NintendoDS Lite News

Well after much debate and research I finally ordered my personal, "Crimson and Black" NintendoDS Lite (NDS) along with a custom G-Pak™ case by NAKIWORLD. I had to wait months to find a red & black case to match the DS, but finally one appeared on Ebay. Luckily they had 2 auctions because I lost out on the first one but won on the second and saved a whopping $3 dollars. Also ordered the new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring Of Fates.

Currently I am playing Fire Emblem on the GBAmicro (GameBoyAdvance micro) and just began Chapter 23. Fire Emblem is a fantastic RPG series that incorporates excellent story-writing, amazing characters that you become attached to, and a fun TBS (Turn Based Strategy) gameplay system that never becomes tiresome. Previously to finding the first version of Fire Emblem I had been playing Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, the sequel to this game. At the time, I had played through Chapter 9 when I found the first Fire Emblem cartridge. I then ceased playing the sequel and began playing the first game which proved enjoyable because the first game is the start of the story and introduces you to the cast of characters. You start out as the group tactician who manages their battle decisions. The characters in this game have an uncanny way of growing on you to the point you WILL become upset when you lose a character. And, when you lose a character, they are gone for the rest of the game! Luckily, you can always replay an entire chapter and try a different strategy to avoid losing a character. Still, as the story progresses, you will find yourself making decisions along the way as to which characters you will let go of, in spite of continuing the game to finish playing the game. This is where the true strategy of this game lies.

Playing GBA titles on the GBAmicro is a bit more comfortable than playing them on the NDS. But the NDS has additional features not found on the GBAmicro and you learn to adapt to the NDS rather quickly. It's nice having a full clock, calendar aboard your gaming rig. Also, the screens are much larger and the NDS has a more powerful CPU and GPU. Additionally, the NDS has wonderful stereo separation with its built-in speakers. Also, games like Metroid Prime Hunter and two of the new Pokemon games support multiplayer voice chat via Nintendo's stereo headset with microphone.

Then there is NDS homebrew. NDS homebrew has a ton of really neat things you can do using your NDS. Whether you're chatting on MSN Messenger or surfing the Internet using Linux, it all can be done. You can easily run the Opera browser to surf the net with full WYSIWYG color graphics. It is recommended that you stick to the, "mobile websites and apps" such as the Goggle-suite and other online mobile apps if you want perky wi-fi performance. But, you CAN visit websites such as MySpace and CNN, but loading times are slow. Also ;;frown;; there is no Flash support [yet] which means no YouTube video watching, and there isn't [yet] any JAVA. But, thanks to javascript, life is good. And, don't let those Sony PSP geeks tell you otherwise. PSP doesn't support Flash either. Sure you can convert Flash content and watch it on the PSP and DS, but that's a different topic. Nevertheless, the NDS manages all of these duties with relative ease and it is a relaxing unit to spend time with. Whether curled up in your favorite spot at home, or hanging out at your favorite hotspot, where ever that happens to be. You can also view PDF files on the NDS. But, this is a HappyHarryNET invention that I am keeping secret for right now. But, I will blog about this and create a how-to video in the future. And, by the way, the NDS sports no wi-fi configuration. It simply works! You can surf the Internet, check your Yahoo! or Gmail, chat on ICQ, AIM and MSN Messenger, but I prefer ebuddy. Nintendo's built-in PictoChat is always available for local wi-fi (30 feet range) the same as you would play local wi-fi multiplayer games with other NDS players. MP3 and OGG music files sounds great, WMV video plays nicely as well as converted VOB data. You can even use the NDS as a wi-fi MIDI controller to your MAC or PC. This is a bucket-of-fun to say the least. Look to the future when HappyHarryNET_TV will post a music video using my NintendoDS as a MIDI controller to my Yamaha MOTIF XS during a recording session! Is that awesome or what!? And, to frost the cake there is a video chat cam coming to the NDS.

Well that's my NDS rant for now. Until I finish my Fire Emblem games, I won't be starting any new games on ANY platform. Keep checking my blogs for updates on this hot topic.

;;cheers;;