DS final design unleashed! Stop everything – read this

I understand that perfectly - hell, Super Monkey Ball only uses the analogue stick for control (and A if you want to bugger about with the map).

If very few games will use the second screen in a way that enhances the game beyond what could be achieved with a single screen, is the second screen worthwhile? That's my main concern. E3 was Nintendo's time to sell us all on the idea, to show us why they wanted two screens - why we need this extra screen so much. It comes down to building the machine around the ideas, rather than building the machine without showing anybody why the second screen is a worthy cause.

The Nintendo DS looks like a travel alarm clock.

Because they're small screens?

Maybe Nintendo realised that once you go 3D, you need more screenspace.
It's no longer "Health : Score : Hiscore"
You've got LOADS of stuff to go on the gui.
And how many games, nowadays have the map onscreen, taking up that little corner of the screen.
Sure, you can turn them off, but they're there for a reason.

You can't fit all that on one little gameboy screen.

So what if all the 2nd screen holds are a map, your health and a couple of Touchy Buttons..
Isn't that enough of a use??

Funky wrote:

>The Nintendo DS looks like a travel alarm clock.

...I thought it looks more like a Battle Star Galactica Cylon fighter... (reminiscing) but I don't suppose any of you nippers will remember that one.

Seriously. Retro is (apparently) where it's at just now.

lozbag wrote:

>...I thought it looks more like a Battle Star
>Galactica Cylon fighter... (reminiscing) but I
>don't suppose any of you nippers will remember
>that one.

Speshly after the recent Battlestar remake, where the Cylons where more akin to Terminator than Face-man getup.

Funky wrote:

>The Nintendo DS looks like a travel alarm clock.

Those cheap ones you'd get with your first purchase from Bettaware?

Yeah the one's you get free when you sign up for life insurance.

I'm going to have to say those who don't like it are Sony fanboys, and anyone who says they don't want to have sex with that is lying.

Trust me, I'm no Sony fanboy. They have a lot to answer for, having tried to kill off 2D gaming ever since they first got into the business (even back with Worms on the Playstation, which they didn't want to grant a release due to it's 2D nature). They've made an empire off false classics such as Tekken and Tomb Raider, and have no recognisable brand identity of their own.

At the end of the day though, I just don't like how the new DS looks, and I'm not convinced that it's potential will ever be properly realised.

I'm an impartial whiner.

Ouch, double post - ignore this please.

I think the DS looks more like the SP before it. I don't remember anyone saying that looked awful, in fact it looked better and was much better than the original GBA.

Yes the PSP does look cool I agree, but I think some people are just saying DS looks bad for the sake of it. The public will vote with their notes regardless of anything we say. And going by previous GBASP sales that's gonna be a lot of notes.

Trust me, if it looks like the SP it will sell, and Nintendo will have a very nice xmas indeed. The abilty to play GBA and DS games will sell it to lots of people. When anyone sees you playing it, do you really think they will say "Oh that's really ugly what you have there". Nope because they don't care how it looks, only you do. They'd more than likely want to know what it is and what game you are playing, and maybe where they can get one. If DS potential is not realised (that is up to OTHER developers NOT just Nintendo alone) as I've said before that's where GBA2 comes in if needed.

Give Nintendo a break man. To see something positive from them is very welcome. Nintendo will also preserve 2D gaming when Sony are trying to kill it, and DS is the system to help do that. Now we'll just have to wait on Sony to play their hand.

I think the stylus could be used better for strategy games, games like The Sims and Command & Conquer games which pretty much suck without a mouse would be so much easier to play with a stylus. I would love to see some good mouse based strategy games on the DS.
I think the design is great and Nintendo certainly have my money.

NiktheGreek wrote:

>The Metroid Prime:
>Hunters method of touch-screen control has been
>called "fiddly" more than once. It doesn't look
>comfortable, at any rate.

A complex FPS with just one D-pad and no analog controls? No thanks.

In a few years, Nintendo become a XB2/PS3 THIRD PARTY. Seriously. Hold me to it.

What you saw was a demo, and is an available option in DS Metroid Hunters. You don't have to play the game that way only, just because that's what you saw from E3. Try to open you mind, Nintendo aren't that stupid to release a game like that, without more changes.

That's a point I'm always stressing for so long with the DS. The ability to possibly have RTS games in your pocket, and play them just as swiftly as you do on the PC. It's an area that hand held systems have never been able to enter until now, and is perfectly suited to the system. I don't even think PSP could do them justice control wise, even though it has the graphical clout.

I just hope EA and Cavedog realise the potential quickly, and give us some DS RTS love.