Mike_NJ

I've been to restaurants a number of times in the last year and have seen kids playing their DS at the table...

And couldn't help but be jealous.

I mean, come on. I'm not a car guy, I don't want to talk about cars. At the time, I didn't have a girlfriend, so I didn't want to hear my siblings' gushing about their significant others. I was bored out of my gourd.

In a couple cases I contented myself with (surreptitiously) watching a kid at a nearby table playing. One girl was in the ghost gym in Pokemon D/P.

Surreptitiously because how odd would it be if a parent caught the 28-year old guy at the next table watching their kid play video games? Yeesh.

Even if they rehashed some of the older game demos available at the Nintendo Download Stations it would be great. I'm sure there's hundreds of DS games I would never give a second glance at for 30 bucks but if I could try the demo and find it on clearance or elsewhere cheaply and legitimately...

I don't understand how people do this. Opening and closing the unit? I've had two - a Polar White from release and then an Onyx (which is now about a year old, too) and I haven't seen this issue.

Does this come from opening the unit all the way? I don't play with mine "flat"; I prefer it semi-angled.

I wish it would say on the game purchase page how many blocks it will use up - before you click Download. I haven't bought Wii Points yet.

How many blocks is FFCC:MLAAK?

Diamond is the only "standard" Poke-game in which I completed the story.

I put "standard" in quotes because just this past weekend I completed the pre-credits story in Explorers of Darkness.

Anyway, I bought Yellow and Crystal and played them and I think I even got further in them than I had their predecessors but I really don't recall - it's been a while!

But I'll probably get it.

The only things that would entice me immediately to buy a new DS redesign are those that almost enticed me to buy a PSP - integrated web browsing and additional media (ie music) access.

If the screen got bigger or clearer or what-have-you it would be a "maybe in six months" purchase.

The only places I play "in full view of public" is at doctors' appointments and at work.

I have seen kids in restaurants playing Pokemon or NSMB. Watched one girl do the ghost gym in D/P while waiting for soup. I couldn't read her screen but she cleared that gym like a pro.

The obligatory "at home" needs not to be said.

Oops.

Anyway, I also play during break or before or after hours at work (especially when waiting for computers to update, it keeps me awake), as well as at doctors' appointments.

I was tempted to play at the dinner table at my brother's last birthday dinner (Texas Roadhouse, his 25th) but Mom told me that if I were to even consider bringing the DS into the car, my girlfriend would regret it.

I wonder what she meant by that?

My Pokemon Diamond had over 130 hours on it...
I've put 45+ hours into Final Fantasy VI four or five times...
30+ into Final Fantasy IV four or five times...

My current "big times" are probably SSBB with ~40? hours, PMD: Darkness with ~22, and Mario Kart Wii with ~18 hours. (PMD:D is easier since I can carry it with me!)

I have two spots "reserved" for my DS charger...

I'll plug it into my UPS under my computer desk for overnight charging. (It's easy to get to.)

If I'm mid-game and realize "hey it's been a while since I've charged, I'd hate for the battery to die mid-battle*" I'll take the charger to the opposite side of my room and plug it into the power strip with the TV and Wii, and lay out on the floor and play there for a bit. :)


*Yes, I've had the battery die on me at inopportune moments. More than I care to recall.