Five Years of the Nintendo DS

Today is the fifth anniversary of the Nintendo DS in North America. It was on this day in 2004 that Nintendo launched the first standard portable console that was quite a big departure from its usual series of Game Boy hardware, and its dual-screened format immediately drew comparisons to their beyond-standard and ill-fated Virtual Boy. It was also similar to Nintendo's old Game & Watch portables, though not enough of the gaming populace owned or even knew about those. These days, millions of DSs have been sold worldwide, and it's initiated people who didn't even know they liked video games into the medium. But it wasn't all sugar and rainbows, especially in the beginning.


The DS was revealed in its apparently most primitive form at E3 2004 to very mixed - but mostly negative - reactions. At the time, the system seemed like a desperate response from a company that felt their threshold in the portable gaming realm had been threatened by the then-behemoth that was Sony. This E3 was also the PSP's first big showing, and it awed people who never knew a portable was capable of that kind of power. Comparatively, the DS seemed awkward, complete with a display consisting of nothing but a bunch of tech demos to demonstrate its possible potential. Not at all convincing to anyone aside from the most die-hard Nintendo fanboy.


By launch, the system's design was fortunately more refined, but it still looked pretty hideous. Even worse was its launch lineup, which consisted of mostly test games. If the best Nintendo could come up with for its launch was an enhanced version of Super Mario 64 - complete with some awkward control options, since the DS didn't have an analog stick -- then they couldn't expect third-party developers to see much potential in it either. Unsurprisingly, the port was also the best game released around the launch period, and was the best on the system for a good while; that's mainly because it was the only one that felt like a complete game.

The first iterations of the hardware also came packed with a demo for Metroid Prime: Hunters, called First Hunt; the full version of which wouldn't release for another 16 months. It was panned because it felt nothing like a Metroid game, and was actually a realization of what fans of the franchise feared the console Metroid Prime games would turn out like.

OK, Feel the Magic: XY/XX wasn't bad either, but still, there wasn't much use for the system outside of it being a more comfortable and brighter-screened Game Boy Advance. In the advent of the much-anticipated PSP, this was not looking good.


But then, something happened. At E3 2005, both Nintendo and third-parties figured out what they could actually do on the DS. Present were games that were an amalgam of upgrades to GBA titles, along with games that actually used the ingenuity of the touch screen and made for an experience that could only be provided on DS. Games like Kirby Canvas Curse and Meteos, which both released in June '05, showed that the DS could provide games that used its features and provided rewarding gameplay. (Though developers did try to make Meteos work on other platforms, it really didn't.) Meanwhile, while games like Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time didn't use all of the DSs unique features, they were very rewarding games in their own right. They also provided one of their first non-gamer centric pieces of software: Nintendogs. Meanwhile, the PSP had a pitiful showing, following the stellar launch with a prolonged period of nothingness.

But everything still wasn't rosy for the console, despite the situation improving in Japan due to people who didn't usually game taking notice. DS and PSP sales were completely even in America and Europe for a while, despite the former's software lineup taking off while the latter's remained stagnant. There was one hindrance that was holding the system back, and that was because of - no, not the fact that the Brain Age games weren't out in the aforementioned territories yet - but its design. It may have improved over the monstrosity shown at E3, but it still wasn't a looker.


This was when Nintendo felt it was fitting to introduce the DS Lite, a sleeker (both figuratively and literally), more attractive iteration of the same system released in June 2006. This one also had a much brighter screen, improved battery life (on a similar brightness), and was far more portable because of its reduced dimensions. This was the version that attracted all kinds of people, not just gamers, and its increased popularity caused the software lineup to spiral. Some would argue that it has the best lineup of any console on the market.


Despite the success of the DS Lite, Nintendo has yet to abandon their tradition of making more iterations of a specific portable. The DSi released earlier this year, complete with an even thinner form factor, a matte finish (as opposed to the fingerprint and dust magnet of the shiny Lite's surface), a camera, and the ability to download games. It's also region-locked, which is so moronic that I can't possibly convey it in this feature. But this feature is supposed to be mostly positive so I won't go into it too much. But I will say that the DSi, even after all of this time, still has yet to prove its worth. Nintendo's handling of DSi Ware, one of the system's main distinguishing features, could be described as merely OK, which doesn't make it enough of an incentive to put down another $170 for it. Hopefully, with games like Shantae: Risky's Revenge, it can begin to carve its own niche.

(And, you know, maybe a portable Virtual Console too.)


The newest iteration of the DS, the DSi LL (XL in America and Europe), just released in Japan today. With a large 4.2 inch screen, this one should appeal to the older set or anyone who found that the other DS systems had screens that were too small. With the screens larger, that means the system itself is also much larger than the others. In fact, it's the biggest portable system so far this generation, topping the PSP-1000. It's probably not expected to sell as much, but there have been lines for it.

You have to give credit to a system that's able to get a bunch of people who didn't even know they liked video games to pick one up. It's also the only system that you could say is perfectly for anyone, complete with plenty of first and third-party titles that appeal to just about every audience. Sure, the system still lacks a number of viable sports games and fighting games, but chances are there's something you'll like here; and you really can't say that about any other system.

DSi and DSi LL comparison pic courtesy of Watch Impress, which also has more if you want to see them.