Nintendo’s upcoming handheld system is by far the most innovative handheld idea yet, however why buy it if you’re unsure of its true capabilities? Well, today we are going to unleash the fury and give you every single bit of information we know about Nintendo’s upcoming DS. Also, you’ll get a chance to see some of the very first Nintendo DS games play in action...

The Nintendo DS will feature not one, but two 3” Inch LCD screens (one which is touch-sensitive), one on the top, and one on the bottom. Each screen is powered by different processors (one ARM9 & one ARM7), and can contain up to one gigabit of memory. Each screen will contain a backlight (somewhat brighter then the GameBoy Advance SP). The system will feature Dual screens for more than one reason. Nintendo wants to give players more than one perspective of the view, along with different gameplay methods. Ideas are endless for Nintendo’s Dual screens.

Although Dual screens may sound gimmicky at first, this feature can actually be very useful in some games. Nintendo has exclaimed: “We are not planning to add dual screen and touch-screen features to every game meant for the DS” which means that classic 2D titles will not fall extinct. The idea is great, but in some titles, it’s just unnecessary.

No, this handheld will not be plagued with the boundary of 32-bit graphics. Thankfully, the graphics engine has been much more improved. Games will run at 60 frames per second, and allow over one hundred sprites onscreen simultaneously, which will make room for much more special features. Although Nintendo hasn’t mentioned a specific amount of graphic bits that this system is capable of, it’s obvious that the system mimics Nintendo’s 64-bit console. Although some game graphics on DS may be slightly under-par with the Nintendo 64 (i.e. Super Mario 64x4) others are simply gorgeous and surpass it in everyway (i.e. Sonic DS). You can look forward to beautiful fog, cel-shaded & 3D effects on the Nintendo DS.

As spoken earlier in this column, the bottom screen [only] will be touch sensitive. This new feature (possibly more innovative then the dual screens) will open up literally endless possibilities for the Nintendo DS system. The system will include a Stylus (pen-like item that will prevent fingerprints from getting on the screen) free of charge. To make the navigation system easier, Nintendo has added a mouse-like feature to the touch-screen [in some games]. Like a computer mouse, the onscreen pointer will be red, and help you navigate through certain areas of gameplay (WarioWare Inc. DS).

The Nintendo DS will be able to play previous GameBoy Advance games, which will immediately introduce the Nintendo DS to a 500+ game library. However we are unsure if the Nintendo DS will be able to play older GameBoy games ( i.e. GameBoy Pocket & GameBoy Color). If you’re curious as to [how] the Nintendo DS will play GameBoy Advance games, you can rest assure that there will be two separate slots on the system (one for DS Media cartridges & the other for GBA games). Which means that you won’t have to worry about bad sound...

The sound will be rebuilt upon the GameBoy Advance. The Nintendo DS now features a 16-channel sound system that will allow better voice sounds, and un-muffled BGM (background music). After hearing the Nintendo DS in action, we did notice that the early versions of some games do not contain background music, however there were slight sound effects that were actually very noticeably nice (Mario chanting “yahoo”, Cycling through screens on Animal Crossing, Wario’s laughter etc.). The DS will contain a built-in headphone port.

Like the GameBoy Advance SP, the Nintendo DS will come with a handy rechargeable battery that does not consume energy as fast as other systems. The Nintendo DS will have “Sleep” & “Stand By” modes in all games to prevent battery life from draining too fast when the system is in use (best to be compared to a screen saver). However if you receive an invite to play a multiplayer game from a friend or a nearby DS, the system will automatically be awaken from “sleep mode” to alert you of this possible game match.

No longer will the use of cords come into play when you wish to challenge one of your friends. The Nintendo DS will be able to connect up to 16 nearby users (within a 30 feet range) via Wi-Fi. Will the system lag? Not this time, the Nintendo DS will be highly responsive to other players and have excellent range recognition. The DS will make use of both IEEE 802.11 and Nintendo’s communication protocol, which will allow players to chat while playing games simultaneously. The DS will also have LAN (Local Area Network) capabilities that will allow users to connect at gaming hubs, and/or gaming competitions. Nintendo hasn’t spoken too much of the LAN features; however you can be sure to hear much more on this feature later.

The Nintendo DS will feature a built-in microphone to feature voice recognition for numerous amounts of games. Not only will it be able to recognize certain voices, but the system will also be able to distinguish rather it’s a clap, snap or voice. So far, there hasn’t been too much information on this, however E3 prototypes of Nintendo’s mystery game “Nintendogs”(which was officially confirmed) ‘may’ feature voice recognition with a cel-shaded dog that you will be able to command. Aside from that, Underdog gaming company “Atlus” has revealed a surgery simulation game that will enable voice recognition. No details have been confirmed if there will be any live chat features.

There are over 100 developers for the Nintendo DS system, and before launch, the Nintendo DS has proven to be worthy of one of the most solid launch line-ups ever. Games like Animal Crossing 2 (tentatively titled), Super Mario 64x4, Metroid Prime: Hunters & WarioWare Inc. DS have gamers everywhere bowing down to Nintendo. Aside from being innovative, there are so much games that are fit for everyone. A handheld gamer’s dream come true.

Official list of first-party titles:

Tech Demos: http://cedownloads.hostingextended....endodsgames.wmv

Nintendo 
-- Animal Crossing DS ( Animal Crossing DS - E3 2K4 Gameplay Footage )
-- Mariokart DS ( Mario Kart DS - E3 2K4 Gameplay Footage )
-- Metroid Prime: Hunters ( Metroid Prime: Hunters
- E3 2K4 Gameplay )
-- Super Mario 64x4 ( Super ( New Super Mario Bros.
- E3 2K4 Gameplay )
-- Super Mario Bros. DS ( New Super Mario Bros.
- E3 2K4 Gameplay )
-- WarioWare, Inc. DS ( WarioWare, Inc. DS - E3 2K4 Gameplay Footage )
-- Pictochat (which may come in a bundle with the system) ( PictoChat - E3 2K4 )
-- Nintendogs
-- The Legend of Zelda (working title)

Official list of third-party titles:

Atari
-- Atari Classics

Atlus USA
-- Caduceus
-- Snowboard Kids DS
-- Three additional titles in development

Bandai Entertainment
-- Meteos
-- Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
-- One additional title in development

Capcom Entertainment
-- Mega Man Battle Network
-- Viewtiful Joe
-- One additional title in development

Electronic Arts
-- GoldenEye
-- Madden NFL
-- Need for Speed Underground
-- Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf
-- The URBZ: Sims in the City

Hudson Soft
-- Bomberman

Koei
-- Dynasty Warriors (working title)
-- Two additional titles in development

Konami Digital Entertainment
-- Boktai (working title)
-- Castlevania (working title)
-- Dragon Booster (working title)
-- Frogger 2005 (working title)
-- Survival Kids (working title)
-- World Soccer Winning Eleven series (working title)
-- Vandal Hearts (working titles)
-- WINX (working title)
-- Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour

Majesco
-- Moonlight Fables
-- Nanostray
-- Three additional titles in development

Namco Hometek
-- New Mr. Driller (working title)
-- Pac 'n Roll (working title)
-- Pac-Pix (working title)

Orbital Media
-- Four titles in development, including the genres of action platformer, strategy role-playing, combat racing, and family.

Sega of America
-- Project Rub (working title)
-- Sonic DS (working title)

Square Enix
-- A new story of Secret of Mana
-- A new story of Slime Morimori Dragon Quest
-- Dragon Quest Monsters
-- Egg Monster Heroes
-- Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

Summitsoft Corporation
-- Air Assault 2
-- Organizer Plus

Tecmo
-- Monster Rancher
-- One additional title in development

Telegames
-- Ultimate Brain Games
-- Ultimate Card Games
-- Ultimate Pocket Games

THQ
-- SpongeBob SquarePants
-- Five additional titles in development

Ubisoft Entertainment
-- Asphalt GT
-- Rayman
-- Additional titles in development, including a major movie license for early 2005

Vivendi Universal Games
-- Robots