Everything You Need To Know About Nintendo DS

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nintendo ds console

Nintendo DS has been one of the best-known handheld devices of all times. There are a lot of things and facts you need to know about this gadget and now we will present all of them. Keep in mind that you can easily download Nintendo DS games and play them on the actual console or using an emulator.

Nintendo DS Basics

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The first thing we have to mention is the fact Nintendo DS was released in 2005 in most parts of the world and in 2006 in the rest of the globe. The DS acronym stands for Developers System or Dual Screen, although the second option is far more common. The gadget uses two screens while the first the top screen is used for displaying games, the bottom one is used as a touchscreen.

Initially, the Nintendo DS was designed as ‘’third pillar’’ and it should be sold separately than Game Cube and Game Boy Advance. However, DS was able to use same games as Game Boy Advance so it soon became the bestselling unit of this kind. Eventually, it was advertised as the successor to the Game Boy Advance.

The displays have a resolution of 256 × 192 pixels, the entire unit uses the built-in microphone and it can be connected using Wi-Fi so a user can play games with other gamers. There was also an option to connect using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for the same purpose but it wasn’t a success as the first option. Additionally, you will want to know that the original device has 4MB of RAM and 2 ARM processors.

Development and First Version

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The development started in 2002 as an idea of Hiroshi Yamauchi. He wanted to create the first handheld device that will use 2 screens to provide a better experience to the gamers and to meet more demanding requirements. All of this was kept as a secret and by 2003 there were no details regarding DS. In 2004 Nintendo revealed some elements such as presence of 2 TFT displays, each 3 inches big and the presence of 128 MB.

The device was extremely popular and in the first year when it reached the United States, Nintendo sold over 500.000 units in over a week. Back in a day it was available in one color only, Titanium and was considered an affordable device. Soon the price was decreased even more which made the DS even more desirable and popular.

Compatibility with Older Versions

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As some of you may know DS comes with a separate slot for its native games and an additional slot for older games, developed for Game Boy Advance. The native e games are placed on the top of the device while GBA cartridges are placed on the bottom part. We should add that Game Boy Advance isn’t compatible with Nintendo DS games.

Nintendo DS isn’t compatible with the Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. The reason behind that is the lack of Sharp Z80 processor which isn’t present on the motherboard. There is no possibility to play those games on DS. Nintendo sold over 154 million copies all over the globe.

Conclusion 

Now you know everything about Nintendo DS and you are ready to start appreciating this device even more. It was developed as a remarkable idea of one man and became the best handheld device of all times.