I expect a great influx of Friend Codes on Sunday for all you new to the DS world. Maybe even need to start talking about WiFi tournaments.

Seems like most everyone posting about buying one are members that already have DS and are on the WiFi list though.

I know there're a few that aren't. So, what's holding up some kind of tournament? Anybody interested? Tetris, Mario Kart, Metroid? Let's get something going.

I'm thinking it is closer to 50-50. I'm new to the DS world on Sunday.

I'm going to lose my DS cherry come Sunday!

(or whenever I can find it)

Chris

As am I. I took a wait-and-see approach with the DS because there were only a couple titles that I was interested in for the first six months+ of the its life. Now that it is evident that there are a lot of very good games, I've been very anxious to pick up a DS and have just been waiting for the Lite.

Same here - the week I was set to buy a DS (convinced mostly by the word of those on this forum) was the same week that all of the legit DS Lite talk broke out. I do have a huge stack of games waiting to be played!

Ah, guess a lot of you just posted in DS threads sometimes even though you didn't own them.

And I was only factoring in people that had clearly said they were buying a Lite which some of you hadn't yet.

Welcome aboard (come sunday) to the best experience in gaming currently!

So I'm gonna be picking up a DS Lite on Sunday. It will be my first DS and I need some suggestions for games. I'm definetly gonna pick up NSMB and probley Mario Kart, and I'd like to get one more game also. So what's the hot game for DS's these days?

I would suggest either Castlevania or Phoenix Wright if you can find it. 2 of my favorites.

I picked up Electroplankton today. We got one new, sealed, that came randomly in a box. I had some store credit, so I went for it. This game is awesome. I don't think I could play it for hours at a time, but it's great in short spurts. And it's so wonderfully creative.

Can anyone direct to a straight-on comparison of the DS to the PSP? Now that my kid is two, I just don't have the time to go to my basement, sit down at my Xbox and play until the wee hours of the night. I was recently given a Blackberry for my job which has a kind of suped-up breakout game on it. I find myself playing it constantly and started thinking about maybe picking up a portable gaming system for the first time in my life. I never owned a gameboy but wasn't really into gaming at the time it was popular.

I have never been a Nintendo fan but that goes way back to them censoring games in the early days. I don't really care about that for a portable gaming system so I figured I would check out which would be the better buy and the better system.

I mainly need something that I can pick-up for half hour or less increments. I know that basically depends on the games you choose and I figured that either the DS or PSP is stronger in that area but I truly have no clue about either of them. I've got a $50 EB credit burning a hole in my pocket and while I thought I would wait on the PS3, the price has now made me consider waiting even longer.

Just to be sure, I am not looking to bash either system but to find some comparisons between the two to help me choose. Thanks.

If you're looking for stuff in short spurts, the DS is better. Cartridges give you no load times, so you're in, and you're out. Most of the games are designed for a handheld, which means you can play for a short time or a long time. The DS is cheaper than the PSP, and the games are cheaper, too. The controls are all well-integrated, and the stylus has been used extremely well.

The PSP by comparison uses discs, which give you load times (some of them going up to nine minutes!), and the games themselves play more like console games, which means longer levels and often less ability to save. However, you can use your PSP to watch movies and listen to music. If you value those multimedia abilities, get a PSP. Otherwise, I would probably go with a DS.

Yep, the DS is much better for pick up and play in spurts games. Many games are designed exactly that way.

My general comments to people trying to decide are the following.

1. Do you care about graphics and want close to console graphics on your portable?
2. Do you need multimedia functions?
3. Do you want to play games that are pretty much just ports and spinoffs of PS2 games/do you really just want a portable version of the PS2?

If you answer those 3 yes, the PSP is for you.

4. Do you like quirky offbeat pick up and play games?
5. Realted to that, do you want your portable to offer something you can't get on the consoles b/c you'll use it at home and would rather play console type games on your consoles?
6. Do you like nintendo's franchises?
7. Do you long for 2D gaming goodness?

If you answer yes to most of 4-7, then the DS is for you.

Both are good systems, just depends what you want out of your portable.

I think you summed it up pretty well. I've got both systems, and both are great. I spend the majority of my time with the DS, though, and a lot of it has to do with the PSP's loading times, which can be really annoying. As you said, when it comes to portable gaming, you often want to jump right in, play for 5 or 10 minutes, and then pause or save and shut down the system. The DS is better suited to that. What happens a lot with me is that I get the urge to play a PSP game, but the initial load times can take several minutes, and if your time is limited, those few minutes spent waiting are a real killer.

Unless you really love a lot of the Sony exclusive games or care a lot about having the best graphics or multimedia capabilities, I'd recommend the DS. Of course, if money's no object, I'd recommend getting both.

The sleep mode of the DS really cuts down on that load time too. Just close the thing at any point and your game is automatically suspended and battery consumption is almost nil. Great for when something comes up during one of your short gaming sessions, like a 2 year old.

I second this opinion. There is enough on the PSP to recommend it if you will also use its multimedia features. However, I can not recommend it over the DS which may be the greatest portable gaming system ever.

Big Brain Academy is pretty good by the way. I will have to play it for awhile since I also liked Brain Age at first, but it got old in a hurry. I will have to see how long BBA holds my attention but so far I think the brain games in it are a lot better and more varied.

just to throw my 2cents into it, I will be new to the DS world on Sunday, and cant wait. I have a superCard (hehe) and the new Super Mario Brothers game waiting for Sunday....

I bought a superpass3 and a copy of Mario. They are sitting on the coffee table waiting for the DS lite to come home on Sunday. I pre-ordered the Lite at EB and they admitted last week they couldn't garantee me it on launch day. I'll probably buy it elsewhere.

what's a superpass or supercard?

I bought a DS for my wife's bday in April - three or four days later they announced the US DS Lite

They're (primarily) used for theft and piracy, which aren't allowed to be discussed here.

I feel you on the second part, my girlfriend got me an IMPORT DS for my birthday (I was waiting for the graphite color to come out here) and then before it actually got to us, they announced the Lite!

Good news, Frys has Magnetica for $27.99 and Big Brain Academy for $19.99.

I just might pick up Magnetica before I am able to get the DS Lite. I love Zuma and I'm glad they made a clone of it for the DS!

Chris

Big Brain Academy will be $19.99 everywhere just like Brain Training.

I wasn't sure if the Big Brain price was good, but I know that the Magnetica price is one of the lowest around.

Chris

Just played a bit of New Mario on the DS Lite at EBGames. Very cool. 2 more days! I don't think I was ever this excited for the 360 launch. I can't wait.