So yesterday I started fooling around with Pstros NDS, a Java Micro Edition implementation for the DS. It is secretly one of the best things running on the DS. Why nobody knows about this is a complete mystery to me. Maybe it's the bad name mobile gaming has among "proper" gamers, but there really are some decent phone games out there these days (although admittedly, many developers have moved on from the Java platform, and the exodus will probably continue, so there's really only a brief window of time in which actually good Java games were being released). Still, games like the Super Yum Yum series have won awards for their quality gameplay.
This is what most games will look like running on the DS; the default resolution is 176*192, chosen because it fits the DS vertically and thus prevents any of the image from being dropped off the bottom of the screen. Of course, this does mean you get black bars on either side of the play area, but you're a big man now, it won't kill you. Unfortunately, there's the occasional issue like in the (surprisingly good) Doom RPG where the game expects you to have a numpad at your disposal, which can make entering passwords rather difficult. If you get around this, though, the game can be pretty enjoyable; it's almost a shame that it only got a mobile release, because it's really pretty damn nice.
There are plenty of enjoyable games for the mobile platform, even if they are typically quite short; this type of gameplay suits the DS, anyway; these sorts of games exist in droves on the DS, this just opens up a new outlet for them. Even tie-in games aren't even necessarily awful any more. Case in point, probably the most impressive thing I've managed to do is run the mobile version of Marc Ecko's Getting Up in fullscreen. Check it out:
It just doesn't get much better than that. For those wondering, the mobile version of Getting Up works much like N+; you perform acrobatic moves while collecting spraycans and avoiding the environmental hazards. Now, most games are not this flexible with the resolutions they'll scale to fit; consider the fact that most mobile phones have an aspect of at least 4:5, and quite commonly skewed even more towards height. Games simply aren't developed with 4:3 screens (say hi to your DS for me) in mind. Through happy chance, though, Marc Ecko's Getting Up has been designed to be extremely flexible with its usage of the screen.
The only real downside is that there's no sound support (or vibrate support either, if you're into that), but most games are entirely playable without any audio accompaniment. So if you're looking for something to do with your DS, definitely give Pstros NDS a shot, it is very much worth your time.
The only real downside is that there's no sound support (or vibrate support either, if you're into that), but most games are entirely playable without any audio accompaniment. So if you're looking for something to do with your DS, definitely give Pstros NDS a shot, it is very much worth your time.
