Do you also feel that today’s game consoles are a bit boring? I do. With the exception of the Nintendo Switch, there's no more whimsy or anything weird or eclectic about them, but even so, I think what's most special about it is its hybrid format. Other than that, it doesn't really change how the game works, it's more about the type of space you can play the game in. It's all well and good, and it's quintessentially Nintendo – weird, yet incredibly impactful – and I just felt like I was looking for… more.
Interestingly, Nintendo has already made what I was looking for 20 years ago: the DS. Man, what a console! When I was a kid, the moment I saw that thing, I knew it was something special, considering that by the end of the entire series' lifespan, it ended up being the second best-selling console of all time, seemingly unlike any other. People feel the same way.
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Technically speaking, the dual screens that make up the DS (yes, that's what the DS stands for, if you didn't realize) are nothing new for Nintendo, which has already done something like this with the Game & Watch, and again Proving once again that developers and hardware manufacturers are always ahead of the times. The DS is obviously much more powerful than any Game & Watch, and certainly more powerful than the Game Boy Advance and can play some bigger games. However, it’s the second screen that’s the real draw and makes you think “what is all this now?”
Instantly, the second screen opens up a whole new avenue for gaming, which is further increased by the fact that it's a touchscreen. There are plenty of excellent examples of games using the DS in interesting ways, including, not surprisingly, Nintendo itself. For example, Mario & Luigi: Time Partners is an extremely powerful follow-up to its GBA predecessor, in which adult and baby versions of Mario and Luigi can be on two separate screens, allowing you to move between them Switch back and forth to solve different puzzles – simple, but very clever.
The original The World Ends With You had you fighting two different characters at the bottom and top of the screen, requiring you to synchronize them to defeat enemies more effectively. Hotel Dusk lets you use your DS in portrait mode, giving it a book-like quality that's perfect for text-heavy games. Hell, even just making more room for Pokemon on the top screen by putting all the main UI stuff on the bottom screen would make for more exciting action.
While some of these games I played later, I think the culmination of all of them really changed my perspective and ideas about games, especially what they could be. Or, I suppose, more about how we interact with them. There's something special about having another interface to interact with, it makes you feel more involved in the game you're playing, something that no console to date has really been able to capture. It also makes the game feel bigger, like there's more to explore than on any console before it.
The DS helped me think of gaming as a dedicated space, which usually means a fun space, and that's often what handheld consoles are. I may not have realized it as a kid, but it really pushed me to think more about how we interact with games, which feels hard to do when games have become so homogeneous – all controllers are basically the same thing, but Have different functions. Nowadays, consoles have been given a coat of paint and the consoles themselves don't even care about interesting main menus, it's just there to get you into the game as quickly as possible.
I don't play the OG DS as often as I used to, my first choice now being the 3DS, but I still find the same fun there that drives me to my gaming tastes today. It's strange that even 20 years later I'm still thinking about such a futuristic console, but hey – that's what happens when you're one of the best handheld devices around.
