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News   Hands On with the DS!!!
- Posted By Lander Clinton, 05.12.2004

Well, like the asshole journalists you always see in movies, we used our media badges to jump past a two-hour line at Nintendo's booth today. We didn't get to see the movie about the DS, but we got to play it, and it's just so sleek.

Using your finger or a stylus makes no difference, unless you have incredibly fat fingers. The first thing I was able to try out was an aim-like chat session, since everyone else was playing the cool games. The top screen showed what had been said already, and most of the comments were about how cool the DS was, and how much they wanted one. The bottom screen was used for writing messages, either by drawing them in your own handwriting, or by touching the on-screen keyboard.

Next I tried Wario Ware DS. I got "Slice!" where I drew slashes through random items going around the screen, "Draw!" where I had to draw the Japanese Yen symbol (which will no doubt be the $ in the US version), "Catch!" where I had to move a bug net around the screen and catch the bugs, and a bunch of others. All used the touch screen to complete, nothing used the buttons.

Speaking of buttons, the DS has ABXY, LR, Select, Start, a D-pad, the on-off button, and of course the touch screen, which can be used for analog control. The on-off screen is on the face of the system, but you can't accidently turn it off. You have to hold down the power button for several seconds to turn it off.

I tried the Metroid demo and tapped my way to many deaths. I actually found the top-screen map to be helpful when I would die and start in a random place. It really looks just like Metroid Prime.

I got to play Mario 64x4 and it started by freezing up on me (that's how I figured out the power button-holding, turning it off and turning it back on didn't screw up everyone else's game as they waited for me to join). I, as Luigi, got one star and almost had a second. That dastardly Wario stole one from me at the end and wound up getting first place with 2 stars.

There were many other DS games I did not get to try because they don't let you stay in that area long. I did try a submarine demo where you try to guide a 3D sub in the ocean without hitting things. The controls are on the bottom screen and you touch them to use them, the action is on the top screen.

All in all, the DS is going to present so many play possibilities. It's really absurd what the thing can do and do effortlessly.

Source: NGenres