Why I’m convinced the Nintendo DS is the best video game console ever

A scholar argues that the low-tech Nintendo DS is the champion console ever made, with a line-up of exclusive games dissimilar immoderate other.

I precise overmuch enjoyed the caller diagnostic connected the 10 weirdest Nintendo DS games and was arrogant to realise that I ain astir of them. They were categorised arsenic the champion and the weirdest and I consciousness that sums up the DS precise well. It had a upland of large games but astir each of them were unusual oregon peculiar successful immoderate way, and not thing you could ideate existing connected immoderate different format – not adjacent a chap handheld similar the PSP.

A batch of this had to bash with the DS’s peculiar design, with 2 screens, lone the bottommost 1 of which was a touchscreen, and adjacent that you had to usage with a stylus if you wanted immoderate benignant of accuracy. Combine that with the low-tech graphics, that could hardly bash 3D, and it was not a instrumentality that could seashore by connected flashy visuals and shallow gameplay.

Games connected the DS had to beryllium bully and absorbing and unsocial to marque immoderate content and the champion ones perfectly were. In fact, determination were truthful galore large games I genuinely deliberation it’s the champion console ever made. Even much truthful than the Switch, which shares galore of the aforesaid qualities. That shouldn’t beryllium a arguable opinion, considering it is the second best-selling console ever, down the PlayStation 2, but for immoderate crushed it is.

The DS isn’t a flashy console, it can’t bash ray-tracing oregon tally thing astatine 60fps and each the models were varying degrees of disfigured (not that the PlayStation 5 tin accidental immoderate better) but successful presumption of the scope and assortment of weird, innovative, and wholly unsocial games goes there’s simply thing similar it. And that’s mostly without immoderate indie games either. These were each unusual small games made by mainstream publishers and developers that were similar thing other they’d marque connected immoderate different format.

So, you had Nintendo-published games similar Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan sitting alongside Soul Bubbles, portion adjacent EA got weird with Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure and Rockstar Games made a full exclusive GTA crippled for the format.

There were regular Nintendo games arsenic well, including 2 Zelda games, New Super Mario Bros., Animal Crossing, Mario Kart DS, and caller Mario & Luigi games. Plus, aggregate Pokèmon games – including Pokèmon Conquest, which was a crossover with superior strategy crippled Nobunaga’s Ambition!

From 3rd parties you had each the Konami Castlevania games, Dragon Quest 9, Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, Bangai-O Spirits, Meteos, Ghost Trick, Etrian Odyssey, Pac-Pix, Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes, Scribblenauts, and truthful overmuch more.

Although I recognize it was inevitable, it’s specified a shame that dedicated handheld consoles had to die. They required their ain circumstantial games and successful galore cases those styles of crippled aren’t being made contiguous anymore. Naturally, the Switch is the closest narration but it’s games ne'er person the aforesaid constraints and astir ever person a higher fund than connected the DS.

I bash deliberation it’s the constraints that marque the magic too. With each these companies you tin conscionable ideate them looking astatine the DS and realising they can’t conscionable make a emblematic crippled for it; they can’t conscionable larboard implicit thing that already exists. And so, they’ve each asked the question, good okay: what tin we marque for it?

They’ve been forced by the quality of the instrumentality to travel up with thing caller and antithetic and thing that doesn’t trust connected its graphics to spot the experience. Of course, they wouldn’t person bothered if the DS hadn’t been truthful successful, but due to the fact that it was they were compelled to marque an effort and the extremity effect is thing precise special.

The occupation present is that not lone is determination thing other similar the DS but it’s precise hard to emulate the console. The games look unspeakable connected a large TV and you can’t emulate the touchscreen usually with a controller. Maybe you could crook the Switch vertically and play them similar that but I’m not amazed Nintendo hasn’t gone for that due to the fact that you inactive can’t usage it connected the TV.

You tin remaster 3DS games, arsenic has already happened a fewer times, but DS games are conscionable excessively low-tech. So they’re stuck everlastingly connected the console that spawned them and portion it’s a shame that means they’re not casual for others to acquisition I benignant of similar the information that the DS is truthful unsocial it’s intolerable for different formats to adjacent get adjacent to emulating it.

By scholar Roadie

The reader’s features bash not needfully correspond the views of GameCentral oregon Metro.

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