Keep Your Wife from Nagging, Get Her One of These.

I purchased this game system for my wife on Mother's Day. It was a total surprise she had been bugging me to get her one for quite a while. When I went to the store to pick one out I did not know that I had to make a big decision such as what color to buy for her. They had several different colors to choose from, Crimson and black, pink, white, blue, and pitch black. I chose the Crimson and black, and it was only $129 plus tax. This does not come with any kind of cartridge to get you started so you will have to spend another $20 per any one of the games. She specifically requested Brain Age. Ever since I surprised her with this game system she has been playing it nonstop. She carries it with her wherever she goes. I have tried it myself but, I seemed to struggle with it and that might be because I am not the one that wanted it. This particular game is supposed to help you build your brain power up.

Description
This particular console is Crimson color on top, and black all throughout the rest of the console. This only weighs 7.5 ounces and is approximately 5" x 3" in diameter. When you first open it up you will see two screens, one on the top half and one on the bottom half. There is also a shoe buttons, you will see for big buttons with the letters X, Y, A, B, plus there is to very small buttons. One will operate the start option and the other, you can select different options. There also is a cross button that will operate the cursor in your game. On the right side of your game system is the power switch and your stylus pen. In the back of your console you will be able to slide your game cartridge in and hook your USB cable into. In the front of your console you have your volume control and a place to plug your headset into, plus there is a little drawer where you can plug in Game Boy advance game packs. There also is two game control buttons on the lower right and left hand side of your console in the rear. These are used on selected games. You will have to check your booklet to see when to use these two controls. This also comes with an extra stylus pen.

Features
This particular console is lighter than the earlier models. It comes with stereo speakers, two LCD screens, the lower screen is a touchscreen, they recommend that you only operate this with the stylus pen made by Nintendo. Each of these screens are 3 inches in diameter and have a maximum resolution of 256 x 192. In the maximum number of colors is 260,000 different colors. The sound is in stereo, and if you use a set of headphones this will add to the illusion that you are in a world of your own. This bottom screen is very sensitive as you will soon find out. There is also a little red LED light that will tell you of your batteries life and will change from red to green when your battery is too low. It will also flash to give you some kind of warning. When your battery starts to get low if you are wondering how to tell if this is fully charged your red LED light will be orange, while the battery is being charged and will automatically turn off when it is fully charged. There is several control buttons on this console, and you will have to check your manual of each game to tell which control button will activate that game. There is a special holding spot on the bomb of your console. That way you do not get your stylus pen damaged when not in use. There also is a microphone feature on this console, but it is only available to certain games. To control the volume all you have to do is slide bar to the right or left to raise or lower the volume. There is a slot in the front that is for any game packs that you might have or accessories. They recommend that you keep this covered at all times when not using that way you will not have to worry about any dirt and dust particles falling in there and contaminate the inside of your unit. This console also has adaptability to a stereo or headphones. If you flip the console over you will see a battery cover. It takes a Phillips head screwdriver, a very small Phillips head screwdriver to remove it. There is also an external extension connector that you can plug in to get it to be recharged. When a slot in the back where you stick to cartridge for your DS game will only hold the Nintendo DS game cards. There is also a place to hook a wrist strap to but you will have to buy that separately. A couple of other features, that is nice about this unit and that is Pictochat, and you can have a wireless connection. The Pictochat will allow you to communicate with 15 other DS users. Also, the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection will allow you to play games over the Internet, and all you will need is an active Internet connection.

Battery
It does not take long to charge this battery up. It only takes three hours to become fully charged. This battery can be recharged just about 500 times, it will also last around 20 hours, plus this is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. A lot has to depend on the type of game that you were playing. If you have not use this game system for a very long time, they recommend that you charged us up at least once every six months. If you do have to replace the battery, they suggest that you used model number USG003, or go to their website www.Nintendo.com. If that doesn't work, then they suggest you call customer service at 1-800-255-3700.

Experiencing DS for the First Time
When you first turn on your unit to you will see that they want you to read your health and safety precaution booklet before you start playing. Then they will ask you to touch the lower screen, and at the top screen you will have a virtual reality clock and a calendar. Once you hit the touch screen with your finger this sound is not bad, and both screens should be working properly, they will also give you a choice of different groups that you can choose to play. If you were to accidentally shut the console, such as closing the top and making a connection to the bottom. It will automatically shut down to save battery life, but if you open it back up, it will be right where you left the game off at. Once you start playing this game. There will be different levels of that the game will automatically add on to as you hit new levels. If you do not shut this off manually little green light will keep flashing until you do so. Make sure that when using your style is that you do not apply to much pressure, because you could damage the screen. If you're screen becomes dirty do not use any kind of chemicals whatsoever to clean it off. Just a damp cloth will loosen any particles and use a clean dry cloth to wipe it off. Before you start to play you also most set up your system. You will need to follow the on-screen instructions to do this. My wife and I usually do not partake in the Internet games, but we do purchase the extra game cartridges for this system. The graphics are exceptionally well for such a small unit, plus the sound does not get distorted when you turn it all the way up.

Additional Games
After purchasing our first game, I started doing a little surfing on the Internet to find out what other games there were. The place that we had purchased our game system from was limited as to how many games they had. I know that this is probably not all of the gains that are out in today's market. But here is a few (185) that I could find; The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass /DK: Jungle Climber/The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass /Brain Voyage /Master of Illusion /Guitar Hero: On Tour/Backyard Baseball 2009 /Mario Party DS /Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars /Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Crosswords DS /GoPets: Vacation Island /Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword /Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day /Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day /Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol/Iron Man /The World Ends with You /Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Advance Wars: Days of Ruin /Myst /Teenage Zombies /Fab 5 Soccer /Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3/Professor Layton and the Curious Village /Toy Shop /Rondo of Swords/ Drone Tactics Plushees /High School Musical 2: Work This Out /Harvest Moon DS Cute /Lost in Blue 3 /Spitfire Heroes: Tales of the Royal Airforce /FIFA Street 3 /Brain Assist /Fantasy Aquarium /Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates Ninja Reflex /Insecticide /Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer /Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts /Petz: Bunnyz /Assassin's Creed Altaïr's Chronicles /Diary Girl /Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney /My Horse and Me Let's Ride: Friends Forever /Naruto: Ninja Destiny /Bratz: Super Babyz/ Zoo Tycoon 2/ Disney Friends/ Puppy Palace/ Kung Fu Panda /SEGA Superstars Tennis/Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery/ Eco Creatures: Save the Forest/ Chicken Hunter/ The Spiderwick Chronicles /Nanostray 2/ Paws and Claws Pet Resort/River King: Mystic Valley/ Build-A-Bear Workshop/Mega Brain Boost /WordJong/ My Word Coach /Rayman Raving Rabbids 2/Orcs & Elves/ The Golden Compass/ Alvin and the Chipmunks/ Brain Challenge/ Horse Life/ Barnyard Blast: Swine of the Night/ Cooking Mama 2/ Geometry Wars: Galaxies/ Pet Pals: Animal Doctor/ Miami Nights: Singles in the City/Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash/ Need for Speed ProStreet/ Contra 4/ Jackass the Game/ Draglade/ Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker/Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games/Jenga/ Pocket Pets/ Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command/Elements of Destruction/ Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings/ WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008/ Enchanted/ Ontamarama/ Dementium: The Ward/ Zoo Hospital/ Jam Sessions/Madden NFL 08/ Picross DS/7 Wonders of the Ancient World/ Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth Remix/ Naruto: Path of the Ninja/ Sonic Rush Adventure/ Code Lyoko/Planet Puzzle League/ The New York Times Crosswords/ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare/ Bleach: The Blade of Fate/ The Cheetah Girls: Pop Star Sensations/ Shrek: Ogres and Dronkeys/ Heroes of Mana/ Ultimate Puzzle Games: Sudoku Edition/ Solitaire Overload/ Super Collapse! 3/ Bee Movie Game/ MySims/ Drawn to Life/ Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck/ Naruto: Ninja Council 3/Hannah Montana: Music Jam/ Front Mission/ Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom/ Phoenix Wright Trials and Tribulations/The Simpsons Game/ Magical Starsign/ Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales/ Pokémon Pearl/ Pokémon Ranger/ Cake Mania/ Diddy Kong Racing DS/ Konductra/ Children of Mana/ Mario Hoops 3-on-3/ Bomberman Land Touch!/ Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team/ Kirby Squeak Squad/Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime/Star Fox Command/ Sudoku Gridmaster/ Nintendogs - Dalmatian & Friends/ Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis/ Wario: Master of Disguise/ Pokémon Diamond/ Final Fantasy III/ Custom Robo Arena/ Hotel Dusk: Room 215/ Clubhouse Games/ MagneticaSpectrobes /Elite Beat Agents/ Yoshi's Island DS/Big Brain Academy/ Cooking Mama/ Pokémon Dash/ Metroid Prime Hunters/ Super Princess Peach/Nintendogs - Lab & Friends/ Age of Empires: The Age of Kings/ Nintendogs - Dachshund & Friends/Polarium/ True Swing Golf/ WarioWare: Touched!/ Pokémon Trozei/Bust-a-Move DS/ Mario Kart DS/ Advance Wars: Dual Strike/ Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy/ Yoshi Touch & Go/ Trace Memory/Metroid Prime Pinball/ Nintendogs - Chihuahua & Friends/ New Super Mario Bros. /Kirby: Canvas Curse/ Super Mario 64 DS/ Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time/Animal Crossing: Wild World/ Electroplankton/ Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow/ Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2/ Tetris DS/ Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood/ Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!/ Nintendogs - Best Friends Edition/ Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard/ The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian/ Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles/ Summon Night: Twin Age/Top Spin 3.

Warranty
They recommend that if you have a problem with this unit to try calling them first or using the troubleshooting guide in your manual. They have a consumer assistance hotline, which is 1-800-255-3700, if this does not help. They offer a factory express service through Nintendo, but you must contact them first before you do this. The game and accessories is only warranty for three months from the original date of purchase. The actual console itself is warranteed for 12 months from the date of purchase. If this does become deffective in the first 12 months they will replace or repair the component that is damaged for free.

Overall Conclusion
My final thoughts on this product, is excellent, it is much better then the earlier models of this and is lighter. They do offer an extended amount of accessories that you can purchase at the store or online. This is very easy to learn to use if you stick with it. It is nice that they offer so many different colors, and I really liked the dual screen. This is very easy to travel with because it is so light and small. This is excellent for those long trips, if you cannot have a DVD player in the car.