Thinking of getting a DS...

[LowercaseE]

So I see that there is a new Castlevania out for the DS, now I'm thinking of buying one because of it. I don't want it for any other reason than that game, but I was wondering if anyone had any pros/cons that might help me in my decision. It's not like I'm spending thousands of dollars or anything, but I just wonder if it's worth it for 1 game (at least now). The fact that it plays GBA games is a big plus.

[Harrison]

There are actually two Castlevania games out for the DS, Dawn of Sorrow, and Potrait of Ruin, so if you are a Castlevania fan it might be worth the purchase. Both got very good reviews everywhere I've seen too. Also as the DS can run GBA carts you could also play the three GBA Castlevania games on the DS too.

BTW, do you know about the DS-X and other flash carts? They allow you to run DS roms on the DS so you can download and play games for the system for free.

[LowercaseE]

Didn't know about the DS-X, that's pretty much a deal sealer right there! I thought that there were 2 Castlevania's for it as well but I haven't seen Dawn of Sorrow anywhere. Sounds like I need to get it nonetheless.

[Harrison]

Here are details of the flash carts for you to look at:

DS-X http://www.modchip-store.co.uk/Ds-Xtreme-p-255.html

The DS Xtreme is a single cart the same size as a normal DS cart. It plugs into the same slot as normal DS carts. To upload roms to the DS-X you plug it into a PC via it's USB port and just drag and drop files to the cart. Very simple.

The DS-X is currently in short supply so some hunting may be needed to find on at the moment, but they should become easier to find very soon.

Another you may also like to look at is the M3 range of flash carts. These use Micro SD cards to store the roms so you have more versitility than the DS-X as you can carry more than one memory card with you at a time, whereas you only have the DS-X's builtin memory. You can look at these and read more about the available options by looking at http://www.modchip-store.co.uk/Nintendo-p-1-c-17.html

And if you want to read and find out as much as you can about DS flash carts I highly recommend the forum http://forums.maxconsole.net/ which is run by the same people as the main modchip-store. They also have a US .com store too. I've ordered from both the UK and US stores and recommend them highly. Good customer support with quite fast email replies to most problems.

[Harrison]

Oh, and one last thing that is really cool. The member only retro gaming tracker Underground-Gamer has a complete DS scene roms collection that gets updated weekly with the latest game releases for the system.

If you want more details PM me, and if you are not yet a member of Underground-Gamer let me know and I can PM you the details as well as sending you an invite to join.

[LowercaseE]

Wow, thanks for all the info! I'll going to look into it and get back to you.

[J T]

From what I can gather, DoS is very hard to get hold of.

The DS-X is really tempting me right now, I want a flash cart but really it has to be a DS-slot device and I really don't want to flash my DS and risk bricking it.

As for the DS itself, it's a truly wonderful little machine, full of charm and noice touches. The touchscreen really does work well and is surprisingly sensitive (some games require you to blow on the screen, eg to blow away excess fingerprinting powder in Phoenix Wright).

The speakers suck though, and even through headphones the sound may be a bit lower than you'd expect it to be - but not problematically so.

My opinion?

Get one.

[Harrison]

I still think the PSP is a better system, but the DS has the advantage all handhelds from Nintendo have always enjoyed; Games that are pick up and play with great gameplay and not requiring much time to enjoy. In contrast most PSP games are more similar to the large console style of games, requiring more time and dedication to play and learn, and most are generally more serious and grown up than the arcady and fun Nintendo style of games. PSP is better for emulation though due to its faster CPU, more ram and other system specs. For this reason the PSP is my preferred system, but for platform specific titles that are to be played whilst on the move the DS is maybe the better option.

[J T]

The PSP is technically superior for sure.

But the DS is fun. If I want to play console games I'll take my PS2 down from where it currently resides (on top of the fridge) and set it back up on the telly.

Emulation is a plus point for some but doesn't really interest me too much at the moment.

[LowercaseE]

That sucks that DoS is hard to find, I'm gonna go scouting for it. I ended up buying the DS by the way, as well as Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. One word.... WOW!!!! If you liked Symphony or any of the GBA Castle's, then you're more or less guaranteed to like this! I've only played it a little bit, but so far, I really like it.