[coliel]

Hello all,
My partner and I have 3 children. We have held off from buying hand held games for them until now! My little girl who is only 6 is hoping to get a DS, from talking to other mums from her class this seems the "norm" and so We will be getting her a DS!! However my boys who are 9 and 11 are excited about getting a console but are un sure which to go for a DSi or a PSP.
My question is really just - Which do you think is best for their ages and intrests?

Basicaly both boys are active, they are involved in lots of out of school clubs, including Guitar, cubs, warhammer40k and kick boxing. They love to play fight, love listening to music, It would need to be easily interactive so they could play against each other and I would also like for there to be educational games available too!
I am sorry about any bad spellings!
I would be greatful for any advice,
Thankyou
Jess

[Haggler]

Personally given the circumstances the ds has the larger game choice particularly in brain and educational games, it also probably has the far larger game catalogue, mariokart amongst others have vs play though you may need a means to link.

I wouldn't bother getting a Dsi though for the price to features difference it simply isn't worth the extra dosh for a camera and slightly bigger screen, stick to a ds lite, don't forget there's a huge homebrew scene too with loads of freely available games if you were to purchase an additional flashcart, you could get both the ds and a flashcart for the price of the dsi, you would obviously need to download the games and transfer them from pc to flashcart in order to play them though.

There's a few samples (though these particular ones are remakes) of freely available games in the thread below.

Classic retro games ported to nintendo ds : Freeware downloads

[coliel]

Thankyou for replying so quickly, that is so kind of you.
So the DS is the best! - great,
I have herd that you can listen to music on the DSI, can you on the DS Light? Also you said about the card thing, Is it cheaper to down load games from the internet and what about viruses? We have a free anti virus thing on our laptop is that enough?

[Haggler]

Originally Posted by coliel

I have herd that you can listen to music on the DSI, can you on the DS Light?

If you plan on getting a flashcart then yes it really isn't a problem, just transfer your legal .mp3 files to the /dir of the flashcart.

Originally Posted by coliel

Also you said about the card thing, Is it cheaper to down load games from the internet and what about viruses? We have a free anti virus thing on our laptop is that enough?

To get things straight here we are talking about freely available downloadable games, if you get these from a site that specialises in their distribution then viruses should not be a problem (these games are totally free you pay nothing), your ds original games will still need to be purchased as normal, any discussion of piracy involving roms is not allowed here.

If you are settled on a ds lite then maybe asking in the Gaming/Nintendo section and dslite/dsi sub forum of the site would net you a more in depth response from people who know more, about the linking of systems and running of homebrew games.

[mattrixdesign2]

I would also say DSLite is the way to go, more games, more original games (but there is tonnes of rubbish ones out there), and a more intuitive way to play games.

The PSP is basically a home console (PS2) shrunk down.

[coliel]

Thankyou once again for all replys, you have both been very helpful, I will be getting them all a DS lite now so thankyou.
Im sorry about all the questions!! -

But what is this homebrew?

Also When I asked about the price of down loading games it was because I have herd my friends talking about it being much cheaper to pay for down loading i tunes for their ipods than actualy buying cds in a shop -

I wounded, can you do this for games in the same way so your still paying for the game but not all box, sleeve and disk etc!

You said about needing leeds to conect games - I thought from what Iv seen on the telly you can play against some one through the air so to speak as long as your not to far apart?

My last question is, Are the free games your talking about modern and fun and if so why do people pay such huge prices for the games in shops? - also can they be played against each other?

I realy have no idea about hand helds or their games which is why I thought it a good idea to join this forum and get some experts to explain a few things to me.
I thought if I went in to a shop selling these hand helds they would probably just perswade me into buying the most expensive!! - It is always better to go with a plan of what your buying!

Thankyou for helping me out by answering my 101 questions!!
Jess
ps once again apologies for bad spelling!

[Haggler]

Originally Posted by coliel

But what is this homebrew?

These are games or other software that users have created themselves at home, some of these people are very talented and it does not mean they are all crap.

Originally Posted by coliel

Also When I asked about the price of down loading games it was because I have herd my friends talking about it being much cheaper to pay for down loading i tunes for their ipods than actualy buying cds in a shop -

I wounded, can you do this for games in the same way so your still paying for the game but not all box, sleeve and disk etc!

It really isn't worth it, if you buy the retail game with box and sleeve you can recoup some money when you sell it again.

Originally Posted by coliel

You said about needing leeds to conect games - I thought from what Iv seen on the telly you can play against some one through the air so to speak as long as your not to far apart?

Probably i never tried multiplayer gaming on it at all, maybe someone else can elaborate?

Originally Posted by coliel

My last question is, Are the free games your talking about modern and fun and if so why do people pay such huge prices for the games in shops? - also can they be played against each other?

There are loads available, they do not have the production values of officially released games and most of these people do it to prove a point and the fun of bringing a game to the community, people talk about it and maybe they secure a job offer with a games developer in the process, they are free so if you don't like them you can always try another without feeling ripped off in the process.

Just from the link i posted earlier Blocks mania and Cube x are as good a puzzle game as any retail ones.

Originally Posted by coliel

I realy have no idea about hand helds or their games which is why I thought it a good idea to join this forum and get some experts to explain a few things to me.
I thought if I went in to a shop selling these hand helds they would probably just perswade me into buying the most expensive!! - It is always better to go with a plan of what your buying!

Correct and so very wise.

Originally Posted by coliel

Thankyou for helping me out by answering my 101 questions!!
Jess
ps once again apologies for bad spelling!

Np

[mattrixdesign2]

You DONT need a lead for multiplayer - you connect via the inbuilt wireless - pretty easy - kids will have fun playing together. Sometimes you need multiple copieds of the game sometime you can down load it to each DS .

I am a bit out of touch with DS, but as far as I know you can not officialy download the kind of games you can buy in the shops. However I am aware of an online service (this maybe DSI only?) where you can down load mini-games, a bit like those on iTunes.

As for a flash cart, most people only buy these for one reason which I wont go into, I have never tried homebrew, but I am sure there is decent stuff out there.

If buying games focus on getting some well regarded games (Mario Bros/Mario Kart etc), be aware of the movie/cartoon licence games as there can be some real wasteful trash out there. Well worth looking on these forums and ebay for cheap games.

[coliel]

When you said about watching out for cartoon/film games what do you think about the pokomon games? - Also dose any one know if I would need to buy 3 of the same pokomon game for them to play against each other?

[mattrixdesign2]

Originally Posted by coliel

When you said about watching out for cartoon/film games what do you think about the pokomon games? - Also dose any one know if I would need to buy 3 of the same pokomon game for them to play against each other?

I meant watch out for cartoon/film licenced games, not that they are all rubbish, but many are.

I think the Pokemon games are well regarded (but not my thing!)

As for multiplayer, I am not sure, look on the back of the box for something like "gamesharing" or similar.

[Haggler]

Here's a list of a few available games check underneath each one if it says single pack multiplayer then one copy of the game is enough, Click here!