fuck me gently with a missile turret
i cant wait for advance wars DS

Anyone heard whether any stores will be offering freebies with the DS when it comes out next week?

It looks kind of like the SP developed an eating disorder and grew love handles.

The DS does look like it will take time getting used to after the SP. I hope it's natural like to operate.

Gamestop is taking pre-orders on a bundle that are expected to sell out.

It includes:

Nintendo DS ($150)
Mario 64 x 4 ($30)
the recharger adapter ($15)

for $194.

As you can see, not much of a savings, but I intended to buy these items anyways.

I did save a little, because I got 3 day shipping free and no sales tax in my state.

Use Code 3D75 for Free 3 Day Shipping

Hey guys,

I live in the UK but will be in NYC in December for Xmas shopping, where would the best place to go pick up an DS. I was thinking Virgin in Times Sq??? Any other good places???

Japan getting some risky titles for the DS, why arent we in the US?

One title is coming for Japan only. The object of the game is to perform physical exams on naked patients.

I really wouldnt get the game, but it could help in a way.

A few titles like these in the US could help to begin abolishing the Nintendo kiddie image it has developed in the last 8-10 or so years.

What the heck is a recharger adapter. It doesn't really help you save any money.

It does seem like the DS might be here on Monday. Many websites are reporting the possibility.

Games like this would also raise the intelligent quotient of kids in this country and help diffuse our ridiculous and irrational fear of the unclothed human body.

For instance, I'm naked in my cubicle right now. My coworkers have accepted it. Why can't the rest of America?!

Japan has shelves full of games like this on most consoles and handhelds. The reason it won't come out here is it wouldn't sell. Most of these games are total crap. Nintendo needs to build a more mature image through quality software not stuff like that.

Does the DS come with any way to actually recharge the battery? I see they sell an AC Adapter seperately that recharges the battery, does that mean you basically need to spend an additional $15 on it?

That would be a direly stupid move to not include the charger.

It comes with a charger.

Yeah, the DS has to come with a charger. Maybe the bundle thing is a car charger?

That's what I thought.. Gamestop trying to push their shit third-party hardware. If I have the misfortune of buying one there I'm sure the guy behind the counter will insist I to buy one, and violently attempt to get me to pre-order Halo 3 and the next Grand Theft Auto.

It's the same charger as the SP. A lot of people already have them.

Sadly, the new Mr. Driller looks anything but.. I love the damn game but Drill Spirits doesn't appear to have much new from the last time I bought it on GBA. Looks like I'll be waiting on a DS for now. My girlfriend is getting one on release day so I'll be able to play around with it at least.

Dear GameStop.com Customer,

Earlier this week you were sent an erroneous email that the Nintendo DS
had a ship date of November 15th when in fact the official Nintendo date is
November 21st. As the 21st is a Sunday, deliveries will begin on the 22nd
depending on the service level you selected with your order. We apologize for
the confusion and if you have any further questions, please contact us at
[email protected].

Thank you,
GameStop.com Customer Service

Oh well, I have more than enough video game goodness to care about waiting another week.

http://ds.ign.com/articles/565/565937p1.html

Nintendo DS Kicking Butt in Japan
It won't ship until December, but retailer report sky-high orders for the system.

November 12, 2004 - According to a Nikkei report, orders for the Nintendo DS system in Japan have reached more than two million, more than Nintendo's initial plan for the hardware.

Nintendo plans to boost output quickly by outsourcing production to three sites in China, one more than what the company is currently using. Nintendo expects to ship more than a million units in Japan to these retailers by the end of the year, fulfilling the entire order by the beginning of 2005.
According to the report, orders for the DS are substantially higher than those for Nintendo's current portable, the Game Boy Advance SP, which drew about 1.5 million orders in one month after its release.

and


http://ds.ign.com/articles/565/565936p1.html

Nintendo DS Demos Hitting Stores
Check with your favorite retailer...you may be able to play the system this weekend.

November 12, 2004 - Readers have reported that retailers that will sell the Nintendo DS have started installing and powering up system kiosks for hands-on play.

As early as today you can hit stores such as Best Buy to get your mitts around the touch-screen, dual screen Nintendo system. Not every store will have a demo unit, though, so make sure you check ahead before heading out.

and

http://ds.ign.com/articles/565/565920p1.html

Nintendo DS Feature a Day #4
The second slot means compatibility galore. Sort of.

November 12, 2004 - Going all the way to the official launch of the Nintendo DS system, we're going to break the new handheld hardware down to its individual parts and talk about specific elements that make the Nintendo DS so darn cool.

The Nintendo DS system has two cartridge slots. Slot #1 is the main Nintendo DS software slot where most Nintendo DS games will plug into the system. Slot #2 is a slot that utilizes the Game Boy Advance cartridge format, which means, of course, that GBA cartridges can plug right in.

Why? For Game Boy Advance compatibility, of course. Don't call it "backwards compatible" because the Nintendo DS isn't really a part of the Game Boy series of handhelds. It's just "GBA compatible.

Nearly every game that's made for the Game Boy Advance can play on the Nintendo DS, and it's completely up to the user which screen they'd like to play the game on. Via the in-system menu, players can adjust to have GBA games up on the top screen (default), or bring it down to the touch screen for a closer look. This setting is noted via a tiny icon in the upper right of the screen so players will know ahead of time which screen the GBA games will appear.

It's very difficult to give a visual comparison of image quality between the Nintendo DS and the Game Boy Advance SP hardware, but the difference is night and day: GBA games look much more colorful and vibrant on the Nintendo DS' backlit screens. Not to knock the Game Boy Advance visual quality in any way, but the bright DS screens really make the GBA images shine vibrantly compared to the slightly bluish-tinting of the GBA SP frontlit LCD screens. The extra two buttons, X and Y, are disabled during GBA mode, as is the Nintendo DS' auto-Sleep Mode when closing the system up while the power is turned on.

But don't toss your Game Boy Advance SPs out quite yet. The Nintendo DS has GBA compatibility. But it's not 100% compatible. The cartridge slot allows for Game Boy Advance carts and ONLY Game Boy Advance carts. Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges will not connect inside the slot due to the internal "pegs" in the way, and the e-Reader (quietly killed off by Nintendo) won't plug in either due to the link port passthrough in the way.

But even if the e-Reader could fit, the fact that the Nintendo DS lacks a physical link cable port means that data transfer between systems is impossible. And even though GBA games will work on the Nintendo DS, they won't work in link cable multiplayer mode because of this.

And those who have Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords, Animal Crossing, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and other GameCube-to-GBA games won't be able to use the Nintendo DS for the link, either.

The slot isn't just for Game Boy Advance games, though. Nintendo plans on using it as an expansion slot of sorts, building new functions into the handheld. If Nintendo, for example, releases a camera for the system in the future, it will most likely plug into the GBA slot.


Chris

2 milion eh? Pretty good. I would estimate that the preorders in the states is much lower. <500k.

The outsourcing seems bad since you know they won't make as good a product as Japan will.

You know I thought this too but more and more Japanese products are being shipped out. More and more cameras are being made in China and Korea and even Taiwan. The GBA SP is made in china so I don't see it being a big problem based on the fact that the SP is a really well built machine.

One of the nice things about being an early adopter of Japanese products is they are usually made in Japan instead of China or Malaysia early on.

I have to say though, I've never had a problem so far with any Nintendo hardware made in China, so I'm not going to worry too much.

After reading up on Mario 64 x 4, it seems there will be manu changes to the game.

This is great news for me. I would have had no interest in revisiting if it was a direct port. My interest has gained for the titles.

Segas Touch and feel (I think) looks quite stoner land to me. I will probably give that a play. Seems messed up in a WarioWare sort of way,