Played a lot of it this weekend.
I’m getting better at it - better than I ever was in any previous version (including Double Dash!!, which I’ve had for almost 2 years).
The sense of speed is amazing, especially in such a small screen. No matter what happens in the game, I have yet to experience a slowdown.
I’ve unlocked all tracks in the 50cc difficulty, and will focus on 100cc races next. I’ve also played several games online, though more than half were against just one opponent - it seems that Nintendo still has a few wrinkles to iron out. Also, most people out there seem to be better than me, though I’ve noticed that some of them don’t do the turbo dash at the beginning of a race.
Unfortunately (warning: incoming rant), I live in a country where the idea that “Nintendo is for kids” is stronger than in about everywhere else, which means that I don’t (personally) know anyone else with a DS (I probably would if I was a kid, but I’m 31). I really wish I could play 8-player matches using short distance wi-fi. But Portugal is all about the PS2, and now the PSP. 
(though most people I know with a PSP don’t use it for games…)
Anyway, this game is more than worth buying - it’s one you’ll be playing for a lot of time, and if you’re lucky to have friends who can see that there’s life beyond Sony, you’ll be in heaven.
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I don’t think it’s Sony’s fault as much as the people’s fault.
Like I once said, “colourful” is usually associated with “kiddy”. If Nintendo’s games aren’t a symphonic hymn to the visible light spectre, then I don’t know what they are
But them games be good! True, they use Mario in almost every game (don’t even try do deny it, people), but it’s a good engine on a simple (not simplistic [although that big shiny red button does seem to b-… ok, I digress :P]) car.
So far, the worst thing about the GameCube is its multiplayer games usually being limited to 4 players max (I’ve been told there is a multi-tap[PS2] equivalent adapter for the NGC, but I haven’t really looked into it yet). For example, Fifa 2005 can be played by 8 players (offline) max in the PS2, and only 4 in the NGC.
I support the PlayStation brand mostly because of the games that have come out for its consoles: gems like the Tekken series, Soul Blade (and sequels [although those aren’t exclusive]), Devil May Cry (this game ALONE made me want to have a PS2 [and I saw in-game footage, no FMVs {which is almost how much of it you’ll see in it, it’s like Metal Gear: all in-game}]), the Final Fantasy series (7,8,10,10-2), Kingdom Hearts, the SmackDown! series, Metal Gear Solid 1&2 (shame The Twin Snakes never came out for the PS2), Pro Evolution Soccer, Viewtiful Joe 1&2 (original to the NGC, but it featured Devil May Cry’s Dante on the PS2 (which, rocked!)…
This isn’t my blog, and that last part is thicker and very thick things, so I’ll the comment here.
I’d say the “kiddy” image has, these days, another origin, but I’ll save that for a future post.
As for the rest… sure, the PS2 has great games (though, to me, they’re stuff like Shadow of the Colossus, Katamary Damacy, maybe God of War, instead of “sequels galore”), but I prefer the ‘Cube (and now the DS), because it’s the one which has the games I want to play.
I’m really tired of “generic fighting game” (Soul Calibur), “generic FPS” (Quake 4 - that’s PC), “generic sports car game”, and so on. Sure, even I buy one of them from time to time, but no more than one every five years, after I had time to get the last one out of my system. You see, I’ve been doing this for a lot of time now.
Besides, everyone knows fighting games peaked with Street Fighter Alpha 3.
And we’re going off-topic here…
It’s not just the fact they’re sequels, after all games who either sucked bad or were just plain unlucky don’t get’em
One final point: Devil May Cry 3 is the hardest action, slice-n’dice game I’ve ever played, my right arm actually aches after defeating a boss (and in this game they DESERVE such a designation). It’s intense and very draining (I can only bear to do one mission per day [mostly because I can’t “shoot” as fast as I could in the “session”’s beginning]). And I could go on about how DBZ Tenkaichi Budokai completely broke off from the Budokai series (and the 3rd one rocked!), but that would be too much digression. Finally, Devil May Cry is a Capcom game (produced by them, anyway).
And hey, I’m a PS2 owner and I’ll admit any day Nintendo makes the “more-easily-approached-by-newbies” games out there. The frenzy that are the Mario Party mini-games is, so far, matched only by the fierce competition in “team vs team” games.
Sure, Mario Kart isn’t as realistic as Gran Turismo or the like… but who ever said it was supposed to be? If realism was the key-feature to every game there is, well… things like Darwinia, Crimsonland, Chrono Trigger, StarCraft or even something as simple as Tetris would’ve never been made. And that would suck to an unimaginable extent.
The DS is a good console, the stylus is intriguing, and at least WarioWare Touched! was fun to play in it. The one thing I absolutely HATE about the DS is that it plagiarised my 6-year-old clan’s acronym!! Those damn plagiarists!!!! If we were a profitable organization, we would’ve sued their pants off
For me. the DS, as I said before, was a big disapointment. Being a Nintendo Fanboy I was expecting more, but I’m not going to bash the DS. Maybe its a personal thing, I dunno, but I can’t stand the console or the games. I love all my Nintendo consoles, but I don’t see myself buying a DS. Even today I got Resident Evil 4 for my Cube, and man does it ROCK!
As for the PS2, I agree, it has lots of good games, I’m even tempted to buy one now at the end of it’s life, but I think I’ll wait for the PS3… and Revolution for all that matters. But I’ll wait and see. So far I’m loving my PSP, and yes, I use it for games, for movies, for podcasts, and Pedro, believe me, if you call yourself a gamer, you should get one
Ricardo: weird, I don’t know how anyone can resist Mario Kart DS (the best MK ever), or Advance Wars: Dual Strike (the best AW ever). They say the new Animal Crossing is awesome. There will be a new Resident Evil, in full 3D. And some RTSes have been announced, such as Age of Empires - which really, really need a stylus.
I’ve also been taking advantage of the GBA compatibility, as I never had a GBA, and it has great games (people call it “2D games’ last stand”), and most of them are ridiculously cheap, too. The first Advance Wars, Metroid Fusion, Golden Sun, and soon Final Fantasy 1&2: Dawn of Souls and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
I have to absolutely and completely agree with you one one thing: Resident Evil 4 on the ‘Cube is one of the best games of all time. It’s simply amazing, and no game in its genre even comes close. Even the (graphically inferior, but with extra levels) PS2 port is fantastic, from what I’ve seen.
Out of curiosity, which games do you play on your PSP? Everyone out there (Slashdot, gaming sites, blogs, etc.) mentions just Lumines and GTA: Liberty City Stories… and emulators.
Mario Kart is great, but I’ve been playing Mario Kart since SNES… I have AW for my GBA, it’s rocks, as for AC, I never played, still I want to buy the GC version. Resident Evil DS sucks, it’s a PS1 port, wich also sucks
As for the GBA games, well I still have my GBA 
On my PSP I’m playing Metal Gear Acid, Lord of the Rings Tactics, Wipeout Pure and the Namco Batlle Museum wich as . I don’t like GTA games and Lumines is on my whish list
We should get together some time, I really like games and I don’t know almost anyone with whom I can discuss with