- Hey, y'all Scott here. And congratulations on
finally not getting that job I just applied to. Because I'm really going
to get it this time. I put any and all contact
information on my resume, including when and where
I'm available on PictoChat. That'll set me apart. - [Scott] The Nintendo DS is
God's favorite little portable. There is no conceivable way that a product that initially looked like this, did this. But, Nintendo did the unthinkable and sold over 150 million of these things. And after closer examination,
it's incredibly apparent why. The game library is seemingly endless, and initiated tons of
concepts that are still being used to this day. And it got all of our uncles
to actually play video games. Now I personally played this guy a ton. The Nintendo DS line of
consoles got me through so many car trips as a kid. I would always keep my eyes on the screens the entire time during them, and because of that only recently, I learned that toll booths exists. The DS was announced
in late 2003 as simply a new system to be released in 2004. With Nintendo also stating
they were planning to focus on developing games that
anybody could get behind. A few months later in early 2004, the code name "Nintendo DS"
was unveiled alongside the fact that the system would
feature two whole screens! Nintendo used a soccer game as an example for dual screen gaming
in their press release. Describing how one screen
could show the main gameplay, while the other could display a specific players tackle or goal. You ever just play a soccer
game and you're like; "There's just not enough screens?" The idea behind two screens
was a bit odd at first, Nintendo definitely needed
to prove their worth. And keep in mind, at this point, all we knew about the Nintendo DS was that it had two screens. Everything else lodged in the system would officially be
revealed later at E3 2004. Yeah, the Nintendo DS wasn't a looker during its prototype phase. But at least Nintendo made
up for it by showing off a Metroid Prime game
running on the system. Yes, Nintendo's premiere
3D first person shooter was playable on a handheld. That was insane! Not only that, but they
also showed off a demo of Super Mario 64 running on the device. This much cockiness can't be healthy. A touchscreen, microphone,
Game Boy Advance support, wireless multiplayer, a terrifying design. The whole suite of DS features
were unveiled at this point. Metroid Prime Hunters,
Super Mario 64 times four. Wario Ware, and the PictoChat application were all playable at the show. Alongside playable tech demos
that would later become games, like Yoshi Touch and Go. And the 3Ds launch title Steel Diver. Plus, Nintendo showed off
videos of upcoming games like Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing DS, New Super Mario Brothers, and Nintendogs. Nintendo later confirmed
that Nintendo DS would be the final name for the product alongside showing off
the finalized design- (Beep) Go back. And the handheld would officially launch on November 21st, 2004
here in North America for $149 and 99 cents. Now I don't know about anybody else but at the height of the DS dynasty, I barely saw the original
model out in the wild. It was a rarity. You'd see everybody else playing
their DS Lite's and DSi's. And then there was that
one kid but nobody trusted. Any version of the DS prior to 2006 looked pretty horrendous,
to put it lightly. This looks like something
you put in a holster. It always looked more like equipment than a sleek video game system. The bottom half has some
meat on its bones and all the curves, ridges and indents, add up to a video game system with a question mark at the end. At least is comfortable enough to play, all the buttons feel perfectly fine and it conveniently uses the
GBA SP charging cable. However, things really start picking up when you actually turn the system on. Touch the touch screen to continue? Holy (Beep). This is the future! 2008 here we come! Dual screens weren't
necessarily the talk of the town when it came to the DS. Most of it came from the touch screen. Remember, this was 2004
touchscreens were seldom used. And when they were, it was
almost always stuff like PDAs. And these definitely won't play Pac-Pix. So that's a point for the DS right there. However, the DS was definitely
all about video games. Even if the user interface tries to scream "I can be a PDA, too!" A calendar and a clock. That's all you really need. An instant messaging application? Well, don't mind if I do! PictoChat is much more than just the best stage in Super
Smash Brothers Brawl, and it wasn't just an application. It was an experience. You can start a chat room with
15 other players nearby and just doodle it up, sending whatever you want to each other. You could also just use it by yourself. I used to make some
pretty slick flip books by just sending a bunch of images and then rapidly going through them all. Here's me drawing stuff
on it back in 2009! Whoa! It was never online, so it
would only let you chat with people in the same room. You may ask, "Oh what's the
point of messaging to people if you have to be in the same room?". Well, just ask the Nintendo DS stylus, or as I like to call
it, the crotch doodler. Yeah, the DS touchscreen
was just too small and not well-suited for finger use. It was always best to
use it for applications that required a more sensitive touch. But by God, they made it
hard to warrant using it on the original DS model. Listen, I get it. They probably couldn't
have put the stylist slot on the right or left hand
side where, you know, your hand would actually be. Because of how the systems
internals had to be laid out. But I don't care. I'm still gonna whine about it. The stylus placement on this thing reeks. No matter who you are, having the stylus on the top left-hand corner is dreadful. But you know what's one
of the lamest things about the original DS? The fact that if you do
anything on this system and want to go back to the home screen, you have to turn the
system off and on again. And it's not a huge deal, but seriously. If you just go into the settings, not do anything and try to go back. It forces you to turn
the entire system off. Like, that just kind of
defeats the entire purpose of having a home screen at all. But whatever. Now, Nintendo was still
supporting the Game Boy Advance and GameCube at the time. And always maintained that
the DS was a successor to neither of those platforms. Rather it, was a third
pillar for the company. And man, Nintendo's comedy routine was really getting good at this point. They were just saying that
in case the DS failed. Plus if it wasn't a successor, why was it backwards
compatible with the GBA? But hey, I'm not complaining
about this feature. Having the ability to play
all Game Boy Advanced games, instantly gave the DS a
library to reckon with. It's unfortunate they
cut it off at GBA and didn't support Game Boy color
and the original Game Boy. But, I'll take it. At the time of the DS's release, Sony was preparing the
launch of their first true handheld console,
the PlayStation portable. And almost everybody
plopped their bets on Sony winning the war. Nintendo never really had a huge threat in terms of handheld
competition up until this point. I think Sega probably got the closest with the Game Gear and
I will debate anybody who considers that thing
handheld or competition. Sony was the clear
leader of the video game market at the time. And the mere idea of them
breaking into handhelds made many go: "Yeah the one that plays
Daxter is going to win.". The PSP was sleeker and way more powerful. So Nintendo had to do something to prove to everybody that the DS could
handle more demanding games. So what did they do at launch? They bundled in a demo of
Metroid Prime Hunters and crammed Super Mario 64 into a (Bleep)
Cheez-It of a game card. The launch titles of the DS
were pretty weak, in my opinion. Really the only major highlight
was Super Mario 64 DS. Listen, the entire concept
of playing super Mario 64 on the go, was mind blowing at the time. To have a game like
Super Mario 64 on the go, may not seem like a big deal now, but back then it was amazing! It truly made the DS
feel like a home console you could take on the road. The game looked really
good for the system and some may say it looked even
better than the original. That's debatable. Like it looks better in the sense that the character models are all updated but, everything's much
more pixelated overall. However, I think it still looks
quite good for the platform, and is just a solid remake all around. Too bad my thumbs (bleep) hate it. Yeah. Most of my showers now
a day consists of me thinking about why they thought Mario
64 and the DS was a good idea, considering it only has a D pad. I mean it works, but it's
not ideal in the slightest. They give you a few control options, including using the,
touchscreen to walk around? Jesus. But the D pad is the most
optimal and it's still putrid. And to everybody who
says: "Play it on the 3DS, that way you'll get your
precious analog stick.". As the game was programmed
to function with a D pad and a run button. Using a Cirque pad doesn't fix the issues. It still doesn't feel right. It just kind of bugs me
that they put so much work into a remake of Mario 64, only to have it kind of
ruined by the limitations of the hardware they put it on. A similar situation happened
with Metroid Prime Hunters, with it being a first person
shooter on the platform. I think Nintendo wanted to prove at launch that the DS could do things
that it could definitely do, but not crazy well. However, by around 2006, Nintendo totally threw
this urge out the window and focused on... The casuals. This was when the DS really took off, and the console's first
redesign played a key role here. The Nintendo DS Lite,
released on June 11th, 2006, was everything civilization
was leading up to. The difference between the
first model and the Lite are night and day. The Lite improved on nearly everything. The design was sleek and refined. The screens actually totally didn't reek. The stylist placement,
oh, the stylus placement! The only two negative things
about the Lite where the fact that the GBA games stuck
out when you pop them in, and it used its own proprietary charger. Other than that, this
is a beautiful system. This was the model I got
as a kid back in 2007. I had the white one, and got
so much playtime out of it. But (Bleep) this system,
because two years later, another redesign came out. The Nintendo DSi released on
November 1st, 2008 in Japan. With a North American release
happening on April 5th, 2009. In short, the DSi was an
improved DS with two cameras, but who cares because they
got rid of the GBA slot. This was a big deal to a lot of people. And I gotta be honest, it was
a pretty solid blow to me. But 2009 Scott still traded
his trustee DS Lite in for a black DSi. In my opinion, it was
still a worthwhile upgrade simply due to the fact that it added so much functionality to the system. Cameras were the big selling point. But to me it was cool
simply because it almost felt like a Wii in your pocket. The overall presentation
just felt so similar to the Wii, with the way the various
apps and games were laid out. The music playing on the home screen. The DSi even had an online
shop, similar to the Wii, which sold DSiware games. While the DSi shop was recently closed, all the games minus 10 select ones can be purchased on the 3DS E-shop. So it doesn't look like some apocalypse or anything is going to happen. DSiware always left me
feeling a bit empty though. Much like Wii ware, a ton of garbage was
thrown onto the service. Sure, some stellar titles were on there. Shantae Risky's Revenge,
Cave Story, Dark Void Zero. But, there sure was a ton of trash. Nintendo charged like two
bucks each for calculator and clock apps. Like come on. WarioWare Snapped was a
criminally short WarioWare title, that used the cameras and had you batting your hands
around to play micro games. And that barely worked. Dr. Mario Express was
a solid Dr. Mario game. But it didn't have online
plays, so that was a bummer. But at least flip notes
studio was awesome. It was a really great
little animation tool. Photo Dojo was so cool. You took pictures and turned yourself and friends into fighting game characters. There was definitely fun to be
had with some DSiware games, but there just wasn't
a ton of heavy hitters. And I was also always
bummed they never had a virtual console for the DSi shop. I'm like, come on, you
took away the GBA slot. You should've had a virtual console to resell old handheld games. Outside of the internet functionality, the DSi had terrible cameras
coupled with amazing software. All the edits you can do to
your pictures were awesome. And you could also mess
with audio recordings via the DSi Sound app. Once again, though, a new
charging cable is used, which is a mega annoyance. Now, if you hate the idea of a handheld system being handheld, Nintendo released a variant
of the DSi a year later. The Nintendo DSi XL,
launching on November 21st, 2009 in Japan and March
28th, 2010 in North America. They weren't kidding. This is in fact, an XL version of the DSi. If you want larger screens
than, by all means, the DSi XL is for you. It has a glossy coating on the outside and came with a fountain pen. Other than that, it's
literally just a bigger DSi. The XL systems were
marketed towards the more hardcore players. With the Nintendo 3DS line, but the DSi XL, just take a
look at the colors we got. Burgundy and bronze. These things flooded retirement homes. And those are all the DS models out there. And in terms of which
systems hold up best today, I'd say anything from the DS Lite onwards. However, I think all the variations have great feel and controls. The DS light has a bit of
a softer, squishier D pad. And while that sounds bad, it
actually feels really nice. The DSi is much clicker if
you're into that sort of thing. You can play DS games on the 3DS, but if you want an original DS model. I'd say go with the Lite. The DSi's exclusive features aren't too awful compelling nowadays. And the lack of GBA compatibility makes the DS Lite far more useful. Plus almost all of the DSi
features live on with the 3DS. The cameras, sound app DSiware
games, that's all there. So the DSi itself isn't
too awful necessarily to own these days. But now, we've got to
talk about the games. No matter how you slice it,
the DS had an insane library. I'd definitely say the
third-party support was crazy impressive, maybe
even better than Nintendo's. That's not to say Nintendo's
offerings weren't good. But the sheer amount of quality third-party games was insane. I'd say the DS had better
third-party support than the 3DS. However, the 3DS had
better first party support. Looking at the big three
Nintendo franchises represented on the DS. The results were a bit iffy. Now, I already talked
some super Mario 64 DS. But in terms of original
Mario titles on the platform, none were as prolific as
New Super Mario Brothers. It completely stalled the show, was the game to get with the DS, and being the first original
2D Mario game in years, definitely helped it out. While it was lauded as one
of the best Mario games out there at launch. Its reception has definitely
went down a bit over time, simply due to how many new Super Mario Brothers titles followed it. Regardless, New Super
Mario Brother worked. So Zelda, kind of tried a similar tactic. Taking 3D models and putting
them in an old school format. The Legend of Zelda, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are top-down Zelda games, with the same aesthetic as The Wind Waker. It looks fine from the top-down view, but when the camera comes
up close to the characters, oh God. These Zelda titles definitely
have unique controls. You're required to use
the touch screen and drag your stylus wherever
you want Link to go. I don't know. It just doesn't feel as good
as button controls to me. It doesn't feel like you are Link. It feels like you're leading Link. That's not to say they're bad, I'm just, not a huge fan
of controlling Link here. Everything else works pretty well. Metroid Prime Hunters had
you move with the D pad and aim with the touch screen. Similar to Mario 64 DS's control scheme, it worked, it just wasn't ideal. It was a B tier Metroid Prime game. But it was still impressive
for the system and even included online
multiplayer with voice chat. But if you love everything
about Metroid Prime, except for the gameplay, might I recommend Metroid Prime Pinball? It's better than you think. However, the games that
really made the DS explode in popularity, were definitely
the touch generations titles. Games made for those people who don't know where the L button is. Big Brain Academy, Flash
Focus, Crosswords DS, Personal Trainer Cooking. But the big one was definitely Brain Age. Flip the DS on its side
and hold it like a book. To get told off by Dr. Kawashima. Listen, man, The only reason
why my brain age blows, is because this game
hates how I write fives. Speaking of games that anybody could play, I played a lot of Professor
Layton and the Curious Village with my mom. This was such a well-made puzzle game, with outstanding production values. On the topic of puzzle games, the DS nailed them. This was like the perfect
platform for the genre. Meteos is probably the main puzzle game the DS can call its own. It was designed by Masahiro Sakurai, and I'll eventually learn how to play it. But now's not the time because Picross 3D is on the system! You have standard Picross
DS and then Picross 3D, which is really its own thing. Like they didn't even have
to name it after Picross, because it's so unique. Even though it's still totally Picross. The Mario vs. Donkey Kong
series made its way to the DS. Starting with March of the Minis. And does anybody else totally confuse all the subtitles for these games? This was a cute little game. My problem with it is that they just kept on making it over
and over, and over again. At least this one had cool CG cut scenes. Look at these. My jaw dropped when I saw my DS playing such clean looking videos. One thing this game and
Metroid Prime Hunters did, was show two videos on
the separate screens both of the same scene,
but from different angles. This wasn't the craziest,
best use of resources. But it's an interesting
use of dual screens that you really wouldn't
find anywhere else. Tetris DS is one of the best
versions of Tetris out there. Being developed by Nintendo allowed it to have this amazing presentation. Featuring all kinds of
old school NES sprites. It's fantastic. And if we're talking retro style games, man, the DS was killer. I think the cream of the crop has to be Retro Game Challenge. A loving homage to gaming in the eighties. But there were also a handful
of legitimate compilations, like the Sonic Classic Collection, some Atari ones, Namco Museum. In terms of throwbacks, Contra 4, man. A great return for the series. Space Invaders Extreme was really cool. Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars. Now that's a game that
screams don't put me on DS! But it was still an awesome throwback to the first few top-down
Grand Theft Autos. But in the style of entries
like Grand Theft Auto Four it's one of the few M rated
games on the platform. There really aren't too many out there. But Chinatown Wars is
definitely the most iconic. Ahhh, rhythm games! Just Rhythm Heaven and
Elite Beat Agents alone make the DS the perfect
rhythm game machine. And we can't forget the Guitar
Hero games on the system. They only worked with the DS and DS Lite due to the guitar grip accessory
requiring the GBA slot. But man, this was such
a creative way to get Guitar Hero on the platform. RPGs just wouldn't stop on here. Of course, these things,
I don't get any of this. But Pokemon had a ton
of entries on the DS. The Mario and Luigi
series continue on here. Final Fantasy games, including
some amazing remakes. The definitive version of
Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, The World Ends With You, Golden Sun. I may not be an RPG guy, but I know they were
fantastic on the platform. Mario Kart DS was huge. I personally never owned
it when it was big, but DS brought so much to the franchise. 16 new tracks and the introduction of 16 retro tracks remastered. Online play, mission mode. It's so good. Weirdly enough, if you
weren't into Mario Kart. Nintendo also published a
remake of Diddy Kong Racing. Yeah. I never expected that to come out. Animal Crossing Wild World also brought online play to its franchise
for the first time. Which became one of the key
components of the series. Star Fox Command is
better than Star Fox Zero, I'll at least say that. And Chibi-Robo actually had games on here! Platformers are my
bread and butter though. Kirby was heavily represented on the DS. The most unique game,
definitely being canvas curse. Look at this, you're drawing
lines and guiding Kirby around. That's fun! The Legendary Starfy was a
worthy alternative to Kirby. While if you wanted something
a bit more fast paced, the Sonic Rush series was
definitely your go-to. Mario spinoffs were plentiful, and included a sequel to
Yoshi's Island, this game reeks! And Super Princess Peach, second verse, same as the first! Plus, nothing says I hate sex more than Wario Master of Disguise. At least there was
actual Castlevania titles on the platform, can't say that nowadays. Scribblenauts was a huge
deal when it came out. Being able to write anything and it spawning in the game
was just such a cool idea. And if you wanted to
get even more creative, Drawn to Life allowed you to
draw your own hero character. And I had such a blast with this. WarioWare DIY, similarly,
let me create my own junk in the form of my own micro games. And I loved every second of it. On the topic of WarioWare,
WarioWare touch was all right. It just didn't grab me as
much as the other entries. But nothing spoke to me on the DS more so than Nintendogs. This was the first game that
I owned on the platform, and it utilized every single
feature of the hardware in such fun ways. You can talk to your dog,
teach it tricks, play with toys buy more dogs, talk to more
dogs, teach them tricks, play with toys, buy more dogs. This was a blast! And don't even get me started
on the Nintendo DS browser. But you know what was the best thing about the games on the DS? They came in these
cases and they were like half the size of DVD boxes. They just made games
feel more substantial. While a fair amount of
the game library is, this. The DS, was such a fun system. Unlike the Wii, which
was constantly chastised for being a gimmick. I always felt like more
were accepting of the DS. The library was crazy and the, gimmicks of the system
actually turned out to be incredibly useful in various situations. It was hard to try to
remember all the great games on the DS, that's how many there were. I'm sure I still missed plenty. Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright! This series is great. Such a fun visual novel
point-and-click adventure type game. I love these games! - It just warmed my heart to go on and on and on about the Nintendo DS. Maybe I'll see if there's
anybody nearby on PictoChat that feels the same way. Ooh! We got a live one! Somebody joined, maybe I'll tell them, "I see you like PictoChat.". Last two messages didn't send. That sounded a lot more
murdery than I wanted it to. (Upbeat 8-bit music outro song)
i love his videos, you guys knows more channel like this?
apart from game makers toolkit i cant find channel that talks about games like this.
Am I the only one who thought the buttons on the original DS were the best? The DS Lite felt way too mushy to me especially on the dpad (which I struggled to go diagonal on).
I like this guy.
But one thing always sort of bugged me.
He is 20, at best. How in the fuck did he manage to get such insane videogames collection and tech he shows around?
Rich parents maybe? Earning from his videos?
In any case, he's a very talented creator, so he deserves all of it.
The massive amount of 3rd party support for Nintendo's handhelds is why I stay optimistic for the Switch. It's not gonna play all the latest games that are available for the Xbox and PS4, it's just not on the same level. But there were tons of amazing unique games for Nintendo's handhelds that you couldn't find anywhere else, not to mention tons and tons of ports and remakes of classic games that might have been hard to play otherwise Chrono Trigger being the premier example. Seriously, Square Enix's handheld line-up of remakes were amazing. Remakes of every 2D Final Fantasy title, Sword of Mana, Children of Mana, ...Chrono Trigger. There was Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and TA2. Capcom had the Megaman Battle-Network series, the Megaman Z series, the Phoenix Wright games, and the Monster Hunter games. Literally all of the best Castlevania games that Konami made since Symphony of the Night were all on handhelds. The video already mentioned it but it needs some more emphasis Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was a game that existed and it was fantastic.
Seriously, I just don't care that the newest Assassin's Creed isn't on the Switch. That's just not what handhelds are for. I want to see all the games made specifically to target the Switch's popularity. Capcom already ported all of the Megaman and Megaman X titles over, and Switch version of Megaman 11 has garnered the most attention for a reason. The fact that Square is porting over all the 3D Final Fantasy titles gives me hope that they will consider developing games with the Switch hardware in mind. Konami is the worst but Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon was great, and I am hopeful for Ritual of the Night to be good too.
Wow I can't believe I clicked on the video randomly and watched the whole thing, didn't really lose my attention too.
Dude scared me though, he took so long to mention the best DS game ever! Nintendogs.
Everyone misses the fact that you were supposed to control Super Mario 64 DS with the thumb pad. Probably because they stopped including the thumb pad after the original DS. This gave you full analog control and while it wasn't as good as a true analog stick it was a lot better than the d-pad.
Scott the Woz is quickly becoming the most famous and most important video game commentator. It's crazy how quickly these guys (and gals) can rise in prominence.