Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gamecube,rec.games.video.nintendo,alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (
More info?)
jcwatchdog@msn.com (Jason Costa) wrote in
news:37cabe21.0411211439.491ce9e8@posting.google.com:
> Has anyone gotten it yet? Mine's arriving on Monday, but I've seen
> many ads in the paper today, so I'm sure more than several of you have
> it
I'm a little disappointed to see that the release dates for
> games like Metroid, Advance Wars and Animal Crossing have been pushed
> back so far; AC I think is scheduled now for September of next year,
> and I could've sworn I saw it listed as either a December '04 or
> January '05 release. And I've also noticed that the games so far,
> aside from Mario64, are showing up with mediocre reviews. Anyone have
> anything to comment on?
>
I got mine Sunday. Overall I think it has a lot of potential and I'm
happy with the games I've played so far.
The unit overall feels pretty good. It's not as ergonomic as the GBA SP
though (well at least in my hands). The sound quality is very good and
the screens are nice and colorful, bright and of course higher
resolution than the GBA. Regular GBA games get another upgrade in
quality when played on the DS (I shudder to remember how dark and
difficult to play games were on the original GBA).
I only tried the wireless in the shop but the blast I had of Metroid and
a play on pictochat seemed pretty solid - I hope this area gets
developed further.
The touchscreen works well for controls (see metroid and Mario below).
My only concern is scratching over time. At the moment I'm careful with
it but after a while.....
The little thumb attachment helps with control too - pretty nifty idea.
I wonder if Ninty or a 3rd party might release alternative approaches to
the thumb tab....
I've got the usual GBA hand cramps - used to get that with the GBA and
SP though so no surprise. I have been playing it for several hours today
though (in fact rather too much I think).
The only other thing on the unit is that the power adapter is the same
as for the GBA/SP and so far with backlight on and sound (no wireless)
I've played it for a good 6 or 7 hours today and it hasn't shown the
orange recharge light yet and the software claims it's still on full
charge - so the 10 hour claims seem reasonable.
As for games I just picked up Mario DS in addition to the unit.
The Metroid demo is excellent. Certainly if the full game was available
it would be a killer app - I think Nintendo may have missed a trick
there. If they can get it out before the PSP then I don't see why the DS
won't do well since I think that will tempt enough people to make the DS
a success.
The touchscreen implementation for it is really sublime - I didn't
bother with FPSs on the GBA because of the d-pad limitations but the
touchscreen control is natural, smooth and accurate - I don't see how a
d-pad will be able to compete for this style of game. I can imagine some
tense multiplayer on the commuter trains
This is the game to watch I
think.
Graphically Metroid is outstanding compared to any handheld to date and
the sound is nice too. In fact the presentation is reminiscient of the
GC games even though the style is more shooter than the
platform/adventure style of the GC games.
Mario DS seems to be the best of the release bunch and personally I like
it a lot. However, before I go any further I should point out that
although I had/have an N64 I didn't play Mario 64 much (I rented for a
couple of nights and that was it). That means the game is pretty fresh
to me.
Again, graphically it is very nice - far exceeding any handheld to date
- but that's expected. Sound is nice and clear and the frame rate is
rock solid so far so good. There are lots of minigames too to provide a
change from the adventure portions of the game.
Looking at the reviews the main complaint is that compared to Mario 64
the controls are poor. Now as I said, I didn't play Mario 64 much so
it's difficult for me to make a direct comparison. Having said that I
find the controls have been OK but not great so far. Mainly I find I run
out of touch screen and have to reset my thumb a lot - bit like moving
your mouse to the edge of the table.
The way it works is that when you put your thumb on the touchscreen -
that becomes the "stick center" and you move your thumb relative to the
spot. The problem for me is my thumb drifts to the top as I'm running
and then I have to stop and replace my thumb to set the center position
again.
It seems to me that a solution would have been to let the player specify
their "center stick" position rather than just making it relative.
Either way, I do find I have to fight the controls in some situations.
At the moment I've got that new-toy glow so I'm overlooking that but
only time will tell whether I'll get more comfortable with it or just
get annoyed and give up.
As you say the other release games look pretty average by comparison but
that seems to be normal for hardware releases these days (remember Xbox
and PS2 - maybe 1 AAA game each on release and even the AAA is
debatable).
I guess with the new power and capability, more development is requried
and that means more time. I read somewhere for example, that Metroid
Hunters is being worked on by a 10-person team - compare that to console
releases that have more like 30 and anywhere up to 60.
So for the DS and even PSP I think development periods are going to be
longer and more like regular console games.
As for the DS - my assessment is good hardware, and potentially some
great games but the actual success of the device could go either way
depending on how much effort Ninty put into it.
toad.
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