Pros: better lcd screens, long batter life, sexy design, excellent games library
Cons: broken hinge, d-pad smaller, harder to hold
The bottom line: The DS Lite is an amazing handheld and possibly the best handheld ever next to the original Game Boy. Get it.
The DS has been essential to Nintendo’s success along with the Wii, and if you haven’t kept up, Nintendo’s market value in October 2007 was a mind-boggling $85 billion dollars. For a company that mainly relies on two products for virtually all their revenue (surpassing Sony easily and putting it in up in the top dogs with Mitsubishi and Toyota), this is hands down incredible.

Having owned a DS Lite for over a year now I’m finally ready to review the pros and cons of Nintendo’s cash cow. It’s cheap, portable, has some of the best game selection you’ll ever find and is even backwards compatible. Despite the amazing features it offers, there are still a few flaws. Also amidst rumors of possibly another DS console coming out is it worth buying, I’ll go over all the aspects of the console and whether it’s worth getting.

Design

The DS Lite is small, attractive and easily puts the older DS to shame. If you compare it with the older DS, it’s dimensionally not that much smaller but by trimmer down the thickness and lopping off the awkward sloped edges that the original had, they’ve given it a much sexier profile

Size-wise, the Nintendo DS Lite is 5.24 in x 2.9 in x 0.85 in, and for a good sense of how large that is, imagine a standard paperback novel and lop off about 1/3rd of it from the width and length. It’s small but it’s not so tiny you can just put it in your pants pocket (though this is kind of true for some guys).

Even though they’ve shrunk the handheld down, the size of the screens are actually slightly larger. It’s not by much but it most certainly is noticeable. Also to accommodate the size crunch they’ve done a bunch of things. The start and select were moved south, so now you’re thumb can access them more easily. The D-pad has been shrunk on the left side, which is to your detriment because you’ll find out that it’ll lead to far more finger cramps. The power switch is placed on the right side as a trigger rather than a button. The mic has been moved from the bottom to the hinge area, which is a much better position. The stylus slides from the right side rather than from the top and is also a better design feature. Finally the power indicator is placed on the hinge corner, which is a perfect place because now that when you put your DS Lite into sleep mode you can see the flashing indicator easily and it’ll turn red when you’re low.

So picking the two up, I’d have to say the original DS is more durable and comfortable to use. The DS Lite is sexier, but the original DS fits the hand better. The rounded curves despite their unattractiveness mold well to someone’s grip especially for those who use their DS a lot. The old DS is heavier but not by much.

The surface of the DS Lite looks great. Gone is the cheap plastic color of the old DS. It has now been replaced with a sexy clear plastic gloss finish. I have the white one and it looks gorgeous. That’s where the appeal of the DS Lite will get most consumers. Rather than looking like a dork with a bulky plastic brick, you’ll have a device that seems appealing in a purse as well as a guy’s coat pocket.

However there is one major caveat I have for the DS Lite’s design. The hinge is flawed. If you open your DS Lite for the first time you’ll notice the hinge clicks nicely into spot. After you’ve opened it for a very long time you’ll notice this hinge begin to weaken and the click won’t be as strong. After months or a year of use, a lot (and I do mean a lot!) of DS Lite users including my friend who is very careful with his electronic goods, have reported the hinge either breaking or feeling loose. While this doesn’t break your DS Lite, what happens is that the screen won’t stay up anymore unless the DS is flat or unless you hold it up with your finger. So if you like to hold the DS up to your face, you’ll find that the hinge will swing shut onto your fingers.

Hardware

Nintendo DS Lite has the same hardware as the original DS, which is unfortunate because it makes this console very outdated compared to the PSP. The actual specs are 2 ARM processors, and 4 MB of ram, capable of delivering about 2000 triangles per frame, which is miniscule in today’s million+ polygon day. Still despite that fact, they’ve managed to get by just fine with great games and innovative gameplay.

The keys to DS’ success are in the other technologies that Nintendo has focused on. For starters, there’s the Dual Screen (DS), an upper and bottom screen that are separated by the hinge. In most games, one of these displays is interactive, thanks to touch screen on the bottom, and so you can swipe, move, tap, stroke, and rub as a way of interacting with the upper screen or the same touch screen. The other screen is commonly used as an information screen for most games, displaying map info, status info, equipment and so on. I was initially skeptic of the display but after the game library expanded, Nintendo’s revolution in game design was clear.

In addition to stylus controls for certain games, which unfortunately can be really hand-cramping due to the small screen and equally small stylus, the DS Lite has a microphone and wireless. It uses all of these technologies efficiently. Wireless implementation is a dream- it’s some of the best I’ve ever seen. Easy example is that if you’ve ever gone to a video-game event where you’re bored, whip out your DS and try Pictochat. You might find a bunch of folks in a room drawing messages to each other, a fast and easy form of communication, and is very entertaining. Some games offer wireless play, and Nintendo will search for a wireless spot with an intuitive GUI. If you find one, you can easily hook up and play with a friend anywhere else who has wireless access.

The microphone also works its way into games like Phoenix Wright or Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, where you’ll be shouting “OBJECTION” in response to the judge or blowing away dust on a map. While this is mostly a gimmick, the mic use is a unique form of gameplay.

The updated battery life is amazing. It’s up to 8 hours on the brightest setting, and up to 19 hours on lowest brightness. This is practically double that of the original DS despite the larger and brighter LCD screens.

The new screens make a huge difference. If you play a game on the old DS it’ll feel old just because the colors are nowhere as bright or vibrant on the old DS. Also the new screens are designed to be more durable than the old ones were; another big bonus.

Lastly, the DS Lite maintains the backwards compatibility with GBA games. If they had taken this out, it is likely they could have trimmed the console significantly, but including this feature gives the DS Lite a huge selection of games. I never really use this slot personally but it presents great budget options for folks who don’t want to buy the more expensive NDS games initially.

Software

The DS Lite unlike the Wii does not offer that much value out of the box. It comes with Pictochat and has basic features that let you view a clock and calendar when started without games, but that’s about all you can do.

The real highlight to DS Lite is the game library and the innovative use of the technology. Very quickly, I’ll go over what I consider to be the best of the DS library, but I won’t spend too much time on this since the focus of a console review is mostly in the console itself.

For games that use stylus in innovative ways, I recommend:

Trauma Center, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Elite Beat Agents, Hotel Dusk

For classic gamers, I recommend

New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart DS (great wireless play), Contra 4, Super Mario 64, Castlevania games, Pokemon

And finally, miscellaneous games that I think you should play:

Brain Age, Meteos, Mario & Luigi, Phoenix Wright, New York Times Crosswords

That was by far not a comprehensive list! It’s mostly just a list of games off the top of my head.

Conclusion

DS Lite is simply unbeatable at its price range of $130, providing a huge game selection to choose from, and a great game library for all kinds of gamers. On Ebay you can pick it up for slightly cheaper, but beware getting a used one does mean you’ll get a hinge that is more likely to have been worn down.

Despite a few detractions from the slimmer profile that mostly involve hand cramping, the added value of better screens, longer battery life, and superior button placement balance out the major flaws of this console. The rumor mill has been that Nintendo has yet another DS iteration in the works, but those are mostly rumors, and I personally think they hope to make more off their cash cow before they retire it. I think there is a chance that for the winter of 2008 they might announce a new handheld, but seeing how long the Game Boy life span has been, there’s a good chance they might wait till 2009.

At the moment, the DS Lite is at the peak of its life cycle, with a large gaming library that is still steadily expanding. Although it would be nice to see Nintendo slash the price a bit, $130 is a small price to pay especially compared to other consoles these days. Highly recommended.