I bought myself a Nintendo DS last week...

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Wed May 07, 2008 4:36 am

and I LOVE IT!!!

I bought an onyx one like I had previously mentioned.
I also picked up Contra 4, New Super Mario World, Mario Kart DS, and Ninja Gaiden "Dragon Sword". All the games are great, and control wonderfully, I'm totally impressed with this little handheld.

I even won a couple auctions, and I'll be expecting Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, as well as Portriat of Ruin.
Hell, I even snagged a new Nanostray for 8 dollars!

The only bad thing is that on the top right screen of my Ds, there lives a little dead pixel. Its really small, and hardly noticable when playing certian games (Contra, and Ninja Gaiden), but with lighter colors, you can tell that its there. Am I simply being too much of a perfectionist, or are dead pixels quite common on the DS?

The dead pixel is approximately the size of the smallest "star" here in the Shmups forum. Like underneath the (!) smiley.
What do you guys think?
Oh yea...for some reason I'm planning on buying another one in a couple of months. I guess I'll start up a DS collection? I't be cool to have a few around. We'll see, I guess.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Wed May 07, 2008 4:50 am

Should have gotten pink, man!

DS collection might be neat if the hardware revisions become as prolific as GBA. I have 4 GBAs of 3 different revisions myself, 5/4 if I count the GameBoy Player.

Mario Kart DS and Mr.Driller (Japan version) were my DS staples until I got Advance Wars Days of Ruin.

I have owned an original DS and currently have a Lite, but I never had dead pixels on either of them.

CStarFlare · Post by **CStarFlare** » Wed May 07, 2008 4:57 am

My brothers' DS Lite had a permenantly red pixel on the top screen right out of the box. I don't think it's uncommon.

Maybe this will be helpful to you, if you decide that it irritates you too much.

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:01 am

I'm going to return it where I bought it.(Wal-Mart)
I have the receipt, and I want to actually try one out at the store when I exchange mine.
I figure, the battery might be dead or really low, but I could plug in the charger and check out the operating system menu at start up. After all, the screens have white backrounds, and dead pixels should be easy to spot right away. At least thats where mine is most noticable.

Oh yea...its a birthday present to myself(May 7 1970), as everyone else is too poor to buy me some video games.

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:09 am

CStarFlare wrote:My brothers' DS Lite had a permenantly red pixel on the top screen right out of the box. I don't think it's uncommon.

Maybe this will be helpful to you, if you decide that it irritates you too much.

Thank you for that link. Maybe only one small dead pixel is't really that bad? I really didn't know that these dead pixels were that common.
I figured it appeared with age...like buying a used NEC Turbo Express.
I really would't want to exchange it for another one simply to have a dead pixel in another more noticable location.
Mine is like a spec of dust. Either the pixel is dead,meaning not lit, or its grey in color.
Still, it looks like a spec of dust that you cannot clean off. Oh, and no, its not a spec of dust under the screen as I first initially thought.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:11 am

Mine has a dead pixel too.. but it's far middle right and I can't really see it 95% of the time, so it doesn't really bother me.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed May 07, 2008 6:22 am

Contra 4 sales to date: ~160K (I think)

+1

themachinist · Post by **themachinist** » Wed May 07, 2008 8:28 am

Happy 38th birthday mang. I'd get a DS but I already have a PSP.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:18 am

I've had a single dead pixel on every handheld I've bought in recent years, bar the DS Lite I just got hold of a couple of weeks ago. GBA, GB Micro, PSP, DS. They're bloody annoying for a couple of days, but you quickly learn to ignore them.

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:02 pm

TWITCHDOCTOR wrote:
Thank you for that link. Maybe only one small dead pixel is't really that bad? I really didn't know that these dead pixels were that common.
I figured it appeared with age...like buying a used NEC Turbo Express.
I really would't want to exchange it for another one simply to have a dead pixel in another more noticable location.

Dead pixels are a common problem with freshly-unboxed DS lites. Maybe Nintendo has calculated that it's cheaper to just replace them afterwards than properly monitor the lcd quality.

Anyway, it's a portable console, I wouldn't worry much about dead pixels. Hell, I got 4 dead/stuck pixels near the edges and don't mind them. I'm just kinda sad for the planet because so many screens go to waste because of one or few dead pixels. But of course the bad karma for that goes to Nintendo and not the buyers, so if the pixel(s) irritate you, get the DS exchanged by all means. I'm just saying it's not really such a big deal after the initial shock of discovering the faulty pixels.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:25 pm

Happy Birthday Twitch!

DS has an awesome library already, I'm looking forward to FFIV and Bangaioh Spirits!

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:56 pm

Mine has no dead pixels that I've noticed, but my laptop that I bought 8 years ago had a pixel stuck on red for as long as I've had it. At that time, dead pixels weren't replaced unless you had alot of them, so I was glad to only have one. Things have improved since then, but I still wouldn't consider one dead pixel a problem.

Good game choices, BTW.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed May 07, 2008 1:14 pm

Dead pixels are always black. If it's another color, it's just stuck and can likely be unstuck with an alternating pixel color program or even just by applying a bit of physical pressure onto that pixel.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Wed May 07, 2008 3:48 pm

Ganelon wrote:Dead pixels are always black. If it's another color, it's just stuck and can likely be unstuck with an alternating pixel color program or even just by applying a bit of physical pressure onto that pixel.

Really? Mine is orange.. or at least, it looks orange to me. Now I'll have to track down one of those homebrew screen flashers.

Oh yeah, this reminds me. Get an R4.

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » Wed May 07, 2008 4:22 pm

What cart is better, R4 or M3? they don't seem to differ much except newest M3 has autopatcher inside >>

zubiac · Post by **zubiac** » Wed May 07, 2008 8:00 pm

congrats
you now own the best console out there.
There are TONS of uber-awesome DS games out there, many are already budget titles.
Make sure you will get "Bangai O Spirits" which seems to be the reincarnation of shmup-awesomeness(according to reviewers).

Don't worry about the Dead pixel. I have 2 of them and i don't recognize them anymore.

Oh, for even more greatness get a cyclods, R4 or whatever flashcart for all the homebrew(there are hundrets of must-have games and applecations for the DS) and emulation goodness. You would be surprised how many systems are almost perfectly emulated on that little "underpowered"(it isn't....it isn't at all *see below*) bastard.
Just a little example:
If this, this and this isn't impressive then what?
Runs 99% of the games. the old ones almost perfectly and even the new monster-size ones with just a minor slowdown.
Keep in mind that this is the very first release of this emulator, so the next release will probably run all Neogeo games flawlessly!!

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed May 07, 2008 8:13 pm

zubiac wrote:congrats
you now own the best console out there.

Don't worry about the Dead pixel. I have 2 of them and i don't recognize them anymore.

lol

JUX.Jaggsen · Post by **JUX.Jaggsen** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:03 pm

zubiac wrote:homebrew(there are hundrets of must-have games and applecations for the DS)

lol²

zubiac · Post by **zubiac** » Thu May 08, 2008 9:57 am

what's that stupid "lolz" shit??
there are hundrets of great apps and homebrew games for the DS.
bah, I never had more fun with any console(or handheld) before.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Thu May 08, 2008 12:26 pm

zubiac wrote:what's that stupid "lolz" shit??
there are hundrets of great apps and homebrew games for the DS.
bah, I never had more fun with any console(or handheld) before.

It would appear that they are laughing at you.

Personally, I think the DS or the PS2 are the best game systems to buy at the moment.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Thu May 08, 2008 4:04 pm

I can only think of 3...

I am using Moonshell for mp3, dsmplay for porn, and NeoDS.

Post by **Ghegs** » Thu May 08, 2008 4:36 pm

I recently got started with the DS homebrew for the sole reason of playing Powder (great for a three-hour train ride). The rest what I tried out was rather rubbish.

Triple Lei · Post by **Triple Lei** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:05 pm

Does anyone else's DS have the problem where if you plug in your headphones all the way, part of the sound doesn't come through, but if you pull out the plug just a little bit, the sound is perfect?

It's part of the reason why I didn't really like using Moonshell to play MP3s (the other being that the DS is completely unprotected, unlike say a PSP in a Logitech PlayGear Pocket).

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:13 pm

Triple Lei wrote: the DS is completely unprotected, unlike say a PSP in a Logitech PlayGear Pocket

Wow! A PSP in a protective case is better protected than a DS without a protective case!

Honestly, the PSP seems better suited to media playback, so you don't need to use such ridiculously slanted comparisons.

Triple Lei · Post by **Triple Lei** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:26 pm

The point was more along the lines of, "There's no protective case for the DS that allows you full access to the headphone jack, unlike a PSP in a PlayGear Pocket,, so that's another negative for using a DS as an mp3 player" (which I did for a long time).

"Ridiculously slanted?" Get bent.

honorless · Post by **honorless** » Thu May 08, 2008 6:30 pm

Triple Lei wrote:Does anyone else's DS have the problem where if you plug in your headphones all the way, part of the sound doesn't come through, but if you pull out the plug just a little bit, the sound is perfect?

My DS lite does not.

But as someone who's had similar problems with many (many) jacks and plugs over the years, I'd wager that something's loose inside that shouldn't be, and if you've got the skill you can resolder it.

Though sometimes it's just that the product is defective, most of the time this kind of issue comes from dropping the device on the wrong corner...or having a pair of headphones snag and get ripped HARD out of the jack.
Don't ask me how I know those specifics.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Thu May 08, 2008 6:31 pm

There are plenty of hard shells and silicone covers for DS. Look on play-asia for ideas. I would not use either a DS or a PSP for music while travelling though as they are both positively enormous compared to a proper mp3 player.

I usually just stow my NDSL naked anyway. The screen is naturally protected when folded which is the important part, and there is no paint to chip like the GBA SP or old NDS. A case is unnecessary for NDSL in my opinion.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:39 pm

iatneH wrote:There are plenty of hard shells and silicone covers for DS. Look on play-asia for ideas. I would not use either a DS or a PSP for music while travelling though as they are both positively enormous compared to a proper mp3 player.

I usually just stow my NDSL naked anyway. The screen is naturally protected when folded which is the important part, and there is no paint to chip like the GBA SP or old NDS. A case is unnecessary for NDSL in my opinion.

Fingerprints and scratches don't bother you?

orange · Post by **orange** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:28 pm

i really want to buy a DS but i'm worried nintendo will announce a new model of it the next day

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:12 pm

Etrian wrote:Fingerprints and scratches don't bother you?

I have a pink NDSL and fingerprints don't show very much on it. I don't know how serious a damage has to be to count as a scratch, but I have not gotten anything glaring yet. Again, it's not painted so any cosmetic damage ends up being very minor and hardly noticeable.

Once in a while when it really gets greasy, I will just spend a good minute rubbing it on my T-shirt. It's hardly an inconvenience. Just relax and enjoy life!