NINTENDO DS Family, A Tribute

[Fused King]

The production of the DS has officially come to an end.

 

 

The video says it all.

 

Great times, great memories

[Ike]

The best handheld console ever.

[Magnus]

I actually bought two DS games just the other week. I wouldn't have bothered if I'd known I was buying them for a dead console.

[-Dem0-]

The best handheld console ever.

 

I agree, and this is coming from a guy who never owned one.

[Jimbob]

A sad day, but one that had to end sooner or later. A great console, had some great gaming moments indeed.

[Fused King]

I actually bought two DS games just the other week. I wouldn't have bothered if I'd known I was buying them for a dead console.

 

Don't worry, necrophilia is a constant for us gamers because there are just too many games.

[Magnus]

Don't worry, necrophilia is a constant for us gamers because there are just too many games.

I'm not sure that logic will hold up in court.

[Aneres11]

Yep I'm firmly in the 'best handheld console ever' group.

It is / was brilliant.

 

Had some of my favourite gaming moments ever with the DS and frequently go back and play games on it. Playing DS games on the 3DS doesn't quite work IMO.

[Hero-of-Time]

A quailty handheld that will be fondly remembered. Some of the best games I played on the DS were titles that never did big numbers, but still have a special place in my heart.

 

Super Princess Peach is one such game and it deserves a massive amount of praise. It was sooooo much better than NSMB and it was a nice change from the norm playing as Peach.

 

Tingles Rupeeland was another title which never set the charts alight but was such a unique experience. It still annoys me that we didn't get the sequel!

 

The World Ends With You is one of the best RPGs I have played and showed that S-E still has what it takes to deliver on the goods. Sequel please!

 

The Legend of Starfy was a great little platformer that sadly never made it over here in Europe. Luckily this was back in the days when Nintendo didn't stupidly lock their handhelds and I could easily import my titles.

[Retro_Link]

Gameboy was better! :p

[Aneres11]

Gameboy was better! :p

 

[M_rock]

Aaah so many many many awesome games. I still think the DSi is the best designed handheld ever.

[killthenet]

I don't think i've played a console more than I have played on the DS. I stuck with playing my DS Phat until the 3DS came out and if I add up the hours is spent playing Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing Wild World, Another Code, Hotel Dusk, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Soul Silver - heck even Super Mario 64 DS - it goes easily into the thousands.

 

It's been a wonderful 7 years and the 3DS is the perfect successor to the throne, I only hope we can get the same longevity and consistent quality with the 3DS that we received with the DS.

[Jonnas]

Even though the Gameboy is still my favourite, the DS was a fantastic console, and a worthy successor of the GB legacy.

 

Hell, half of my Top 4 wasn't even in that video, and I haven't played so many games I wanted for it.

[Dcubed]

The third pillar that became the first. There will never be another handheld quite like it.

 

With so many quirky and original titles...

 

 

Sleeper hits...

 

 

Games that broke new grounds and revolutionised the industry...

 

 

Games that re-invented existing series...

 

 

Unexpected multiplayer hits...

 

 

Games that revived long lost series...

 

 

And games that could never have been made before the DS came along...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a hell of an act that I don't know can ever be lived up to. While the later years were perhaps not as spectacular as the earlier ones, no other console has ever displayed the level of raw innovation, surprises, new IPs, ideas and concepts that the DS brought us - not even the Wii or the NES.

 

The little handheld that could indeed.

 

 

Godspeed my friend. Yours was a truly golden era!

Edited April 24, 2013 by Dcubed

[Agent Gibbs]

Realistically they are just all Gameboys they just don't like to officially call them that! its the Nintendo Gameboy Dual Screen

 

it had to end and it certainly had a good run

[Retro_Link]

Well it's still my favourite! :p

[Captain Falcon]

Gameboy Advance was better! :p

 

Now we're talking.

 

The DS had a cracking show but the GBA still beats it in my book for having its own brilliant original games plus a handy chunk of the best of the best SNES games too.

[Ganepark32]

A sad day indeed. Have had a DS since its release month in the US back in '04 and although I sold on that original Phat model and replaced it with a Lite (and later another when the hinge for that broke after too much play), I've spent a hell of a lot of time playing on a DS of some kind since it was released.

 

Such a great console with a varied library of titles with many gems, both obvious and hidden, in just about every genre.

 

Have been playing my Lite again a lot recently. Having gotten rid of my 3DS last November, I hadn't played any handheld games until I decided to run through Chrono Trigger again at the start of the year. Quickly moved on to another play through of The World Ends With You and Another Code while putting in plenty of time on Meteos. And then a few weeks ago, picked up GTA: Chinatown Wars and Viewtiful Joe Double Trouble again and have really enjoyed playing through these again.

 

So yeah, it's given me plenty of good memories from some fantastic games and there's still several I'd love to play through for the first time (don't suppose anyone's got a copy of Suikoden Tierkries they'd let go on the cheap? :P), and some for the 2nd or 3rd time (Kirby's Power Paintbrush/Canvas Curse why can't I find you?!?!)

[Mr-Paul]

Reading this thread makes me realise how much I missed out on with the DS! So many brilliant games I still need to pick up, not enough time in my life for all of them!

 

Still got my launch day silver fat DS, never upgraded! Doesn't get any use now because the 3DS plays all its games, but it still will always be treasured

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

One of my favourite gaming memories was getting the wifi sorted with my DS and playing Mario Kart ONLINE for the first time, I couldn't stop smiling and laughing at the fact I was actually racing against people from all over the world!!

 

One of my stupidest gaming memories was getting the original DS as part of the club Nintendo stars scheme with an exclusive wario ware and metroid demo and Super Mario 64 DS a month before it was out...and then trading that in for a Lite. Loved the Lite but what I wouldn't give to have the bundle back together again! :p

[Grazza]

The Nintendo DS is the only games machine that has totally transformed my opinion of it over the years, going from quite disliking it to genuinely loving it. I remember being quite baffled when it launched back in 2005 - it was the first Nintendo machine I didn't understand. "Try it!" was the mantra. Well, I tried it and still didn't understand it! My local GAME had a demo unit with Wario Ware, which I had a play about with but just didn't like.

 

The months went on and it got Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. Its popularity was growing, but I still didn't see the appeal. Things changed a bit when I saw New Super Mario Bros - that did look good, and I knew I would buy it when I eventually had a DS. Most of all though, Zelda was on its way. Well, I can't miss out on a Zelda, so by October 2007 I had my own DS Lite and Phantom Hourglass.

 

It was a nice game. I enjoyed it, but I was far from convinced that the DS hardware had done anything for Zelda (in fact, I still think the Game Boy and GBA perform better in this regard). Nonetheless, I went on to enjoy several more games, such as the atmospheric Phoenix Wright series (utterly perfect for the DS), various RPG remakes (Final Fantasy III, Dragon Quest IV, V and VI) and the entertaining Star Fox Command. Gradually, I was being won over by the touch screen - if not for game control, at least for the immediacy it can bring to maps and menus.

 

Although I wasn't overly excited when Zelda: Spirit Tracks was announced, when the game actually arrived it was quite the experience, with a great overworld and evocative music. I am convinced Nintendo made the best Zelda they possibly could within the limitations of the game engine/hardware.

 

You a know a Nintendo machine was well-supported though when your Top 3 games aren't even by Nintendo.

 

I was very disappointed when I heard Dragon Quest IX would be on DS and not PS3 (or even PS2). How could they go from the sublime VIII to something more like an N64 title? Well, they did, but it didn't take me any time at all to enjoy the game. More than that though, it was an amazing experience - an experience I'd never have guessed at in those early days of doubting the DS. I'll never forget the year I spent playing it with N-Europe members, exploring Grottoes, fighting bosses and collecting Metal King Armour. But what am I talking about when I say "playing"? It wasn't online! In reality, we were just talking about our experiences and sharing screenshots, but it was so powerful it was as though we were actually playing it together.

 

I should say that by this point I had bought a DSi XL (specifically for Dragon Quest IX). It was worth every penny and I'm still using it, but the reason I mention this is that playing on a DSi XL represents quite a leap from the original DS "Phat". I would never have guessed the handheld would be refined so well. The other reason I mention it is because another of my Top 3 games is actually a DSi exclusive - Shantae: Risky's Revenge. This game is just sublime - simply the best platformer of its type I have played.

 

The other game/series in my Top 3 is Etrian Odyssey. Although I first played the original game on my DS Lite, it is the XL that I played I-III on and most enjoyed them. This is a very intense game - you can't fully complete it without learning all its nooks & crannies. By the time I had done so, I liked this series almost as much as Dragon Quest, and it probably even has a few aspects that are better.

 

So, the DS... I went from apathy (or dislike) to absolutely loving it - proof, if it was needed, that it really is all about the games.

[Miharin]

Nintendo DS, just like the Wii when it came out, was something truly new. I will remember Phoenix Wright, Ouendan, Taiko no tatsujin and countless other amazing games on it. I remember getting my dad to play it too in an airplane, Super Mario 64 mini games with the touch screen Anyone could understand how to use it.

[Dcubed]

 

The Nintendo DS is the only games machine that has totally transformed my opinion of it over the years, going from quite disliking it to genuinely loving it.

 

Heh, so you're the opposite of me then. You prefer the later years to the earlier days.

 

Am I the only one who preferred the DS' first half (2004-early 2008) to its second half (late 2008-2012)?

 

Not to put a downer on its later years, cause there were some fantastic games released (like Zelda Spirit Tracks, Ghost Trick, Pokemon B&W 1 & 2, Picross 3D, Bowser's Inside Story and Dragon Quest IX) but there weren't as many games that really were taylor made to the DS' unique capabilities and couldn't have been done on othe hardware as there were in the first half of its life and I missed that aspect of the DS' library as time went on; also there weren't many mainstay multiplayer games released in that latter half either, which was a shame after you saw so many great multiplayer titles like Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, 42 All Time Classics, Bomberman DS and Advance Wars DS released in the console's early years.

 

The PSP's resurrection in Japan around then (when Monster Hunter took off) also took away quite a bit of its Japanese 3rd party support, while Wii seemed to eat into Nintendo's own 1st party support.

[Grazza]

Heh, so you're the opposite of me then. You prefer the later years to the earlier days.

 

Am I the only one who preferred the DS' first half (2004-early 2008) to its second half (late 2008-2012)?

 

Not to put a downer on its later years, cause there were some fantastic games released (like Zelda Spirit Tracks, Ghost Trick, Pokemon B&W 1 & 2, Picross 3D, Bowser's Inside Story and Dragon Quest IX) but there weren't as many games that really were taylor made to the DS' unique capabilities and couldn't have been done on othe hardware as there were in the first half of its life and I missed that aspect of the DS' library as time went on;

 

I think that's why I liked them more. I rarely believe the hype about new ways to control, new ways to play, that sort of thing. It's only later when developers calm down and stop worrying about it that we get the real gems.