It is my impression that Nintendo is serious about going after a wider audience than the traditional kids and teens who have been the primary users of the Game Boy family. The change to a new name is a good first indication. The clock and calendar with an alarm makes the system more useful to adults. The larger size that makes the system more comfortable for adult-sized hands is a welcome change. The Wi-Fi communications standard that opens up wireless connectivity between DS units, as well as the possibility of connectivity with computers, is a huge plus. And most significantly, Nintendo is strongly courting third-party developers to move the system’s library beyond the majority kid-friendly fare that has always dominated the Game Boy software charts.

As with any gaming system, it will ultimately be the games that will determine whether the Nintendo DS succeeds or fails – and it is just too early to tell if a library of great games unique to the platform will materialize and sell systems. Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt shows what can be done with the hardware, but it is a game currently only in demo form. Even it is still in the platform’s future. If the DS gets some good games that take advantage of its unique control system, it stands a great chance of becoming a winner. But if the games fail to materialize, it could be in the bargain bin by holiday season 2005 with the Sony PSP as the new dominate handheld. Of course considering Nintendo’s track record of beating clearly superior hardware with a combination of great games and shrewd marketing over the last 15 years, I’d never be foolish enough to bet against them.



One more thing we would like to point out is that the GameShark SP works with all GBA games when played on the DS as well. So no need to worry about buying any other acessories for your code needs.



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