Nintendo DS

[greencreeper]

Mum likes the idea of the brain game on the DS :erm: Suppose it's her age. I wouldn't normally bother with consoles and know little about them. Oddly, you can't buy the console anywhere - hunted high and low. Is there a reason for this?

[Damien]

They are popular and it's less than a month now until Christmas. You should eventually be able to find one though.

[greencreeper]

Ah - that'll explain it then. I thought maybe they were obsolete. Flea bay has Japanese and US ones. Cannot find them anywhere else - ranges from 4 to 18 weeks (!) delivery estimate :(

[Graham M]

Take a look here GC

http://www.play.com/Games/DS/4-/1025954/Nintendo-DS-Lite-Console-Black/Product.html?ptsl=1&ob=Price&fb=0

or here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B000FTQR8K/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1196409516&sr=8-1&condition=all

[Aragorn]

You could try Gamestation (http://www.gamestation.co.uk/product.asp?id=dsh001) - it's not confirming stock, but appear to allow you to order.

[handyman]

Mum likes the idea of the brain game on the DS :erm: Suppose it's her age. I wouldn't normally bother with consoles and know little about them. Oddly, you can't buy the console anywhere - hunted high and low. Is there a reason for this?

There are 2 brain training games.

Brain training
More brain training

Its recommended that you do the original 1 first.

[zing_deleted]

there are loads of these types

just a few off my list

brain age
brain age 2
brain boost beta
brain boost gamma
brain buster
flash focus
left or right ambidextrous
math play
mind quiz
mindstorm
neves
platinum seduku
sight training
spelling challenges and more
the professors brain trainer logic
the professors brain trainer memory
think logic trainer
trace memory
ultimate puzzle games sudoku edition

[dilli-theclaw]

Oddly enough I get on quite well with sight training too which is quite good.

[Gareth]

Picross is also a great game to play on the DS :) (review (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=75026))

They're fantastic little consoles. I remember the first time I saw one, a colleague had imported it from Japan on launch day, and I was like, "WTF?!? It's so chunky and awkward, and why 2 screens? Duh - this'll never take off".

As you can see, I'm good at predicting things :D

[greencreeper]

I've ordered one from the 'Zon - their marketplace. Should get it in the next few days. I'll get an accessories kit and the first brain training "game". That should be mum sorted. Already got her a lockable cabinet - for the whiskey.

I would avoid a career in marketing, Gareth :D

[Gareth]

Has it arrived yet, GC? If so, have you been tempted to play it... just to make sure it works and everything :)

[greencreeper]

Yeah - came a few days ago. Had to collect it from the sorting office. It's a UK one and appears new, which is good because that's what I ordered :D No desire to play with it - not really my cup of tea. I've ordered a case for it - the accessories kit looked to be more money than it was worth. Car charger?? Mum doesn't drive. Intend getting a game from Chavgos.

[Gareth]

YNo desire to play with it - not really my cup of tea.That's what they all say.... but I bet that when you do play it (and trust me, you will at some point) then you'll be hooked.

Even games like Animal Crossing which, on paper, sound as dull as dishwater have an annoying way of getting you hooked.

It's the gaming equivalent of crack cocaine, I tell ya!

[greencreeper]

Noted, Gareth, noted :D

[BBKing]

We got ours from a mate who went to New York a few weeks back - had to buy a new power cord, but IIRC it was still cheaper overall and works fine.

It is like crack, although not for me - either my partner will be doing brain training on it or my son will be bringing it to me and forcing me to do trivial maths problems or drawing a racing car on it. Technologically very impressive.

[bleats]

We got ours from a mate who went to New York a few weeks back - had to buy a new power cord, but IIRC it was still cheaper overall and works fine.

It is like crack, although not for me - either my partner will be doing brain training on it or my son will be bringing it to me and forcing me to do trivial maths problems or drawing a racing car on it. Technologically very impressive.

Do the games still work the same with the imported ones, or is it like the PS2/Xbox regional encoding saga we have all got to know and hate? The reason I ask is that I am off to the States after Xmas, and was thinking about doing the same thing....

[dilli-theclaw]

the games are region free.

[KaySquirrel]

I play Animal Crossing: Wild World a lot, and Mario Kart every once in a while. (In fact, anyone who plays MarioKart on wifi, feel free to PM me for my friend code if you like -- always more fun to wifi with someone you "know" than waiting for random players!)

Hubby likes the Brain Training games, and has been obsessed with Legend of Zelda (Phantom Hourglass I think? I haven't played it) for the past week or so. :)

[Duke]

Just bought a DS for my sister and got the games worms and sims 2. I had a go, and I am hooked on the thing, might just keep it for myself :).

Great piece of kit, might just buy one or two more. Nintendo are really doing well, they are being very innovative. DS is the best selling hand held and the Wii is the best selling console. I am a hardcore gamer but I love this "casual" gaming also.

[greencreeper]

I've now got a case for it. Got it on Fleabay. Supposed to be in the UK is the seller, but the parcel has taken ages to arrive and has come from Hong Kong. I have a feeling that Hong Kong is not a UK island :erm: Get the game tomorrow. I very nearly gave up on the case and got an accessories kit - good job I didn't!

[greencreeper]

It's a nifty little thing - much smaller than I imagined. I had to get the "more brain training" because Chavgos didn't have the plain "brain training". I've had a go with it, and it is quite addictive - I was drawn to the suduko. My brain age is supposedly 84, IIRC. I'm not convinced. Let's take a look at FPS games... I've played the original Half-Life many, many times, and can now play it knowing where all the triggers and aliens are, and with a high degree of weapon accuracy. I maybe die two or three times in total, if that (excluding the dodgy Zen bit, which I'm not keen on). It's an FPS game. That should mean I can play any FPS game with the same skill. This is not the case. Why? Because every game is different, and the skills learnt in one game are not always transferrable to another. According to the Brain Training, repeating the same exercises over and over will improve your brain - I think it just improves your skill at the exercises, and doesn't give you anything useful you can transfer elsewhere.

[zing_deleted]

I disagree repetition becomes instinct

In Kung Fu I practiced a lot of techniques over and over again started off struggling as time went by I got more proficient then before you know it its becomes reflex someone throws a punch your block it and think wow how did I block that or something drops off the side and you catch it . So the repeated training makes you sharp. I expect this brain training will do the same in time the exercises will become instinct or a reflex and you will be come sharper.

[greencreeper]

Exactly, zingle - but only at the exercises. Being good at Kung Fu isn't going to help much with, say, kick boxing, is it? Completely different set of moves. With Brain Training, how often in life have you encountered letters moving in a circle, from which you have to determine the correct word? Or have to repeatedly deduct 9 from eighty-something?

[zing_deleted]

well actually it does as its more than just a series of punches and kicks it makes you sharp and a sharp mind can take up more information. I can use boxing kickboxing and kung fu all in one fight depending on the opponent . I think the point is making your brain sharp so it can take in more information more efficiently as an unfit lethargic person will struggle to learn new tasks a fit sharp energetic person with have more vigour in sure the same is so for the mind

[greencreeper]

I think you're generalising, zing - "brain is sharp at one thing, therefore sharp at all things". I'm not convinced. And all the training in the world won't stop you, one day, ending up in a home, sat in a puddle of ****, wearing someone else's teeth, and not knowing what your name is or what day it is :)

[zing_deleted]

no what im saying is you get the brain sharp so its more efficient. The aging process is something that you can ward off for a while by being fit and I believe the brain is the same. Of course disease of the body or mind can bring it on or destroy us all

[Hom3r]

I've just spent 7 hours going around every shop in my town looking for a Black one for my mum, every place had sold out, The only place that we could find them was Toys R us selling a bundled pink one + 4 games for £180, my mum doesn't want pink.

[greencreeper]

I got my mum a black one from Amazon, homer. I thought I'd got it from Ebay but on checking, it was actually Amazon, though the guy does have an Ebay shop according to his email signature. "Wayne's Movies and Games"

Mum is now hooked on it, and has bought more games. My brain age is 80, which is fine - at that age, dementia will be next and nothing will matter then because I won't be able to remember to worry.

[AndrewJ]

I've just spent 7 hours going around every shop in my town looking for a Black one for my mum, every place had sold out, The only place that we could find them was Toys R us selling a bundled pink one + 4 games for £180, my mum doesn't want pink.

Comet Oldham £99 without a game black in stock.

[Hom3r]

Rocking Horse Poop is easier to get than a NDL in my town.

[susie r]

I've just spent 7 hours going around every shop in my town looking for a Black one for my mum, every place had sold out, The only place that we could find them was Toys R us selling a bundled pink one + 4 games for £180, my mum doesn't want pink.


Play.com have some black ones ;)

[Delta Whiskey]

I bought one through E-Bay last week, came from Hong Kong, airmail in four days.

[xpod]

It`s well past Xmas now of course but my wife and i picked up 2 nice pink ones from somewhere about 3-4 weeks before Xmas.£90 each if i recall correctly......should have really got 3 but i foolishly reckoned my 7Yr old was a wee bit too young for her own hand held.
It was`nt until after Xmas ,when she was continually pestering her sisters for shots of the things that it dawned on me i had made a big mistake not deeming her old enough for one herself.

She`s been using her own Puppy Linux pc for over a year now.:doh:
All i`ve ever had to do is upgrade the thing.She`s probably more savvy than her older sisters with the gadgets etc.
She`s out-brain training them without even the DS`s come to think of it:)

Great toys though.:angel:

[Delta Whiskey]

A word of warning if you're thinking of trying one of those third party DS lite replacement shell kits, DON'T attempt it. I started off with a working DS and ended up with a broken bottom screen and damaged battery compartment.

[BBKing]

i foolishly reckoned my 7Yr old was a wee bit too young for her own hand held

Foolish indeed, my four year old's been doing Brain Training every night lately. Can't get near the thing. We have to hide it from him.