DS Lite Hands-on

March 5th, 2006, 11:52 Posted By: wraggster

IGN have posted an Hands on of the new DS Lite, heres an excerpt:

Luckily, before the whole Japanese launch debacle, Nintendo hopped on over to the IGN offices to bring over the system so we could see what the big deal's about. Though the company still hasn't revealed when the system's making the hop over to the US, it's pretty obvious that the system will ship stateside eventually, and Nintendo's rightfully proud about the redesign enough to give us a preview.

When we get our final units in-house, we'll go through the usual photo shoot comparing sizes and differences between the two systems, as well as give you our final verdict if this system's more comfortable than the original or simply a handheld gaming crampfest. Until then, this early hands-on will have to do.

The unit Nintendo brought over was what the company claims is a "prototype" version, but realistically what we had in-hand was essentially what the Japanese (and the rare, lucky US importers) are currently playing. So the unit in-hand is, we're guessing, the final edition, with Nintendo playing it safe by offering the "prototype" disclaimer.

That said, this "prototype" is gorgeous, and once you see the DS Lite and hold it you'll wonder why Nintendo's going to still be producing the original Nintendo DS system -- everything on the original system has been tightened up and sleekened out, clearly aiming to gadgetize the look as close to the Revolution controller and Game Boy Micro as possible. Even the buttons and D-pad are similar to the remote control and mini GBA, right down to the D-pad style.

Most notably, the two screens are absolutely brilliant on the DS Lite, and clearly the biggest positive change to the whole system. The original LCDs on the original DS system were completely functional but they are, and always have been, a bit on the dark side. On the DS Lite, the screens can be set at four different illumination levels, and even at the lowest brightness setting the screens are brighter, more colorful, and have a wider viewing angle. The two screens work much better together on the DS Lite, not suffering from the "one bright/one dark" appearance of the original system.

Read the full article at the link above.

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