I have managed to get an even better brand new portable gaming system (traded for the PSP). Yes, I now have a Nintendo DS lite. Again, All I can say is WOW. This is a portable gaming revolution and has already changed the way we play games on the go forever. Also, the screen is incredibly bright and, despite what some say, the graphics are fantastic....it really is a great little device.
I'm currently scouring the web to post up info, so keep checking back every now and then to see the changes on this page.
What I have (so far):
Second from the end you can see the Crystal Case that I have. The same thing is being rebranded and sold by many companies nowadays, so they're easy to find. If you have one, I've created my own template system to go with it. Simply use the layers in the photoshop .psd file as a "cutout mask" to trim around any graphic you want. Then print off at 100% (i.e. no scaling). It's a perfect fit for the case and looks like you've added decals to your DS. You can download the .zip file here (I've also included .jpg, .png and .gif versions for those without photoshop, as well as a new template that fits 4 top covers only onto 1 A4 sheet - useful if that's all you want to change but don't want to waste paper).
The DS is the most popular current gen handheld available today (for handhelds, we're currently at the 6th generation). It's currently wiping the floor with the PSP, outselling it by a ratio of 2:1 worldwide. In fact, as of April '07, the DS has sold 40 million units to gamers everywhere. The reason for it's success? Simple really...for a portable it has BRILLIANT battery life, is simple to use and has a MASSIVE library of quality games. These games are not simply ports or parallels of it's bigger console brother either, many of them are genuinely original, not to be found anywhere else.
I tend to buy 2D style games for my DS lite, whilst reserving the largely '3D world' games for my Wii.
The DS can connect to the internet for online gaming. To set up the DS for WiFi access via your home Apple network: Firstly, the DS does not currently allow any protocol higher than WEP for security. This is unfortunate as, until it does, I refuse to allow WEP access on my router. Hopefully this will be addressed in a future firmware update.
If you wish to set your home network up, You can either set up your router to allow WEP rather than WPA or WPA2 access, or you can use your mac as a bridge between your wired network and the DS, whilst leaving your router alone (no need to buy a USB dongle).
How to share a macintosh's wireless connection with a Nintendo DS:
Make sure you're connected to the internet via something other than the AirPort card (i.e. Ethernet).
Turn on Internet Sharing:
Go to System Preferences, click on the Sharing icon, then click on the Internet tab.
Change the Share your connection from: pop-up to 'Built-in Ethernet.'
Under the To computers using section, check the AirPort box.
Click Airport options...
Enter an easy Network Name such as NDSlite OSX. You can keep channel as Automatic. Choose a 13 character password and encrypt at 128bit level - then click OK.
Click Start in the Internet Sharing panel (you may be prompted to turn Personal Web Sharing on - do this if needed).
Now click on the Firewall tab and add a new entry with these values:
Select 'Other'
TCP 28900-28910, 29900-29910
UDP 1225-1227, 3365-3367
Description Ninty DSlite (or whatever you choose).
Make sure its ticked open and then in the advanced settings make sure that you dont have "Block all UDP Traffic" set (the Stealth Mode can stay on).
For sharing internet access with other computers, this is usually sufficient. However, the DS doesn't play well with the built-in DHCP server, so we have to manually configure the DS. To do this we, must gather some info...
Open Terminal and type ifconfig en1. In the output...
Look for: inet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx netmask ...
Take note the IP Address (the x's) associated with the first inet (mine was 10.0.2.1; yours may be different).
Type dig. Near the bottom of this output will be SERVER: followed by an IP address. This will be the DNS server you will use for your DS.
Configure the DS:
Edit your Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Settings from within a compatible game.
Select a connection to edit.
Choose Manual Setup.
Enter the following parameters:
SSID: NDSlite OSX (or whatever Network Name you chose in step 2)
Auto-obtain IP Address: No
IP Address: Take the first IP Address you obtained earlier, and make the last digit bigger (i.e. mine could be 10.0.2.9)
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: The first IP Address, unchanged. (e.g. 10.0.2.1)
Auto-obtain DNS: No
Primary DNS: your DNS SERVER from the earlier dig output.
Test your connection at the top of the screen. You should have no problem connecting.
Read on to find out some hints'n'tips and links to great web resources:
DS™lite Stuff
(I've also included .jpg, .png and .gif versions for those without photoshop, as well as a new template that fits 4 top covers only onto 1 A4 sheet - useful if that's all you want to change but don't want to waste paper).
Club Nintendo; of Europe (prev. Nintendo VIP)
The Nintendo WiFi site