Ten Reasons For You To Buy A DS Lite

About a week ago, I heard about a DS Lite. For ease of explanation, it’s basically the newest “Gameboy” type machine that Nintendo has put out. I haven’t purchased a machine like this since the original Gameboy 15 years ago so I wasn’t exactly “in the know” on what has happened since then. After checking them out for a week, I had the strongest (and strangest) desire to pick one up for myself. I finally got one, and what do I think?

These things are really, really fun.

Because I like it so much, I’m going to write up 10 reasons that you too should get a DS Lite. Ready?

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1) The DS Lite is great looking, quite portable and has two really bright color screens. The bottom screen is a touch sensitive one so you use a stylus to write on it. That alone opens up all kinds of new options. When closed, the whole thing is just a bit larger than a iPod.

2) Always With You- No more down time while travelling, waiting in lines at the DMV or Doctor’s office, or winding down at night. Because the DS LIte is a a clamshell, you can close it and not worry about scratches. It’s really quite durable and you can bring it with you in purses, briefcases, or suitcases.

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3) The Games You Love- With the release of the DS Lite, Nintendo released a “New Super Mario Brothers” It has all the 2D charm of the first one on the original Nintendo, but in all new worlds and levels. For me, I like this sort of game more than the bloated and overdone new games. Sometimes less is more. Besides the worlds and levels, the game also has about 20 “minigames” that you can play real quick to pass the time. They are just little puzzles, memory games, and things of that nature.

There are other favorites too. Mario Kart, Tetris, etc. (Tetris looks awesome on these bright screens.)

4) The Price – Compared to other gaming portables, the DS Lite is quite inexpensive. You can buy the machine for $129, and the games are usually $20 – $30. This is about he same price for the original Gameboy. I remember saving up for two months to get a gameboy. I had to play the one game for another two months before I could afford another game.

Costco has a nice package for this new DS Lite if you are member there.

5) Inernal WiFi- The DS Lite can connect to the internet if you have wireless internet in your house. This makes games like Tetris and Maro Kart MUCH more fun. Any time you want to race friends, or just anybody on the Nintendo Wi Fi, just log in and you can race or compete with others. You can also upload your high scores to see how good you are compared to others. This is a free service to use.

If you don’t have wireless internet, but you have 2 or more DS Lite’s, they will find each other and you can play against each other wirelessly. Two player Tetris could be one of my favorite games of all time.

6) HomeBrew- Homebrew are applications that others have created that can run on your DS Lite. With these apps, you can use your DS Lite to view movies, pictures, listen to music, read ebooks, keep your address book and to send and receive email, and all kinds of other things. It does take a little hacking to get this done, but it’s definitely there.

7) Brain Age- Brain Age is a great “game” for your DS Lite. The developers created this as a daily exercise for your brain. It includes puzzles and other brain games. The program will tell you the “age of your brain” depending on how well you do. It will keep track of this brain age and graph your improvement. Moms have to love this one.

You can compete with other players in this game to see who can complete the puzzles first, or you can just keep a digital record of how you do so you can see improvements.

8) Many DS Lites, one game. – Many games, including Brain Age, will let more than one DS Lite play off of one cartridge. Remember when you played Tetris against a friend on your gameboy? You’d each have to buy the game and have it in your machine. But, because of the wifi, one person can buy the game and 16 people can play against each other off of that one game. Nice.

9) Yesterday, I caught myself looking up cheats and hints for the New Super Marion Brothers. Me, 26 years old, looking for cheats. That’s what is fun about this game. It is simple and reminds me of when I was little playing these games. With the incredible amount of data that they can put on these little cards, the New Super Mario Brothers has so many hidden treats and tricks.

10) I need friends. – By now, you can probably see that I’d like all of you to buy a DS Lite so that I’ll have friends to play against online. When you buy a game that works with WiFi (Tetris, Mario Kart) you’ll be given a friend code. Now, if I want to race you, I just put in your friend code and we’re playing against each other online. Sixteen people can play at once. There are always a ton of people for me to race online, but I think it would be so much more fun if I knew the person on the other end.

You can buy these DS Lite’s just about anywhere. (Best Buy, Amazon.com, Costco, etc). When you get one, be sure to let me know what your “friend code” is so we can play. If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

The next time you are bored in the airport, on a plane, at the dentist, on your lunch break, or just at home, I want you to think of this post and let the seed of desire grow for your own DS Lite.