The Nintendo DS was the first-ever gaming system I bought on launch day, and with my own money. There was no way I was waiting for a birthday or Christmas to roll around for this one. When I saw the system for the first time in Nintendo Official Magazine, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It was sleek, it was wide, it had four face buttons (twice as many as all of the Game Boy systems before it), a microphone, and most shockingly, two screens. Whatever I was expecting Nintendo’s latest portable system to look like, this was possibly the furthest from it.
To make things even more extraordinary, the lower screen allowed interactivity through touch. Today, we touch screens every day as we interact with our smartphones, tablets, and the Nintendo Switch, but in 2004, touchscreen technology was almost unheard of, and it was unbelievably exciting.
The release of the DS also marked the beginning of a new era for Nintendo, as they began to approach world domination. The Wii became the company’s biggest success a few years later, but it was the DS that got the ball rolling and began pulling in a whole new audience for Nintendo, with people of all ages suddenly becoming involved in the wonderful world of video games.
It was home to two sequels of the incredible Wind Waker, with Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks allowing players to take the cel-shaded style of Zelda on the go. It even had a bizarre trilogy of Zelda spin-off games starring Tingle, which I (and possibly everyone ever) never saw coming. The original DS model and the DS Lite also allowed for backward compatibility with a Game Boy Advance cartridge slot, which meant that A Link to the Past and Minish Cap were still options for portable Zelda play.
The Nintendo DS launched in North America on November 21, 2004, before all other regions (including Japan). As a close follower of Nintendo news even back then, it was an excruciating wait for me as the system wouldn’t make it to European shores until March 2005. But when it did, years of magical Nintendo memories followed. To celebrate the Nintendo DS’s 15th anniversary this Thursday, we’re dedicating all of our regular columns to this revolutionary system. You can find all of our content through the Nintendo DS Week 2019 tag.
Please let us know your fondest Nintendo DS memories and your favorite DS games!
