A farewell to the DS part 1

[Weiss 8,279]

 

On November 21st, 2004, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS to the public at a price point of $149. While at a price point equal to $179 today, this low price helped get a seemingly chunky-looking system into the hands of new and long-time gamers.

Like the versions of the Gameboy Nintendo released before it, the DS was portable. Unlike the Gameboy line, it didn’t run on store bought batteries. Only a rechargeable one built into the system. Along with its portability, the touch screen gave the console a level of interactivity the likes of which no hand-held had accomplished before.

It gave game developers the opportunity to evolve on the normality of playing games by allowing styles of play that felt more natural with a hand gesture versus a button press. Playing a game like it was something a person had done countless times before was now possible, it was that easy. As a result, the DS felt like the next step in the evolution of the hand-held console: natural and with a beautiful simplicity to it.

 

 

However, the real muscle of the DS was the line up of games. As of November 22nd, 2012, the DS boasts a library of 1,297 games, not counting the previous generation of Gameboy Advance cartridges usable through backwards compatibility.

With the DS, there indeed was something for everyone. From Brain Training to Pokémon to Zelda to Shin Megami Tensei, it did what a well-designed console was supposed to do: embrace the tastes of all kinds of people. You could argue the DS did what the Wii did, but the DS was a bigger success at grabbing the entire market than its later arriving home console counterpart. Due in great part to its portability and early popularity.

Two years later, on March 2nd 2006. Nintendo released the DS Lite. At the price of £99/$129, the DS Lite is the perfection of the system. It was put on a diet that made it an ergonomic joy. Shedding the fat of the original DS and making it sleeker than ever.

Shipping a total of 93.85 million globally to date, the DS Lite makes up the majority of total DS sales. With a total of 500,000 sold in the space of a week in North America alone, the system sold out at major retailers. In Europe, it sold 200,000 in the first 10 days. It just couldn’t stop printing money for Nintendo, even after it’s cousin, the DSi, was released.

Arriving on November 1st 2008, and shipping a grand total of 28.12 million units as of December 31st 2012, the DSi introduced a camera to the DS’s design. As a result, games that required said camera could only be played on the DSi. Games like Face Training and Picture Perfect Hair Salon for instance. The DSi also introduced the Nintendo E-Shop, a digital distribution system that was a major upgrade from the one on the DS/Lite.

 

 

 

 

But with these upgrades and changes came a number of drawbacks. Chief among them was the lack of backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Advance, a change that made many sceptical of switching systems, as well as the introduction of region-locking to the DS line. The region locking affected DSi camera required titles and downloadable games, leaving others to still be played on the system.

Of course, this wasn’t the last DS system Nintendo would release. The DSi XL was next, a model 20% larger than it’s predecessor, and was the final bow to the audience barely a year following the DSi’s release.

It has shipped a total of 12.91 million units as of December 31st 2012. The XL model was also the precursor to the 3DS, the continuation and prodigy of the DS line of handhelds.

It was revealed recently that Nintendo has stopped production of the DS. From its release, across every version made, it has sold 154.42 million units. A number second only to the Playstation 2, the DS is the second best selling console of all time. It is a fantastic result for a hand-held console. And as it fades into memory as one of the greats, it passes its torch on to the 3DS. Can the 3DS do what the DS accomplished? With the right support from Nintendo, I wouldn’t doubt it at all.

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2013 by Weiss

[Shera Wizard 2,736]

...RIP Nintendo DS you will still be loved ;;

[Anonn0000 3,525]

I wonder if the 3ds is backwards compatable at all.

Welp, ds games might be goin' to a classic catagory soon now x3; In a way....

 

;

 

R.I.P-chu.....

;
 

[Weiss 8,279]

I wonder if the 3ds is backwards compatable at all.

The 3DS can play DS games

Edited April 28, 2013 by Weiss

[tothecikpah 230]

one by one the game consoles 'died'.. soon will be ps3 and wii ..

 

I miss playing psone, gba ..and ps2 :') those days

[Sora96 17,256]

Perfecting timing.

[Caity 3,946]

And I literally just gave mine away to my mother since I found out all my DS games are playable on my 3DS.

[xxClouDxxmoon 901]

Can still remember late at night being told to go to bed, and out slips my DS from under my pillow.

 

Good times :')

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

I remember all the time I spent playing Pokemon: SoulSilver, Spirit Tracks, and Re:Coded. The DS was certainly my favorite console of the time.

[Elrandir 783]

Oh Ds, you made a good work all these years.

You can rest in peace now, knowing that you were fantastic, absolutely fantastic

[waffle 82]

I never owned a ds until my gba broke and I got one just to play my older games, I never did like it very much I went with the psp just because it offered me a lot more games...

[Reyn 1,755]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Goodbye DS you will be missed.

 

But you know, we aren't REALLY saying goodbye to the DS. That's why there's 3DS.

[Kaneki Ken 1,516]

One of the greatest handheld game systems ever.... RIP DS.....

 

Excuse me, but I gonna go cry.....

 

(Goes into Xamtweth's room, locks door, and cries to his heart's content)