Do you additionally assume video games consoles are a bit boring today? I do. There isn’t any whimsy to them anymore, nothing unusual or eclectic about them, aside from the Nintendo Change, however even then I reckon probably the most particular factor about it’s its hybrid format. Other than that, it does not actually change how video games work, it is extra simply in regards to the type of areas which you can play video games in. That is all nicely and dandy, and it’s usually Nintendo – unusual, however extremely influential – I simply really feel like I am in search of… extra.
The humorous factor is, Nintendo already made the precise factor I am in search of 20 years in the past to the day: the DS. Man, what a console! The minute I laid my eyes on that factor as a child, I knew it was one thing particular, and contemplating by the tip of your entire line’s lifespan it ended up being the second best-selling console of all time, plainly different folks felt the identical approach.
Technically talking, the twin screens that make up the DS (sure, that is what DS stands for when you did not realise) wasn’t a brand new factor for Nintendo, it had already executed such a factor with the Sport & Watch, as soon as once more proving that the developer and {hardware} maker had at all times been forward of the occasions. The DS was clearly rather more highly effective than any Sport & Watch, and naturally extra so than the Sport Boy Advance, too, permitting for some a lot larger titles. But it is that second display screen that is the massive draw, the factor that makes you go, “now what’s all this then?”
Proper off the bat, a second display screen opens up an entire new avenue of gameplay, which is elevated even additional by the actual fact it is touchscreen. There are such a lot of nice examples of video games that used the DS in fascinating methods, together with, unsurprisingly, Nintendo itself. Mario & Luigi: Companions in Time, for instance, was a ridiculously sturdy follow-up to its GBA predecessor, the place the grownup and child variations of Mario and Luigi may very well be on two separate screens, letting you turn backwards and forwards between them to resolve completely different puzzles – easy, however oh so intelligent.
The unique The World Ends With You had you battling on the underside and prime display screen with two completely different characters, requiring you to sync them as much as be more practical in beating your enemies. Lodge Nightfall actually had you employ your DS in portrait mode, making it have a book-like high quality, excellent for a text-heavy sport like it’s. Hell, even simply making extra room on the highest display screen in your Pokemon by placing all the primary UI stuff on the underside display screen makes for extra thrilling motion.
Whereas a few of these video games I performed later in life, I believe the end result of all of them actually modified how I checked out and considered video games, notably what they are often. Or, I suppose, extra how we will interact with them. There’s simply one thing particular about having one other interface to work together with, it makes you’re feeling a lot extra concerned within the sport you are enjoying in a approach no console has actually been in a position to seize since. It made video games really feel larger, too, like there’s much more to discover than there was on any console earlier than it.
The DS helped me consider video games as devoted areas, areas which are continuously meant to be playful, which the hand held usually was. I may not have realised as a child, nevertheless it undoubtedly pushed me to be extra considerate about how we will work together with video games, one thing that feels tougher to do after they’ve develop into so homogenised – all controllers are mainly the identical factor with a distinct lick of paint today, and the consoles themselves do not even hassle with fascinating residence menus, it is nearly getting you into the sport as fast as doable.
I do not play my OG DS as a lot as I used to, my 3DS is the go to today, however I nonetheless discover that very same playfulness there that drove me in direction of the style I’ve in video games at the moment. It is bizarre to assume that even 20 years later I am nonetheless enthusiastic about this console that was so forward of its time, however hey – that is what occurs once you’re among the best handhelds round.