Nintendo DS In Our Hands !

News from IGN [br][br] Well, it's official, folks. The Nintendo DS is being prepared to ship out to retailers for its November 21st launch. We were able to get our hands on the final, boxed units two weeks before the system's official release date, and we wasted no time ripping the packaging to shreds to show you exactly what you get in the box. And it's always oh-so-satisfying tearing into a new gadget, let me tell you.[br][br]For 149.99, you get a rather sleek box packed with goodies. Along with the system that's nicely packed up in a poly-bag (with a pink styrofoam cushion), there's an AC adapter, a wrist strap, a copy of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt boxed in a cardboard sleeve and protective plastic pouch, two stylus pens, as well as tons of paperwork you're sure to read from cover to cover about epileptic seizures, charging the system, warnings about not taking the system in with you during a bath...that sort of thing. [br][br]The wrist strap actually doubles as the "thumb strap" that Nintendo's Chris Campbell revealed at the Nintendo Gamers Summit during his presentation of Super Mario 64. On the end of the strap is a little centimeter bit of plastic that rests on the tip of your left or right thumb. It's slightly rounded, but not pointed like a stylus. The intention is to give players an alternative way of touching and sliding across the screen without using the player's greasy thumb smearing the plastic.[br][br]The pack-in game, as previously announced, is a demo version of Metroid Prime: Hunter. It doesn't come packaged in the usual plastic "keep case" of the retail games, instead, it's in a cardboard sleeve keeper with a slot for the cartridge itself, as well as a pocket for the instruction manual. The cartridge, much smaller than a GBA cart, also comes in a sleeve, not unlike a smaller version of the sleeves you'd put a trading card in for safe keeping. Notice the three letter codename for Nintendo DS cartridges: NTR. Remember "Nitro"? [br][br]The AC adapter isn't any different than the GBA SP unit's AC adapter, except with Nintendo DS printed on the unit instead of Game Boy Advance SP. There's a good reason for this: both systems can use either adapter. And as an added bonus, if you have Game Boy Advance SP headphones, they can plug in and use the Nintendo DS' adapter port. The system recognizes the headphones plugged in back there, turning off the Nintendo DS speakers so you can listen to the audio through the ears. Interesting that this happens since the DS already has a standard headphone jack as well.[br][br]Out of the box, the system has enough charge to get you started, though Nintendo encourages owners to give it a full charge before using it. Boot up at the start brings up the usual start-up screen of the Nintendo DS: [br][br][br]The first time, though, players will have to adjust the user's language, enter in the system name, the current date, time, as well as the player's birthday. All this is used in Pictochat, and if it's the player's birthday, PictoChat will tell everyone in the current network that it's time to celebrate.[br]