Are there any Nintendo DS owners around?

[LyLMyssChaos]

My husband received a Nintendo DS Lite for Christmas and I will be getting one next month. So far we have New Super Mario Brothers and Trace Memory as far as games go.

What games and gear are definite "must haves?"
Anyone interested in discussing frustrations/joys involved with this system?

[ladyjg]

DH has two--the original DS and a Lite. The Lite is awesome. :) One game we highly recommend to everyone is Brain Age. It's cheap ($20, and Target had it on sale for $18 last week), and it's a lot of fun. I'll have to check to see what other games we have. I haven't actually played it, but DH has MarioKart (we have to have that for *every* Nintendo system), and he loves it. He uses the online feature to play random people. I should try that one of these days! He doesn't really have any gear for it, though I know he has the little cases that hold 3 games each. Those are nice for traveling.

Are you getting the pink one? I secretly covet that one. ;)

[LyLMyssChaos]

Are you getting the pink one? I secretly covet that one. ;)

Yep! LOL I would really like the Ice Blue or Navy one that they offer in Japan. I wish they would bring it over here, but I have been wanting a DS Lite since DH got his (I play it all the time!) I will have take the Pink one, and watch, as soon as I get mine, they'll offer the other colors! I think DH mentioned wanting Brain Age (that one has a Sudoku game on it, right?)

[ladyjg]

How funny.. I would choose blue over pink too! :) I still think the pink one is pretty (is that a strange way to describe a game system?). Anyway, enjoy yours! When we just had the original DS and had gotten Brain Age for it, I would be agitated at DH for playing it so much and not sharing.

Brain Age does have Sudoku, and that's what I'm really addicted to. There is at least one other Sudoku game out there for it, but I haven't tried that. We also have Big Brain Academy, which is fun. DH says he prefers Brain Age over it, but it has different games that you might like. It's another $20 one.

[Aimee]

Both DH and I have DSes. He's got a silver one and mine is a pink Japanese import (got it before pink was available in the US). We love ours. Haven't played it much lately because we got a Wii for Christmas, but I figure we'll play them again eventually.

Some great games that we have:
Trauma Center (do surgery with the stylus!)
Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney
Harvest Moon DS
Cooking Mama
Mario Kart DS (we each have a copy so we can play each other, but we also play online)
Tetris DS (again, we each have a copy)

[whos that girl]

I have one!

I play a lot of Animal Crossing.

If you like games that are quick and pointless, Cooking Mama is a must have. Its one of those games you can pick up and play for 5 or 10 minutes. Its entertaining.

I havent played too many games on it myself, but those are the two I play the most.

[LyLMyssChaos]

Both DH and I have DSes. He's got a silver one and mine is a pink Japanese import (got it before pink was available in the US). We love ours. Haven't played it much lately because we got a Wii for Christmas, but I figure we'll play them again eventually.

Some great games that we have:
Trauma Center (do surgery with the stylus!)
Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney
Harvest Moon DS
Cooking Mama
Mario Kart DS (we each have a copy so we can play each other, but we also play online)
Tetris DS (again, we each have a copy)

What do you think of your Japanese import? I really think that my hubby wants to get me the Ice Blue one, but I've never had an important system before. Do you notice any big differences?

[Aimee]

What do you think of your Japanese import? I really think that my hubby wants to get me the Ice Blue one, but I've never had an important system before. Do you notice any big differences?

The biggest difference is that the instruction manual has funnier illustrations than the US version. It's more cartoony and silly :)

There was a minor freak out when we started it up for the first time and everything was in Japanese, but it was pretty easy to figure out how to change the language over to English. Other than that, everything has been exactly the same as the US versions. Since the games are on cartridges, there's no region encoding (as there is with DVD-based systems).

My import came from the now-defunct Lik-Sang.com, but you can still buy them from PlayAsia.com.

[LyLMyssChaos]

Keeping this bumped.
Here are the games my husband currently has:
New Super Mario Brothers
Trace Memory
Sonic Rush
Castlevania: "something" of ruin
Sudoku Mania

[bunnybeth]

DH has the blue DS, and I have the pink DS lite. Of course, even though it's pink, DH swipes the lite when I'm not using it because it's a little bit better than his. He loves Brain Age and we both used to play Nintendogs, but that got old fast after we couldn't figure out any way to "pause" the game. (Once you start it, you have to "take care of" your dog at least once a day from then on!) We also both like Mario Kart DS, and I know DH loves his Castlevania game.

[LyLMyssChaos]

we both used to play Nintendogs, but that got old fast after we couldn't figure out any way to "pause" the game. (Once you start it, you have to "take care of" your dog at least once a day from then on!)

Thank you for the warning! Nintendogs was a game that I thought I'd like for sure once I got a DS, but I'm not so sure I have the time to devote to checking it once a day, I mean, I've got 3 kids! :p

[LyLMyssChaos]

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Uno/Skip-Bo/Uno Freefall. It is awesome!! And I just ordered the *cutest* case for carrying my DS:
http://www.pacificdesignstore.com/catalog/pd_dslitepack_pinkcross.jpg
http://www.pacificdesignstore.com/catalog/pd_dsl_streetpack_pnkbrwn_hero.JPG

[LaughAtlantis]

I can't live withour Clubhouse Games. Every card game you can think of is on there, plus puzzle games and board games and even random things like darts! If you get bored with one game, just try another - I think there are about thirty different games all in one.

As to Brain Age vs. Big Brain Academy; I like BBA much better. Brain Age is a lot of math studies and not enough FUN. Big Brain Academy has more fun and more variety.

I have Trauma Center for the Wii... I may have to get it for the DS Lite.

[LyLMyssChaos]

I so want Trauma Center. It's on my list. We just bought used versions of Tetris DS, Brain Age and Nintendogs (the one with the Golden Retriever on the cover) so we'll see how they are when they get here.

[bunnybeth]

That case is so cute! I may have to get one- I've just been using my old GBA case. (Although that also fits my iPod because the DS Lite is so much smaller than the GBA was.)

[Sazoo]

Thank you for the warning! Nintendogs was a game that I thought I'd like for sure once I got a DS, but I'm not so sure I have the time to devote to checking it once a day, I mean, I've got 3 kids! :pI don't know if you HAVE to care for the dogs every single day...I didn't (after the newness wore off after the first week or so of playing it). All that happened was that my dogs were "filthy" and "starving" when I returned eventually. My DH used to work for Nintendo, & he told me when the game first came out that the puppies in Nintendogs will never grow up & will never die (guess that would be too traumatic for kids, huh?) I thought he said they could run away if you ignore them for too long, but mine were always there in the house whenever I'd turn on the game after long periods of time. I haven't played for awhile though - hmmm, maybe I should go check it out & see what they're up to now? :) It is a cute game, although I agree that it gets boring after awhile.

The only other game I've played on the DS is Tetris, which is fun. DH has MarioKart, Animal Crossing, Brain Age, & several others that he seems to enjoy playing.

[LyLMyssChaos]

That case is so cute! I may have to get one- I've just been using my old GBA case. (Although that also fits my iPod because the DS Lite is so much smaller than the GBA was.)

Ohh, thanks for the heads up on that! My hubby is looking for a case that will fit his DS and his Creative Zen player, so maybe he could take our daughter's Game Boy Advance case, and she can use the case he has. LOL

And I am liking Nintendogs so far, except for it is VERY difficult to play with the kids around. They keep wanting to talk to the doggie, so it looks as if George is now a family pet!

[LyLMyssChaos]

My daughter has taken over my Nintendogs game. She keeps buying more dogs and now we have 3!! I still am waiting to find Trauma Center, but I was not overly impressed with either Brain Age or Tetris DS. My hubby loved it though, so he said he will take them and get me Trauma Center and maybe Pheonix Wright, Cakemania or Cooking Mama. I so wish we could rent DS games to try them out before buying them!

[stevesbabygirl]

Another DS Lite owner here, DH bought it for me for Christmas :D! Here's a list of my game arsenal:

The New Super Mario Bros
Trauma Center
Brain Age
Brain Boost: Beta Wave
Final Fantasy III (working on that one now)
Castlevania (more for DH)
Mario Kart (definitely for DH)
Age of Empires (DH)
Soccer (DH)

[Sarah Smyth]

I'm trying to figure out some games that my mom would like. She currently has Brain Age, Brain Academy and Tetris. She hasn't played in a while, but I remember her saying she didn't really like Tetris.


She really likes puzzle games, and figuring out things... but she's really picky.

Any suggestions?

[Sazoo]

I'm trying to figure out some games that my mom would like. She currently has Brain Age, Brain Academy and Tetris. She hasn't played in a while, but I remember her saying she didn't really like Tetris.


She really likes puzzle games, and figuring out things... but she's really picky.

Any suggestions?I asked my DH your question because he worked at Nintendo until about 6 months ago. He's kind of "out of the loop" on Nintendo games now since he's working somewhere else, but here's the response I got from him for you:
I'd recommend the Sudoku games... or maybe some of the casino games or classic card games... they have compilations of those too.