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Nintendo are the original hand-held gaming giant. From the popular Game and Watch series of the 1980's to the global phenomena of the Game Boy Nintendo have always dominated and even destroyed the opposition. More powerful hand held gaming devices with better graphics such as the Sega Game Gear and ill-fated Atari Lynx have fell by the wayside. They simply could not compete with Nintendo in terms of game catalogue or game play and with the backing of just about every games developer Nintendo have a had a stranglehold on the lucrative mobile gaming market for twenty years.

The Nintendo DS is the first of Nintendo's hand-held gaming devices to have serious opposition in the form of Sony's PSP. While Sony promotes the PSP as a multimedia device able to play games, MP3's, movies and the like Nintendo have created a machine that is purely about gaming on the move. Contrary to popular belief the DS is not an entirely original idea although it could be said that it is Nintendo's. The dual screen, flip-open design of the DS is reminiscent of the multi-screen Game and Watch hand-helds of the 1980's such as Donkey Kong and Zelda. Nintendo pay homage to these games with the retro design of the DS.

The DS is available in various colours including pink and blue but the most common one is clad in metallic silver and this is the one I have bought three of for my children. Six inches wide by four inches long while closed this is a small piece of technology yet is surprisingly heavy in your hand. This does make the DS appear very sturdy particularly in its rounded rectangular appearance. Dropping this a few times seems to cause no damage and I can imagine it surviving even the obligatory tumble down the stairs. The DS does however seem somewhat susceptible to very slight surface scratching and I would suggest that anyone considering a purchase invest in some laminate skins to protect their DS.

Opening the DS reveal the apparently revolutionary dual screens top and bottom. The majority of gaming is viewed in the top screen with the bottom "touch screen" being used by most games for controls, status bars and maps. Switching the DS it is clearly backlit a lesson Nintendo obviously learnt from the poorly designed Game Boy Advance. Even without a game the Nintendo DS does have function as it has a built in calendar, clock and reminders for Birthdays. However, you do not buy a DS to use a personal organiser although some mention should be made of pictochat. In-built software is so often

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