Sunday, July 24, 2011

30 Days of Video Games Day 11

Gaming System of Choice: Nintendo DS.  In my case, specifically a red-and-black DS Lite.  

Why yes, internet.  That is correct.

I used to have the original DS.  It was a tank, definitely made of pure Nintendium.  There were some superficial scratches on it, and even though I had bought it used, it was a great machine.  I did, though, upgrade to a DS Lite about a year later.  Some people have said that the DS Lite is made of impure Nintendium, and I have started to see signs of age in my DS Lite; the top screen goes blank occasionally due to a pinched wire or something.  However, the years of play I have in that machine are a testimony to how strongly built these little Nintendo machines are; my DS Lite has lasted me four years, and any electronic device that lasts me four years deserves a medal.

Pic related.

But the entire DS series has been great.  Even though it has more variations  than some games have sequels, the DS has had a pretty spectacular run.  It paved the way for strange video games that many would never consider, like Phoenix Wright and Trauma Center: Under the Knife.  It sells better than proverbial hotcakes, and showed that you can run an entire adventure game like Zelda or Metroid on a touchscreen.  But even more prolific than the DS's successes is the third-party support that it received.  Unlike its console cousins, some of the best DS games came from non-Nintendo companies.  Sure, it also had Mario titles all over the place, but some of the aforementioned weird games and creative ones like Scribblenauts and Drawn to Life had moderate to great success on the DS.  It really is one of the better successes to come out of Nintendo.  If for some reason Nintendo ever goes out of the console market, I hope that they can stay in the handheld one.  Either way, I hope that Nintendo's handheld systems continue to do their great history justice.

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