Just got my DS thru this morning, looking at the calendar it was 3 business days from the states (5 days in all) not bad .. If anyone wants to know which seller I used, let me know.

Right, 1st impression right out of the box. solid.

Solid, just a little ugly but solid none the less.

Opened it up and my first thought was, wow its a fair bit bigger than i thought with the screens being bigger than I expected. Good stuff.

Turned it on and was greeted by a nice wide sound, and some simple set up menus, time, date etc.

Put in my game, Super Mario 64 DS and turned it on.

The main menu you are confronted with on switch on is very boring and plain, hopefully it can be reskinned somehow. Also none of the icons seem to have labels so at first you have no idea whats what.

Anyway I selected the pack in the menu and it launched.

WOOOAAAH. hehe instant smile, usual mario theme tune in rich stereo, the logo on the top screen and a 3d mario on the bottom shouting "Me, Mario" oooh

From here you can go to the main game "Adventure" or the Rec Room which contains a load of side games.

Rec Room

Contains a load of mini wario ware type games, perfect for a quick blast and pretty well varied, all controlled in different ways by the touch screen. These really are alot of fun, and perfect for a quick blast - Well done to N for including them when they might very well have released just the main game on its own.

Main Game

The first scene is like a tech demo, the camera sweeping down over 3d landscape, showing all the characters and a thankfully short intro, until you are left at the point you start playing.. as Yoshi.

At this point I'll admit I havent played this for more than about 15 mins so far, so cant comment on the story at all, just the technicalities and feel

The 3d looks stunning on a small screen and the control system is nothing short of brilliant

The bottom screen acts as an analogue pad, with the further u rock your finger being the faster yoshi will run. You would expect it to be unweildy having to have a thumb in the middle of the screen, but its not. At all. The bottom screen doubles as a map. You dont tend to look at it in game but its there all the same.

Some of the effects are dazzling, ripples, character movement, birds, etc. This isnt just a clone of mario64, its a real improvement. The sound is in 3d throughout with some nice effects here and there, although I did find the bird noises outside REALLY annoying after a bit.

Mario 64 DS 1st impression score 9/10


Metroid Hunters demo.

This was what I was looking forward to and i'm a little disappointed. It isnt nearly as detailed as I hoped and doesnt show off the hardware nearly as well as Mario. The graphics are not that well detailed but it sure does run smooth. There are 3 training missions that you can play thru and theyre a bit dull so far but i'll update if it suddenly bursts into life.

Metroid Hunters Demo 1st impression score 6/10

In the pack were the DS, lanyard, metroid hunters demo pack, battery (ready installed), USA adaptor (SP one works fine), instructions and spare stylus.

Very quick 1st impression score on the NDS hardware 9/10 - excellent

All my fears have been dispelled, metroid isnt as good as I hoped but from other stuff i've seen it isnt as good as it CAN be either.

Havent looked at pictochat yet (dont know anyone with a DS!)

What do others think of their DS's ?

cheers,

malty