Query??

Deemol

I really know nothing about games consoles so please no laughing if this is a stupid question!!

Are the games for the Nintendo Ds's geared towards kids/teenagers or are there harder ones for adults?

If so which is the best one to buy and can you recommend any games?

Thanks want to get it for a pressie for someone

Banjo

There's a lot of kiddie-oriented shovelware on the DS (imagine you're a pirate! Toaster in my pocket! Sandcastles : the Game etc etc) but there's plenty of good stuff on there too. Depends what you mean by "adult oriented". For example, the two Zelda games are excellent but they have an art style reminiscent of a kids cartoon. The pokemon games are closely tied to a kid-oriented tv show, with a plot that makes yoghurt look complicated, but have a multiplayer battle system that could swallow your life if you let it. Chrono Trigger, the Mario&Luigi series, Advance Wars, Elite Beat Agents - they all look like something a 3 year old might play. And for the most part a 3 year old *could* play them, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun for adults too.

If by Adult Oriented you mean blood, guts and guns, there are a few titles - GTA Chinatown Wars is brief but superb while it lasts - it's probably one of the best games I've played on the DS - Call of Duty MW was alright as was Brothers In Arms. Hotel Dusk is a little different but nonetheless worth a go. Touch the Dead was mediocre but the title was fantastic. And very misleading. It's not as adult as you think it's going to be

If you're looking for more cerebral stuff there's the obvious Brain Training titles, point and click adventures like the Phoenix Wright series or Broken Sword, the afore-mentioned Hotel Dusk, Another Code....; Puzzle games like the Professor Layton games or Picross, which personally I adore. Endless Sudoku and Mahjong compendiums.

However you'll find that the overwhelming majority of games are* cute and/or Japanese-style RPGs. Embrace it, get over it and get on with enjoying yourself

*(I say "are", I mean "look". Once the ninjas of Ninjatown or the tanks of Advance Wars start dishing out the damage, they're not quite so cute any more )

(To put things in context. I'm 35. My favourite games on the DS would be Pokemon by a country mile, GTA, Zelda : Phantom Hourglass, Mariokart and Dragonquest : Hand of the Heavenly Bride. These games could be catagorised as follows : Cute, Adult, Cute, Cute, Cute/jRPG. But I'm too old to give a s*** what other people think of me for playing them)

Edit : Be aware that there are 3 distinct catagories of DS :
1. The DS (ie DS "phat" or DS Lite) - these play DS games and GBA games. These are the oldest ones.
2. The DSi and DSi XL - plays DS and DSi games (there were a handful of DSi-only boxed titles, plus ones you can buy from the eShop) - this is the redux of the DS, removing the GBA slot but adding SD card support, an online shop and a camera
3. The 3DS. This is a new platform with a similar name. It plays DS games, DSi games (the ones from the shop) and 3DS games which, as the name suggests, can be played in 3D; it has 2 cameras on the back for 3D photos, one on the front, SDHC slot, the eShop etc.

If you're buying one as a present you don't want to buy the wrong one...The 3DS is currently quite cheap, and as the new platform it should have the longest life of any of them but initial sales were poor relative to the DS, it remains to be seen how this one is going to pan out for Nintendo.

Deemol

Thank you so much for your reply Banjo. I guess I just wanted to make sure that if I went and bought it there would be more than just 2 or 3 games that would last longer than 2 hours to complete!!! I forgot about the brain train ones and that. I guess the tv advertising didnt work on me!!!


Do you think the 3DS is a good one to get. From what I've seen on net its the newist so I'm assuming it will have the longest life re new games and that????

nitromaster

Deemol wrote: »

Thank you so much for your reply Banjo. I guess I just wanted to make sure that if I went and bought it there would be more than just 2 or 3 games that would last longer than 2 hours to complete!!! I forgot about the brain train ones and that. I guess the tv advertising didnt work on me!!!


Do you think the 3DS is a good one to get. From what I've seen on net its the newist so I'm assuming it will have the longest life re new games and that????

Yups the 3DS is the best bet! They gave it a massive price cut back in August and so it's about the same price as the inferior DSi i believe.

Currently there's not much worth buying for it, (Zelda Ocarina of Time, plus Super Mario 3D Land/Mario Kart 7, the latter two out in the next few weeks) but it does play all DS titles and there's a lot being scheduled for it! (DS was released back in 2005, not much more coming out for it!)

Deemol

Thank you both for your help, I'll go with the 3DS and see how I get on with the games.

Thanks again