Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS was released November 21, 2004 in North America, and December 2, 2004 in Japan. It was the first member of the DS family of hadnhelds from Nintendo, and the successor to the Gameboy line of handhelds.^[1]

Compared to the previously-released Gameboy Advance, the Nintendo DS featured two screens, with the bottom screen being touch-sensitive, as well as stereo speakers built into the system, a rechargable lithium-ion battery, a stylus with an associated storage slot, a built-in microphone, and a second cartridge slot for playing Gameboy Advance cartridges (known officially as "Slot-2").

The DS continued some of the new design philosophies that Nintendo tested with the Gameboy Advance SP, such as the folding clamshell design, rechargable battery included standard, and even uses the same charger as the GBA SP. This proved to be a success, as the DS went on to spawn a family of handhelds that topped sales charts, set record numbers, and dominated Sony's handheld competition, the PlayStation Portable.

Nintendo DS Lite

The DS recieved its first of three revisions with the Nintendo DS Lite, released March 2, 2006 in Japan, and June 11, 2006 in North America. The Lite featured a slimmer, sleeker design over the original model, aimed more at matching the aesthetic of the soon to be released Nintendo Wii. Due to the smaller shell of the system, Slot-2 no longer held Gameboy Advance cartridges flush with the bottom of the system, and instead would allow them to jut out in the same manner Gameboy/Gameboy Color cartridges did when played on an Advance. Nintendo also included a dust cover that covered Slot-2 and gave the system a complete, rounded appearance.

The DS Lite didn't feature any meaningful hardware upgrades over the DS, using the same menu, the same resolution screens, the same processor, etc. Notable exceptions are the DS Lite screens featuring a more robust backlight, with both brighter backlight, and more levels to select, now offering four levels of brightness (compared to the original model's single brightness setting, and the ability to turn it off entirely); additionally, the Lite feaures a longer battery life to the original, extended by about 5-9 hours. This feature is offset by the fact that the DS Lite included a new port and charger, which to date is only used by the DS Lite.

Nintendo DSi

_{Main article: Nintendo DSi}

The third and final revision of the Nintendo DS was the Nintendo DSi, released on November 1, 2008 in Japan, and April 5, 2009 in North America. It had new features compared to the first two models, and was the first of the Nintendo handhelds to recieved an XL model with the DSi XL ("DSi LL" in Japan) on November 21, 2009 in Japan, and March 28, 2010 in North America.

Homebrew

Due to having no on-board storage to speak of, homebrew on the Nintendo DS requires a flash cartridge much like prior generations of consoles. Most popular flash card brands for the DS are capable of running the popular DSi menu replacement, TWiLight Menu++, as its shell. This allows the original DS to run game dumps, Gameboy Advance games, numerous emulators and roms, homebrew programs, and even select DSiWare games that work with the lower hardware specs.

Trivia

The DS and DS Lite feature an Auto and Manual boot option in system settings. Manual boots the system to the main menu, but Auto will automatically launch a game if it is plugged in, prioritizing the DS Slot-1 over Slot-2. Using a few button combos, you can control what Auto mode does upon booting.

Down + B
Boots Slot-2 instead of Slot-1.
START
Boots to the DS menu.
A + B + Y + X + R
Force boots Slot-1. All profile data will be blank, and you won't be able to use wireless communcation (Local or Online).

Footnotes