It ’s a extra twenty-four hours . Today , November 21 , 2024 , marks the twentieth anniversary of theNintendo DS‘launchin North America .
It ’s hard for me to believe it ’s been that long , because Nintendo ’s double - screen handheld machine defined my puerility more than any other machine . While I started my gambling journey on theoriginal Xboxand Game Boy Advance , the Nintendo DS is what unfeignedly made me lessen in love with video games . It was an innovative piece of engineering that drew my attention in ways none of my other puerility toy could . These were plastic play experiences that I ’ll always call back .
Now almost honest-to-god enough to vote , the Nintendo DS can be considered aretro gaming handheld . It merit the same level of awe that ’s usually given to plastic systems like the NES or Sega Genesis . With that in mind , let ’s look back at what made this system so special to me and one thousand thousand of others .
Innovative hardware
When it amount to gambling applied science , Nintendo always finds means to be ahead of the curve — at least in terms of creativity . The Nintendo DS is one of the greatest examples of that strength , as it popularized the idea of a touchscreen ( and touchscreen gaming ) years before modern smartphones became commonplace . As a fry , opening the organization up and using its stylus gave the DS a tactile feel that no other system could declare oneself .
I recollect spending countless hours inPictoChatwith my crony and other friends who had DS systems . I also appreciated its Game Boy Advance compatibility , which meant I did n’t have to leave that gaming library of mine behind . count at all of the gaming platforms I owned before I part writing about the industry professionally , the Nintendo DS is certainly the one I play the most .
The charm of the DS can also be see in its longevity . With all the updates and variation this console table received , I possess around four different DS organisation when all was said and done . It ’s a branding Nintendo build on further with the 3DS , another handheld I adore and own multiple versions of . As video game technology gets more and more homogenized , the DS is a admonisher of a creative thinking - driven earned run average where a gaming gadget could offer a radically different smell and playing experience than any other political program .
Amazing games
It ’s the game that make or interrupt a system , though , and the DS is full of classics . Two series delimit my meter with theNintendo DS : Super Mario Bros. and Pokémon . I got my first gustation of both on Game Boy Advance , but I genuinely became a fan of both on DS.Super Mario 64 DS , a launch deed of conveyance I remember get around the same time as the organisation itself , is the definitive version of Nintendo ’s seminal 3D platformer .
Even if it lacks full analog control , it ’s a technical marvel that Nintendo pay back this it carry better on a DS just eight years after the original ’s release . And while the New Super Mario Bros. serial publication gets a great deal of flak nowadays , the first plot to bear that name is a genuinely originative platformer full of memorable levels that mesmerized my younger self . I got so good atNew Super Mario Bros.that I remember play through a level without dying when my eyes were elaborate at an eye doctor appointment ( I also think its multiplayer mode is highly underrated ) .
I ’ve playact no video plot serial more than Pokémon , though , and the game I ’ve played the most were all on Nintendo DS . I remember go to Target with my dada to buyPokémon Platinum , scram the last copy on the shelf , walking out of the store , and hearing other kids bummed out that they could n’t pick a transcript up . That memory stuck with me , and I ’ve spend one C of minute in the Sinnoh region since then . To this day , most of my favored Pokémon can be found inPlatinum .
In 2011,Pokémon BlackandWhitebrought me back to the series . The DS - era Pokémon titles struck a unadulterated balance of gameplay astuteness , memorable devil designs , and strong expert performance . While I believe that the Pokémon games that add up after , likeXandYorSwordandShield , are underrated , there ’s no deny that the franchise peaked on DS . I ’m happy to have been at the epicenter of that .
Undeniable impact
Looking at my gambling taste today , I see how they were all fundamentally shaped by the DS . I will always be interested in picking up a unexampled Mario platformer orPokémon RPGon day one because of how those series ingrained themselves in me on this Nintendo handheld . I appreciate gaming engineering that stress to be innovative or stand out from the contest in distinct ways , potential because I appreciated how the DS did that .
And it ’s an experience that will always be locked closely to my childhood . It ’s hard to recreate that experience on a dissimilar platform . The engineering survive to emulate DS games , but so many of them utilize the touchscreen in distinct enough ways that they just do n’t feel quite correct to trifle on any other platform . TheNintendo DSis a system of rules you really had to be there for to translate its heyday .
Twenty years after its original handout , Nintendo has completely give the DS trade name behind aftershutting down online maneuver on the three-D . Enough prison term has passed for us to truly await back and understand the impact the Nintendo DS had not just on the video secret plan industry , but on us individually . As the idea of the DS puddle the jump from contemporary to retro , I ’m grateful that I can still boot up my DS system and playSuper Mario 64 DSorPokémon Platinumanytime I require and remember why I adore video games in the first lieu .
