Its a catch-22 for Konami. The 3D versions have been disasters for Konami so you know their fan base would kill them if they altered the 2D versions too far from the formula. They may want to put more time in between portable sequels though. As much as I love these games I really don't need a new one every single year.

Anyway, I finally finished Portrait of Ruin tonight after putting in a marathon session. Great game, very tough boss battles and some really cool areas. The look of this version was better with more varied environments, but the music in Dawn of Sorrow was much better. PoR really didn't have any tracks that compared to Pitch Black Intrusion or Dracula's Tears not to mention Sorrow had really good versions of Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer.

I did like the combo aspect, but really thought the collecting the souls was a much better game play element. However, this game did dump the pointless stylus aspect and added a pretty cool bit of side quest objectives to keep you playing. So if Dawn of Sorrow was an A for me this game is a B+.

I still have 5% or so to finish in the castle and several more side quests for the ghost. I will still be playing this one for awhile and will probably play it through again if you can play with different characters like Dawn of Sorrow.

Mine came a little crunched but the CD is too good
37 tracks and 78 mins long
I am playing the first hour on my radio show starting @ 2:00 am MT @ KGLT.org
its streaming so tune in

I bought Castlevania: PoR yesterday at a reasonable price ($39.99) but I won't actually play the game until my two weeks Christmas holiday. I'm too busy at work.

As far as the Castlevania series being stale the
"if it ain't broke perfect it" approach seems to be working just fine


I had my wife wrap mine up after I snuck the cd out of the bonus pack,
so no POR till christmas for me as well -except the music

I just checked my order charge. I was charged 34.99 and the regular shipping. I must have got in just after the price drop but before increase in shipping. I know there was no mention of the $5 when I ordered.

My only complaint about the CD is that they chose bad songs for CoTM.

I really wished they would have put some of the better versions of Vampire Killer on the CD. Dawn of Sorrow had a great version of the original and the remixed 2K2 version on Harmony of Dissonance was also excellent.

What type of case does everyone have for their ds lite ?

I actually don't use one. Its so small I just stick it in my jeans pocket. You can't eve tell its there. It still looks brand new like the day I got it. But I know there are some good cases out there. Maybe other people can help.

I have been wondering about cases myself. I don't really care to protect the DS Lite when I'm playing it, but it would be nice to have a place to put it and my games when not playing so they'd be protected from my cats. It would also be nice to be able to pick up something and carry it with me for trips and the like. I've been thinking of the cases that look like small briefcases and come with travel charger, screen protector, game cases, and other random crap for like $30, but I just haven't been able to justify it yet.

I've been using the Final Fantasy III case that Wal-Mart was giving away with FF3.

How is that, btw? I was thinking of getting it, but I think amazon has it for $35. Is it worth the extra 5 bucks?

I already have a case which I like, so it's not like I would even really use it, but the 'promo' factor is always cool.

And here is the case I use:

renchi.com

I have never even heard of that site, but it's the only place I could find that case in a search (I originally bought mine from lik-sang, but they went under).

I like it: it's very protective (I can throw my DSL around without worrying at all) and holds about 3 games plus whatever can fit in the mesh pocket inside (I keep more games and the extra stylus in there). Unfortunately, the mesh pocket won't hold the ac adapter, probably the only drawback to the case.

The only case I've seen I like more was one that a friend had, that he got at Game Crazy. It had two zippers (maybe three?), lots of room, held like 10 games easy. Was on the big size, but wasn't super huge. He said it cost $10, which is quite good I thought. Can't find any pics unfortunately.

I have one of those and will hook you up cheap if you want it. I used the screen protectors out of it though. Everything else is untouched collecting dust in my closet.

I use the one thomkai posted. It is an excellent little case. I can't imagine using anything else. I bought mine off ebay for about $10.

i have an older Nintendo brand case for the fat DS. It has room for the fat-DS on one side (slim fits in there easily also), a side pouch that I use to store my slim DS but can be used for ac/adapter, headphones, whatever and 8 DS cartridge slots. I use it to store my fat and lite DS and 8 multiplayer games for whenever i get together with other friends with DSes. (the fatty can go to anyone who doesn't have a DS). Single card download play is the best thing to happen to portable gaming ever.

Still playing PoR. While trying to clear all of Wind's quests I stumbled on and I'm still trying to 1000% the castle. You do get the option to play through again with different characters. Don't want to post who though its no big spoiler, but anyway I've started a second quest.

My wife just picked up Kirby though so I may finally put Castlevania aside.

On the topic of cases I have one of those bigger cases that holds the DS, 9 DS carts and has a place to store more games in a top pouch. Great case though it is $20. Looks a little bit like this one, but the Lite version is slightly redesigned.

The above case is the one I have and recommend. 9 DS games in the viewable plastic, 4 GBA games in the Mesh Pouch, and another 8 DS games in the top pocket (plus room for the charger).

I have this case in a dark blue and love it. It's nice and small, but has a lot of padding and a little zippered pouch you can stick several DS cards in. Probably wouldn't work well to carry GBA games though as the pouch is pretty tight. Cheap too, at $9.99 at Target.

From an article back in February:

Source: http://news.spong.com/article/9693

Any news about this since then? Any speculation? Before the DS Lite release in June, I hadn't really been following video games, but I do know vaguely that Nintendo has a history of re-releasing stuff to get consumers to repurchase their systems.

The DS Lite is selling quite well at this point. I'd guess that some time in the summer, they'll exploit a lower price point. That and additional colors can probably get them through 2007. By 2008, I could see a revised DS Lite. They could add WPA support, make the screen brighter, and make some other changes.

i forsee a Wii DS player which will split your screen and allow you to use your wiimote as the stylus on the "touch" portion of your tv.

Thanks, Jimmy.

I asked because I was thinking of buying the Onyx DS Lite and giving the white one to my younger sister (who isn't big on gaming but has played my DS occasionally). I wanted to know if I should just nix the idea and wait for the next-gen DS.

However, if the likely release of the DS v.3 is still in 2008, then screw it... I don't mind buying a third when it comes out.

Besides, I have no one to play multiplayer with besides the sister, and I know I'm missing out on some gaming possibilities that way.

You have to think Nintendo just doesn't want to deal with making big changes to the DS when they're still working with the Wii. I don't think anybody can tell you for sure what's going to happen because it's all sales driven. If the sales tank in March and don't respond to price changes and new colors, you could easily see something new out for the holidays. I think you can bet that there won't be changes unless they're tied to a strategy, though. Nintendo is just too sophisticated a gaming company to do otherwise.

I think Nintendo is done tinkering with the DS for awhile. It is just too successful to change again so soon. Sure they will have special edition colors, but the main Lite design is probably not going to change for awhile.

Something in 2008 though does seem reasonable.

Basically chiming in with the same comments here, but I just can't imagine it getting much better. I would like WPA support since I use that and it sucks to change router settings to play online - in fact I've only played online once because of it (and probably because I don't feel like having people destroy me in MarioKart).
But I can't see the screen getting any brighter; it's already awesome. Maybe better battery life, but even that is great.

I figure an actual successor to the DS will come along before another revision. I would love to see some more power added to it.

I usually don't bother with cases and I'm really only using this one because I got it with the game, but it's nice though. Nothing too fancy, just basically a sleeve that you can slip your DS into and it says Final Fantasy III across the front. It's no good for holding games in because they'd fall out the top, but it's good for just stuffing in your pocket and keeping the system from getting scratched.