Nintendo DS - could you help me?

[maktaitai]

I am buying one for ds this Christmas - he will be 7. Can anyone help me with some advice on which model to go for, games etc? I was thinking ebay, but a friend has had a bad experience with what sounds like dodgy software, so I am wary.

I have looked at a buyer's guide or two online but am even more confused as they all assume you know all about them anyway! We are Nintendo virgins so any help gratefully received.

My dds (8 and 6) both have a DS but not the DSi which has a camera as it was just too pricey considering how likely it is to get lost/sat on/broken.
We buy pre owned games at Game as they are cheap. They are simple to use but I reccomend reaing reviews of the games (I use argos online)

My son currently has the standard DS lite I think the only difference between that and the DSi is that the DSi has a camera and voice recorder.

Amazon are usually very reasonable for computer games, we normally go there or to Game for their trade-ins.
You can buy the actual DS consoles themselves traded in if your not bothered about it being brand new, I think they even have a 12 month warranty on them.

Good games to try are the Lego games (star wars, batman, indiana jones) New Super Mario Bro's and Mario Kart.

Many thanks. Sorry, is the DS the same as the DS lite? [clueless parent]

If i remember rightly the DS is an old model

DS lite a little less older

DSi was the last model to come out

My 7 yr old has the DSi - and to be honest the camera gets the most use !! ...get which ever one you can afford!!

gamestation do excellent second hand ds. The original ds is quite bulky so i would get a ds lite or dsi. We are getting ds2 a ds lite for xmas from gamestation.

DS has a DSlite, but wants a DSi for Christmas as it has a camera and you can play/distort the images.

I'm fairly clueless about DSs too, but trying to get clued up as DD (nearly 8) has asked for one for her birthday/Christmas. All her friends have had them for a few years, so she's played with them at other people's houses. Anyway, spotted this one, which seems like quite a good deal - only available in red though.

Smyths is selling the pink colour one for £80. Not a bad deal if you have a girl.

Can someone talk to me about DS games as well - which ones would be good for an 8-year-old girl and where's best to buy them?

Buy a DSi, if you can afford it, dd1 got a ds lite and a crack appeared in the hinge and on further investigation I found this was a common fault with DSlite that is
NOT covered under warranty, leads to whole thing falling apart

There has since been DSXL released and another one is being released soon 3d DS

As for software ds got some off ebay but some work on dslite and not on DSi, whereas official software will work in all DS's

Sinking dd is 9 loves Style boutique, cooking mama ESPECIALLY, Brain training, Imagine Teacher, Imagine resturant, Imagine detective,
The imagine games seem quite good

Toysrus online have a fab offer on a red ds lite but if I could afford one for ds age 8 I would buy the new dsi xl in green which is also on offer at toysrus.
We bought the original ds for both dd's, best things we bought, I replaced one last year for a dsi and the camera is great fun.

That's great - thank you. So the DSi is the camera one. MIL bought dd a digital camera for her birthday last year - would a DSi still be worth the extra money? Is it more that it's just more robust than the DS lite, or does it have more stuff as well (apart from the camera)?

dsi is camera one my ds loves it he is always making cartoons on it and recording voice overs for them,
so a few other things to do on it, I would go for dsi, as after this Xmas there will be another 2 models out after it

I replaced dd1s ds lite with a dsi this year, I was very dissappointed with how quickly the hinge cracked especially as she is so fussy with her belongings
I was even more dissappointed when I googled and read all about the faulty hinge

For games, my 7 yo DS loves anything Lego. Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman, Lego Battles, etc. He also loves anything Mario Brothers, Pokemon or Bakugan.

Marking place as am also ds virgin (and would very much like to remain so) but have 7 yr old dd who wants one. (well, she wants to play the Pokemon games really, she hasn't quite understood she needs the thingy to play them on)

So, it's a dsi we want then is it? Which has a camera? (she had a vtech camera which she has loved for 2 yrs but is now fecked)

To second dooney, ds (7) LOVES the lego games - he has starwars, batman and indiana jones. Currently very into his Fifa game, but was happy to get the 09 version which was around a fiver on ebay.

DS lite seems ok - we have had three since last xmas and no damage. I bought cases for them though, which probably helps, as they are protected if dropped or bashed.

Games - DS1 (8) & DS2 (7) like all the Lego games, Mario Kart, mario & sonic at the winter olympics, FIFA 09 or 10 (11 is coming out soon), and the FLIPS books like Artemis Fowl and Enid Blyton, to read on the DS.