The first Nintendo DS broke out of the constraints of the gaming world by introducing a handheld gaming device with not one, but two screens. It also had wireless connectivity for game play and game control by voice and touch. These winning features have produced a gaming device with a big following. Over 84 million DS devices and 454 million DS games have been sold worldwide in just four years. Today we reviewed one of its latest versions: the DS Lite Ice Blue.

The original silver Nintendo DS which debuted in 2004, was replaced in 2006 by a slightly smaller version with a brighter screen. It was called the Nintendo DS Lite and it came in several colors. This year Nintendo introduced two new colors, each with its own package of goodies. The Mari Red Nintendo DS bundle includes a red system emblazoned with a big M for Mario, and a copy of New Super Mario Bros game. The Ice Blue Nintendo DS, which we reviewed, comes with a custom carrying case and the popular Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day game.

As shown in Figure 1, the box includes the Nintendo DS in a pale blue, a similarly-colored patent leather-like case, the Brain Age game, the charging cable, instruction booklet, and an extra stylus. As shown in Figure 2, the case includes a zippered compartment for the gaming device and has three pockets for holding game cartridges and a place to hold the spare stylus. Although the case is very protective and useful, we would have liked to see a place for more cartridges and a place to carry the charging cable in the case.

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Figure 1: What’s in the box.

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Figure 2: The case.