Foreseen problem with the Wii...

McLoki

If they already have the advances, I would just go for the Wii.

We did not have either (a console or handheld system) so I went for handheld first. Once things shake out with the Wii, that may be next years gift for us.

Michael

BTW - Sorry for the derail...

BIZILL

i derail all the time. we're all human.

still gonna debate. i'm OCD, by the way.

Mjr7531

BIZILL wrote:

true. they already have gameboy advances. the ds lites look better. marginally. psp costs too much to buy two of them. but the quality of games is much greater.

The PSP games are or the DS games?

By the way, I've been playing with the Wii, it's not as easy to let go as you think. And they put up screens left and right about the wrist strap, I wouldn't worry about that.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic

I hope that makes you guys smile

BIZILL

sorry. i meant that the ds lite looks marginally better than the advance. the psp looks best, but more expensive.

Sansui

BIZILL wrote:

can do easy. we have a lexan dept. at my work. i made a 1/4" lexan cover for my screen on my dartboard to protect the LED's from damage.

...but that would be a huge and expensive piece of lexan! 65" tv.

Why lexan? Because it doesn't scratch as easily? Do "they" make 1/8" lexan?

I was thinking more along the lines of "regular" plexiglass (less cost). If I remember correctly, light scratches can be buffed out.

tommyboy

BIZILL wrote:

sorry. i meant that the ds lite looks marginally better than the advance. the psp looks best, but more expensive.

don't say you would buy the psp if it was cheaper just because the graphics look better. There is a reason why the psp is in far behind the DS in sales. And while the psp's price is a factor in its sales, its the games that makes the DS the clear winner(especially for children) IMO.

BIZILL

agreed. i was thinking more of the type of grown up games the psp can handle vs. the ds. but at 8 and 6, my boys will lean toward the game genre of the ds.

McLoki

BIZILL wrote:

agreed. i was thinking more of the type of grown up games the psp can handle vs. the ds. but at 8 and 6, my boys will lean toward the game genre of the ds.

If you will indulge me for one more derail. My kids are 7yo girl and 5yo boy. Would you say they are old enough (based on your experience with your kids) to play the more basic games on the DS and get enjoyment out of them? You said they have GBA's now - what games do they play and what would you recommend?

Thanks,

Michael

BIZILL

don't pay too much attn to what they play. all games they play are g-rated. the time-tested games that include anything Mario will bring smiles. ds games seem like they have better graphics than the advance and there are dual screens. the bottom screen is touchscreen. they are not as strong as the advance and i hear they break easily when dropped, but they seem very cool. and if i'm not mistaken, you can use the stylus and write words/sentences and beam them to another ds from across the room. so my boys can send text msgs to each other warning that daddy is coming in to rain on their parade.....and to be prepared.

also, the ds and ds lite will play the gameboy advance games they already own.

Mjr7531

Indeed the DS does play advance games. You can even pick what screen it's on. The games on the DS look far better than on the Advance, if you want to see what the DS can do, pick up Mario Hoops 3-on-3, it's developed by Square Enix and it looks great. Don't forget that the DS has about the horsepower of a N64, the specs are almost identical.

As for them being breakable, meh, I wouldn't worry too much, my DS light has taken a couple spills and it's fine. The big N put the system through drop-tests etc.

Sorry I keep this train off the tracks. I say, you only live once, go for the wii. Plus it's fun.

BIZILL wrote:

don't pay too much attn to what they play. all games they play are g-rated. the time-tested games that include anything Mario will bring smiles. ds games seem like they have better graphics than the advance and there are dual screens. the bottom screen is touchscreen. they are not as strong as the advance and i hear they break easily when dropped, but they seem very cool. and if i'm not mistaken, you can use the stylus and write words/sentences and beam them to another ds from across the room. so my boys can send text msgs to each other warning that daddy is coming in to rain on their parade.....and to be prepared.

also, the ds and ds lite will play the gameboy advance games they already own.

BIZILL

thanks for the info, mjr.

Sansui

BIZILL wrote:

true. they already have gameboy advances. the ds lites look better. marginally. psp costs too much to buy two of them. but the quality of games is much greater.

No marginally about it. The DS Lite and original released one are a lot better! BTW, the DS's play all the Gameboy Advance games.

They also support direct connect (within about 100' of each other) on many game cartridges so the two can hook up and play the same game. With some of the games there's only a need for one of the players to have the game cartridge. The direct connect also supports Picto-Chat which is like instant messaging. They can draw and send pics to each other and/or use the "pop up" keyboard for text messaging.

A lot of the games support WiFi and a player can connect up with the Nintendo World server and play against/with other players. Many of the McDonalds is one of the businesses that have "open areas" where a player can connect to that server and play when they're not at home.

My son and I both have one of each and if it was either of us, we'd go with the Lite version. The screen can be set brighter than the orginal released one so it can be used in brighter light, the stylus is longer, the rechargeable battery last longer, and it's not as heavy or bulky as the original released one.

Just my two cents worth...

BIZILL

Sansui wrote:

They also support direct connect (within about 100' of each other) on many game cartridges so the two can hook up and play the same game. With some of the games there's only a need for one of the players to have the game cartridge. The direct connect also supports Picto-Chat which is like instant messaging. They can draw and send pics to each other and/or use the "pop up" keyboard for text messaging.

this paragraph is what sold me. i've went ahead and gotten each son their own ds lite. played the wii yesterday for 5 hours straight. controller fell to the floor only once. thankfully not at my bigscreen! oh, and daddy got himself an xbox 360 with hd dvd add on. xbox live will be ready with two days when i get my wireless setup going.

Demiurge

BIZILL wrote:

this paragraph is what sold me. i've went ahead and gotten each son their own ds lite. played the wii yesterday for 5 hours straight. controller fell to the floor only once. thankfully not at my bigscreen! oh, and daddy got himself an xbox 360 with hd dvd add on. xbox live will be ready with two days when i get my wireless setup going.

Yes!

Hey, check this **** out.....

http://www.youtube.com/v/6OMCwwTjvuM

HAHAHA

BIZILL

seen that from another website. man, oh man, my boys looked almost as freaky as that chick whilst playing the boxing game! made me laugh.

Sansui

BIZILL wrote:

this paragraph is what sold me. i've went ahead and gotten each son their own ds lite. played the wii yesterday for 5 hours straight. controller fell to the floor only once.

I'm happy I could help you out!

Good for your sons (and you)! I don't think they or you will be disappointed. I've got the first released DS in case my DS Lite quits working.

My son took his Wii to the family X-mas dinner last might and they played it for about three hours (the sports program). One 7 year old girl let one of my son's controllers fly but it missed the TV. After she had the (original) wrist strap in place there were no more accidents by anyone.

My son tells me that Nintendo has put out a recall for the original straps. You might look into getting replacements if that's true.

BIZILL

there is a recall on the straps. but it won't affect me now. i'll probably get them the wii in a few months. today they opened their ds lites. the could not be happier. and i must admit, i messed around with the lites myself for awhile. they are nice! thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions.

McLoki

My kids are playing with their lites as well. So far they are very nice. The head to head feature of mario carts is a blast.

Michael

BIZILL

i thought the point of the ds's was the fact they did NOT need a gamepack for each ds lite when playing head to head. i got a game that still states you need a gamepack for each lite to play vs mode. are there not games that only require one game for two ds lites gaming?

McLoki

Mario Cart (the one I mentioned) only required 1 game pack for up to 8 payers. The person with the game pack can pick any car - the others only get one and the load time is pretty long. It is worth the wait though.

I am sure there are others that work that way as well. (The person with the game pack picks multi player and the others in the room pick download game)

Michael

BIZILL

sweet. thanks mike.

jdhdiggs

Demiurge wrote:

Yes!

Hey, check this **** out.....

http://www.youtube.com/v/6OMCwwTjvuM

HAHAHA

That was great. Cool idea, maybe it will keep the video game addicted kids from getting fat.