Archive for the ‘Nintendo DS How To’ Category

Which Nintendo DS Games Have Official Websites?

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

If you’re stuck on a level in New Super Mario Bros. or just want to know the story behind that freaky chicken in Animal Crossing: Wild World, you may find your answer on the game’s official Web site sponsored by Nintendo.

Interestingly, a game’s official site doesn’t always show up early in Google search results, but you can see the entire list on the Nintendo site. Just go to the Master Game List and then click to filter results for “official Website.” You can see sites for DS, or for Game Boy Advance (or any other Nintendo console.) But some of the links are dead or mistakenly redirect to the Wii sites, so feel free to just check out the DSDiva list below. (And please consider bookmarking DSDiva or putting the site on your RSS feed.)

Advance Wars, a strategy game.
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Big Brain Academy
Brain Age
Chibi-Robo! Park Patrole, an action game featuring an environmentally savvy robot
Children of Mana, an action role-playing game
Donkey Kong Jungle Climber
Flash Focus
Hotel Dusk Room 215
Kirby Squeak Squad
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass
Mario Kart DS
Mario Party DS
Master of Illusion, a magic tips and tricks game
Metroid Prime Hunters
Metroid Prime Pinball
Nintendogs
Personal Trainer: Cooking
Pokemon games
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Super Mario 64 DS
Trace Memory

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Nintendo Channel Downloads as of Dec. 30

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

If you have a Wii that’s connected to the Internet, you can use the interactive Nintendo Channel to download Nintendo DS game trials and other fun stuff. This week, there are some preview videos for Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero as well as Soul Bubbles. DS Demos are usually up for a week or two, and currently there’s a macaroni and cheese demo from Personal Trainer: Cooking as well as demos from Elebits, Dragonball, Ninjatown and Mystery P.I. – Portrait of a Thief. Also, DSDiva.com has a short guide on how to download Nintendo Channel DS game demos.

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How to Download Nintendo Channel DS Game Demos

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

I finally hit up someone with a Wii to let me try out the free Nintendo DS game downloads via the Nintendo Channel. If the Wii is wifi enabled, you just navigate to the DS Download Play area and choose from among several game trials to download. Once you select the one you want, turn on your DS console and use the stylus to select DS Download Play and confirm. The DS will “search” for the signal and soon the game demo will begin downloading.

Lately, the Nintendo Channel has had sample Personal Trainer: Cooking recipes as well as trials of new games such as Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero (due out Jan. 6, 2009) and MySims Kingdom. I tried both of them, and finally got to play around with Soul Bubbles and saw why people like the game so much. It’s hard to wrap your head around a game in which the goal is guiding “lost souls,” so the demo is a great idea.

Some demos are only available for a couple of weeks, while others are up for quite awhile. The downloads stay on your DS until you turn the power off. However, you can download the same game more than once.

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Design Your Own Nintendo DS Lite Skin

Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Mytego DS skin

Mytego DS skin

Is your Nintendo DS Lite looking a little naked? You can jazz it up with a “skin,” which is essentially a thin vinyl overlay you place around the two screens on the console, and/or on the outside of the console. Using a laser-cutting process, skin makers precision cut the areas around the control pads and all those little holes and button. In most cases, the skins are easily removed and no resume is left, so you can switch out your skin when you’re ready for a new look.

Mytego.com is an online company that custom prints reusable DS skins you design yourself. (They also make skins for the DS Lite and original DS as well as other video game consoles, cell phones, laptops and so on.) You upload your photos and, if you like, add text. There are four “faces” (top, bottom and around the two screens) you can design. One face is $12, two are $21, three is $28 and all four are $34. Shipping is $3.

If you don’t want to use your own photos or images, Mytego has many to choose from and also sells officially licensed, branded designs. (The skins you may see on eBay and other places with trademarked characters may not have the official OK).

You can see lots of customers’ custom-designed skins on Mytego’s Flickr page.

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5 Ways to Sell or Trade In Used Nintendo DS Games

Friday, November 21st, 2008

There are some Nintendo DS games that you want to keep and play forever, and then there are those that you would just as soon never show up on your dual screen again. Maybe you get bored easily, the game was no fun (or just not your style) or you’ve beaten all the levels or solved all the mysteries and are ready for a new challenge. There’s no reason for the now-unwanted game to sit idle in your game case, because they are plenty of ways to sell or trade them.

1. Sell or trade in the game at a mass retailer such as GameStop and Game Crazy. Often, the retailer will have a list of games there’s a high demand for and will offer more money—usually 20 percent more—for them. If you trade in three or more games at GameStop, you’re a “Power Trader” and get an extra 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent more in trade credit depending on how many games you trade in. Also, you’ll get more if you have the original packaging and instructions.

2. Sell or consign the game at a local shop. Locally owned bookstores and even thrift stores sometimes have a video game section, and are happy to accept DS cartridges. Typically, you’ll get more value if you accept store credit rather than cash.

3. Craigslist. Used DS games, like consoles, often come up on Craigslist. By posting your used games for sale there, you can usually get more money than what you would have at a chain retailer or consignment shop. The best deals are those for several games, and another upside to that is that when someone is selling a bunch of games at once, they’re usually in the same genre.s

4. Pawn shops. The pawn shops of today operate a lot like thrift or consignment shops in many ways. It’s not just people hard up for cash pawning something intending to get it back someday. Pawn shops often have DS Lite consoles for sale for around $100, and there is generally a selection of games for sale as well. Take yours in to sell or swap.

5. Ebay. It may seem obvious, but you can always sell your old games on ebay. In fact, DS games are a great candidate for ebay deals because they’re so light and compact that shipping is not very costly, especially if you just stick the cartridge (and case) in a bubble envelope.

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How to rent Nintendo DS games

Monday, November 17th, 2008

After my family replaced its Radio Shack TRS-80 games (Downland, anyone?) with a brand-spanking new Nintendo Entertainment System back in the 1980s, I think my little brother and I ended up owning maybe a half-dozen games, combined. That’s because rather than spending money to buy a new game, you could just rent it.

Unfortunately for anyone who wants to cut costs and/or try out games before committing, Nintendo DS games are rarely found for rent in movie and game rental shops. I’ve read that it’s just because the cartridges are so dang small, they’d get “lost.” Whatever.

The upside is, there are some places that do rent DS games, including a few online. There are no late fees, but the more you rent, the better deal it is for you.

GameFly is the major player in the DS-rental ballpark. It’s a subscription-based service that works like Netflix: They send a game or games from your queue and you send them back when you’re done to get more. They usually have a promotion going on where the first month is $6.95 or $8.95, or 10 days free. The regular price is $15.95 per month to have one game at a time; if you want two games out it’s $22.95 per month. (Three- and four- game plans are available to members whose accounts have been in good standing for two months.) If you’re a multi-console family, you’ll be able to rent games for Wii, PSP, XBox 360 and several other platforms. GameFly also has Game Boy Advance games, which work on Nintendo DS. You can also buy used games outright from GameFly, or pay to keep a cartridge you like or lost.

A competing service is Gottaplay, where you can rent one game at a time for $12.95 per month or two games for $20.95 per month. A free 10-day offer is available for both those plans. The Extreme Gamer plan offers three games a month for $28.95 per month, and you have to pay for three months in advance. You can also trade in used games for new ones.

Gamerang will rent you one game at a time for $17.95 per month (the first month is $14.95; another special is two months for $40). Have two games out at a time for $24.95 per month, three for $49.95 or four for $59.95. (Those last two require a deposit.)

Renting is a great strategy if you think you’ll blow through Deal or No Deal in a couple of days, aren’t sure the Sims are up your alley or want to dip your toe in a racing game or one of those kids’ games you’ve been eyeing. (Yeah, I saw you looking at Imagine: Interior Designer.)

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