Well, I officially feel old. Happy 10th, Nintendo DS.

[BetaWolf47]

Was wondering whether to post this in Classic or Modern. Most systems are classic by their 10th anniversary. Then again, we still consider GameCube modern, despite having turned 13 this week.

I was one of the people who took advantage of EB Games' promotion where you could trade in a GBA SP and two games to get a "Game Boy Advance DS" $50 off at launch. Got it and Super Mario 64 DS at launch, followed by Wario Ware: Touched!, Yoshi Touch and Go, and Ridge Racer DS. My favorites back then were Pac 'n' Roll and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. I ended up playing the system a lot when it launched and then, oddly, discovered retrogaming not a year and a half later. I probably haven't experienced the best Nintendo DS has to offer because of that, but I have built up a small library since.

What are your original DS memories?

[The Adventurer]

As I got a Game Boy in 1990 the DS was just another in a long line of Nintendo Handhelds for me. It was however the first handheld I'd gotten during its natural lifespan since the Game Boy (I'd gotten a GBA SP very late in its lifespan) Unfortunately I never got the use out of the DS that I had hoped for. It wouldn't be until the 3DS that I really got back into handheld gaming in a big way, and rediscovered the vast DS library I had missed.

[kai123]

Metroid Prime hunters blew my mind at the time. I worked at EB games when it launched and everyone that worked there got a system and we played the hell out of the multiplayer. Ridge Racer was another popular one we played quite a bit.

[Tanooki]

If that makes you old, damn I hate to think those of us who got the NES back in 1985 must feel or the Gameboy in 1989.

[wizardofwor1975]

If that makes you old, damn I hate to think those of us who got the NES back in 1985 must feel or the Gameboy in 1989.

Sheesh, I feel ancient then considering my mom & pops got us a ColecoVision back in '84 for Christmas.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I don't see the passage of time as something to feel bad about, but rather, celebrated. When I think back on all the excellent games on the DS, feeling sad about it is the last thing on my mind.

I know some gamers get butthurt at the mere suggestion, but do you guys think the DS is retro now?

To me, once a game or a system is ten years old, it becomes retro.

Technology moves so quickly that ten years is a long time when it comes to gaming. To me, once a system is sufficiently old, it becomes retro, so there's no question the DS is retro now. The 360, PS3 and Wii are nearly retro at this point.

Eventually, even the PS4 and Xbone will be retro consoles.

[Leo_A]

I don't tend to view the previous generation of hardware as classic.

I'll be more inclined to view it as such when the 3DS itself has been replaced and the final remnants of DS software, still a common sight in bargain bins at the moment at most retailers, have disappeared. I think there's still even some limited commercial development going on for the system, although new DS hardware sales have concluded.

Lots of good memories, but I tend to view it as a missed opportunity after the greatness that was the Game Boy Advance. Too many developers jumped into 3D without the budgets to properly reflect their visions (And the lack of an analog stick held back some otherwise fine 3D projects). And the touch screen craze generally didn't do anything for me. And many of Nintendo's major projects somewhat underwhelmed me like the touch screen Zeldas.

My favorite memory probably is experiencing a fine version of Super Mario 64 on a handheld. And its classic compilations have seen a lot of mileage by me. Intellivision Lives, Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 & 2, and Konami Arcade Classics keep the dust off my DS systems to this day.

[PapaStu]

I don't see the passage of time as something to feel bad about, but rather, celebrated. When I think back on all the excellent games on the DS, feeling sad about it is the last thing on my mind.

I know some gamers get butthurt at the mere suggestion, but do you guys think the DS is retro now?

To me, once a game or a system is ten years old, it becomes retro.

Technology moves so quickly that ten years is a long time when it comes to gaming. To me, once a system is sufficiently old, it becomes retro, so there's no question the DS is retro now. The 360, PS3 and Wii are nearly retro at this point.

Eventually, even the PS4 and Xbone will be retro consoles.

Hard to call it "retro" when releases are still bleeding out slowly to stores and systems are still in production (all be it as 2DS's and DSI LLs).

Crazy to think it's been a decade. With current DS count, it means i've averaged 70 games a year since launch for it. o_O

[Leo_A]

The 2DS is a 3DS revision.

DS hardware sales have largely dried up. Just 20,000 system sales were registered from April to September and all were attributed to 'other' for the region, rather than to the Japanese or American regions.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/historical_data/pdf/consolidated_sales_e1409.pdf