Nintendo DS

Nintendo's handhelds first started out with the Gameboy's, such as Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Micro, but then they released the Nintendo DS and it overshadowed the Gameboy line. The Nintendo DS was released at around the same time as the Gameboy Micro, but because of the unique touchscreen that the Nintendo DS offered, the Gameboy Micro was somewhat forgotten. The Nintendo DS had a lot more features, and unlike the Gameboy's, it had a menu when powered on where one can choose to play the game, or change the settings. The Nintendo DS also allows the owner to input their birthday, change the date and time, set an alarm clock and switch colour schemes. It can be put to sleep by closing the lid to save power. It also had a microphone and PictoChat, which was similar to an instant messaging service, but it only worked as long as the other people using it were inside the severely limited range.


Not too long after the Nintendo DS came out, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS Lite. It was smaller with some relocated buttons and a longer battery life. The DS Lite was more popular than the original DS, but the functions basically stayed the same.

Not too long ago, the Nintendo DSi came out and the improvements were focussed on the features rather than on the physical appearance. The alterations made the DSi have more multimedia capabilities, making it more similar to the PSP. And with multimedia functions, there needs to be more memory, so the DSi has a SD card slot. The most noticeable change was the two VGA cameras; one on the outside of the lid, and one on the inside. There is an audio player, where one can record their voice and listen to music. However, the music player doesn't work with MP3 files. There is also an option to edit the audio. As for the camera, it could be used for gameplay or just regular taking pictures use. Like with the audio player, users can edit the pictures. Internet is also included, and is used especially for connecting to the online store where one can buy games.The Nintendo DSi seems to have a lot more features than its predecessors, and I am especially interested in the camera. However, people may be reluctant to buy it since the homebrew flash cards from the DS and DS Lite don't work on the DSi. The Nintendo DSi would appeal more to children and young teenagers because of the games that are for this handheld, such as Super Mario.