The Nintendo DS rant

Instead of hating, maybe I should thank Nintendo for their DS line up of consoles.

You see, despite having (in chronological order) a PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox360, a second PSP, a pink GBA, a blue GBA, and a Wii, both my kids still want a DS.

Why? Because other kids have them too to start with, but also cause the gaming experience is fairly more their age (6 and 8). I see this at home where they may have some fun with the Sony consoles (portable or not), but end up playing on the Wii for much longer than any other. And completely ignore the Xbox.

So yes, a DS could be one too many consoles especially considering the price/feature ratio for me, as an adult. Comparing it to a PSP. The price and some reservations regarding 3D gaming and screen size kept us (me?) form going for it for, well 2 years now.

So, in short, 3DS screen was too small especially for 3D and a bit pricy. Then came the XL but that was way too expensive. Then the cheaper 2DS was announced and I thought, "well, this is it, I'm not gonna have anymore excuses to not get one". And so we were all set on getting a pair of them.

But that was before I saw it, and read about it on the web. You see, the new 2DS is not the DS we were looking for.

Seriously, they should stick to what works (and sells) and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead of just a normal folding Nintendo console without 3D and cheaper, Nintendo launched a huge no folding, exposed screens slab, with mono sound.

It gets better: no protecting case/bag/sleeve included, no power save features (on a console that doesn't close to stand-by), less battery performance than previous XL (more than 3D though), less portable, heavier and just maintaining the display size of the original 3DS, which I considered small to start with.

But like I said at the beginning, I should thank them. Their failure to convince me to get them is saving me money (2x€129,99 on 2DS, 2x€169,99 on 3DS or 2x€199,99 - 3DS XL)

Here's a cool video review:

I'll reserve the final verdict to when I get my hands on them.

UPDATE:

It really looks huge and awkward in the kids' hands. And I can't stand that mono speaker on the left.

So, I got two used DSI XL with 2 games and a "broken" (?) R4 for €160. 

I know, I know. It's just a big display that kind of zooms on the DSI low resolution and can't play the latest games. But it was cheap, looks and feels good, and has a huge library of games to start with. That will keep them busy until a 2DS XL comes out.

And yes, Nintendo will give us another DS soon... hopefully a proper (folding) 2DS XL.