DS Lite Review

DS Lite Review:

To get things straight, the Nitnendo DS was launched just under 2 years ago in Japan at 2004, it has done spectacular, excelling all predictions from nay-sayers and has destroyed the PSP (in Japan at least). Now, with the DS Lite, Nintendo aims to capitalize on oen of the PSP's strengths, its sexy, cool looking aesthetics.

Portability

The first thing i noticed with the DS Lite when i picked it up was the size of it, i knew it was small, but damn, it is damn small, compared with the DS and the PSP which aren't really 'portable' systems for different reasons, the DS Lite goes a long way in acheiving the high portability status that really only the GBA SP has cheived imo. Certainly, the size (only 2/3 the orignal DS) gives it marks, now able to fit in many people's trouser pockets with ease and its flip-top design gives it extra portability and durability.

Of course, connected with portability is the...

Battery Life

Much much better, i've had it for a few days and i've been playing various games on it wiht the hgihest brightness setting, Nintendo claims that a good 8 +-2 hours battery life is acheivable with the highest brightness setting. Which doesn't sound THAT good, but considering the wide range of brightness levels avaialble, the player can diverse if the battery happens to run low and go for a lower brightness setting which is still playable! Of course, a much more intensive play tets is needed to test the true battery life but so far, no complaints.

Durability

Very important for a handheld becuas its likely to get dropped around if not careful, and this would be one of the DS Lite's weak points, its small size and very fragile weight (lighter than DS) makes its almost on par with the PSP in terms of durability. Of coruse, with the flip top design, it can save the screens, but i can see lots of innards taking a huge impact from the drop and making the system terrible. But this is Nitnendo we're talking about, honoured with a high reputation on system build quality, im sure that the DS Lite can hold up for a while, but practically, i dont want to try to find out.

Design Interface

Thsi is concerned with the buttons and stuff, admiteedly, i fell in love with the buttons, perfect clickable buttons which actually feel fien for any gamer. Now the D-pad o nthe other hand, small is the word to use here, the original DS's D-pad was fine imo, it looked ugly and tacky but worked well, now the DSL's D-pad felt really small and flimsy, include clickable D-pad directions and it felt really tacked up.. hopefully the Wii D-pad isn't like this at all. The Dual-screen and Touch-screen interface ar ethe same as usual, though it does seem that the touch-screen feels much harder than before. Good plus for me. The mic placement has now changed and it now in the middle of the console, a much better position than on the bottom. One bad point which i may have to get used to is the Start and Select buttons, far too small and im more comfortable with these buttons on the original DS.
The GBA cartridge has to be mentioned, with a GBA game in it.. it looks UGLY! Now, this is a problem if i want to play a game of Warioware Inc on the DS Lite because now it makes the system un-sexy. On the DS, it worked wodners as it in line with the whole DS shape, unfortunately, the cost of reducing the size of the DS is now that a GBA cartridge may make it look ugly. Bad Nintendo.. actually, bad Battery pack at the back!

Overall:

DSL - 8/10

Comparison:
PSP - 7/10
DS - 7/10