Nintendo DSi

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Nintendo likes money. People like giving Nintendo money. It is a win win situation for all that is involved. You would think that generally a company has to release a compelling product to have people give them money, but oh ho, not where Nintendo’s concerned.

How do I know that people like giving them money? Well, because I gave them $120 and an old DS for the new DSi. I paid $120 for an “i”… I didn’t play my old DS, but when Nintendo released the new DSi, I just had to buy a new one on the day of release. Why? Well, see above.

For me, the Nintendo DS platform is an interesting beast. Most of the games on it shows me a flawed future where gaming as I enjoy it has ended and a proliferation of cutesie games void of any real game play rule the world. I am so very scared of such a bleak future.

On the other hand, some of the most compelling gaming for me has been on the DS in recent times. When they remade Final Fantasy 4 for the DS and I heard it do voice acting for the first time, I was so happy that I started to cry. My childhood could be summed up by “wanting Final Fantasy to come alive” and the DS made it happen. I understand that there is nothing unique about the DS that makes it better than other platforms for the FF remake, but the fact is that it is only released on the DS, so it is the only option.

Another game that was played to death on the DS was Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I think this game fits on DS much better since it’s a bunch of brain teaser minigames. It’s one of those games that you can pick up, do a couple of puzzles, and then put it down again. This is a bit more difficult to do on a standard system connected to a tv. When you play on a large format console, there’s a bit of setup time both physically and mentally.

Anyhow, the Nintendo DS platform is a part of my gaming life. Sure, it might not be a major part, but the niche that it does fulfill, it fulfills wonderfully. Is it worth potentially sacrificing the future of gaming and succumb to the Nintendo casual game attitude? Maybe I already have…

PS, I stole the above image and did not pay $233.95 to David Thorne for it.