Hardware Misc What is the coolest original DS feature?

[SLG]

Mine is the wii to ds connection (animal crossing and mii channel)

 

[eosia]

PictoChat for sure! We used to take our DS' to class and chat using it! Oh, how fun were times...

 

[Tarmfot]

Touchscreen.
Like Tapwave Zodiac

 

[JuanMena]

No software updates.

 

[4d1xlaan]

No software updates.

it did have software updates, except that to get the updates you needed to re-buy the game

 

[Egoistamamono]

PictoChat

 

[JORGETECH]

For me, the coolest feature has to be Download Play. I know it wasn't fully unique at the time since the PSP had something similar, but the NDS implementation was used by more games and had more visibility (by having the button present in the main menu).

The thing I remember the most about Download Play is the ability to play with people that didn't have the game (Single Card Multiplayer) as long as the game is compatible with that feature, thankfully, a lot of games had that feature implemented and I remember a lot of Mario Kart DS and Mario Party DS sessions with people that didn't have those games (or any game at all).

Thinking about this feature also makes me wonder if the Nintendo Switch has something similar, it seems to me like this kind of game sharing has been "lost to time" with the stricter DRM schemes of today.

 

[Maximumbeans]

To name something that hasn't been mentioned (even though built-in WiFi was incredible at the time), local wireless for games like Pokemon to enable trading. After years of short and cumbersome cables to get the job done, totally wireless connection across rooms was amazing.

 

[cearp]

I liked the idea that some GBA games being inserted would unlock things in the DS game.
(Or even data transfer like pal park)

The thing I remember the most about Download Play is the ability to play with people that didn't have the game

Yes this was very cool for DS mario kart, but even with GBA mario kart you could do it - I think I remember linking up with 3 other people and only using one game!

 

[Lucaserf]

The Dual Screens...

 

[BETA215]

Rumble, something any DSi neither any 3DS console ever had!

 

[SM9911]

I agree with JORGETECH on Download Play. To add to that, download play does live on in the 3DS as its own app, and a select few games on the Switch also have this feature, but its availability decreased between generations, probably because games got too big (IIRC DS games can be anywhere from 8 to 512 MB at the absolute max).

 

[Tarmfot]

Ds download.

Rumble, something any DSi neither any 3DS console ever had!

Tapwave Zodiac had rumble and Xperia Play.

It's cheap to implement. I don't understand why was only a gba cartridge addon.

I wonder what kind of nice devices developers would do if dsi got gba slot. :-(

 

[ASSASSIN-Z]

Even if you don't use it for gaming anymore, you can always use it as an alarm clock.

 

[zxr750j]

I think the fact it had 2 screens and (only) one was a touch screen.

 

[JORGETECH]

Yes this was very cool for DS mario kart, but even with GBA mario kart you could do it - I think I remember linking up with 3 other people and only using one game!

I didn't think about the GBA link cable, that was also cool. But the NDS had the advantage of being wireless, so you didn't need to remember to bring the cable with you .

I agree with JORGETECH on Download Play. To add to that, download play does live on in the 3DS as its own app, and a select few games on the Switch also have this feature, but its availability decreased between generations, probably because games got too big (IIRC DS games can be anywhere from 8 to 512 MB at the absolute max).

The size of modern games is probably a big factor, I agree with you. The NDS implementation is actually an impressive feat considering it had to store everything in 4 MB of RAM.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Download Play was cool af. Kinda felt like getting 4 copies of a game for the price of 1. Granted load times were pretty long. But for primarily multiplayer games like Mario Party and Mario Kart it was a killer feature.
It's something that was only possible for a short period in gaming history, after wifi became standard but before everything went HD. On the Switch filesizes are so big that it's not really viable. We have tabletop mode instead but it's not a great experience on a small screen. Some games have free local-multiplayer-only versions on the eShop but you have to download it ahead of time, which takes away the spontaneity from it. You can't just agree to play a game, and be playing within minutes, you have to wait an hour for the thing to download. Of course doing it this way rather than transferring the data from another Switch makes sense since internet is so commonplace these days, but it just wasn't widely implemented like Download Play so there isn't a wide selection of games that can be played this way.

Local wifi. I have some choice words about the Nintendo WFC connectivity that I will not bother sharing here, you were lucky if it even saw your router. But local wifi did work quite well, and for the first time not needing a link cable in order to play multiplayer games made it so much more accessible. I barely ever played GB/GBC/GBA games in multiplayer as nobody ever had a link cable handy (that would've required too much planning) but I've lost count of the number of hours spent playing Mario Kart DS, Mario Party DS etc. in local multiplayer, it was a gamechanger.

 

[mrparrot2]

The touch screen and wi-fi multiplayer were quite impressive from gameplay perspective.

FPS like Metroid prime did control very well using the touch screen, and the download n play was quite a frature, as I often couldn't find people with Mario Patty or Mario Kart. That made sure they could play the game regardless of having it.

Now about the underused DS features I'd say first that microphone (only properly used in Metroid's online lobby?) and... The dual screens! Yeah! No game seem to have used that to the point were It was actually interesting, It Just displayed minimaps and other kind of status. Perhaps It would have been better to ship the DS with a single screen but in higher resolution (320x240 or 640x480 would certainly help developers to port games from PC, PS1, and N64)

 

[DragonMals]

Nintendo WiFi Connection- Turned a DS into literally a versatile tool that everyday people can use more than just Video games

Download Play- A similar concept from a single pack multiplayer game on the GBA but it's wireless, and how a ton of games utilized this for competitive fun (although I wished that this is supported with MelonDS

No Software Updates- this is during the generation of gaming where you get the game as-is, and you don't have to rely on "oh let me just download a couple things before you play your game..." impeding your gameplay or patches.

Dual Screens While the resolution is smaller of the GBA, this alone is gimmicky and revolutionary. Call me weird, but I love games that use mostly the stylus to play them. Although this does makes some games impossible to play unless you're willing to use a mouse when playing them through other means.

 

[Tarmfot]

The use of dual screens as a "book".
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword