Nintendo DS
Playing a handheld is never very fun when that handheld is bolted down. In fact that defeats the nature of handheld gaming. Nevertheless, I played some Metroid Prime Hunters and tried the Pictochat. This software is packed with the system.
Metroid Prime Hunters
First of all, there are several control schemes, the most practical of which (thumb stick) was not available to me. It's included with launch DS's though. Every other scheme proved too cumbersome for the first person shooter except for stylus control. With this control type, you move the stylus pen around like a mouse on the bottom screen to look and the four face buttons move you, while R shoots. The silliest form of control was probably the one that lets you point to the place on the screen where you wish to shoot. Now that's great for precision shooting, but impractical for walking. Graphics are pretty far above average for a N64-level game. The corridors and particular are impressive for a handheld. Enemies are more the Doom variety than Metroid Prime's artistic looking bosses. I ran around the level and shot a few baddies, and rolled around in a ball. If I'm being honest, I'll say I'm "cautiously optimistic" about this game. It has multiplayer and a thumbstick, so hopefully that will smooth out the controls. I can see that the DS is definitely capable of doing the first person shooter. And with games like Advance Wars, Wario Ware, Animal Crossing, Feel the Magic, etc. it won't even make a difference. Also, a game like Mario 64 is easily doable with the two screen setup. I wonder why Nintendo chose Hunters to be honest. It's got more mature appeal, but Prime isn't selling the Gamecube, so...
Pictochat
One "game" I could absolutely not complain about is Pictochat. Kids should love this. Cool interface, you basically just point to letters or draw and send. I like it.
Playing a handheld is never very fun when that handheld is bolted down. In fact that defeats the nature of handheld gaming. Nevertheless, I played some Metroid Prime Hunters and tried the Pictochat. This software is packed with the system.
Metroid Prime Hunters
First of all, there are several control schemes, the most practical of which (thumb stick) was not available to me. It's included with launch DS's though. Every other scheme proved too cumbersome for the first person shooter except for stylus control. With this control type, you move the stylus pen around like a mouse on the bottom screen to look and the four face buttons move you, while R shoots. The silliest form of control was probably the one that lets you point to the place on the screen where you wish to shoot. Now that's great for precision shooting, but impractical for walking. Graphics are pretty far above average for a N64-level game. The corridors and particular are impressive for a handheld. Enemies are more the Doom variety than Metroid Prime's artistic looking bosses. I ran around the level and shot a few baddies, and rolled around in a ball. If I'm being honest, I'll say I'm "cautiously optimistic" about this game. It has multiplayer and a thumbstick, so hopefully that will smooth out the controls. I can see that the DS is definitely capable of doing the first person shooter. And with games like Advance Wars, Wario Ware, Animal Crossing, Feel the Magic, etc. it won't even make a difference. Also, a game like Mario 64 is easily doable with the two screen setup. I wonder why Nintendo chose Hunters to be honest. It's got more mature appeal, but Prime isn't selling the Gamecube, so...
Pictochat
One "game" I could absolutely not complain about is Pictochat. Kids should love this. Cool interface, you basically just point to letters or draw and send. I like it.