buttonmashing

Mashing buttons since 1984

Nintendo DS

In my hands

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I’ve got a copy of Animal Crossing Wild World. I’ll be giving it a whirl during my shows. Once I get my town set up, I’ll post my friends code. Hopefully we’ll see some of you in town!

Animal Crossing is the game that has probably received the most playing time out of all my Gamecube games. Both the buttonWife and I have played the heck out of it and I’m hoping the DS version has the same appeal. This time I’ll put a little more thought into naming my town. Naming my original AC town “pooptown” is something I’ve deeply regretted.

Update: I finished up the tasks Tom Nook had for me and I am free to roam the world over! Here’s my info:
Name: Tonester
Town: Pamplona
Friend Code: 2749-3859-8704

I’ll add any codes you guys post here. See you in the Wild World!

In my hands

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B000A2R54M-01-_AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Impressions after The Office.

Update:

Well, as Will and Thomas have pointed out – Nintendo’s servers appear to be getting slammed. This is both good (a lot of people trying to play) and bad (they weren’t prepared for the onslaught). Come on, Nintendo! People have been clamoring for an Online Nintendo Experience for years! Anyway, I’m going to keep playing the single player game for now and I’ll try getting back online later. Wi Fi setup was pretty simple and I’m itching to get on! For those who make it on, my friend code is:

4 3 8 1 4 6
1 4 7 8 7 7

This might explain it:
nintendo_wifi2.jpg

Update 2: Woohoo! I finally got into a game with other racers, racing was smooth as silk and a blast! Nevermind it took me FOREVER to finally get into a game. All that’s water under bridge. The four races were pretty competitive. I fell WAY behind in race #2 on the Rainbow Track but actually recovered to finish second. In the end, I tied another racer named Charlie (I think that was his name) for first. I wanted to continue but it’s late and my low-battery light started flashing. I will be on in the future! Let me know what kind of experiences you guys had.

See you in Wi-Fi land!

Mario Kart DS

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So Mario Kart arrives this week on the DS. From the early reviews, it is looking really, really, really good. To the chagrin of the buttonWife, I plan on picking this game up sometime this week. I can not wait for some sweet Mario Kart racing.

I’ve got to say that the Nintendo DS is a fabulous piece of gaming hardware. I’m still jamming on Advance Wars, just picked up Metroid Prime Pinball and will be getting Mario Kart and Animal Crossing in the next few weeks. That’s not mentioning the other games on the wish list! I can’t get over how good this little piece of hardware is.

Come on, friends of the buttonMasher, you guys need to pick one of these up!

My Nintendo DS

My DS and Me

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My Nintendo DSIt’s been over two weeks since I picked up my DS so I figured I’d post my experience so far with this Nintendo wonder.

I’m not really sure why I took so long to take the plunge into the world of Dual Screens. At first I thought it looked too big. That definitely isn’t the case. It isn’t small but it’s not as unwiedly as I thought it would be. The screens are fabulous and the touch screen is quite responsive. The buttons are a little too small for my fat fingers and the shoulder buttons aren’t perfect but overall playing feels great.

So what am I playing? The funny thing is, even though I already own two DS games, I’ve been engrossed in Metroid Fusion and that’s all I’ve ben playing. I kept my GBA SP so I could play my old Game Boy and Game Boy Color games but I can see myself playing most of my GBA games on my DS. It looks perfect and controls great.

So GBA games look great. What about actual DS games? I’ve been playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Advance Wars DS. Advance Wars makes a perfect transition to the touch screen. I love Advance Wars I/II but I was never in love with navigating with the D-pad. The touch screen is great and really takes AW to the next level. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, doesn’t make as good of a transition. The touch screen could be a good substitute for the golf swing but I just don’t love it. The game itself isn’t so bad but the use of the touch screen isn’t my favorite.

Other ruminations: You can definitely tell the sound (and speakers) are better for the DS. The music and sounds for Advance Wars DS sound much better than the GBA counterparts. Another thing is the stylus. The one that comes with the DS is too small. I would like a bigger stylus.

And games? I blogged way back in February linking to a movie for Another Code (now called Trace Memory). This was what first piqued my interest in the DS and the first game I’m really, truly looking forward to. It hasn’t received a lot of acclaim but I will still give it a try. Of course I’m also looking forward to the online DS games, especially Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing. I am definitely looking forward to online gaming with the DS.

I also want some sweet DS accessories. I would love one of these (from Video Game Media Watch) and I’d love one of these. I thought about getting a touch screen cover. Does anyone use these?

I’m no trend setter, but since I’ve purchased my DS I’ve noticed that two bloggers I read regularly have also purchased a DS. Jason at loonyblog and Bill Harris at Dubious Quality. (Notice the firs lines) Okay, maybe I am a trendsetter.

Nintendo DS and Wi-Fi

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4 Color Rebellion links to a pamphlet spelling out Nintendo’s plans for DS wi-fi access. While I’m still getting used to my DS (more thoughts on that later), wi-fi is definitely one of the reasons I picked up a DS. The little pamphlet has some interesting little nuggets of information (including a nod to Microsoft’s success with Xbox Live) but this is what intrigued me the most:

Perhaps a more interesting statistic is that by the end of 2006, 90 per cent of all DS owners will be accessing wi-fi gameplay.

Wow. 90% is rather ambitious. I’ll definitely be part of that 90%.

More information at Eurogamer.

DSes everywhere!

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I don’t know if my DS-sensitivity has gone up since I started contemplating the purchase of one, but I’ve noticed an increase of DS-related news being spread through the gamingsphere (I don’t even have to mention all the Nintendogs hype). Kotaku had the huge DS display unit (with requisite display girl) earlier this week. There’s two stories at games.slashdot that talk about DS things. The first is actually about the PSP’s launch in the UK that shattered the DS record-breaking release. (Pay no attention to the fact that they counted a year’s worth of pre-orders in that figure). The other story refer to a wish list of games people would like to see ported to the DS. Both posts have comments that are pretty favorable for the DS. I’m pretty excited about Age of Empires on the DS but I would love to see Starcraft.

I still don’t have a DS in hand, but right now I’m leaning toward the Blue DS with Mario 64 bundle at Walmart. Time will tell!

Should I or shouldn’t I?

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I’m this “] [” close to trading in my Game Boy Advance SP for a Nintendo DS. I’m going out for the evening and I know my friendly neighborhood Game Crazy would facilitate said transaction without any problems.

The question is: Should I or shouldn’t I?

Update: Okay, a quick update. I heard Walmart had a DS/Mario 64 bundle. Supposedly Toys ‘R Us had a Spider Man 2 bundle as well. I made stops at both places but Walmart was out of them and TRU’s deal is over. So as it stands now, taking into consideration the comments thus far, I think I’ll keep my GBA SP (Pacman Vs. is a great party game, so keeping the GBA to link up with the Gamecube has become an issue) and I’ll just pick up a new DS. I’m also very interested in Advance Wars DS like Mr. LaMosca. I play Advance Wars all the time and can only imagine how sweet the touch screen works. I’ve heard Madden and Tiger Woods work great with the touch screen, too. I’m pretty excited about new game kit.

So I’ve pretty much decided on a new DS. Now the question is: what color do I get?

Nintendo DS “Another Code” Movie

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I’m not totally enamored with the DS yet. I toyed around with the Metroid game, which was pretty cool, but I still haven’t been “WOW”ed by anything DS-related yet. Well that was until I saw this. I don’t understand any of the Japanese, but the game looks pretty amazing. The use of the dual screens looks really intuitive and blends the two together really well. If this is plays as good as it looks, they might have something with those two screens.

I’m still not sold on the DS yet, but this game looks extremely promising.

Celebrities First to ‘Touch’ Nintendo DS at Exclusive Premiere Party

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Celebrities First to ‘Touch’ Nintendo DS at Exclusive Premiere Party:

“‘Yo, this is the dopest thing I’ve seen in my life.’ — Donald Faison”

If Turk is down with the DS, count me in. Although, on second thought, I’d like to know what Ted thinks about it. What, he wasn’t invited to Nintendo’s party? That’s just not right.