A decade of the Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS system hit store shelves across North America exactly 10 years ago today, on Nov. 21, 2004.

Its Japanese release followed on Dec. 2 of the same year, while it didn't arrive on Australian or European shores until Feb. 24 and March 11 of 2005, respectively.

Although I now consider the DS to be one of my all-time favorite systems (along with, say, the Famicom, the PC Engine and the GameBoy), it took some time for it to worm its way into my heart.

What can I say? Aside from its dual-screened design, I wasn't all that impressed with the system or its initial selection of games following its early-2004 reveal.

A stack of some of my favorite Japanese DS games.

In fact, I waited until sometime in 2006, after the DS Lite had been on the market for a couple of months, to join the fray. (I believe I did so because I was about to travel and I wanted to play Animal Crossing: Wild World while I was on the road, but don't quote me on that.)

Once I experienced a handful of the DS' most noteworthy games, though, I fell head over heels in love with it--and those feelings have only grown stronger in subsequent years. (In fact, I'm just about to splurge on a rather large assortment of Japanese DS games.)

Do any of you also consider yourselves to be DS fanpersons? If so, please share some of your most cherished memories of this unique system in the comments section below.

(Note: this isn't the extent of my "decade of DS" coverage. Look for another post related to the system's anniversary on Monday--and for additional posts to follow early next year.)

Completely random (and likely unpopular) opinion: Nintendo should reconsider Animal Crossing's North American logo

Here's the thing: I actually liked the North American Animal Crossing logo well enough at first. Over time, though, I've grown a bit bored with it. After all, all Nintendo of America's staffers seem to do these days is paste a rather cheap-looking accessory (for lack of a better word) on top of the tried-and-true signpost-esque design they came up with back in 2002.

Case in point: the logo that appears on Animal Crossing: New Leaf's North American box art (below).

The logo created for Animal Crossing: Wild World (below) is a bit better, it has to be said, but even then I'd hardly call it creative.

Compare both of the above-mentioned logos to the one conjured up for the Japanese version of Wild World (aka Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori), which in my opinion not only is more whimsical--always a plus in my book--but also is a better fit with the rest of the cover imagery.

That said, I think the logo crafted for the Japanese release of New Leaf (aka Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori) is even better--and is the kind of thing Nintendo of America's designers should strive for in the future.

I especially like how the game's title is contained within a row of homes as well as a tree--elements that play a major role in this series of adorable "life sims." The subtitle's placement within a bunch of communication bubbles is a nice design choice, too, as it helps depict the series' increased focus on interactions with players both near and far.

Anyway, that's what I think about this admittedly rather unimportant matter. What do all of you think about it?

Five favorites: Japanese DS box art

Two weeks ago, I published a silly little post about my five favorite examples of Japanese Wii box art. Well, this week I'm going to cover something just as frivolous: My five favorite examples of Japanese DS box art.

Both of these posts were written up because I'm "mourning the passing," so to speak, of both the Wii and DS, by the way--which is kind of funny to me, as I'm absolutely loving my 3DS at the moment. Still, I doubt Nintendo's second dual-screened handheld will ever reach the heights of its first, so maybe that's where these feelings of abandonment (for lack of a better word) are coming from.

Anyway, you're probably wondering which pieces of Japanese DS box art I like the most. Here they are:

1. Awatama--This unique, Mekensleep-made title, which is better known as Soul Bubbles in the west, is one of those rare games that was released in Europe and North America before it was released in Japan. Japanese DS owners shouldn't feel too bad about that, though, as they got by far the best cover art, in my opinion. (Admittedly, it isn't hard to top the European creation, which can be seen here.)

2. Fushigi no Dungeon: Furai no Shiren DS--I've played a number Fushigi no Dungeon (or, Mystery Dungeon) games, but I've never played this one. That has nothing to do with its fantastic box art, of course--which may just be the best of the Fushigi no Dungeon bunch. (Only Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon's cover offers up any real competition, in my opinion.)

3. Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori--OK, so I may be a bit biased about this one. I am a fairly big fan of Nintendo's Dōbutsu no Mori (aka Animal Crossing) series, after all. Still, I think most folks would find this game's box art at least somewhat appealing--what with its adorable characters and abundance of color.