Back in late-November Joystiq's own, Ben
Zackheim, chronicled the beginnings of his love-hate relationship with the Nintendo DS. Now, reader
Vance has come to the end of
a similar relationship, he writes:
I've decided to put my Nintendo DS up for sale. Why? I tried to love the thing, but after 3 months (I purchased it
at launch), I have seen nothing that is worth keeping the system. The lack of games is my greatest concern (heck, I've
had to wait for good DS games by playing GBA games - I should have just purchased a used GBA SP in the first place, now
that I look back). I know that several are slated for release, but they're months away. In addition, there is no online
"XBOX Live"-type online play. The Sony PSP will be online at launch on March 24th.
I feel foolish and jilted to have purchased a system this early. I am not usually an early adopter. I usually avoid
first generation hardware and the bugs associated with them, but I guess the marketing hype machine around the DS got
the better of me. The good thing is that if I sell it now on ebay, I'll break even (since international customers are
willing to pay $150 - the DS costs way more than $150 USD in their respective countries).
Now, I'm not saying that I'll be buying a PSP all of a sudden. I think I'll just sit back and watch them fight it out.
There will undoubtedly be price drops, bugfixes, redesigns, and new colors on both sides as a result of the battle -
heck, Sony is already planning a longer-life battery for the PSP (so it's not wise to buy a PSP at launch either). It
just makes sense to wait it out. I'd much prefer to buy a system later on when it is cheaper, better designed, with
color options, and more games (hopefully cheaper games too, with Greatest Hits/Platinum titles and used eBay/GameStop
games). In a year or so, once the dust has settled (i.e. once there are price drops), I will look at both handhelds and
pick the one that is right for me. For now, I don't really need a handheld game machine. Right now, I'm quite happy
playing my new Gamecube that has bunch of fantastic and inexpensive titles. The 99 dollar GameCube with 2 controllers
and Mario Kart: Double Dash was a far greater value than the DS. Granted, the GameCube is old and a home console, but I
think it has far greater bang for buck at this time.
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