DS

The Nintendo DS (the DS which stands for Dual Screen) is a portable clamshell designed game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in North America on November 21, 2004, then in Japan on December 2, 2004, Australasia on February 24, 2005 and Europe on March 11, 2005. The unit features two LCD screens inside, the bottom one highlights touch-screen technology. The touch screen allows you to interact with the game better than pressing the buttons. There are also some programs and services that makes use of the touch screen like text chatting and PictoChat. It has a built-in microphone which you can use for speech recognition, chatting on-line between and during game play, and mini games requiring use of the microphone. The Nintendo DS supports wireless IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standards, which allows you to interact with other DS gamers within a ten to thirty meter radius. This also allows you to go on-line with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for free on-line games. The wireless system also enables Download Play to offer you the ability to play multi-player games with other Nintendo DS users with only one game card. The Nintendo DS also features stereo speakers providing virtual surround sound unlike the previous Nintendo hand-held game consoles which uses only headphones or external speakers.

Latest News

Here is good news for eco-gamers and frequent long-trip travellers. You can actually turn your Nintendo DS into an eco-friendly solar powered device. One fan of this game console pushed the unit to greater heights by attaching side by side four 60×60 millimetre solar panels to the outer surface of the device. As if the unit’s battery life is not long enough, boasting about ten hours of play time when fully charged, now you can extend that with the help of the sun. So, while playing outside you can actually keep on charging. Now, you do not have to worry when travelling long trips and the battery is dying out with no way to electrically charge your unit, just place it under the sun and in a little while you can start playing again. Interestingly, you can do this solar power remodelling on your own if you have a little know-how on soldering and wire-connecting. The DS’s rectangular form and makes large surface area on the top and bottom allows you to easily attach the panels. In a way that it will not affect the aesthetic design of the unit.

Game Reviews

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is a newly released game that is promising to an interesting addition to your DS game collection. Enjoy the colourful video display and unforgettable soundtrack of a 3D world full of charming characters and monsters. The game has a strong and absorbing plot that draws you to the game. It also puts the characters fate and destiny in your hands as you are presented with life-altering decisions which could change the course of your character’s life forever. The game revolves around an innocent lonely boy who has suffered numerous tragedies throughout his life alongside his father. As he continues to travel the world as a brave young man, he faces more adventures and befriends monsters along the way until he fulfils his grand destiny.

Game Previews

Already released in Japan, “Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time” has been widely anticipated by the rest of the world. It is an action role play game that continues the Crystal Chronicles tradition of focusing on four players battling a wide range of gigantic monsters in the quest for loot and experience points. Unlike traditional role play games where you point and click for your character to perform an action, here you are able to fully control your character like commanding it to jump and attack. The game is about a quest of a young hero that just came of age, to seek a type of crystal to cure a disease suffered by a girl from his village. To cure this “crystal sickness” he has to travel outside his village and to unknown parts of the world. The unfortunate thing is that he does not know that the crystals he seeks no longer exist.