Just read EGM yesterday. Says DS-Lite is due out in May for NA. So I think I'll just wait and see for my purchase.
It's going to be a compulsory pre-order situation if May is a reality - seeing the drought of any sort of DS in Japan at the moment suggests this is either wishful thinking or that there'll be very few of them around to buy come May. My other reason for being so skeptical is that the new Super Mario Bros game launches in May, which would lead me to think that Nintendo would be fools to neglect the rabid Japanese market's appetite for the inevitable SMB+NDS packages.
My 2cents: The feel of it reminds me of my iBook - glossy but built to last. Seems really hard wearing and strong, although it rivals my PSP for it's ability to show up fingerprints on the outer surfaces.
I can see what you mean Mookboy. Hopefully EGM is wrong, i'de rather there be plenty of systems to go around than very few available. I'm trying my best to resist importing the DS-lite. It looks so nice. I know I am going to have one. It's all just a matter of when.
After having some serious time on Mario Kart on my Lite, I have to say how pleased I am with it. The screen quality is superb, the sheer brightness and richness of the colour is stunning - even something as mundane as the initial MK menu screen looks fantastic, with the reds and blues really jumping out of the screen and positively glowing. Get a moving image on it and the effect is much the same, it has an unreal quality about it (note: many people suspected that the early photos of the DS lite had colour stickers instead of screens!), and it takes a little bit of getting used to tbh as it looks so damn good. I've had the chance to also play Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan on my Lite, and the static manga cut scenes and brightly contrasting 3D sequences with lots of deep red and black look amazing. I know little about contrast ratios, but this baby must have a good one to produce such an arresting effect. I remember when I fitted my Afterburner kit to my original GBA how good it looked (remember the old GBA's didn't even have a backlight!) and how fantastic the colours on stuff like Pokemon Ruby and SF2 looked... put side by side with my DS Lite it looked rather quaint and miserable. The PSP has a fantastic screen, but I have to say the greater brightness of DS Lite is very noticable, although the relative screen sizes is quite comical. I've also got the same colour as K, Enamel Navy Blue, and I remember mentioning in an earlier thread what a fingerprint magnet it would be... and it is. Infact, it seems to be worse than my PSP for some reason - dunno whether it's the finish but under a strong light it can look awful with millions of greasey marks all over the place. My tip: turn off the lights and take advantage of the screen to hide those pesky marks. Button wise it's a lot nicer than I first though. Although the front facing round buttons are very small imho, they have just enough resistance to avoid feeling too spongy (as I first felt). I don't like the placement of the Start and Select buttons as I find it too hard to hit them (at the moment) first time as they seem very close to edge of the lower screen. Also the power button/switch is not as responsive as the superior PSP version, sometimes taking a couple of seconds being held in the on direction to turn off/on. Dpad is nice, although it's not a clicky pad it's well sized and feels firm. I think my only serious negative point with the Lite is holding it. In big, six-foot tall bloke hands like mine it can feel quite awkward. Holding it in a death grip like grasp feels good... but only until your arms and wrists go dead. Holding it as suggested in the Cabel video seems impractical to me as a good push of the shoulder buttons moves it about in your hand too much. I'm sure I'll adjust to it, but I think it may be just a little too small to be held genuinely comfortably for long periods. Overall i am really pleased with it and it (so far) feels well worth the £175 I paid to get it imported, and I cannot wait to try out some of the forthcoming games.
pretty cool! it's the same as smart looking while playing up to the 'non gaming' female demographic, by way of pink consoles. what can say?
that's the saddest part about that!!!how i wish to have this one... is this for girls only?(just because of the colors)
Well it seems nowadays anything thats pink is for 'girls only', but Im sure some guys out there wouldnt mind having a pink one (and no, not me). Pink is a great colour for all the 'gadget' manufacturers out there, as they know women will be stupid enough to buy a gadget just because its pink, and not really bother about the specification of it. And obviously this way, they make loads of money. Of course this doesnt go for all women, but it does happen alot.
I saw a preview of this a while back and I might consider getting one (I havn't got a handheld console since the original GB), sucks it doesn't play original GB games though
You should pick up a cheap GBA...plenty of fantastic games (loads of SNE titles) and GB backwards-compatible. I've got an SP atm, but I'm still gonna keep it when I eventually pick up a DS (mainly because I can't use my flash cart with a DS!)