Nintendo has a winner with the DS Lite

Introduction
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I was first introduced to portable gaming when I purchased the original Nintendo Gameboy, little did I know that this was to lead me to the Nintendo DS.

First Impressions
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After getting home and unpacking the DS Lite from its box, I held it in my hand. I was amazed how small it was and how comfortable it was compared to the original DS (I almost bought the original DS before deciding to wait for the release of the DS Lite).

The controls of the DS Lite should be familiar to those that have owned/played on a Super Nintendo. You have the control pad on the left, A, B, X and Y buttons on the right and the L/R shoulder buttons.

Features
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Backlit LCD Screen - The screen has 4 brightness settings, compared to 2 for the original DS. Even on the lowest settings, the graphics still appear vibrant and bright.

Touch Screen - The touch screen gives a whole new way to play games. The DS Lite continues this feature from the original DS which gives the DS a whole new dimension in game play.

Design - The sleek folding design helps keep the DS Lite Portable. You can easily fit this into a large pocket and carry it around with you.

Battery Life - According to the DS Lite Manual, the batteries last 15-19 hours on the lowest settings and 5-8 hours on the brightest setting.

Wireless Connection - You can use the wirless connection to play multiplayer games with another DS Lite or play games that are compatible with the Nintendo Wireless Network.

Games
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There are a lot of games to fit everyone's preferences. From the unique, such as Trauma Center: Under the Knife, where you play the role of a surgeon to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, where you play the role of a lawyer to the more popular games, like Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Brothers, Tetris DS and Nintendogs.

In addition, there are games which you can play online using the built-in Wireless connection with the Nintendo Wireless connection. Also, you can play multiplayer just by using the wireless connection and another Nintendo DS Lite.

Also, since the DS is not region encoded, like the consoles (PS2, Xbox etc) you can buy import games from Japan and play it on your American DS Lite.

The one thing that really expands the DS Lite Game library is the ability to play Gameboy Advance games as well. This gives you endless possibilities in choosing games.

The prices for DS games are quite reasonable. Most of the older DS titles are $19 and the newer titles are $29.99 and $34.99. Some upcoming titles, such as Final Fantasy III will retail for $39.99.

The Competition
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The competition for the DS Lite is the Sony PSP. While the PSP has some features that the DS Lite doesn't (Such as playing Movies and Mp3 files for example).

What the DS Lite lacks, it more than makes up in one way. The touch screen, which the PSP does not have and some of the innovative games that have been released on the DS (Such as Trauma Center & Phoenix Wright).

The PSP movie and Mp3 capability were features that I would not use on a regular basis. Also, the price of the DS Lite is what attracted me to it.

Closing
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In closing, I have been very happy with my purchase of the DS Lite.

Sure, it may lack some features that the Sony PSP has, but it more than makes up for in its selection of games (Which includes the Gameboy Advance Games) and portability.

The only downside that I see is, I like RPG games and there is not a lot of RPG titles (even tho Final Fantasy III and Zelda are coming out) to choose from. Also, there is not a lot of Wireless enabled games. I hope that these minor things will be changed in the future.

The DS Lite has the ability to be used as a Personal Digital Assistant as well, provided that a company will be able to come up with the software.

As far as I see it, the future of the DS Lite is looking bright and that is not meant as a pun.