. The DSi has an internet 🍏 browser available for download from the Nintendo DSi shop for free.[61]
Wi-Fi USB Connector [ edit ]
This USB-flash-disk-sized accessory plugs into 🍏 a PC's USB port and creates a miniature hotspot/wireless access point, allowing a Wii and up to five Nintendo DS 🍏 units to access the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service through the host computer's Internet connection. When tried under Linux and Mac, 🍏 it acts as a regular wireless adapter, connecting to wireless networks, an LED blinks when there is data being transferred. 🍏 There is also a hacked driver for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 to make it function the same way. The Wi-Fi USB Connector 🍏 was discontinued from retail stores.
MP3 Player [ edit ]
The Nintendo MP3 Player (a modified version of the device known as 🍏 the Play-Yan in Japan) was released on December 8, 2006, by Nintendo of Europe at a retail price of £29.99/€30. 🍏 The add-on uses removable SD cards to store MP3 audio files, and can be used in any device that features 🍏 support for Game Boy Advance cartridges; however, due to this, it is limited in terms of its user-interface and functionality, 🍏 as it does not support using both screens of the DS simultaneously, nor does it make use of its touch-screen 🍏 capability. It is not compatible with the DSi, due to the lack of the GBA slot, but the DSi includes 🍏 a music player via SD card. Although it stated on the box that it is only compatible with the Game 🍏 Boy Micro, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite, it is also compatible with the Game Boy Advance SP and Game 🍏 Boy Advance.
Guitar grip controller [ edit ]
The Guitar grip controller comes packaged with the game Guitar Hero: On Tour and 🍏 is plugged into the GBA game slot. It features four colored buttons like the ones found on regular Guitar Hero 🍏 guitar controllers for the stationary consoles, though it lacks the fifth orange button found on the guitar controllers. The DS 🍏 Guitar Hero controller comes with a small "pick-stylus" (which is shaped like a guitar pick, as the name suggests) that 🍏 can be put away into a small slot on the controller. It also features a hand strap. The game works 🍏 with both the DS Lite and the original Nintendo DS as it comes with an adapter for the original DS.[62] 🍏 The Guitar Grip also works with its sequels, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits, and 🍏 Band Hero.
Revisions [ edit ]
The Nintendo DS Lite is the first redesign of the Nintendo DS. While retaining the original 🍏 model's basic characteristics, it features a sleeker appearance, larger stylus, longer lasting battery, and brighter screens.[63] Nintendo considered a larger 🍏 model of the Nintendo DS Lite for release, but decided against it as sales of the original redesign were still 🍏 strong. It was the final DS to have backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance games.[64] As of March 31, 2014, 🍏 shipments of the DS Lite had reached 93.86 million units worldwide, according to Nintendo.[3]
The Nintendo DSi is the second redesign 🍏 of the Nintendo DS. It is based on the unreleased larger DS Lite model. While similar to the previous DS 🍏 redesign, new features include two inner and outer 0.3 megapixel digital cameras, a larger 3.25 inch display, internal and external 🍏 content storage, compatibility with WPA wireless encryption, and connectivity to the Nintendo DSi Shop.
The Nintendo DSi XL features larger screens, 🍏 and a greater overall size, than the original DSi. It is the fourth DS model, the first to be available 🍏 as a pure size variation.[65] It features larger screens with wider view angles, improved battery life, and a greater overall 🍏 size than the original DSi.[66][67] While the original DSi was specifically designed for individual use, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata suggested 🍏 that DSi XL buyers give the console a "steady place on a table in the living room", so that it 🍏 might be shared by multiple household members.[65]
Software and features [ edit ]
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection [ edit ]
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo
Nintendo 🍏 Wi-Fi Connection was a free online game service run by Nintendo. Players with a compatible Nintendo DS game could connect 🍏 to the service via a Wi-Fi network using a Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector or a wireless router. The service was 🍏 launched in North America, Australia, Japan & Europe throughout November 2005. An online compatible Nintendo DS game was released on 🍏 the same day for each region.
Nintendo WFC Service Launch Date Per Region Region Launch Date Compatible Launch Title Ref. North 🍏 America November 14, 2005 Mario Kart DS [68] Australia November 17, 2005 Mario Kart DS [69] Japan November 23, 2005 🍏 Animal Crossing: Wild World [70] Europe November 25, 2005 Mario Kart DS [71]
Additional Nintendo DS Wi-Fi Connection games and a 🍏 dedicated Nintendo DS web browser were released afterwards. Nintendo later believed that the online platform's success directly propelled the commercial 🍏 success of the entire Nintendo DS platform. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection served as part of the basis of what would 🍏 become the Wii.[72] Most functions (for games on both the DS and Wii consoles) were discontinued worldwide on May 20, 🍏 2014.[73]
Download Play [ edit ]
With Download Play, it is possible for users to play multiplayer games with other Nintendo DS 🍏 systems, and later Nintendo 3DS systems, using only one game card. Players must have their systems within wireless range (up 🍏 to approximately 65 feet) of each other for the guest system to download the necessary data from the host system. 🍏 Only certain games supported this feature and usually played with much more limited features than the full game allowed.
Download Play 🍏 is also utilized to migrate Pokémon from fourth generation games into the fifth generation Pokémon Black and White, an example 🍏 of a task requiring two different game cards and two handheld units, but only one player.
Some Nintendo DS retailers featured 🍏 DS Download Stations that allowed users to download demos of current and upcoming DS games; however, due to memory limitations, 🍏 the downloads were erased once the system was powered off. The Download Station was made up of 1 to 8 🍏 standard retail DS units, with a standard DS card containing the demo data. On May 7, 2008, Nintendo released the 🍏 Nintendo Channel for download on the Wii. The Nintendo Channel used WiiConnect24 to download Nintendo DS demos through it. From 🍏 there, a user can select the demo they wish to play and, similar to the Nintendo DS Download Stations at 🍏 retail outlets, download it to their DS and play it until it is powered off.
Multi-Card Play [ edit ]
Multi-Card Play, 🍏 like Download Play, allows users to play multiplayer games with other Nintendo DS systems. In this case, each system requires 🍏 a game card. This mode is accessed from an in-game menu, rather than the normal DS menu.
PictoChat [ edit ]
PictoChat 🍏 allows users to communicate with other Nintendo DS users within local wireless range. Users can enter text (via an on 🍏 screen keyboard), handwrite messages or draw pictures (via the stylus and touchscreen). There are four chatrooms (A, B, C, D) 🍏 in which people can go to chat. Up to sixteen people can connect in any one room.
PictoChat was not available 🍏 for the subsequent Nintendo 3DS series of systems.
Firmware [ edit ]
Nintendo's own firmware boots the system. A health and safety 🍏 warning is displayed first, then the main menu is loaded. The main menu presents the player with four main options 🍏 to select: play a DS game, use PictoChat, initiate DS Download Play, or play a Game Boy Advance game. The 🍏 main menu also has secondary options such as turning on or off the back light, the system settings, and an 🍏 alarm.
The firmware also features a clock, several options for customization (such as boot priority for when games are inserted and 🍏 GBA screen preferences), and the ability to input user information and preferences (such as name, birthday, favorite color, etc.) that 🍏 can be used in games.
Japanese,[74] American,[75] and European[76] consoles support the following languages: English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
On 🍏 consoles from mainland China, Chinese replaces Japanese and on Korean[77] consoles, Italian is replaced by Korean.
Later revisions of the DS 🍏 released after 2006 feature the added option to toggle screen brightness levels, as with the DS Lite.
Games [ edit ]
Compatibility 🍏 [ edit ]
Game Boy Advance game slot on Game Boy Advance SP (below) and Nintendo DS Lite (above)
The Nintendo DS 🍏 is backward compatible with Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges. The smaller Nintendo DS game cards fit into a slot on 🍏 the top of the system, while Game Boy Advance games fit into a slot on the bottom. The Nintendo DS, 🍏 like the Game Boy Micro, is not backward compatible with games made for the original Game Boy and Game Boy 🍏 Color because the required hardware is not included and the console has physical incompatibility with Game Boy and Game Boy 🍏 Color games.[78][79]
The handheld does not have a port for the Game Boy Advance Link Cable, so multiplayer and GameCube–Game Boy 🍏 Advance link-up modes are not available in Game Boy Advance titles. Only single-player mode is supported on the Nintendo DS, 🍏 as is the case with Game Boy Advance games played via the Virtual Console on the Nintendo 3DS (Ambassadors only) 🍏 and Wii U.
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 × 192 px for the Nintendo 🍏 DS, and 240 × 160 px for the Game Boy Advance).
Nintendo DS games inserted into the top slot are able 🍏 to detect the presence of specific Game Boy Advance games in the bottom slot. In many such games, either stated 🍏 in-game during gameplay or explained in its instruction manual, extra content can be unlocked or added by starting the Nintendo 🍏 DS game with the appropriate Game Boy Advance game inserted. Among those games were the popular Pokémon Diamond and Pearl 🍏 or Pokémon Platinum, which allowed the player to find more/exclusive Pokémon in the wild if a suitable Game Boy Advance 🍏 cartridge was inserted. Some of the content can stay permanently, even after the GBA game has been removed.
Additionally, the GBA 🍏 slot can be used to house expansion paks, such as the Rumble Pak, Nintendo DS Memory Expansion Pak, and Guitar 🍏 Grips for the Guitar Hero: On Tour series. The Nintendo DSi and the DSi XL have an SD card slot 🍏 instead of a second cartridge slot and cannot play Game Boy Advance games or Guitar Hero: On Tour. In certain 🍏 Wii games such as Band Hero, the player can use a Nintendo DS for additional features.
Regional division [ edit ]
The 🍏 Nintendo DS is region free in the sense that any console will run a Nintendo DS game purchased anywhere in 🍏 the world; however, the Chinese iQue DS games cannot be played on other versions of the original DS, whose firmware 🍏 chip does not contain the required Chinese character glyph
; this restriction is removed on Nintendo DSi and 3DS systems.[citation 🍏 needed] Although the Nintendo DS of other regions cannot play the Chinese games, the 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 necessarily work together if the games are from different regions (e.g. a Japanese Nintendo 🍏 DS game may not work with a North American copy, even 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.
Some Wi-Fi enabled games (e.g. Mario Kart DS) allow the selection of opponents by region. The 🍏 options are "Regional" ("Continent" in Europe) and "Worldwide", as well as two non-location specific settings. This allows the player to 🍏 limit competitors to only those opponents based in the same geographical area. This is based on the region code of 🍏 the game in use.[citation needed]
The Nintendo DSi, however, has a region lock for DSiWare downloadable games, as well as DSi-specific 🍏 cartridges. It still runs normal DS games of any region, however.
Media specifications [ edit ]
Nintendo DS games use a proprietary 🍏 solid state mask ROM in their game cards.[80] The mask ROM chips are manufactured by Macronix and have an access 🍏 time of 150 ns.[81][unreliable source?] Cards range from 8–512 MiB (64 Mib to 4 Gib) in size (although data on 🍏 the maximum capacity has not been released).[82][83] Larger cards have a 25% slower data transfer rate than more common smaller 🍏 cards.[84] The cards usually have a small amount of flash memory or an EEPROM to save user data such as 🍏 game progress or high scores. The game cards are 35 mm × 33 mm × 3.8 mm (1.38 in × 🍏 1.30 in × 0.15 in) (about half the width and depth of Game Boy Advance cartridges) and weigh around 3.5 🍏 g (1⁄8 oz).
Hacking and homebrew [ edit ]
In South Korea, many video game consumers exploit illegal copies of video games, 🍏 including the DS. In 2007, over 500,000 copies of DS games were sold, while the sales of the DS hardware 🍏 units was 800,000.[85]
Another modification device called Action Replay, manufactured by the company Datel, is a device which allows the user 🍏 to input cheat codes that allows it to hack games, granting the player infinite health, power-ups, access to any part 🍏 of the game, infinite in game currency, the ability to walk through walls, and various other abilities depending on the 🍏 game and code used.[86]
Notes [ edit ]
^ Japanese: ニンテンドーDS , Hepburn: Nintendō Dī Esu
