Nintendo DS Hands ON

Shiny, shiny new technology, oh how we love thee. Yup nothing quite gets us jaded game hacks quite so excited as the advent of a fab new piece of groovy technological hardware. Suddenly we go all misty-eyed, the years fall away and we're reborn again, bright eyed and bushy tailed and panting like virgins on their wedding night as a new platform suddenly emerges.[br]Which brings us to the Nintendo DS, the new dual-screened handheld from the big N which finally went on sale in the US recently. You may have seen the pictures of freeloading US celebs last week as they eagerly clutched their new acquisition, so where in the name of all that's holy and somethings that aren't, was ours? Surely we're on the A-list in a gaming sense at least.[br][br]Well we didn't have to wait long to find out, as last night our good friends at Nintendo unleashed the US version of their new dual-screened beast to a select 'early adopter' UK audience at a swanky central London venue. You'll have already seen today's earlier story about the firming up of DS Euro release plans, but at the end of a very enjoyable do, your own correspondent managed to walk away with an actual US retail console itself, surely amongst the most coveted items on any self-respecting gamer's 'most-wanted' list this Christmas?[br][br]Touch me![br][br]Back home the box and wrapping were disposed of in an instant and there it was, simple as that, a new handheld in your...er hand and a whole new platform to explore. But in the flesh, at first at least, the DS looks relatively unremarkable on the outside given how much we've been salivating over the prospects. [br][br]Don't get us wrong, it's still a pleasing and if anything rather understated design, the colour's a reasonably tasteful silver, yet it doesn't quite have the immediate impact say a nice sparkly chrome might have. Still we should remember this is the US version, so perhaps it's been deliberately made a little vanilla and given the big N's form in this area, we can probably expect many coloured and special DS editions to come sometime in the future.[br][br]Equally the console actually feels quite heavy and solid in the hand. It's certainly not compact enough to tuck away in your back pocket and forget about, but it's something you could easily slide into the inside breast pocket of a winter overcoat. You might even be able to flatter yourself into thinking you were carrying some kind of piece, given that sudden bulge ...if, like us, you were rather sad.[br][br]In the flesh[br][br]But looks and weight count for naught in the grand scheme of things, it's what's on the inside that counts and once you open the clamshell, the true genius of Nintendo's design is revealed. Dual screens, perfectly mounted dual speakers, an ergonomic button layout for both base and shoulder buttons and a supremely comfortable control set, which works out pretty nicely for both left- and right-handed gamers (and that surely is a first). The stylus, which slides gently out from underneath feels a touch small at first, but you soon get used to it and using it to move around the setup phase which logs user name, time and date settings and even your birthday (presumably to wish you many happy returns) it quickly becomes extremely natural and highly intuitive.[br][br]Of course there's not much to see at first, since we haven't inserted any game cartridge yet, so naturally we turn to Pictochat, the DS's proprietary messaging system which utilises its wireless connectivity to hook you up with your gaming chums. Here the lower touchscreen and stylus really come into their own. You can open it up and enter one of four sixteen player local chatrooms and you can tap away at a standard keyboard set (or five non-standard variations) to rapidly send proper text messages and icons to your mates. Or of course you can simply draw pictures and hand-written words and send them over to anyone connected on your local network.[br][br]Okay somewhat predictably our first chat session with our T3 chums who live two floors up (yup it reaches through whole office floors too) was a flurry of rude messages, lewder drawings and general bad behaviour, but that's probably exactly what you'd expect from infantile games journalists. Still it'll be a lot of fun on the tube or elsewhere we'd guess as you be able to challenge or invite other players in and even download games from each other to share and play.[br][br]A Prime slice of Metroid[br][br]Okay, in terms of looks, innovation and messaging the DS had already made a more than creditable immediate impression but what about the key component of the actual games? Well, bundled with your retail US DS comes a limited demo version of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt and so slotting in the small cartridge into the back of the machine (the front slot's reserved for GBA games), we prepared to engage on Samus Aram's first dual-screen foray.[br][br]Now as long standing PC fps fans, we were more than a little sceptical about how Metroid might work on a handheld. But a combination of using the stylus to perform the equivalent of mouse look, the control pad to move and the shoulder button to fire had us as almost instant converts. It takes about a minute to make sense of it all, but suddenly it feels about as natural and intuitive as breathing. If we had to pick one thing that really excited us about the DS on the first not-even 24 hours worth of play, it's the way stylus, touchscreen and button layout combine to provide a pioneering and extremely flexible new control interface. PC fps fans are going to love it and big N fans will be asking, why didn't we have touch screen years ago?[br][br]In the Metroid Prime Hunters demo there's plenty of different options to explore including Regulator (timed level attack), Survivor (pretty self-explanatory) and Morph Ball modes, but where it really comes into its own is multiplayer. Top screen is your standard first- person view, with map and of course stylus control on the bottom and in action it really does provide a very satisfying four player shooter experience. Energy weapons crackle, missiles fly, it's backed by some very decent sci-fi graphics and the control method makes a game of sheer genius as you launch double-tap jumps and rain death down on unwitting foes. An utter winner in almost every way is our verdict and now we've jousted against T3 in the three initial levels on offer, we can't wait for the full game itself to debut, so we can righteously and properly kick their sorry butts.[br][br]Game over[br][br]So not even 24 hours in and already it seems like the DS has already become a welcome and integral part of gaming's wider family. Initially you may look at it and be under- rather than overwhelmed, but probe a little deeper and you'll soon discover a platform which boasts not only a wealth of impressive handheld features, but an amazing and highly innovative control method and the prospect of some intriguing dual screen action. The DS's future already seems bright and assured and we've barely even scraped the tip of the iceberg. [br][br]We'll be bringing you more on the Nintendo DS in the very near future including a hands-on look at Super Mario 64 DS.