Introduction
I have had my Nintendo DS lite for two months already and have had 0 problems in terms of performance or durability. This was my first Nintendo product since the Super Nintendo, although I have played the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube. Nintendo used to dominate the video game industry, but slowing lost market share with the older teenagers and young adults to Sony’s Playstation 2 and Microsoft’s Xbox. About 5 years ago when I was in the market for a new console I just overlooked the competitors and purchased a PS2. I am not very “into� video games so I have only played my PS2 for a total of about 300 hours over the past 5 years. One of the only accessories that I got for my PS2 was a network adapter for online play, this product made the PS2 so much better.
Prior to my trip to Japan I was hoping to purchase a device where I could go online and check my email. I know of a few North American devices that can do this, but I wanted a cheaper solution without a subscription fee. I did some research and found out that Nintendo was coming out with a new DS, called the DS lite. My interpretation of the Japanese advertising was that the DS was going to be pre loaded with a web browser (unfortunately the web browser is sold separately). This device was scheduled to be released the week prior to my arrival in Tokyo. Excellent, I thought. I landed in Japan and one of the first things I wanted to do was go to an electronic store. I took a few days but I finally was able to go to a store. Not really to my surprise the DS lite was 100% sold out. In the next week I probably went to over 40 stores and each and every one was completely sold out. I actually came across a salesman that spoke English and he said that every store in Japan was sold out. He was nice though and allowed me to play his. I played around with it and was very surprised, I knew I wanted one. To be honest I was surprised that I could not find one in Akihabara, which has a history to sell popular good for higher prices in a “black market� environment. To be honest I was pretty mad on my last day in Japan that I did not buy a DS lite.
When the North American release came, I did not jump to buy one. I don’t know why. In early July I woke up and decided that I wanted a DS lite. I looked in a weekly flyer and found out that they were on sale for only $139 CDN. I went to that store and to my surprise they were sold out. Just for this reason I wanted my hands on a DS lite, that instant. I went across the street to Walmart and ended up finding one for about $10 more at $149 CDN. With this purchase I also bought “The New Super Mario Bros.� and “Brain Age�.
Market
The DS lite originally came out in Japan in March 2006. It wasn’t until June 2006 that it was released in Canada (and the United States). In Japan it was 16, 800 Yen or about $170 CDN but in North America it was $149. One of the DS’s major competitors is Sony’s PSP, which costs about $270. Although the PSP can play video, store data, and play “better� games in terms of graphics, game play, and maturity level of the games. The DS lite is priced at a great price and it is very hard to justify spending just about double for a PSP. Another benefit to the DS is that the games are very cheap. Brand new release games are priced from $29 to $45, where as PSP games are priced from $35 to $65 and sometimes higher. Another advantage to the DS is that you can play older Game Boy Advance games. These GBA games can be purchased for extremely cheap on auction websites like eBay or online classified websites like Craig’s List. Since the DS lite is so small, it is a great for children who are generally rough with things. Another benefit to the PSP is that the screen is hidden by a folding the DS in half rather than leaving the whole screen exposed like the PSP. With Nintendo’s reputation for putting backwards compatibility in their new systems, buying DS games is a great investment.
Design
Nintendo has never really been known for their design but the DS lite is slick! At a quick glance it looks exactly like an Apple product. Being an Apple fan boy I love the DS lite’s design, especially the white version. The new version of the DS is 21% lighter than the old version which makes it about 218 grams. The first Japanese release saw three colors including polar white, navy blue, and ice blue while North American’s were only able to purchase polar white at the first release. As of September 2006 Nintendo is now selling pink and black in North America.
In my opinion the design is perfect. It fits in my hand perfectly and the white does not mark up that easy. The screen excellently and does not scratch up, even when playing Brain Age all of the time. Nintendo could have worked on the hinge, which has been reportedly breaking, but I have not had any problems with that.
Features
An awesome feature the DS lite has to the ability to play Game Boy Advance games. This feature makes older games useful again. GBA games will only use the top screen, while the bottom touch screen will remain black. There are 4 different screen brightness settings, each of which use for battery power. Unlike other systems, the DS lite has a rechargeable battery. Using the brightest setting and maximum volume the system should last about 6 hours. If you use the minimum settings it can last around 16 hours, if not longer. To recharge a battery it can take up to 3 hours. One of the best features is the built in wireless networking. If you have a wireless network in or around your home, you can play other people online or even browse the web (with the DS browser for $40). The wireless also allows DS players in the same room to play each other in the same game, or chat. One of the best things about the DS is that you only need 1 copy of a game and both players can play it.
One of the only things that I would have added to the DS is a web browser, build in. I would have also used Firefox instead of Opera, although Opera has almost perfected a small screen rendering browser. If I was Nintendo I would have released a toolkit which allows people to purchase blank flash cards where they can develop games, apps, etc. This would allow some cool open source things on the DS. I guess I am just dreaming, no company would do such a thing in the current market.
The Bad
The DS lite is not perfect. I don’t like having to restart the DS whenever a setting is changed or Pictochat is exited. This system is also not very powerful and therefore can not play video or play flash, video, or music when using the web browser. A lot of the games that are released for the DS are for children, but this also allow people like me to beat them easier. Then again it also prevents me from playing some games due to patience problems. Besides some very non-important problems the DS is pretty much perfect. I have had no problems with it.
Closing
One of the main reasons I bought the system was to use the web browser. As of this week I have just ordered the Japanese version from Lik-Sang for $55 CDN. I am hoping that it will come before the end of the month. I hope!
Sean | 
09 16th, 2006| 
From Australian Newspaper:
