The Nintendo DS is a handheld gaming system from Nintendo.

image from Nintendo.com

The machine pictured is the DS Lite, the refresh of the original DS that appeared in mid-2006.

The machine may or may not be the successor to the venerable Gameboy series. Note that the system is not called the “Gameboy DS,” but, rather, just “DS,” which could mean that the Gameboy series will continue past the darn-near perfect Gameboy Advance SP, but might also mean that the brand is dead.

The DS is most notable for its dual screens (hence the “DS”). The lower screen is also a digitizer, allowing gamers to touch the screen with an included stylus, or their fingers. the top screen is not touch-sensitive.

The machine also has WiFi capabilities (though, sadly, it can’t use WPA, making it insecure wireless and not suitable for wireless networks that service laptops), and Nintendo has provided a free service for playing games on-line. In this way, the company sells the hardware to get to the service, which is backwards from the norm in the console arena, where the service is non-free and an extension to the loss-leading hardware.

Also notable about the DS is that the computing hardware is as capable as the Nintendo 64 console, which has made some retro gaming ports see the light of day. The hardware also includes a microphone.

The machine when announced was seen as an incredible risk by Nintendo, and dual-screen gaming was seen as just a novelty. However, innovative first-party titles and exceptional third-party games have proven those fears false, as the Nintendo continues to dominate the handheld gaming market, even as the incredible weight of Sony entered the market with the very high-tech yet boring PSP.

Titles for the DS are not limited to the traditional video games. Some of the most interesting titles for the system, and contributing to much of its appeal, include:

• BrainAge, which might even be good for you.
• Nintendogs, a virtual pet that for many non-gamers is a reason to buy a DS.
• Cooking Mama, learn how to cook.
• Sprung, a dating simulation.
• WarioWare Touched!, a set of innovative mini-games squeezing every last bit of downright fun from the DS hardware
• Electroplankton, a unique, description-defying electronic music/art creator, in which the tools used have some autonomy.

Update

In Fall 2008, a “Third platform” (meaning, a new product line, not replacing the DS or the GBA, apparently) product was announced, the Nintendo DSi, eschewing the GBA slot, and adding a 3MP camera and an SD slot.