I’ve had the DS for about nine months, and I only have four games. I can’t think of a single game on the horizon that I’m excited about, mainly because it seems like designers have settled for merely making regular Gameboy Advance-style games and only use the touch-screen as a gimmick (tap the screen to feed Mario a potion!) rather than basing games around it or offering new playing experiences, which was the whole point of the system and its early games (Feel the Magic, WarioWare, etc.).
The two games that I was really excited about (Trace Memory and Lost in Blue) were essentially denounced as unplayable by critics, and I have zero interest in the two would-be killer apps for the system, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. Mario Kart is just another boring racer that uses the DS’s online capability as its main selling point, and I already played Animal Crossing to death on the Gamecube.
It just seems like there are still so few games for the system a year after its release, and nothing exciting on the horizon; the average Target or Best Buy DS section has about five or six games in it. The upcoming Final Fantasy III remake looks really promising, but I can’t even think of anything else that I’m looking forward to at this point.
To add insult to injury, the proverbial word on the street is that Nintendo may be about to unveil a redesigned and potentially superior DS just to fucking stick it to all the people who bought one in the past year. It wouldn’t be surprising; look at all of the Gameboy redesigns that Nintendo has trotted out in succession over the past years. It’s going to be infuriating if they release a DS with better battery life, better screens, mp3 and web browsing capability, etc. before releasing some better games.
Is anyone else feeling this way? Anyone dumped their DS? Anyone have hope for the future of the system?
You should check out Trauma Center. It can get frustrating at points, but is pretty satisfying. Animal Crossing is addictive, but nearly identical to the GC version (at least, from what I can tell. I only rented the GC version, and played it for a week), with the added feature of being able to interact with real people on it.
These were the two games I popped in here to recommend, so I’ll second Electronic Chaos’s recommendations for both. My DS sat on a shelf for over a year until I got these two games, and now I play it (at least for a little while) daily.
Nintendogs is kind of cute too, though the gimmick where you have to yell at the screen gets old fairly quickly.
That link seems to be nothing more than rumor dressed up as insider information. Another “story” released today from the same site neither confirms nor denies it.
Anyway, I’m not regretting my DS. Trauma Center is an excellent game, if at times infuriating (stop interrupting me, you stupid nurse!) which takes advantage of the touch screen. Just don’t play it in a moving vehicle. Castlevania and Advance Wars are great games even if they don’t always require the use of what seems to be the system’s defining feature.
A DS game that I really liked was Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney. It’s not for everyone though, and it does have some flaws. But not many games made me laugh out loud as much as that one.
Concerning Animal Crossing DS, there are a decent amount of additions/differences, although the gameplay itself is largely the same. Even if you played through a lot of Animal Crossing (gamecube), Wild World still has a fair amount to offer. The on-line aspect I can’t really comment on, just haven’t worked up the motivation to find some friend codes on-line as of yet. I know this game is terribly “old school”, but did you play much of the mario 64 DS game? You may also want to give Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time a chance. Are you into puzzle games by any chance? Both polarium and zoo keeper are excellent. Finally, Into the Blue was actually a pretty decent game, although a bit tedious/difficult at times, the gameplay experience was fairly rewarding.
Concerning the Best Buy/Target DS section, retailers are notorious for dropping games that don’t move huge units (or aren’t on an incredible discount/pricepoint). You might want to check a GameStop for a better idea of what is available. In regards to the rumor of a DS redesign floating around, it’s inevitable, but I kind of doubt the redesign will be earth-shattering. The latest rumor pins the redesign as potentially adding some kind of multi-media playback support, let’s hope Nintendo isn’t going for a jack-of-all-trades approach.
(/hijack) If it makes you feel any better, I’m on the verge of selling my PSP, whereas the DS has a lack of games coming out (with most of them being pretty good), the PSP has a plethora of games coming out, most which are pseudo-ports of old PS2 games, with a bit of content thrown in to lure buyers… and don’t even get me started on the rip-off aspect of UMD movies.
I think they just released Electroplankton which looks pretty interesting. It’s a kind of music composition program. Not really a game per se, but more a way to make interesting combinations of noises and stuff. I’m not entirely sure what it’s all about, but it definitely seems to use the capabilities of the DS.
As for the redesign, I’d be surprised if they really did release a new one. Why should they? They’re selling out of the old one, it consistently tops all other gaming devices in sales charts, it definitely has the better games compared to the PSP… There’s really no reason for Nintendo to make a new one. Having said that, if they did release a new one, it’d be pretty sweet.
Oh, and I’ll second Castlevania. That’s a great game.
Having taken a great disliking to the PSP, I cant wait to buy a DS. However, my GBA has only two games since I bought it three years ago, so I’m being told that a new Handheld is an IMPULSE BUY and that I DONT REALLY NEED ONE, I just WANT ONE.
I have to second (third, etc) the love for Advance Wars, Trauma Center, Mario Kart and Mario & Luigi Partners in Time.
Having played Advance Wars on GBA as well as the DS, I find the DS version’s use of the touch screen to be intuitive and a great addition to the game. It really seems to work well. Ditto for Trauma Center, though I agree the game is totally frustrating sometimes.
As for the other two games, it’s true that they don’t use the touch screen, which is disappointing, but they’re still excellent – very addictive and fun. Playing Mario Kart online is fantastic!
I have a couple of friends who rave about Animal Crossing, and Zoo Keeper is apparently so much fun it inspired my mom to get a DS.
I’m kind of interested in Organizer Plus, too. I wish that functionality (calendar, notes, address book – standard PDA stuff, I guess) had been built-in from the start.
Anyway, I love my DS! I have a PSP also – in terms of games, innovation and overall enjoyment, no contest: the DS wins. I can’t see getting rid of it any time soon.
**VCO3: **What I heard about Trace Memory was that it was good but too short. What I head about Lost in Blue was that it was good but very slow. If you liked Animal Crossing, I bet you’ll like those two games. Pick them used, why not.
For reference, here’s a short list of DS games coming out in the near future (courtesy IGN):
True Swing Golf
Age of Empires: The Age of Kings
Black & White Creatures
Ultimate Brain Games
Nicktoons Unite!
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
Super Black Bass Fishing
Super Princess Peach
Golden Nugget Casino DS
Scurge: Hive
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Worms: Open Warfare
Tetris DS
Harvest Moon DS
Nicktoons
Dynasty Warriors
Guilty Gear Dust Strikers
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll
Brain Flex
Pokemon Trozei
Top Spin 2
Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Garfield’s A Tail of Two Kitties
Legend of the Dragon
Xenosaga I & II
Digitylish
Shin Megami Tensei DS
Dragon Quest Monsters
Legend of Zelda DS, The
Dino Dini’s Soccer
Azure Dreams
Pokemon Ranger: The Road to Diamond and Pearl
Flipper Critters
Rainbow Islands Revolution
Rub Rabbits!, The
Bomberman [untitled WiFi-enabled sequel]
Tenchu DS
Fairly OddParents
Puzzeloop
Ys Strategy
Bomberman Story
Yu-Gi-Oh! Series [working title sequel]
Castlevania [untitled sequel]
Tales of the Tempest
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2
Mario Basket 3on3
Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana
Digimon World [working title]
Dark Reflections
Cerulean Dreams
Konductra
Biker Mice From Mars
Cartoon Network Racing
Strawberry Shortcake
Rune Factory
Detect Hacker
Kaitou Wario
Tingle RPG [working title]
Custom Robo DS
Wish Room
Zoids Saga DS: Legend of Arcadia
Tottoko Hamtaro:
ASH
Contact
Nights of War Songs
Iron Feather
Street Racing Syndicate
Deep Fried project [untitled]
Professional Wrestling
Puyo Pop Fever 2
Katamari Damacy [rumored]
Jeff Corwin Experience
Worms Forts Under Siege
SpongeBob SquarePants Multiplayer [working title]
Baten Kaitos DS
Pokemon Pearl
Pokemon Diamond
Final Fantasy III
World Reborn: Unification
Intellivision Lives!
Code: Lyoco
Turok Next [working title]
Boy and His Blob, A
Totally Spies
Boktai
New Super Mario Bros.
Egg Monster Hero
Winning Eleven
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles DS
Anaka
SSX 4
I’ve also heard that Disciples, Jagged Alliance & Europa Universalis will have DS versions out shortly. Off that list, I’m expecially interested in Age of Empires & Azure Dreams, and the Rub Rabbits. YMMV. I personally wouldn’t swap my DS for anything, except a smaller redesigned one.
Oh and I forgot to mention the game I most want to get a US release: Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan. Currently it’s only available in Japanese but it can be imported elsewhere. Supposedly the multiplayer and the cheerleading part works fine even if you don’t read Japanese.
What’s it all about, you ask?
It’s a rhythym game that uses the touchscreen to lead the cheerleaders through their routines, encouraging the struggline citizens to complete their tasks. The artwork for it is fabulous manga and the music that I’ve heard from it good too. The cheerleaders dress sort of like Neo and it’s a riot watching them strut their stuff. The videos on the site are must-see. Here’s a link to the video page.
For sheer loopiness I think this game sounds tops.