| Dig out that credit card; Nintendo have a new DS Lite, and it's coming very soon... |
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It feels like the Nintendo DS only just launched yesterday, yet good old Nintendo have already repackaged it into a brand new heavily upgraded model for those blessed with too much money and not enough brain cells. Like me.
Renamed the DS Lite, the wee little bugger recently hit stores in the US as I write this, and is due out here in about a week or so. I of course, got my hands on one early.
To be honest though, my need for the DS Lite stemmed not just from my never ending addiction to all that is technological. Okay, sure, that's part of it. The
real reason I was more than happy to splash out on a revamped machine that I just bought barely a year ago however, was due to some of the all important new upgrades Nintendo have garnished it with this time out. Allow me to explain...
Summer's here. I dunno about you, but the last thing I wanna do while England enjoys it's all too few meagre months of sun is sit inside playing video games. I do however, have a serious gaming addiction...thus a conundrum presents itself. How to game and enjoy said sun simultaneously?
Handhelds seem to be the natural answer. In fact, that's the sole reason I picked up the original DS in the first place (not to mention its big brother the PSP). What I realised shortly after snagging both these little cock-teases though, is that neither work
at all in sunlight. Nope, that's the "beauty" of LCD technology it seems...shine a light at it and it practically turns invisible. Ever try using your laptop outside? Ain't pretty is it? Same thing here. For all their brilliant games and amazing multimedia capabilities, the sad fact is...neither of today's handhelds can be used outside on a gorgeous summer's day. Anyone else bitterly disappointed by this, 'cos I sure as shit am?
My Eyes!
The DS Lite however, is here to the rescue it seems. I'll get into its various other upgrades and additions over the vanilla flavoured, old skool DS in a minute (aka "that grey piece a shit"), but headlining the list for me is the gobsmackingly awesome 4x brighter screen. Or
screens, I should say. How bright is four times brighter exactly? Bright as fuck, let me tell ya. When playing the DS Lite on its highest setting, you can practically feel it scorching your retinas. It's so damn bright in fact, you could use it as a torch in a power outage.
| As well as a new look and improved construction, the real system seller is the beefed up screen quality. They're incredibly bright, scratch-free and truly look the biz |
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Them screens look absolutely glorious as a result. Long gone is the muted, desaturated look of the old DS screens, now the machine boasts gorgeously vibrant, clear colours and razor sharp images that pop right out at you. In fact, I'd rate it pretty much on the same level as the marvellous PSP screen now...if not slightly better (that god awful motion blur is no where near as bad, for one). I can't stress this all enough, because games on this thing feel almost like they're running on a brand new system now. DS games actually look...kinda pretty at last. Who knew?
So with its 4x brighter screens and much improved contrast and clarify, the new DS is
bound to work better outside on a hot summer's day right? Err, unfortunately not I'm afraid, and just like that we have our first chink in the armour. This was immensely disappointing to me, as it was my sole reason for upgrading the bastard in the first place. Sadly the DS Lite is still just as hard to view outside as before though...and that freakin' sucks. Thankfully there is one small saving grace to stop me garrotting myself with piano wire; the machine just about works if you sit in the shade. It's not perfect, but I guess it beats nothing, and most definitely
is more useable than the old unit. It's a fair compromise I guess, and I must admit it'll be nice to blaze through some Metroid Prime while sipping fresh beer on my Spanish terrace next month.
Now battery life has taken a minor drop when using the machine at its brightest setting, but it is worth noting that at lower settings (which are still way brighter than the old DS) it seems about the same, if not better. Also I have to say, the sound is vastly improved to my ears too. The old DS always sounded a little muddy and cheap to me, but here it's perfectly clear and precise, with those old skool Nintendo sounds blaring out far more impressively. There's a robustness to the audio I just never really got from my old unit. Most impressive.
Make Over
Besides the new turbocharged audio and visual output, the overall construction feels far superior now too. The outer shell feels a lot more rugged, the design seems much improved and in general the whole thing just feels so much more tighter and cleaner this time around. It bears more of a resemblance to an iPod actually - white, minimal and shiny - and has also seemingly reduced hugely in size and bulk too. Thankfully, its reduced dimensions have retained the same sized screens however...all you're losing is added flab in the casing and controls. Speaking of controls, the buttons feel far more pleasing also, and the stylus has a little more weight and girth to it than before.
This all ultimately boils down to the DS no longer being, well, a bit of an embarrassment to look at. The thought of going back to that archaic grey Game & Watch in light of the stark beauty of the Lite makes me shiver like Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes. In fact, the DS Lite looks so damn sweet now, that much like my PSP, I kinda worry about pulling it out of my bag in the more seedier parts of town due to attracting untoward attention. In a good way.
Annoyances
| GBA carts now stick out like a sore thumb - literally - but this mock cart retains the Lite's beauty when not in use |
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With the cock sucking and arse licking out the way, I do have some minor gripes as always. Along with the rest of the machine, the D-pad has shrunk in size too. Although it's fine for the most part, it's very tricky to pull of those Street Fighter II dragon punches now; it's just too bloody small. Thanks to the DS' ability to play Gameboy Advance games, I play SF2 Turbo Revival perhaps more than any real DS game, so this is all a bit of a downer for me. That said, I can't see it being any kind of a problem in any other games or genres so it's hardly a deal breaker.
Speaking of GBA games, the DS Lite itself is now
so damn small, that GBA carts actually
stick out by a good couple of centimetres when in use. This just looks flat out ugly as hell, and completely at odds with the sleekness of the DS Lite's luscious exterior. You do get a smaller placeholder cart to stick in there when not in use - which returns the machine to its native beauty - but personally I was always partial to using that GBA slot as a carry case, but now I kinda can't...'cos it looks so flipping disgusting, jutting out like that.
Finally, there's no thumb-strap. Remember that thing? The wee little black gizmo that doubled up as second input method, in which you could use your thumb to control games on the touch screen? No longer here I'm afraid. You can buy them separately of course, or as I did, just rip out your old DS one and tie that on, but it's surprisingly tricky to install, almost as if they don't want you using it. The thumb-strap was hailed as one of the primary forms of input with the DS on launch, so to see Nintendo flat out dump it in favour of 100% stylus control, is a little disconcerting really. Especially as with its smaller unit size, using the thumb-strap is far more manageable and comfy than it was on the old DS, and it works particularly well in Metroid Prime. Most bizarre, all this.
Eighty Clams
Really though, I have little else to complain about, and even the above niggles are barely worth mentioning. I'd say the DS and the PSP were all but neck and neck in my mind up 'til now, but I think with the advent of the Lite, Nintendo may have just about taken the lead. The games are there, the innovation is more than present, and now it has a startling new look to cap it off too.
All in all, the DS Lite is an awesome little system that's beautiful to both look at and play. If you don't own a DS, grab this thing. Now. If you do own one however, I have a harder time recommending an upgrade to all but the most die-hard of DS fans, for the simple reason that although the screen is gorgeous, there's very little else here that directly affects your gameplay really. It's cool to have a prettier machine - and one that you won't be ashamed to be seen out in public with - not to mention how much more stunning your DS library will instantly look - but is that worth your ?80 import fee? Up to you I guess. Personally though, I wouldn't say I regret my purchase.
One thing's for sure, the DS as a platform is a bit of a must-have right now...and with the likes of Starfox DS just around the corner, it's only getting better.