How Powerful is the Nintendo DS?

the Nintendo DS no wonder this thing didn't really catch on right I mean just look at that weird 80s throwback design and the games Nintendogs Dr kawashima's Brain Training brain training okay brain age as they called it in North America great a game for the elderly yes the DS another one of Nintendo's courageous failures and yet all right that is of course the exact opposite of the truth the DS was absolutely huge the biggest handheld of all time and it's Innovative and offbeat games sold millions in fact it's sold so well it's easy to take it for granted and forget just how strange the DS was a mutant in the console World in a category all of its own well apart from its direct successes but it is still a game's system and a largely 3D focused one at that so I'm going to try and answer the question just how powerful is the DS how does it compare to the N64 the original PlayStation and of course it's only real rival the PlayStation Portable so I think the best place to start is with Super Mario 64 at DS one of the launch titles and a pretty bold statement from Nintendo this machine can do 3D that's what they were saying and they must have been pretty confident if they were willing to put such a legendary Title front and center and that confidence well it wasn't misplaced because this is well it's a decent version of Mario 64 and as good as the original well let's compare them side by side and get rid of that other screen which doesn't do a lot in this game the controls aren't quite as good the touchpad isn't really a replacement for the analog stick but DS Mario 64 is okay every possible version of the classic in handheld form with some extra features and how you might even prefer this version because of what it adds and the portability and the graphics well that doesn't provide us with a very handy way of comparing the two systems there are some obvious stylistic differences Nintendo went with a more naturalistic look for the DS version less cartoony it might seem strange that they'd make such sweeping changes to a classic but I'm sure this new look has its fans the next thing you might notice is the resolution yes the N64 version does seem quite a bit less blocky and also just sort of less Jagged all round but this is just due to the fact that the N64 has a higher resolution display smaller pixels the difference isn't really huge it's not like high definition versus standard definition but it is significant the DS has two screens but each one is just that good bit less Det detailed there's more than just pixel size though because of the n64's anti-aliasing and smoothing capabilities it can automatically reduce those jagged lines in a way that the DS can't and it also has texture filtering which gives everything a sort of Vaseline smeared look but maybe one that's arguably more appealing the DS version also has a sort of jittery quality one that was pretty common in early 3D games but not in the original version and not on the N64 in general why is this well the 3D models in this and most other 3D games are made up of polygons triangles usually joined together the N64 can draw these triangles more accurately than the DS It's got sub pixel Precision it handles the situation better when a triangle Falls in between two points on the screen basically this gives it a more solid look but the N64 also fills in the polygons more accurately the textures the DS uses can get Warped because of the weight projects them onto the surfaces but the N64 can do this better also the N64 has the ability to do MIP mapping built in that is it can automatically show a different version of a texture for objects that are more distant which improves the look even more DS games could potentially do this in software but many games don't bother the DS though does have one real huge advantage over the N64 in fact nearly every other 3D based system beats the N64 on this issue and that's the textures themselves the situation is complex but the N64 can only handle four kilobytes of textures to fill polygons with at any given moment that means the textures are often very low resolution and whilst there are programming tricks to mitigate this it was a major problem that every game on the system had to deal with the DS on the other hand had up to 512 kilobytes of textures on hand which means the substance of polygons can be much more detailed yes the N64 can add that Vaseline smear to make things look prettier and it can project the textures more accurately but what's underneath has to be simpler the DS always ends up being blockier but can be richer and with more complexity that helps to explain the more naturalistic look it's just got more realistic textures many things on the N64 that are just flat colors now have detail a situation that's not helped by the size of car switch is the absolute biggest N64 cartridges worth 64 megabytes and they work few and far between Nintendo DS cartridges could be up to 512 megabytes with games 128 megabytes and above being really common there were very few direct N64 to DS ports oddly but comparing sort of like for like you can definitely see the differences and I think blockier but richer might be a good way of putting it and you know what more inexpensive but richer might be a good way of describing the sponsor of this video because it's time to say hi to raycon so I've been using my Recon earbuds for a few weeks now and I've been loving the experience they are a no but yes product that proves you don't always get what you pay for in a good way these are a premium product at a non-premium price raycon are on a mission to prove that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for high quality sound and essential smart Tech features and I think they have done that I really like how easy these are to pair with absolutely anything including my guitar amp and also these days the Nintendo switch which does now support Bluetooth boards they claim up to eight hours battery life and in 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a great idea it's first it's pretty and a good all-round arcade racer and there is another stunningly obvious comparison to make another system with Ridge Racer as a launch title of course the PlayStation side by side the DS maybe wins yes it's got lower resolution but other than that it doesn't seem to take the lead the textures are nicer there's better lighting effects and noticeably less popping and glitchiness in the 3D models yeah not quite as good as the N64 in this regard the DS Hardware capabilities they'll do put it ahead of the PS1 when it comes to drawing triangles and filling them in accurately objects up close tend to look pretty terrible on the PS1 but they can look much better on the DS it Maps the textures better it handles the geometry better and it also has Hardware Zed buffering its graphics processor can automatically keep track of the depth of objects in space which makes rendering the scene much easier than on the PS1 both of these games run pretty smoothly at 30 frames per second they both play well the PS1 maybe has the better sound thanks to its CD audio but overall I would say the DS takes it here things might change though if we do another comparison this is race driver grid from 2008 a nice looking racing game but put it next to ground Turismo 2 and I think the PlayStation really starts to gain ground yes Gran Turismo is still a bit wobbly there's that glitchy Jank that characterized PS1 games but overall this does look much higher end Ridge Racer wasn't just a PlayStation launched I thought it was amongst the first texture mapped 3D games released on any platform ever forever term at Gran Turismo 2 came out in 1999 developers had not just got the hang of the PlayStation but got more used to making 3D games in general so we've got a higher level of detail nicer textures is it better than grid on the DS well I think that might be a bit of a judgment call Gran Turismo has perhaps a bit more variety in its environments and maybe more a complex 3D models on the other hand grid seems to have less popping and more solid looking geometry I am sort of surprised by this I was really expecting an easy win for Gran Turismo here but it's not so clear a big issue with the DS is that it had a hard limit on the number of polygons per frame that it can construct its graphics with 2048 is the maximum or about 120 000 per second what about the PlayStation well that doesn't have a hard limit but 120 000 per second or about 2 000 per frame at 60 frames per second probably isn't far from what it can do about the same as the DS right well maybe not with the PlayStation because of the way it draws its Graphics in a frame buffer if you want more polygons per frame well you can if you cut down the frame rate Gran Turismo 2 runs at 30 frames per second not the maximum minimum of 60 so you can have more polygons more detailed models in each frame if you give yourself more time to draw each frame you can have more detail that doesn't work on the DS which constructs its Graphics in a different way line by line Gran Turismo 2 was known for its very detailed models especially the curse and this trick really helps it I really thought the DS Graphics would suffer more in comparison with the PS1 because of this but well the end result isn't so bad he could say the same things about Ridge Racer Type 4 to another big beautiful PS1 racer and another obvious comparison the stunning backdrops here make a really big impression a Leap Forward from early PS1 games absolutely but better than the DS well let me know in the comments what you think another game we might take a look at is Moon one of the DS's absolute best looking first-person shooters definitely but let's put it side by side with alien resurrection one of the PlayStations absolute best looking Shooters and we've got another really nice comparison both of these games really push their respective systems very hard and they both look absolutely superb Moon obviously has less of that jittery polygon warping that we talked about but alien seems to have a better more atmospheric lighting effects the DS actually had some hardware-based light and Shadow capabilities that the PS1 lacked but the PlayStation was able to recreate these effects in other ways in these more artificial environments the slightly lower detail of the DS seems to matter even less and makes for another really great looking game that holds its own against anything the PS1 can do when you think about it comparing the DS s with the N64 and the PlayStation is a bit of an apples and oranges thing they're obviously different machines with different purposes their internals are all very very different too I mean I could list the hardware specs of all of them but I don't think we'd learn much side by side comparisons like these can perhaps give a better idea of how the DS performs even if it is a bit subjective the DS is more modern clearly coming out 10 years after the launcher of the PlayStation and even though it's a fur cry from today's system its design is a bit more sophisticated it might not be as powerful in some ways as these other two but it can do things they can't or at least struggle with yes it's got a lot of tricks up its sleeve something that I'm going to look at in another video the DS though wasn't alone in the marketplace there was another rival that came out just weeks after its debut yes it is of course the PlayStation Portable and well to put it bluntly when it comes to graphical power there's just no contest the PSP wins by an absolute mile it's got more everything CPU power GPU power memory it leaves the PS1 and the N64 at far behind too Ridge Racer illustrates it perfectly the PSP often doesn't seem to lag that far behind even the mighty PS2 it's been a while since I've played any PSP games I forgot just how good they could look there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer when it comes to polygon counts on the PSP the range reported by different sources is very broad but we're talking Millions per second rather than thousands most likely it's hard to find many straight side-by-side comparisons I can show you with any system the PSP included the DS had such a unique Library GTA Chinatown Wars is another one and yes the PSP version is of course leagues ahead the DS did have features the PSP did not the dual screen touchscreen of course being number one that was the thing that really stood out about the DS wasn't it it's easy to forget just how big of a thing that was the dual screen thing well that might not be quite as enduring but touch control that has hung around on many many devices and the DS was an absolute Pioneer in this field if you've watched a modern vintage Gamers at masterful video on DS Graphics you'll know it has a lot of special capabilities when it comes to 2D does that put it ahead of the PSP when it comes to 2D games well no not really the second screen of course does add some space to do things the PSP can't but when it comes to actual 2D Graphics there's nothing the DS can do that the PSP can't recreate with its Hardware even if it is totally 3D focused the DS might be easier to make games four though it's got a sort of 2D 3D hybrid graphics system it's 2D capabilities are tail based like most old school 2D systems a really insane powered Super NES or a souped up Game Boy Advance overlaid on that there is a 3D layer that as we've seen Compares fairly well with first gen 3D systems like the PS1 this makes it a sort of a bridge between Generations if you're a software house had been focused on Game Boy Advance software well you could make the jump to the DS fairly easily if you wanted to do what 2D style games in the way you had done before well you absolutely could but if you wanted to add a hint of 3D on top you could do that too and you could go all out and do a fairly decent first person shooter or a proper 3D platformer as well if you wanted the DS must have been an attractive platform to make games for and just the concept of the thing the dual screen touch screen thing it added so much and that's the elephant in the room when you're discussing the DS comparing it with any sort of other game system Hardware except it's direct successes well it's not going to be able to take account of its unique features way more than just a gimmick the DS offered games you literally could not play anywhere else not just system exclusives not just portable versions of games you played elsewhere but unique experiences that also happen to be portable the PlayStation Portable didn't fail it sold 80 million but well the DS sold nearly double that and in fact more than any other system apart from the PS2 which Beat It by a tiny margin so just how powerful is the DS well powerful enough to be a worldwide phenomenon so I think the end of another video approaches thank you to my patreon supporters once again it really does make all the difference if you're watching this and you think you'd like to join them and help me out well please do as that would be really superb just a dollar a month is fine there is a link below and if you're wondering yes I am going to do a games that push the limits of the DS as well as this video where I will take a look at games that really push the system the hardest if you can think of anything I should include well please do let me know in the comments below and yes what about the DSA too wasn't that more powerful well yeah it certainly was but not many games really used that extra power but I think it will make an appearance in that limit pushing video I've tried to come up with other points of comparison but well there's not really anything else I could think of unless it was the Nokia engage so do speak up if you would like to see the engage versus DS comparison video sometime that might be quite interesting anyway that's the end of the video for now I will say goodbye and thanks for watching foreign [Music]

Channel: Sharopolis

Views: 109,282

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Id: d7QqFkKw-08

Length: 19min 50sec (1190 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 14 2023