Nintendo DS Lite launch
February 4, 2008 - By Gregor Rohrig
On Friday Justin and I attended the Nintendo DS Lite launch, held at Summer Place, Hyde Park, Johannesburg. This specific luxurious venue is absolutely incredible, boasting a pool/fountain, which would be a perfect prop in a bling-hip-hop music video.
The main conference area had been converted into a gamers delight. Flat screen TV’s and projectors were set up all over the place, showing either Nintendo Wii or DS Lite demos. Nintendo staff presented the new handheld Nintendo DS Lite console with the accompanying games.
The vibe was great, and represented the overall theme that Nintendo tries to bring across, that being - “funâ€
Rutger-Jan van Spaandonk, Executive Director of the Core Gaming Group (who have brought the Nintendo Wii and DS Lite to South Africa) hosted the event and gave a brief presentation, not only about the success the Nintendo Wii has had since its introduction into the country, but about the DS Lite, its features, and the new games to be released with both consoles.
The Nintendo DS Lite will be sold at a retail price of R1799.00
The games to be launched in South Africa this year include:
Nintendo Wii:
Mario Galaxy (R499.00)
MarioParty 8 (R499.00)
Nintendo DS Lite:
Nintendogs (R449.00)
Brain Training (R349.00)
Mario Karts DS (R449.00)
New Super Mario Bros (R449.00)
The Nintendo DS Lite will be available in South Africa in four colours and with a line-up of exciting games.
The launch of this console comes at a perfect time. The DS Lite runs off batteries, and in times of darkness, and lack of electricity to power our PS3’s, Xbox’s, and Wii’s, we can now at least rely on this funky console to kill time whilst waiting for Eskom to switch us back on.
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(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Filed Under Consoles, Gadget News, Games, Gaming, Nintendo
I still think the Sony PSP is better
And I agree with you Kevin. I personally think that as an adult electronic consumer gadget this DS Lite falls short and can’t even come close to the PSP. That said, the DS Lite is meant to be a very different gaming experience which neither PlayStation nor Microsoft can compare to.
That price is ludicrous.
When Futronic were bringing ds-lites into the country the ds was R1400. Core is ripping us off again.
If I had more free time though I’d love to get a ds, but with my job and wii there isn’t time for anything.
I bought one back when futronic was still selling DS Lites, and I don’t regret buying it at all. It’s still the console that I spend the most time playing on, despite owning a Wii, XBox 360 and Playstation 2. I hate it when people make blind judgements such as “the PSP is better” or “as an adult electronic consumer gadget this DS Lite falls short” when they never played on or owned a DS themselves.
I’m so sad that we are being ripped off with Nintendo products in this country. In a very big way it detracts from Nintendos image, as Nintendo internationally are playing the value card. Nintendo products are ideally suited towards South Africans, being well valued, family oriented and most importantly FUN. Core should be ashamed of themselves. The DS lite is the worlds best selling console to date (plz google for truth), it would not be hard to sell them if they were at the proper international market related price.
Anyway, welcome back DS! It is a crime you have been absent for so long and we hoe you bring our people much fun in the dark with these load shedding times.
Anonymous - I’m not making a blind judgment when I say “as an adult electronic consumer gadget this DS Lite falls short†- I am speaking from my own experience.
I have the DS Lite with the 4 games mentioned in this post and while I’ve enjoyed playing the DS it’s not something I’d chose to buy for myself.
The DS has sold more units than Xbox, PS3 and Wii combined so there is immense value in it however I think we need to take into perspective that the DS Lite was made for an eastern market and the games reflect this.
It reminds me of a glorified GameBoy and while I loved GameBoy when I was in school I’ve certainly outgrown it now. There’s only so much Mario one can take
Im not sure how this site works, are articles subjective, un-biased or opinionated? Its seems opinionated thus far…..
Jason I think it’s all three. We don’t bias toward any particular manufacturer and we give them all the benefit of the doubt. There will be things from a manufacturer which we love while others we hate.
Each review is a very personal account of using the product and as such is very subjective and - can be - opinionated at the same time.
We’re giving you our own personal experience of a product and this is what differentiates us from the competition I guess. If you want to read about tech specs, verbatim reviews or press releases there are a myriad of sites out there doing this but we’re looking at how products work in SA.
I’m still outraged at the price of a Wii. Its almost unfair for it to be priced at the same price of an Xbox360, taking into account that the Wii has almost nothing to offer, other than a few quirky(sp) games that could run on a Gamecube. Now dont get me wrong, I really did want a Wii, but in no way is the price tag justified for it. Wonder if there is some kind of industry joke outside south africa, ” You do know that south africans enjoy some lube, if you get what I’m saying? *wink* “
FYI, the DS is extremely popular here in Canada.
However, the price ranges from $100 to $160, and games are $25 - $45 so it is far more affordable.
I am a HUGE Nintendo fan. At present I have the Super NES, N64 as well as Gamecube, but all of them were bought overseas. The reason? The SA prices for Ninty products are just way to high. The Wii as well as the DS Lite are in my humble opinion aimed at the more casual gamer and as such shouldn’t carry the kind of prices they do.
The DS is almost the same price as the PSP and although one can say a great many derogatory things about the UMD format, one must admit that it is a technically more superior product, which makes the DS’ price seem insane.
Oh well, I’ll get one from the UK and can’t wait for my Wii which is currently en route from there as well.
Core is evil and must be stopped!!!!!
[...] February this year South African consumers have been able to buy the Nintendo DS Lite in stores nationwide and we’ve [...]
What gets me is that most of the stores selling the DS Lite, all charge exactly the same price. R1799.00 This is odd. Or is this just another one of the many things in SA where the manufacturer / distributor decides the selling price?
Ds lite is the best video game console ever made. Awesome job nintendo
http://www.dslitereview.com