I bought myself a Nintendo DS last week...

[Thunder Force]

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!

Heya Twitch, some nice choices there...

While I spend more time on my PSPs these days, the DS Lite is a cool little device too, always seen DS as the best "no fuss" instant pick up and play gaming platform. Although it's been skewing a bit too much towards younger gamers lately, there's still some great gems on the system.

My recent #1 suggestion would be Geometry Wars Galaxies, as long as you can tolerate its controls which require more coordination than is comfortable, it's a pretty great handheld shmup with tons of levels & unlimited score attack potential. Meanwhile for an old school Streets Of Rage style experience I found Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith was a surprisingly fun revival of that style of gameplay. Similarly if you liked Devil Crash, then Metroid Prime Pinball is a good title. The most addictive puzzle games on the DS imo are Magnetica, Puzzle Quest, Planet Puzzle League, and maybe the original Meteos (not the Disney one). If you are looking for a more full console experience, both Resident Evil and Mechassault feel like portable versions of full console titles. Take it easy and have fun, cheers...

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

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!

Heya Twitch, some nice choices there...

While I spend more time on my PSPs these days, the DS Lite is a cool little device too, always seen DS as the best "no fuss" instant pick up and play gaming platform. Although it's been skewing a bit too much towards younger gamers lately, there's still some great gems on the system.

My recent #1 suggestion would be Geometry Wars Galaxies, as long as you can tolerate its controls which require more coordination than is comfortable, it's a pretty great handheld shmup with tons of levels & unlimited score attack potential. Meanwhile for an old school Streets Of Rage style experience I found Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith was a surprisingly fun revival of that style of gameplay. Similarly if you liked Devil Crash, then Metroid Prime Pinball is a good title. The most addictive puzzle games on the DS imo are Magnetica, Puzzle Quest, Planet Puzzle League, and maybe the original Meteos (not the Disney one). If you are looking for a more full console experience, both Resident Evil and Mechassault feel like portable versions of full console titles. Take it easy and have fun, cheers...

Oh...I'm way ahead of you on that one. Metriod Prime Pinball that is.
I don't own a copy yet, but I sure am wanting one.
Oh well, I'll have some more cash to throw around next month.
I may pick up those Castlevania's that are for the GBA, as well as Graduis Galaxies too.
Quite possibly even Asphalt Urban GT 2, as it seems like a cool arcade racer.
I just don't want to get too carried away though, becuase I really only bought a DS for the Castlevania's and Contra 4.
Then agian, one can't go wrong with some Mario action...either on two feet, or four wheels!

Ninja Gaiden kinda rocks though as well. I'm just not "ready" to get into it yet. Yes, its good...I'm just too busy trying to master Contra 4, and complete Mario Kart.

See ya.

[Etrian]

Just relax and enjoy life!

Truer words have never been spoken. Unfortunately I have this compulsive habit of cleaning my DS touchscreen if I use my fingers on it, and cleaning my PSP screen frequently. I don't know why, it's just something which has become something of a ritual for me.

[beam]

Don't forget the gba compatibility = more 2d goodness.

- Hudson Best Collection Vol. 5: Shooting Collection or Star Soldier : oldschool nes shmups at its best. The hudson cart has star force/star soldier/hector 89. There are 2 autofire settings but score don't save. The star soldier cart has no autofire but save score and there's a sleep mode.
- Capcom Classics Mini Mix : more nes fun
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor (us or euro)/Gunstar Super Heroes/Mega Man Zero 1 through 4/Metalgun Slinger/Drill Dozer : enjoyable actioners and platformers
- Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar Byuu to Deru! Megane-Kun : an under appreciated gem
- Densetsu no Stafy 1 through 3 : classics, easy but fun platformers
- Monster Gate and Monster Gate: Ooinaru Dungeon: Fuuin no Orb : rogue likes playable with litle to no japanese knowledge. Most of it is written in english or displayed with icons. More arcadey than computers rogue like because it is derived from real arcade games : Monster Gate 1 through 3. But it is brutal hard at times.
- Izuna 1 and 2 seems to be fun but I didn' tried them

Finally on the DS there's Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer : no one enjoying jp styled rogue likes should miss it (available in english).

ps : don't forget bangaioh spirit

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

On another note, what is the light setting that people prefer?
I'm currently trying out the brightest setting. I'm not worried about battery life, as my DS is plugged in the wall outlet.
I'm still deciding on if I should switch back to the third brightest setting though, which is what I've been using, and was considering this the best for me.

[Ganelon]

I like to stick to defaults so I leave it at the 2nd brightest setting even though I think the brightest setting offers slightly more clarity. On PSP, I use the default outlet-only max brightness setting when I'm plugged in.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I use the second brightest setting. It's bright enough and helps conserve battery.

[Herr Schatten]

I use the second brightest setting. It's bright enough and helps conserve battery.

[MX7]

The brightest setting has 6 hours of battery life. How much DS do you need in one day?

[MR_Soren]

I use the 2nd darkest setting. It seems perfect for indoors use. If I am outside or in a bright area, I need to turn it up though.

Depending on the games, I can get a lot of battery life on this setting. I typically only recharge the DS when the battery gets low.

[grovsnus]

I play on the lowest brightness. Anything brighter hurts my eyes. Even the lowest setting stings me when I turn it on at night.

Don't know if this is true, but I've been told that keeping rechargables plugged in shortens the time they hold a load quite quickly and drastically. So I only recharge when it tells me to with the red light, because I'm gullible.

Love my DS. Shiren and Bangaio gets the most of my time. Gundam mahjong +Z is really good if you like mahjong games. Four players, wifi, betting and prizes. All good.

[Etrian]

I use the lowest brightness, or sometimes the next one up from that. Depends on what mood I'm in..

For going outside, turning it up is really great.

[MX7]

Don't know if this is true, but I've been told that keeping rechargables plugged in shortens the time they hold a load quite quickly and drastically. So I only recharge when it tells me to with the red light, because I'm gullible.

This is true. The practice of leaving it until it's run out of battery power applies to all rechargable gadgets.

[Arvandor]

I only use two brightness settings, maximum, and minimum. I USUALLY play it on minimum, but for the first hour or two of work at this time of year it's very VERY bright in the guardshack, and nigh impossible to see on anything but the highest setting. Then once the sun starts to set I have to find a good stopping point in whatever I'm doing and reboot to turn it back down.

Also, for GBA recommends, Astro Boy can't get enough love, nor can Ninja Five-O or the Kururin games (Kurukuru Kururin and Kururin Paradise).

[Ed Oscuro]

This is true. The practice of leaving it until...

Not quite true; different batteries act differently. With some, there is the "memory effect," but it doesn't really apply to Lithium. Good overview of using lithium batteries:

http://spicygadget.com/2006/12/24/guide ... m-battery/

[doctorx0079]

i can't live without konami arcade hits

i love metroid zero mission to death

at some point i want tetris ds and probably nanostray 2

[MX7]

This is true. The practice of leaving it until...

Not quite true; different batteries act differently. With some, there is the "memory effect," but it doesn't really apply to Lithium. Good overview of using lithium batteries:

http://spicygadget.com/2006/12/24/guide ... m-battery/

cool, thanks for the link!

[Arvandor]

Yeah, I read some things like that about lithium batteries. So now I just plug my DS in when it first gives me the red light.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hey gang, I just bought a Game Boy Color...yesterday.

Ugh, this console is such shit. Markedly worse than the Pocket, despite the color. Markedly worse than the DS too! The GameCube's fucked up link capability means I'm supposed to pick up a GBA, too, but at least there are backlit models available for that.

So, what's wrong with it (for those who don't remember 1998 so well):

the usual unresponsive buttons and stiff d-pad
the only light is right next to the screen where it just makes seeing the tiny, dim, shit screen even harder
horrible sound output to headphones, tons of interference generated noise
lots of shit games

Game Gear and Nomad had it beat, years before.

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

Ok, so even if the battery completely dies...that is to say, won't hold a charge for shit, one can still play the DS while plugged in right?

Anyways, the replacement batteries are around $10, so thats not too expensive.

Nothing lasts forever...damn, I really wish things could be different. At least a lifetime would be cool. Then again, most consoles have a long lifespan...depending on lots of varaiables.

[Arvandor]

Yeah, the GBC is a piece of junk. But... You don't even need anything before the GBA? A GBA and DS would have you 100% covered for GB, GBC, GBA, and DS games, wouldn't it?

[Ed Oscuro]

A GBA would do for the GBC, but a GB Pocket is a must IMO.

Too bad mine seems to suck the life out of batteries even when it's off. After I put it down for a month or so, I come back and it's gone vampire on the batteries

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I found out that the Gameboy Micro does an interesting thing if put into "Sleep Mode" via a GBA game pak (i.e. - GBA version of NES Xevious), the lights on both the Start and Select buttons momentarily flash blue every few seconds while the Micro's constantly backlit screen turns off entirely, leaving the screen entirely black. Interesting find... ^_~

Nintendo would've been wise to implement this cool "Sleep Mode" functionality on the GB Micro hardware as a default user setting...

And still no option to turn off the backlit screen at anytime except to adjust the screen brightness levels...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[professor ganson]

A GBA and DS would have you 100% covered for GB, GBC, GBA, and DS games, wouldn't it?

Add in a Gameboy Player for your Gamecube, and you've got everything you could want for playing Nintendo handheld games. Note, though, that if you want to play tilt control GBC games, better hold on to your original GameBoy Color unit. The GBA does have some tilt capacities, but I found them to be inverted when playing that GBC Kirby game.

[Ed Oscuro]

A GBA and DS would have you 100% covered for GB, GBC, GBA, and DS games, wouldn't it?

Add in a Gameboy Player for your Gamecube, and you've got everything you could want for playing Nintendo handheld games.

I have a GameBoy Player.

Doesn't beat the Super Game Boy and a GB Pocket, actually. It's nice to be able to play things in both B&W mode (like R-Type DX or Shadowgate), in SGB mode (there's also that Space Invaders game), and in GBC mode.

Just being picky, I guess...but with GB hardware one size really doesn't fit all.

Keeping the format alive forever, not quite.

[P_HAT]

is Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble worth money (24$)?

[320x240]

Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar Byuu to Deru! Megane-Kun : an under appreciated gem

There seems to be a level that is sort of a homage to Gradius in this game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ1-GNm7nko

[DBH87]

My DS Lite has a red dead pixel on the bottom right, only noticeable against black so im not bothered, even then you have to look hard