Being unmobile with Nintendo DS

I’ve said before that I’m not a mobile person. I find it hard to justify mobile devices like iPods, PDAs, etc…although I do have an iPod, but who doesn’t these days? All that being said, I’ve never been a mobile gamer. The only mobile gaming device I had was a Gameboy, but that was a gift and I had only one game (and it sucked). I used it in college for kill some time between classes but frankly, it wasn’t very entertaining. So I skipped all the other Gameboys, Game Gears, and PSPs that have come along. I never really thought they would live up to a console experience. But all this changed last weekend.

The wife’s birthday was this month and she asked for a Nintendo DS. And believe me, fellas, when your woman asks for a Nintendo for her birthday you get her one. I’m sure I planted the seed of the DS because I learned that there is a small home brew following for the DS which gives the DS the chance of having some PDA-like options plus the possibility of be able to download games - similar to the NES Power Pak I got for the old NES last year. And I’m very convincing when it comes to video games. The DS isn’t the new kid on the block, in fact, it’s now one of the older systems still in store, but the DS demand is still high and they’re still churning out new games (and it can work together with the Wii).

I got her the pink DS and I must say it’s incredibly fun to play and I admit I’m a wee bit jealous, something I wasn’t entirely planning on. The DS is handy, looks good, has a great touch pad, and the games are a lot of fun. And as it turns out, with a simple memory card and cart, you can download all the home brew goodness you can find. After some research, I chose the R4 memory cart. Similar to the Power Pak, it is the size of a standard DS cart but has a slot for a Micro SD card. Thus you hook the MSD card to your computer, drag/drop whatever you want on the card, put the MSD in the cart and whala! You have tons and tons of titles, plus music, photos, movies…most of the things you’ll get on a PDA.

(Oh, and if you’re looking for a good place to get your R4 or other DS hardware, I’ve found Jandaman’s Import Hut a good spot. Affordable, quick, and inside the US.)

So why not just get a real PDA? Well, here’s the thing - we’re gamers. We like our video games. We’d rather have games that tools. So far all the “real” PDAs, like the iPhone/iTouch, Palms, smart phones, whatever…they’re built to be phones and organizers, not to play games. I think things like the DS is smart because Nintendo didn’t start with a PDA, they started with games. Instead of having a PDA play games, we have a game machine be a PDA. Being a gaming good machine isn’t easy so start with what’s hard and move into easy…makes sense.

Now the wife has her own gaming system. I can no longer claim a monopoly on video games in the house. And since it’s pink, you probably won’t see me with it much - although I’ve been playing in the house and it’s the most addictive thing in the house (next to the Flav-R-Ice). Oddly enough, a hospital game has been one of the best ones yet. Trauma Center has you performing surgery or patients with your stylus…and it’s very challenging. Space Invaders Extreme is the one I’ve been hitting most recently, but the New Super Mario Bros, and the DS version of Bomberman have proven fun as well. They even ported PuzzleQuest to the DS. And of course, all the standard make-you-smart games like Brain Age, Big Brain, and more sudoku than you can shake a stick at.

But one of the more promising downloads has been DSOrganize, a non-game set of apps like a to-do list, scribble pad, calendar, etc. It’s far from perfect but does the job. And the DS also was wi-fi support, so at any hot spot you can not only play games on-line, but you can browse the web too. DSOrganize has a basic web browser included. It’s actually pretty bad, but in a pinch it’d be perfect for looking up an address or phone number. I’ve been trying to find a decent DS browser but haven’t found any that work well yet. And if browsers and free games wasn’t enough, I even found an NES emulator. So we can play classic NES games on the DS — and we all know my library of NES games is extensive.

I’ve worked long and hard and now it’s finally paid off because we’re a video game household. She’ll be on the couch playing DS while I’m jamming at Guitar Hero, playing pinball, or racing the kart. I’m still not a mobile person and a DS won’t make you a mobile person. The DS is just as good on the couch as it is at the coffee shop. And I must admit, I now want a DS too - but not pink.