From the creators of the GameBoy, the world's best selling video game platform, comes a new innovation in gaming. The Nintendo DS.

The NDS is packed with so many features, it's hard to know where to begin. Cased in a sexy, chrome clamshell, we have two LCD widescreens, roughly 50% larger than the GameBoy Advance SP's screen. Both screens are brightly backlit for easy playing, with the lower screen touch sensitive, introducing a truly revolution way of playing games.

With dual powerful processors, the DS is capable of some impressive 3D graphics. Sharper and clearer than the Nintendo 64, some of the games (Metroid Prime Hunters, for example) are almost on par with the graphic level as seen on the GameCube and PS2.

The NDS has a standard DPad and four buttons on either side of the lower screen. It also has two shoulder buttons. But it's the stylus that you will be spending most your time with. Remarkably, the DPad and the four buttons are positioned in the same way on either side, making it more than possible for left handers to use both the stylus and the buttons easily. The Stylus is a great way to play portable games. With precise movement, we can easily navigate menus, direct troops, use as a mouse for upcoming games such as Age of Empires and The Sims 2, and run around aimlessly in Super Mario: 64: DS. Stylus control also allows us to draw directly into the DS system, in Tetris DS we're able to draw the tetris blocks moments before they drop into the game board.

Nintendo have finally jumped on the internet gaming train, introducing the Nintendo WiFi Connection. Super Mario Kart: DS is the first game to use this system, allowing you to enter a WiFi Hotspot and connect to the internet wirelessly, where you will be able to race against players all over the world. The DS also has a short range (up to about 10 metres) wireless LAN, allowing you to play against otehr DS owners without the use of cables. You can even dowload someone else's game into your system and play against them, without ever intending to ever buy the game. And with the built in PictoChat, riding the train to work can turn into a heated text debate with name calling and rude pictures without you actually knowing who you're fighting with.

Onto the games. The DS is host to many of the freshest games we've seen in a while.Games like Another Code: Two Memories remind us why we love games. Another Code is about a young girl who has grown up after witnessing the murder of her parents. She recieves a letter from her thought dead father on her birthday, and decides to set off onto an island in search for him. An innovating murder mystery, with some of the hardest, yet most enjoyable puzzles we've seen. One puzzle has you closing the DS lid just enough so you can see the reflection of the top screen on the bottom screen, which serves as a clue as to where a key is hidden. Games like Yoshi Touch & Go, where you have to draw a safe path for Yoshi and Baby Mario, drawing circles around enemies. And who could go past Nintendogs -- the game that has you caring for your own virtual puppy. It actually allows you to teach your dog to sit on command with the DS' built in Microphone.

With future releases like the Rumble Pak, the DSpeak (a free wireless internet telephone attachment), and promising full connectivity with the Nintendo Revolution, Nintendo's next in-home gaming console, the Nintendo DS is a worthy reason to fish out $170(AUD).

-Ty

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