Game Crazy is your bets bet if all the EBs/Gamestops are sold out and you have games to trade in. Mine had roughly 30 units, only 10 were pre-ordered. They also had tons of games too.

is this system worth putting down $149 for? are the graphics a step up? Toys R Us had a big line this morning when I went, but I'm not sure how many they got. I'm assuming most retailers didn't get that many.

Damn impulse buying. I played around with one in Wal-mart a while ago and liked it. Saw they had some in the case and bought one.

Turns out they had just got them out a half hour or so earlier and I was the first to buy one. They only had 6 or 8 of them.
I didn't get any games though, they only had Spiderman 2 and one other crappy game out.

I just bought Mario and Luigi for the GBA to keep me occupied this week as I'm visting my parents in WV, so I'll probably just play that on it for now (along with the metroid demo) and put Mario 64 on my x-mas list.

anybody know how much store credit i can score from trading in my Gameboy Advance SP??

or at least a good idea...

-NiCK

I believe Game Rush gives $45 for GBA SPs, but I would call to double check. EB and Gamestop give less than that. $30-$35 I think.

EB will go 50 towards a DS. My local EB pre-ordered 47 and only received 27. There's probably a good chance people won't pick up pre-orders though.

Worth a $150 is a tough answer. At this point I would say no. It has the potential to be great, but the launch titles are mediocre. Even Mario 64 is a shadow of the classic N64 title due to the controls. I really don't think it hurts to wait at this point for some of the better titles coming down the road. Once the initial launch period ends I really don't think this handheld will sell very well. I won't be surprised if the DS is $129 or less by summer.

The graphics are N64 quality compared to the SNES quality of the GBA so yes its a step up, but I don't think graphics will be a major issue with this system. Where the system will shine will be in its exclusives.

I'm really going to be interested in seeing how this handheld does against the PSP in Japan this coming year. The initial preorders are outstanding, but I honestly don't see how some one can choose a game like Ridge Racer with its subpar graphics and sloppy touch screen controls on the DS when the PSP version is so beautiful and includes smooth analog stick control. We will see how much that battery life bugs people I guess.

I love Nintendo and their games, but I'm really getting a Virtual Boy 2 vibe from the DS at this point(ie. unique gaming experience that isn't fun to experience). I hope I'm completely wrong about it though. This may be a great handheld that is just not for me.

Whew lucky i got mine from coconuts. I got home and saw a nice dead pixel on the black boot up screen. Luckily I called coconuts and they still had more in stock. Its fine after i had it exchanged, but that feeling of getting a bad screen. UGH...

I now own every DS game except for Madden! DS ROCKS!

Some impressions after playing the Metroid Demo for an hour or so.

I love the stylus control for aiming. Very quick and precise. Nintendo has said the controllers for their next console will be very different. I'm hoping they use a touch screen in between the analog stick and buttons on the right. That would kick as for FPS's.

Only problem is using the stylus can get uncomfortable after a while. The best way I found to use it is to stick my pinky on my right hand under their, and grip the styus toward the top. Keeps it nice and stable.

The screen is great. The main reason I talked myself into buying one was to be able to see Mario and Luigi this week as my parents house lacks a good lamp to play my original GBA under, making it near impossible to see.

The sound is especially good, no need for headphones to get good sound like with the GBA and SP.

At any rate, I'm quite impressed and can't wait to try Mario 64 and for some of the other games down the line to come out, namely the new Mario.

I also can't wait to see what creative uses the come up with for the touch screen in future games. A zelda game would seem to offer lots of possibilities.

I preordered a few weeks back and picked it up today at EB. They said they had none for sale except to pre-orders. I picked up Super Mario 64 DS and Feel the Love. I'm glad EB didn't make people buy bundles like they did with the release of the GBA and I'm also happy they stuck with the MSRP of $29.99 on the two games I bought. I haven't tried Feel the Love yet and have only played Super Mario 64 for less than 30 minutes. I really dig the controls for Metroid Prime Hunters and the stylus works really well for aiming. I don't really mind the digital controls in Super Mario 64 DS, but again I haven't played much yet. What is this thumb stylus someone/people have mentioned? Is one included? I didn't see one, nor have I read the owner's manual yet, maybe it's mentioned there?

As stated previously the GBA games look great, the screen quality is definitely better than the GBA and I'm pretty sure I won't be touching the GBA SP much now that I have the DS, even if it is more unwieldy. I love the fact that you can have both a DS and GBA game in at the same time and the BIOS of the DS lets you pick which one you want to play on boot; that's a very convenient feature.

Also, count me as one of the many people with a dead pixel. I'm not too worried about it as I've been dealing with displays with dead pixels on all kinds of devices for awhile so I'm used to it. Even though it's practically right in the center of the screen on the top screen I usually don't notice it. Many display manufacturers/distributors have a minimum number of bad pixels before they consider a display as bad. I don't know what Nintendo's policy is but I'm not too concerned over just one. People expecting perfect displays are going to be disappointed. I'm happy I only have one dead pixel and even if I could exchange it maybe the next one would have more.

All-in-all, I'm very satisfied with my purchase and I am looking forward to the future of the DS.

--
fab

I bought mine today on an impulse, my best but had about 5 left .

I picked up Mario too. I'll be playing this all day tomorrow.

The Circuit City by me had a bunch of them. Tried it out a bit and it was ok. Didn't really sell me too much. Graphics were nice but the 2 screens were distracting. Game and Watch was cool because the bottom screen was a continuiation of the top screen. Here the 2 screens are different which makes it tough to switch your eyes from one screen to the next. My initial impression at least.

THe Yoshi mini game where you pick the petals off the flower, is strangely addictive, I swear I played it 100 times already

My Game Crazy sold out at 10:30...So glad I got mine Friday ;-)

I picked 1 up today, and my 3 years old loves the sling shot mini game from Super Mario DS.

I'm actually getting pretty good at the thumb strap for controlling.

I'll post more details when I get time.

I havent opened mine but it seems like some people are complaining about dead pixels on their screen, I hope I dont have this issue since they are sold out where I got it and it would be a pain in the ass to send it to nintendo to repair.

no dead pixels on mine.

Could anyone that picked up Spiderman give their thoughts/opinions on it? I'm a bit on the fence for it but Target is going to have it for $28.88 this week. Oh BTW, no dead pixels.

Any chance we'll see Goldeneye on the DS? That'd be sweet.

Sold out everywhere in the area within an hour.

We do live in a Test Market shopping area though. Packed.

Our 24 hour Super K-Mart didnt put them out until 7 in the morning. No midnight stuff.

As for the system. Stange. It definately takes some time getting used to. I am so used to systems where you just pick it up and go.

I like it and I dont. It's a nifty gadget that I will appreciate, but it has some faults so far.

I think the controls for Mario 64 are weak (either way you play) and I didnt get a thump strap either. So, I wasnt able to try it.

Though, the minigames with the stylus work fine. Of couse it's not 3-D movement. The minigames are kind of fun too.

Feel the Magic worked fine. Uses the stylus tons. You must blow into your system, talk into it, use the stylus, etc. Not a bad game(It is strange as hell. You must save people from being buried alive and eaten by a giant ant for example). Reminds me of Warioware in a way.

Will be great for Gameboy Advance and 2-D games as the controls work fine for that. The quality of the image on GBA as well as DS is a nice leap as well. The sound is impressive for a handheld as well.

I am just worried about how 3-D games will control. I hope they figure out something. A little analouge stick for controlling 3D really should have been included.

Whats even stranger is this system is not even the next true Gameboy. Nintendo plans on releasing that in the future.

For now though, the DS is a fine gadget. If nothing else, a few good future DS titles (I am so looking forward to Marios new 2-D adventure) and an upgraded GBA made it worth the purchase for me.

Looking forward to checking out the wireless capabilities in the future when games like Mario Kart become available.

For those of you struggling with the controls or worried about no analog stick. When you but the thumb clip on, its controls just like an analog stick. I've only played mario 64 for an hour or so, and its perfect.

GBA games look great. I do recommend for you fence sitters to check it out. Mario 64 DS is worth the whole price to me. Mario 64 is one of the best games of all time, and they have really added a lot.

Clown, did you not USE the tumbstrap, or not GET one? It should be instead the DS box.

got mine at circuit city today!... but no game,.. so any recomendation ??
anyone tried feel teh magic ? how was it ?

We got plenty of them at the Target I work at (Target Crossroads, San Antonio). I play it on my break so that I won't give in and buy one instead of paying rent. I love that Metroid Demo, can't wait for the full game. How does everyone else control it? I have my right hand working the face buttons and trigger to move and my left thumb on the touch pad to aim, same scheme I used for Goldeneye (Goldeneye DS would rock!).