The Nintendo DS ( ニンテンドーDS ? , sometimes abbreviated to DS or NDS ) is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in 2004 in Canada, the United States, and Japan. The console features a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP, with two LCD screens inside—with the bottom one being a touchscreen. The Nintendo DS also features a built-in microphone and supports wireless IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standards, allowing players to interact with each other within short range (10–30 m, depending on conditions) or online with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service, which launched later in the console's lifespan. This was the first Nintendo console to be released in North America prior to Japan.
The system's code name was Nitro, and this can be seen in the model number that appear on the unit (NTR-001). The console's name officially refers to "Developers' System", in reference to developers of new game designs the system was meant to inspire, and "Dual Screen", the system's most obvious and distinct feature.
On March 2, 2006, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS Lite, a redesign of the Nintendo DS, in Japan. It was later released in North America, Europe, and Australia in June 2006. The DS Lite is a slimmer and lighter version of the Nintendo DS and has brighter screens. Nintendo of America refers to the older model as the "original style" Nintendo DS. It is often affectionately referred to by fans as the "DS Phat." On October 2, 2008, Nintendo announced the Nintendo DSi, another redesign of the Nintendo DS, at the Nintendo Fall Media Summit. It was released in Japan on November 1, 2008. It was later released in North America, Europe and Australia in April 2009. The DSi's codename has been changed to "TWL" due to it being a substantial hardware upgrade including a faster CPU and more RAM, and requiring new development kits.
Development and launch
See also: Nintendo DS launchesOn November 13, 2003, Nintendo announced that it would be creating a new console for release in 2004. Nintendo stated that it would not be the successor to either the Nintendo GameCube or the Game Boy Advance, but rather it would be considered a "third pillar" alongside the other two consoles. On January 20, 2004, the console was announced under the codename "Nintendo DS" (Which stands for Developer's System.). Nintendo released a few details at that time, only saying that the console would have two separate 3-inch TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and up to 1 gigabit of semiconductor memory. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said, "We have developed Nintendo DS based upon a completely different concept from existing game devices in order to provide players with a unique entertainment experience for the 21st century." In March, the codename was changed to "Nitro" and a document containing most of the console's technical specifications was leaked. In May, the codename was changed back to "Nintendo DS" and the console was shown in prototype form at E3. All of the features of the console were released by Nintendo at E3. On July 28, 2004, Nintendo revealed a new design, one that was described as "sleeker and more elegant" than the one shown at E3. Also, the codename "Nintendo DS" became the official name of the console that day.
The Nintendo DS bears a striking resemblance to the company's first handheld, the Game & Watch, specifically the multi-screen versions such as Donkey Kong .
On September 20, 2004, Nintendo announced that the Nintendo DS would be released in North America on November 21, 2004 for US$149.99. It was set to release on December 2, 2004 in Japan (¥15000); on February 24, 2005 in Australia ($199.95); and on March 11, 2005 in Europe (£99.99/€149.99). The console was released in North America with a midnight launch event at Universal CityWalk EB Games in Los Angeles, California. The console was launched quietly in Japan compared to the North America launch; one source cites the cold weather as the reason. In January 2005, the Australia release date of February 24, 2005 and the Europe release date of March 11, 2005 were announced. Regarding the European launch, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said:
Europe is an extremely important market for Nintendo, and we are pleased we can offer such a short period of time between the US and European launch. We believe that the Nintendo DS will change the way people play video games and our mission remains to expand the game play experience. Nintendo DS caters for the needs of all gamers whether for more dedicated gamers who want the real challenge they expect, or the more casual gamers who want quick, pick up and play fun.
Hardware
Input and output
The lower display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a touchscreen, designed to accept input from the included stylus, the user's fingers, or a curved plastic tab attached to the optional wrist strap. The touchscreen allows users to interact with in-game elements more directly than by pressing buttons; for example, in the included chatting software, PictoChat, the stylus is used to write messages or draw.
Traditional controls are located on either side of the touchscreen. To the left is a D-pad, with a narrow Power button above it, and to the right are the A, B, X, and Y buttons, with narrow Select and Start buttons above them. Shoulder buttons L and R are located on the upper corners of the lower half of the system. The overall button layout is similar to the controller of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom in Japan). When playing a GBA game on the DS, buttons X and Y are never used (because the GBA itself only had buttons A and B).
The Nintendo DS features stereo speakers providing virtual surround sound (depending on the software) located on either side of the upper display screen. This is a first for a Nintendo handheld, as the Game Boy line of systems has only supported stereo sound through the use of headphones or external speakers.
A built-in microphone is located below the left side of the bottom screen. It has been used for a variety of purposes, including speech recognition ( Nintendogs , Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! ), chatting online between and during gameplay sessions (Pokémon Pearl, Diamond, and Platinum), and minigames that require the player to blow or shout into the microphone (including WarioWare: Touched! , for example).
Technical specifications
- Weight: 300 grams (9.7 oz.)
- Physical dimensions: 148.7 mm x 84.7 mm x 28.9 mm (5.85 in. x 3.33 in. x 1.13 in.)
- Screens: Two 3-inch TFT LCDs, 18-bit depth (262,144 colors), resolution of 256 x 192 pixels, dimensions of 62 mm x 46 mm and 77 mm diagonal, and a dot pitch of 0.24 mm. The gap between the screens is approximately 21 mm, equivalent to about 92 "hidden" lines. The lowermost display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a resistive touchscreen, which registers pressure from one point on the screen at a time, averaging multiple points of contact if necessary.
- CPUs: Two ARM processors, an ARM946E-S main CPU and ARM7TDMI coprocessor at clock speeds of 67 MHz and 33 MHz respectively. The ARM946E-S CPU processes gameplay mechanisms and video rendering while the ARM7TDMI processes sound output, Wi-Fi support and additionally, when in Game Boy Advance mode, processes what the other processor used to do.
- RAM: 4 MB of mobile RAM, expandable via the Game Boy Advance slot (The expanded memory is officially only used by the Opera web browser.)
- Voltage: 1.65 volts required.
- Storage: 256 kB of serial flash memory.
- Wireless: Built-in 802.11 Wireless Network Connection (802.11b compatible with WEP encryption support only).
The system's 3D hardware performs transform and lighting, texture-coordinate transformation, texture mapping, alpha blending, cel shading, and z-buffering; however, it uses point (nearest neighbor) texture filtering, leading to some titles having a blocky appearance. Unlike most 3D hardware, it has a set limit on the number of triangles it can render as part of a single scene; the maximum amount is about 6144 vertices, or 2048 triangles per frame. The 3D hardware is designed to render to a single screen at a time, so rendering 3D to both screens is difficult and decreases performance significantly. The DS is generally more limited by its polygon budget than by its pixel fill rate. There are also 512 kilobytes of texture memory, and the maximum texture size is 1024x1024 pixels.
The system has 656 kilobytes of video memory and two 2D engines (one per screen). These are similar to (but more powerful than) the Game Boy Advance's single 2D engine; however, the cores are divided into the main core and sub core . Only the main core is capable of vertex 3D rendering.
The Nintendo DS has compatibility with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b). Wi-Fi is used for accessing the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, compete with other users pla