Nintendo DS Lite - Part 1 of 2 - Hardware

If you haven't heard about the Nintendo DS Lite you either hate games or you are stranded on an island somewhere. Let me preface this review by saying how much I disliked Gameboys and Gameboy Advanced systems. I let my son borrow a GB & GBA from his friend this summer, and it was the first time I had laid my hands on a Gameboy. The disappointment was unreal.

The screen of the Gameboy was not backlit, and I couldn't see a thing. I cannot fathom how kids spend hours on these things. The Gameboy Advanced was mildly better, at least it's screen was somewhat backlit - yet, it too was one of the most disappointing things I have ever seen, as far as portable gaming goes.

Fast forward to July 2006 when Nintendo sent me their latest and greatest new release, the Nintendo DS Lite
The new DS Lite is sleek, beautiful, and re-designed.

I hadn't really tried playing any of the older GBA games due to the poor display, but now I finally was able to play a couple of Gameboy Advanced games and enjoy them. The beautifully bright 3 inch LCD screen makes them look stunning. If you did have a heavy investment of GBA games, this makes this the premiere choice over any other handheld. Being able to play from the biggest handheld game collection makes this $129 item an incredible value. The DS Lite has been executed extremely well, and in my opinion, it puts the Sony PSP to shame. Everything about the DS Lite rocks.