The Nintendo DS stylus is revolutionary in my opinion.

[Teasy]

I definitely can't see myself, or many others, wanting to use the stylus while standing up for an hour.

I got that info from the article in the other current DS thread in this forum:

To our surprise, the handheld was not as big or as heavy as we expected. The Nintendo DS is about two GBA SP’s in width and weighs approximately one-and-a-half GBA SP’s

 

[cthellis42]

If for some reason you don't want to play with the stylus as a control method (playing while walking or whatever) then use the none stylus control method. Somehow I don't think Metroid will be the only stylus controlled game to have a none stylus control option..

I'm sure it won't. But then, that's why I don't see it having huge innovative effects and would rather make sure the dual-screen capabilities don't get short shrift. I think where it would offer the most unique use is with finger-control instead of stylus, because those can enhance any game without any other trade-offs since moving your right hand from the buttons for a moment is not any sort of "deal". I do hope, at least, that developers don't think of the touch screen as "stylus control or none at all."

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Teasy.

Anyway, the stylus is not likely to be a very effective control mechanism for 90% of games, but it would be nice for some adventure/strategy/RPG type games, depending on the pacing.

 

[marconelly!]

I got that info from the article in the other current DS thread in this forum:

Thanks!

 

[Brimstone]

The disccusion on the ergonomics of the DS got me thinking about the old Coleco Vision super controlers. They were basicly a pistol grip shape with 4 buttons along the front side of the hand grip. If a LCD screen was mounted on the top of that design, I could see that being more comfortable for extended play with a stylus. Of course the major drawback to such a design is the the machine wouldn't fit flat in a persons pocket unless the pistol grip was made to be folded flat againts the lcd screen.

 

[cthellis42]

Well it would certainly give you good grip AND the ability to hit a lot of buttons! But yes, I think the... er... other design downsides would make the Virtual Boy look like a dream machine.

 

[Teasy]

Johnny boy, crawl back under your stone would you?

 

[Fox5]

Just wait for the Nintendo DS SP, then the stylus use will become practical. Unfortunately, they'll remove the backlighting and speaker to reduce size so you'll have to buy external attachments.

BTW, am I the only one who would be willing to pay double on launch day for an SP styled DS?

 

[rabidrabbit]

As always, when I'm sceptiacl of how something would work,
I took it in my hand and tried to get a feeling how it would feel with something approximately the same size, form and weight.

In this case it was an opened CD case.
Holding it with my left hand with a pen on my right hand.
It is not too uncomfortable to hold it and press the imaginary directional buttons without a support, while at the same time scribbling at the lower part of the cd case.

It is ok for a few minutes, but your left hand does get tired after that, especially the fingers that are supporting it from below.

 

[Teasy]

An opened CD case is nothing like the same size, form and weight as a DS though.

DS would be closer to the size of a closed CD case, just folded in the middle. Still probably not something you'd want to hold in one hand for too long, but nowhere near as bad as an open CD case.

 

[Teasy]

Unfortunately, they'll remove the backlighting and speaker to reduce size so you'll have to buy external attachments.

There would be no point of removing the backlight. Since internal parts are not what make DS the size it is.

BTW, am I the only one who would be willing to pay double on launch day for an SP styled DS?

What do you mean by SP styled?

 

[Fox5]

Unfortunately, they'll remove the backlighting and speaker to reduce size so you'll have to buy external attachments.

There would be no point of removing the backlight. Since internal parts are not what make DS the size it is.

BTW, am I the only one who would be willing to pay double on launch day for an SP styled DS?

What do you mean by SP styled?

Well, the comment about the removed backlight was supposed to be akin to how nintendo removed the headphone port from the SP.

And by SP styled, I mean exact same size as the sp basically, except now the bottom half also has a screen. A much smaller DS.

 

[Teasy]

Well, the comment about the removed backlight was supposed to be akin to how nintendo removed the headphone port from the SP.

Yeah, as I said though unlike GBA internal parts are not the main reason for DS's size. So in this case removing something like that would have no real effect on size.

And by SP styled, I mean exact same size as the sp basically, except now the bottom half also has a screen

That'd be great but unfortunately its not possible. To get a DS the same size as a GBA-SP it'd have to just be two screens with no actual buttons at all. I suppose you could use the touch screen as a configurable control system. You could have either stylus control or buttons by creating sofyware buttons on the touch screen. But I don't think anyone would want that.

I suppose they could make DS a bit smaller by making the controls closer to the screen and shaving some size off the sides, top and bottom (they may do that anyway) but its just not possible to have a GBA-SP sized DS.

 

[Fox5]

Ok, a SP sized thing with a slightly wider base to accomodate the buttons.
Or shrink the bottom screen. Though that's the touch screen right? May not be possible to shrink it then...

 

[cthellis42]

"SP size" wouldn't change anything as far as stylus-use practicality. You'd be able to get a better grip around the unit (a la PDA's) while using the stylus, but no one has been saying the thing will be terrible for stylus-only use as it stands. The problem comes from trying to operate other controls simultaneously, which becomes hard and leads to the grip issues while gaming.

 

[rabidrabbit]

An opened CD case is nothing like the same size, form and weight as a DS though.

DS would be closer to the size of a closed CD case, just folded in the middle. Still probably not something you'd want to hold in one hand for too long, but nowhere near as bad as an open CD case.

Well, it is much taller than DS, and lighter and thinner, But the width is about the same.
And it is irrelevant anyway, because my experiment was about how it is to hold it with one hand (thus the width and heigth doesn't really matter, as you can hold it only by one side anyway), and use the other hand for stylus operation.

 

[Teasy]

And it is irrelevant anyway, because my experiment was about how it is to hold it with one hand (thus the width and heigth doesn't really matter, as you can hold it only by one side anyway), and use the other hand for stylus operation.

Of course it matters about the height and width as it effects the balance of the thing your holding, which is very important in this case. Holding a CD case by the side of the bottom part will be more uncomfortable then holding a DS. Because the top part of the case is so far away from where your holding it, which is not the case with DS. Also DS is balanced in that the bottom part is twice the weight of the top part (which balances the device).

 

[Psychogenics]

I don't know...I dont see the stylus for DS as a revolution.... To me the DS is just another portable....Its the same as GBAsp but with the added screen and stylus.... Not much their for people that don't like GB.But I guess that if you do like the GB than DS is for you.

 

[rabidrabbit]

And it is irrelevant anyway, because my experiment was about how it is to hold it with one hand (thus the width and heigth doesn't really matter, as you can hold it only by one side anyway), and use the other hand for stylus operation.

Of course it matters about the height and width as it effects the balance of the thing your holding, which is very important in this case. Holding a CD case by the side of the bottom part will be more uncomfortable then holding a DS. Because the top part of the case is so far away from where your holding it, which is not the case with DS. Also DS is balanced in that the bottom part is twice the weight of the top part (which balances the device).

I was holding the cd case closed, so it must be more balanced than the open DS, and lighter.
I was just using it to get a general feeling how it is to hold something on the other hand while using the stylus.
A DS will not differ that much from that experience, not too uncomfortable, but not what I'd call ergonomic.
No matter if the DS is longer, shorter, taller, lighter, thicker... holding it that way for a longer period (and I talk minutes, not hours) puts stress to your four fingers supporting it from below.

 

[Shogmaster]

The funny thing is, that the people in gaming PDA forums' most talked about hardware topic is which PPC model has the best button set up and most responsive buttons but never about the stylus.

I can tell you as a 7 year PDA gaming vet, stylus won't make a huge impact to DS gaming. A year from now, it will be a non issue.