5 years of the DS!!!

November isn’t just a time for big games to launch. It’s traditionally a time when game consoles make their big splash in the States. With the exception of the PlayStation 2 and the PSP, every major game console of this decade has launched in November in the US. Can you believe that Nintendo DS launched a half-decade ago? I sure can’t. Alongside the console big boys, one of this decade’s most important gaming platforms came out in November.

Launch Date: November 21, 2004
Launch Price: $149.99

Significant Price Drops and Hardware Iterations

Nintendo DS Lite (released June 11, 2006 for $129.99) revamped several features from the original DS hardware, including:

* Weight (21% lighter than launch model)
* Size (58% smaller than launch model)
* Extended Battery Life lasts up to five hours long than launch model
* Four tiers of adjustable brightness

Nintendo DSi (released April 5, 2009 for $169.99) reiterated on the DS Lite hardware innovation, but removed the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot. It also included a matte finish as opposed to the glossy (read: fingerprint-friendly) DS Lite, two cameras, an SD card slot for music, photo, and game storage. With the DSi launch, Nintendo launched DSiWare, a downloadable service similar to WiiWare that allows players to buy downloadable games for use on DSi.



Happy birthday Nintendo DS!

The dreamcast launched in September!

Happy Bday DS, one of the greatest systems of all time, even if I did think the PSP was gonan beat you to a pulp.

As I said, in "THIS" decade.  Dreamcast launched on sept 9, 1999.  :Last decade.

Doh! missed that decade part.

I'm really starting to warm up to the DSiWare. Have you noticed that full games are starting to make their way to the service? If you haven't checked out Rayman in the past, that's a good place to start. Also Dragon's Lair and Uno just became available. Time to fill up that DSi memory!

Oh and happy belated DS!