school me on the Nintendo DS...

vintagegamer

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My daughter has been dropping hints that she'd like a DS for Xmas- All my brain keeps doing is remembering how consoles have a shelf life of like 3 years, and then a new system comes out. And I remember the DS coming out in 2004 when I was working PT at TRU for some extra cash... When I went to school, that means the DS is now 6 years old. Is its life about to end?

I've seen some other listings on the DS Lite, but know nothing about it. All I know is I don't want to buy a DS for her for Xmas this year, and then watch all the stores purge their DS inventory on January first because the "new" DS-TK421 is now on its way out and it's all the rage..

Somebody help a dad lost in his vector games please. :D
 
I think a DS would be fine...

The back Catalog is pretty good.

The stores won't rid the DS titles for some time.
 
Grab a DS Lite, and a flash cart for it, load up with games and enjoy! We have 5 of them at our house! We bought our daughter one when she was 3, and she still plays it just about every day. My wife wanted one after that, and I ended up getting myself one, and two more for the twins for when they are older (stuck those DS's in my video console storage cabinet).
 
Do yourself a favor and wait for the 3DS...

This.

The system should be hitting the shelves in March. If your daughter is patient, I'd say do a pre-order if they're ready this holiday season and give her that. If not, get a DSi (3rd generation DS) and wait for her birthday to upgrade to the 3DS (depending on how much you normally spend for birthdays). ... the system is slated to cost $300... so... yeah, maybe a combined birthday Christmas?... no idea.
 
Don't listen to these guys.

Buy your daughter a DS for Christmas!
I wouldn't go for an older one, but get a DSi or a DSXL (bigger screen).

It'll be loads of fun. There is always something bigger/better/nicer on the horizon. Now is better than nicer later.

K
 
you can find a ds lite pretty cheap now a days. I bought one recently because of traveling but will without a doubt buy the 3ds when it comes out
 
My kid has had a DS for about two years or maybe three years. Last year, she got me one. We are able to play games against each other and we have a great time. I wanted Scrabble for mine, but that game was discontinued, and I had to buy it on eBay. I play several games almost every night laying in bed.

I know the DSi or DSI is the hot thing right now. I don't know if that is the 3D version or not, but my kid is now wanting the DSi.

- M1A
 
I've seen some DSi's for sale, and I think that would be the way to go. She's 5 so even if I got one used from a gamer nerd like one of us, I think that would be fine too. She's not going to care if it had a box or not when she starts playing it!
 
Get a DS Lite and an N5 flash card (about 10 bucks), download all the roms, movies, music you want, load up the SD card and play.
 
For a young kid I wouldn't bother with the 3DS. It'll be expensive when it comes out and like most systems, won't have many games available at launch. Might as well pick up a DS Lite or DSi for a lot cheaper and have access to the great library of DS titles that are already available. A kid getting their first handheld isn't going to care if it's the new 3D version.

[game industry worker soapbox]Oh, and support the games industry. Buy the games. Don't get the flash cards and steal roms.[/game industry worker soapbox]
 
For a young kid I wouldn't bother with the 3DS. It'll be expensive when it comes out and like most systems, won't have many games available at launch. Might as well pick up a DS Lite or DSi for a lot cheaper and have access to the great library of DS titles that are already available. A kid getting their first handheld isn't going to care if it's the new 3D version.

[game industry worker soapbox]Oh, and support the games industry. Buy the games. Don't get the flash cards and steal roms.[/game industry worker soapbox]

+1 on both accounts.
 
Personally, I think the ds lite is fine. As mentioned above, you can get a flash cart if interested. They also work on the dsi and dsi xl. My son has had three replaced because of the hinges breaking. Thankfully we had a protection plan at best buy and we just went and exchanged it. He most recently upgraded to the dsi xenon the last exchange (mostly because he wears an contact in one eye- and he is 8). The xl screen is bigger but you do lose resolution.
 
Personally, I think the ds lite is fine. As mentioned above, you can get a flash cart if interested. They also work on the dsi and dsi xl. My son has had three replaced because of the hinges breaking. Thankfully we had a protection plan at best buy and we just went and exchanged it. He most recently upgraded to the dsi xenon the last exchange (mostly because he wears an contact in one eye- and he is 8). The xl screen is bigger but you do lose resolution.

Xenon?

you get the same resolution with the XL, it's just stretched beyond where it typically looks good.

I'm not sure if it's just mine, or all, but my DSi screen displays color better than my DSi XL
 
Xenon?

you get the same resolution with the XL, it's just stretched beyond where it typically looks good.

I'm not sure if it's just mine, or all, but my DSi screen displays color better than my DSi XL


sorry. the 'xenon' was my iphone's way to spell check/correct an XL.. agreed about the resolution.. just not as tight.
 
You don't have to worry about the DS going anywhere anytime soon. The 3DS will be nice, yes, but it's also twice (or more) expensive. The GBA lasted a damn long time ago and didn't really start to fade away until the DS Lite came out when they dropped the GBA slot from the system.

The 3DS is backwards compatible with DS games, so that proves there's still a good amount of life left in it.

Also, this thread is moving to the console section where it should be :D
 
I'd stick with a DS Lite for now if it's for a child. It's available now, screens are nice and bright, it's cheap, plays all DS games, DS software will be available for some time to come, and plays all GBA games (which are plentiful and cheap 2nd hand). If you shop around, you can usually get a deal where the console comes with a game and carry case accessories.

DSi has slightly larger screens, a couple of toy grade cameras in it which are next to useless (which are only used in a few DSiWare games and one or two DSi enhanced cartridges), SD card slot for storage and access to DSiShop/DSiWare downloads. If these don't matter to you, stick with the cheaper DS Lite that plays all the current DS games just fine.

Getting your child a flash cart and indoctrinating them to piracy early? Yeah, that's setting them a good example. On the plus side, losing expensive DS cards isn't an issue.

Updating a DSi to keep up with the latest DSiShop/DSiWare can lock out/break flash carts, so that's something to consider.

- J
 
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