Nintendo Dual Screen (DS)
Next we have Nintendo's latest entry, the Nintendo DS which currently stands for "Dual Screen." In an ohmage to the classic Game and Watch games, the DS is designed in the normal Nintendo way of function over fashion. Not that it looks bad, it looks quite good, but against the PSP it's ugly. The DS features two screens, one of which is actually a touch screen which you can use a stylus for input. The DS is also fully capable 3D pushing machine, which seems to be able to match the N64 in terms of power, which isn't bad for a small screen.

Onto the good points: Nintendo makes inexpensive hardware. Nintendo knows how to make hardware and price it for the masses as soon as possible. Early adopters probably won't have to save up long to get a Nintendo DS at launch even though we don't have the final pricing yet. That is going to mean a lot, especially in the face of the high powered PSP releasing after the DS.

The DS should also have decent battery life which is comparable to the SP. The Gameboy SP is damn good. I play mine extensively and generally have to charge it once every couple weeks under normal usage. If the DS can match that, I'll be a happy camper.

Probably the biggest attraction to the Nintendo DS is going to be the promise of originality. Sure, you could say that we've already seen our fair share of 'game on one screen with a map on the other,' but we have also seen things such as Pac Pix, which may not hold up for a stand alone game, but it at least shows us that developers are trying. Wario Ware is also a system seller in my book, and the DS allows for a lot of interesting gameplay there.

Developer support seems very unusually high for the DS. All of the major companies are on board and they seem very excited for the hardware. Notice even that SquareEnix seems to have more planned for the DS than the PSP. I think that the developers see the DS as they do the GBA. Since the hardware isn't massive, they can create content relatively quick and cheap compared to the big consoles and now the PSP. Developers like to make money. The DS can be a safe haven for developers to make smaller games. For some reason, I can't see simple looking games being tolerated on Sony's new hardware.

Now for the bad: Um... is this the successor to the GBA or not? Nintendo has said that it isn't, but it plays GBA games. Hmmmm. If the DS isn't a clear follow up to the GBA, it can potentially cause market confusion for consumers, which tends to be a bad thing overall. Sure, *I* know the difference between the games, but your average parent could care less and all they know is that they finally got around to buying their kid a GBA last Christmas.

Even though I think the graphics will mostly end up looking fine, (hey, I'm still ok with the GBA,) it's going to look like shit when compared to the PSP. I don't care how much less it costs and how original the games are, the masses love some smooth polygons more than anything else. Nintendo is going to have work hard at delivering content good enough to counter the 'wow' factor of the PSP's horsepower.

I'm also a little worried about the stylus for gaming. Sure, it should be a dream for RPGs and slower games, but I hope people don't go crazy with it and make you try and run through a fast paced platformer with a stylus. I'm also worried about overly gimmicky games with little content. Take that Pac Pix game. I was enthralled by the video... it seemed so unique. Then I thought about playing that game for an hour straight, and I found myself not so enamored anymore.

The last thing to worry about is the porting. Nintendo has been loving portable ports on the GBA, and now that the DS seems to be able to emulate the N64, we could be in for a ride there as well. As much as I love finally seeing a new 2D Mario game, I'm a little annoyed we didn't get one for the GBA. I know some of the ports will have new twists such as the Mario 64 port featuring multiple characters and multiplayer, but it could also be a cheap way to sell old games with little work.

There you have it, the portable battle lines are being drawn and we're in for a very interesting year ahead with two companies having very different ideas as to how to attack the marketplace, both being equally viable. I'm a gamer, first and foremost. I want to see the games. I'm not going to lie, I'll probably have to have both the DS and PSP at their respective launches, but right now I'm more comfortable with the Nintendo unit. Nintendo knows how to make fun games and I have no doubt in my head that we'll see some great first party content from them. The PSP is exciting due to the shear power of the thing. We've never really had this type of gaming on the go and the idea something like a full fledged portable GTA game is something I'm sure we could all get into.

Sony PSP | Nintendo DS