Review: Nintendo DS Lite hand held game system
Release 2006 Priced from $129.00
I’m trying not to become obsessed. In fact, I set strict limits on how much time I allow myself to engage with Nintendo DS (Double Screen) Lite, the new iteration of Nintendo’s hand-held game decks. This one is a born-again version of a product that came out a year or two ago and didn’t click with the younger set, let alone the mature market.
The old version, according to players and reviewers, was large and clunky. Screen resolution was nothing to type home about. Young players tossed it in and older users never bothered with it. But Nintendo Corporation has dedicated tons of time and effort this year to lure you and me, as baby boomer consumers, to their newest entries in the gaming world.
Out-of-the-Box
You get the deck, lots of documentation, dust cover and two styluses. (stylusii?)
DS Lite is the first hand held system I could use comfortably, even visually comfortably. It has two screens. The game deck is wallet shaped, clamshell-like, resilient plastic. Closed, it’s about 3x5 inches. Open, it’s double. Inside, two permanently mounted high-resolution color displays.
Both screens are touch-screens. You can manipulate images with your fingers or the provided stylus (more about that stylus later). The controls are what you’d expect. They’re the familiar cross for manipulating right, left, up, down. On and off is a slide that makes me nervous – seems like a place this unit might eventually fail. Volume is on the edge of the machine, not immediately apparent, but works fine. Screen has multiple light settings which affect the rechargeable battery life somewhat.
The software cards, which resemble the square memory chips for some digital cameras, slide into the outside edge of the unit. There have been some negative comments in various reviews about this set-up for the software, but since I’m not a gaming guru, it felt fine to me.
That’s enough of the technical stuff except to say this. I used the original DS system and didn’t like it. I couldn’t see images well-enough. On DS Lite, I expected similar problems. Face it, I’m over 55 - so are my eyes. Staring into small, blurry, back-lit images does nothing for me.
I opened up this little unit with trepidation, prepared to give it a fair try and put it away forever. Another flashing, squealing thing that had no appeal. I was wrong.
DS Lite is light-weight, comfortable in my hand. I can see every image and follow fast action with no problem, even at low light. The resolution is spectacular, graphics most satisfying (We’re boomers, not teenagers – the teens can form their own conclusions).
The game cartridges range from $12 to around $50 - seems reasonable. Nintendo is pushing the series created to help us exercise and improve our brains as we age. OK. So they gave me Brainage, the first in a series aimed at us.
The hype claims Brainage, created by a doctor, will re-train the brain to be more cognitive and responsive and all that. I can’t say, but experts are learning that stimulating your brain regularly makes a big difference in how well it functions.
What We Found
I passed the game to a group of friends and family – age range 7 months to 58 years. Male and female. All education levels and diversified career tracks. Some had prior game addictions, some didn’t.
They fought over the thing.
Brainage is more an activity pack than a game. One component calculates your brain’s age through three randomly selected skill tests. One component exercises the brain with a selection of puzzles. There’s a memory activity that shows you dozens of words for two minutes, then asks you to write ones you recall. There’s one that has you do simple calculations as quickly as you can. One requires you to follow time changes on a clock and say how many hours elapsed. The package also has Sudoku puzzles at various levels.
We found the voice recognition to be greatly lacking and somewhat frustrating. It has real trouble being consistent and is harshly affected by background sound. When user needs to write information into the software with the stylus, Brainage has a terrible time interpreting more than a few letters. Perhaps patiently working through these frustrations will help improve the brain, who knows, but Nintendo could take a second look at those factors.
The puzzles are all engaging – challenging to one extent or another. The system, WI FI enabled, can communicate with other players, so maybe you'll start a group or something - maybe challenge your family long-distance? Deal is, you’re supposed to do them once a day – the process takes as little as 10 minutes or as long as you want. You’ll have to set your own boundaries.
Bottom Line
Nintendo DS Lite is appealing for our age group. Its stylish looks (in several colors) remind me of a Palm Pilot or something – very sleek and unobtrusive. Can slip into purse or carry-on bag. Truly, Nintendo thought through design and visual parameters so seniors can enjoy using the system with or without grandkids. They need to rethink the stylus gadget, a slim stick less than half the diameter of a standard pencil.
The stylus is essential for play and, with mild arthritis or any motion problems at all, you’ll find it limiting. It causes me to have some aching or twinges after half an hour or so. Maybe that’s a good thing – if your hand tires, you can’t spend half your day trying to reduce your brain age just a little more. I’m down to 28 years old. My first brain age was a scarey 80!
Senior family members enjoyed others of the games, too. Being a puzzle fan from way back, I am very drawn to the brain teaser series they’re aiming our way. I’ll leave you with this comment – if you like puzzles, if your doc has mentioned you need to do something active with your mind, if you are a current or ex-gaming fan, this device is reasonably priced enough so you can give it a shot. If you don’t become a fan, you can always keep it on hand to entice grandkids to visit more often.
And yes, Tetris is available for this system....
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Maryan Pelland - A professional, established freelance writer, I've earned the moniker, "expert" in technology for baby boomers. I have deep experience in ...
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