Just picked mine up and I must say I’m impressed. The button layout is much better and the design is much more compact.
I literally just got back from returning the first one I picked up a couple of hours ago.
It had a dead pixel, but it was easily exchanged. I made sure that I got to play a bit of Mario before returning it ;)
I never really spent any time with the non-Lite DS, but the screen on the Lite is easily as bright as my PSP’s, and it’s very comfy in my hands.
My fiancée is loving it (I bought it for her, because I’m still holding out for the black version) and I’m now wondering about which games I should buy, in addition to the New Super Mario Bros, Brain Age (cheap at only $25 CDN!), and Advance Wars DS.
I recommend Age of Empires, which I like more than Advance Wars. It’s got a pretty large tech tree and feels deeper than AW. Mariokart is also buckets of fun :)
Hows does the control pad feel, from the pictures it looks smaller then the regular ds.
My cursory judgement is that the d-pad feels better, despite its smaller size. The buttons definitely been better, if a hair smooshier.
It is definitely smaller but you can’t tell much of a difference. The buttons are 10 times better as well.
Animal crossing!
Some good games recommended so far, but none explore the possibilities of the touch screen, which is half the point of owning a DS in the first place. With that in mind, here’s my list:
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Trauma Center: Under The Knife
WarioWare Touched!
Let’s go ahead and throw Metroid Prime Hunters Colons Wherever on the list. If you want to see the full potential of the touchscreen, it really proves how well a first person shooter can work.
For indepth strategy games, I might actually recommend Battles of Prince of Persia over Age of Empires and Advance Wars. But don’t hold me to that. It could just be that I’m a whore for card-collecting.
And, yes, Kirby Canvas Curse. Yes, yes, yes. The DS Lite has made me keen to replay bits of that to look for medals.
-Tom
I actually looked for Trauma Center this morning, but they didn’t have any. My brother’s about to start his Emergency Medicine residency, so I wanted to show off the new toy to him with that. I suspect I’ll need to pop over to an EB for it, it might be a touch too “specialized” for Future Shop.
With both you and Tom suggesting Kirby: Canvas Curse, I’ll have to go poke around for some reviews. I know next to nothing about any DS titles. My only knowledge of Kirby an awareness that he’s a moving pink blob.
Ephraim, here’s a review! This was also number somethingsomething on my list of games of the year.
-Tom
Digg.com had a link to a Best Buy coupon you could print out to get Brain Age free with a DS Lite purchase…
Well I just called two EB’s and they gave me the “did you preorder?” bullshit. Then they told me that they only gave $50 credit on a DS, so no DS Lite for me. I was all excited from the other thread, too.
Yeah, unfortunately it didn’t work in Canada.
And that’s an excellent review, Tom. The Gamespot one I found via Google was equally positive. That means that once we’re done with New Super Marios Bros, we’ll definitely be moving on to K:CC as our next DS Lite platformer.
It’s wonderful to have so much selection. The PSP has been a big disappointment to me thus far, but the DS Lite is wiping away the bad taste that was left in my mouth. And yes, I’ve tried Syphon Filter. It was decent enough, but not anywhere near as immediately addictive as the pure joy of Mario. The instant I became GIANT MARIO!!!1!!! I was done.
I just saw it at eb, looks very nice. I didn’t see turn on though, but the stylus looks alot more durable. Is it true the battery life is alot better compared to the ds?
I’ll 2nd kirby, very fun, and I think the reason for the few scratches I have on my ds :)
Mr Driller: Drill Spirits. It was one of the first DS games and doesn’t take advantage of the DS’s ‘features’, really, but it is a ton of fun and in my experience (I mean this seriously, though it may sound like a stupid pun) chicks dig Mr Driller.
Tetris DS is pretty great. I mean, its just Tetris, but with mutliplayer Wifi and multiplayer DS LAN play its worth getting.
Super Princess Peach is a great platformer. Not quite as great/new-classic as NSMB, but still a really great platformer.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is great too. It is RPGish like the Paper Mario games and Superstar Saga on the GBA.
Metroid Prime Pinball is a fantastic “play for 5 minutes and then put it away” portable game.
I preordered my (2nd) DS Lite and got it today. Were there availability problems for non-preorders at all?
Not at my local Target. They had between eight and ten available.
I haven’t been able to play around with it a lot yet, but I’m very impressed by the brightness level. It was, in fact, too bright when I was looking at it indoors. Imagine my surprise when I found that the default setting is only the third brightest setting. No more squinting at the screen in indirect sunlight.
Yeah, just ran down to Target to buy some games (M&L:PiT, Mario Kart, a second copy of Animal Crossing DS, and Big Brain Academy), and they had several in stock.
After watching the Wii trailers and what not, that will probably be the first console I preorder ever. I’m REAL excited about the Wii.
Also, since nobody else will recommend it - tony hawk DS is a surprisingly good game with plenty of options (I really like the classic mode that puts you in a 2 minute scenario like THPS2).