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After its initial release in 2004 the Nintendo DS was the answer to Sony's PSP. Much to the surprise of many the Nintendo DS outsold Sony's PSP by millions of consoles, and even outsold every gaming console on the market. However fans of Nintendo will argue that they knew all along that this gaming giant would retain its hand held title.

Though there would be a total of three Nintendo DS models released on the market by early 2009, consumers are still purchasing the Nintendo DS five years after its initial release. That success is most likely due to the quality of the system itself, and the games featured on it.

Design

In regards to design the Nintendo DS is a technological piece of art. The system utilizes not one but two LCD screens, and one of them has the abilities of a touch screen. In most Nintendo DS games players use the touch screen to move characters around or in some cases battle.

Also featured on the Nintendo DS and its many models is a microphone which can be used for voice chat between players or even for select games. In addition to those features the Nintendo DS was even able to play Game Boy Advance games, opening up the option for thousands of amazing titles.

With each remake of the Nintendo DS they become smaller. For example the Nintendo DS Lite is much smaller then the original model however the new Nintendo DSi is even smaller then the Lite model. The reason for this is that over the years certain technologies become more available and are cheaper, so companies like Nintendo can use them.

Features

Nintendo DS has many features that excite and amazing gamers around the world. Reaching to gain new demographics, many of the games designed for Nintendo DS can be played by people of all ages. In different places around the world Nintendo DS has recently been using the system has a educational system.

The most notable games released on the system as of early 2009 are Pokemon Diamond, and The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass. Aside from those titles there are hundreds to choose from, each utilizing the systems touch screen in a different way. For example during some games you can write down notes on the screen using the stylus pen.

One huge difference between Nintendo DS and all hand-helds before it is the introduction of Wi-Fi. Now when a user is near a Wi-FI hotspot they can play games online, or even chat with other users. The Nintendo DS can search for Wi-Fi hotspots and if near select locations such as GameStop, can even be used to download demos.

Improvements

Interestingl y enough the Nintendo DS was released back in 2004 and is still selling mountains worth of new consoles. That being said the system is nearly perfect and has little room for improvements. The only downside to the console is the lack of web browsing on the original and Lite models.

Although there is a web browsing game cartridge that Nintendo DS users can purchase, other consoles come along with a browser such as Sony's PSP. In addition to that it would be nice to have the ability to use MP3's and video files on the Nintendo DS without hacking the system.

Final Scores

10 Out of 10 - Perfect - (10 Being Perfect, 1 Being Horrible.)

Learn more about this author, Matt Remley.
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