Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is a portable gaming system manufactured by Nintendo, originally released on November 21, 2004 in North America. It has a flip open design with two screens; one on top and one on the bottom, both centered on the device. The bottom screen is also a touch screen and the device included a stylus hidden on the back of it. The left side of the system includes a d-pad and a power button and the right side has start, select, A, B, X, Y buttons. On either side of the screen on the top of the device has stereo speakers built in. The device also features a built in microphone and Wi-fi functionality allowing you to connect to the internet at any hotspot. This device also has backward functionality, allowing any Gameboy Advance cartridges to be inserted at the bottom of the system. Some of these functions were altered on later iterations of this device. As of 2012, there are a total of 3 different revamps of the original Nintendo DS: 1) the Nintendo DS Lite, a smaller, lighter, sleeker version, 2) the Nintendo DSi, which includes an inner and outer 0.3 megapixel camera, supports internal and external content storage, and connection to a new online store called the Nintendo DSi Store (read: least creative name ever), and 3) the Nintendo DSi XL, a much larger version of the system with enlarged screens and an enhanced battery life. Eventually this series of systems was succeeded by the Nintendo 3DS, moreover the same design as its predecessor but allows for 3-dimensional viewing without the need for glasses.

One of the biggest advances this device brought forth was the Wi-Fi functionality. All earlier Nintendo portable systems did not include any internet support. This opened the doors for playing with gamers around the world, albeit with the very limited Friend Code system. If you wanted to play with someone over the internet both players would need the other's friend code inputed into their system to interact at all. Once this was done players could join each other in games that allowed internet support such as Metroid Prime: Hunters, several Pokemon games, Mario Kart renditions, and many more.

With over 151.06 million units sold (all DS models combined as of December 31, 2011), the Nintendo DS is the most successful handeld gaming system to date. While this accomplishment on its own is not particularly surprising given the great success the GameBoy systems had in their prime and the small number of successful handheld systems outside of Nintendo's realm, it seems that the system has finally found a formidable foe. Some may claim that this foe would be the Sony PSP and its successors but the PSP has only scrapped up roughly half the numbers the Nintendo DS has accumulated in the same amount of time. With smartphones growing more and more popular, mobile phone gaming has exploded over the past couple of years with titles like Angry Birds, TempleRun, Words with Friends, etc. Nintendo's firm hold over the mobile gaming market is finally being challenged.