DS Lite
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DS Lite: Ready, set, import!
It's been quite well established that the concept of waiting is generally frowned upon. In fact, several non-existent studies have shown that waiting for a new gadget (such as the DS Lite) to release can be both physically and mentally harmful to the average gamer, with damage often manifesting in the form of an unhealthy mass of pent-up excitement and joy. Early effects can be seen through a multitude of odd behaviors, including (but not limited to): Lovingly staring at artwork, photographs or renders of the item in question, often accompanied by salivatory release. Intricate role-playing exercises and elaborate daydreaming. The subject pictures himself using or playing with the item for extended periods of time. The unstoppable desire to spend a vast amount of money in order to guarantee the item's arrival at the subject's home. Wow. That's strikingly similar to paging through a girly magazine... only much more pathetic. Luckily, you can now put a temporary end to your pining for Nintendo's sleek DS redesign and start your importing engines. Several sites are now accepting pre-orders for the DS Lite. In case you haven't been paying attention recently, it's due for a release on March 2 in Japan. Both Lik-Sang and Play-Asia have it for the reasonably affordable price of $169, whereas Yes-Asia says "no" to that trend and instead offers it up for a more hefty $199.99. With a US release date still up in the air, are you considering pre-ordering the DS Lite right now? And more importantly, does $169 seem like a good price to you?[Thanks Mandarin!]
Japanese sales charts: DS just scraping by
The hardware sales figures for the week ranging from 23 January to 29 January have arrived and we simply had to share them and the rather shocking turn of events they reveal. The ranking, according to number of units sold, is a follows: DS: 106,081 PSP: 30,657 PS2: 24,580 GBA SP: 5,946 GB Micro: 3,042 Gamecube: 3,036 Xbox 360: 1,976 GBA: 179 Xbox: 128 As you can see, the DS is still having a hard time being accepted by the Japanese public, barely making an impact after selling more units than every other console combined. Clearly, this abysmal failure is indicative of the DS' embarrassing lack of trendy multimedia features, cutting-edge graphics and the ability to play the Will Smith classic, Hitch. Hopefully, Nintendo will learn from this sorry state of events and start focusing on the things that matter.[Thanks DownloadingData for reminding us!]
Metroid Prime: Hunters beta test feedback
Our level of anticipation for Metroid Prime: Hunters, Nintendo's forthcoming first-person blasting, bounty hunting, morph-balling, Wi-Fi connecting, pad jumping, pirate bashing extravaganza, is clearly reeling out of control. When we're not scouring the Internet for tasty globules of information, we're subliminally influencing others to do it for us. Naturally, we were quite pleased to be pointed in the direction of an article written by the ever-grimacing NOA_Andy over at Nintendo's website.It details some of his experiences with beta testing Hunters over the Wi-Fi connection service and, perhaps unsurprisingly given his involvement with Nintendo, all of them are good. The lobby system is said to be greatly improved over that of Mario Kart DS, allowing the user to choose when to stop searching for opponents and when to actually start playing. The issue of lag didn't come up either, though given the small scale of the test, it may yet to come back to haunt us when the game launches towards the end of March.Things sound promising, but we're still quite interested in seeing more of the game's single-player side. Actually, let's turn that into a question: Are you buying the game primarily for Wi-Fi play, or do you want a strong solo experience too?[Thanks Will!]
Alternate DS Lite colors conjured up
Being a Nintendo product, the DS Lite is likely to show up in approximately 3,452 different colors within just a few years of its release. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you. In fact, an avid photoshopper on the Nintendo forums has already peered into a possible future and taken snapshots of some DS Lite variants that roam the post-apocalyptic wastelands in vicious packs. There's a ton to be found after you follow the link, but we find the one above to be the most desirable. It's already gotten our wallet's greenlite. Get it? Green Lite? We're here all week. No, seriously. We've got nowhere else to go. [Thanks Daniel Warpool!]
DS Lite comparison video
We've all seen the pictures and read about the size reduction, but nothing beats a good 'ole side-by-side comparison, even if said comparison is accomplished through CG trickery. Here we have a video that shows a plump DS sitting next to a (fake) DS Lite, the former no doubt feeling extremely anxious about being judged next to its sleeker and sexier sibling.Don't worry old DS, it's not you. It's us.[Thanks Joaquin!]
Nintendo: Converging design
With the unveiling of the DS Lite, a snazzy update to Nintendo's ludicrously popular portable, it has become all the more interesting to note that whilst the Japanese giant is striving to grow and transform the gaming industry, it's undergoing a transformation of its own. We all associate certain, highly immovable things with Nintendo, things like portly plumbers, pointy-eared princesses, pink marshmallow things and Shigeru Miyamoto. Yes, until he's been proven to be an actual human, we're calling him a thing. But how about things that are sexy, sleek and sophisticated? Do those terms sound like they belong with Nintendo? If their current design trend is anything to go by, the answer to that question is a resounding, yet alluring "yes". This change is only an aesthetic one, mind you, as Nintendo's gaming vision has never been more focused than it is today. Shigeru's still there, but now he's slipping into a fancy dress, gently applying lavender lipstick and blowing you a kiss.And that's quite possibly the most disturbing mental image we've ever created. It would be best to abandon it immediately and get to the point: Nintendo's new systems look great!
