Yep, had no idea myself until recently and had to get one. The XL’s IPS screens are an obvious improvement over the past DSes and not just with colors and viewing angles. The Lite’s screens have a lot of ghosting and it seems impossible to find one where at least one of the screen’s doesn’t have a nasty, splotchy yellow tint: not my pic but a good example. I got a black Lite last year, in great condition, but the bottom screen still has that uneven yellowness. Same with my original white DSL purchased at launch which I’m certain wasn’t like that initially. Something with the touch screen or a glue yellowing over time? No idea, but at least my DSI XL doesn’t exhibit this problem and both screens look bright and neutral. I also don’t mind that the XL’s pixel structure is noticeable and actually think it looks neat.
Overall, the DS is my most played handheld of all time. It was a lifesaver in getting me through my boring train commutes to and from college. Some of my favorites at the time: Yoshi Touch & Go, Mario Kart, Sonic Rush, both Advance Wars, Kirby Canvas Curse, Meteos, Metroid Prime Pinball, Dawn of Sorrow, Phoenix Wright, Tetris DS and the Ouendan series. I played Ouendan on the train and didn’t care if anyone thought I looked nuts. I was hooked. EBA’s songs were a downgrade but the game grew on me and I still like it. Daigasso Band Brothers was my first foreign language game purchase, which I got hyped for after a thread on the old forum. I had no idea the sequel had an English language release in the UK… may pick that up since the Japanese was a bit of a hindrance with navigating menus in the original.
Always had a decent selection of DS games but at a point, being a broke college kid with bills and some debt, I caved in and got a flash cart. Not surprisingly I played less games after I got the cart. Having a handful of games in my little DS sleeve kept me more focused and avoided choice paralysis. I kind of fell out of gaming with the Wii’s decline and more or less stopped using the DS with it. Only in this past year have I gotten around to rounding out my DS library with most of the stuff I’ve always wanted to own. Crosspost from the pickup thread: games, more games.
In terms of packaging aesthetics, this is my favorite system due to the very sturdy, compact cases with thick color manuals. I’m not a fan of cardboard boxes, so if I could source enough official DS cases (not third party junk), I’d love to print covers for all my loose GBA games and stick them in the GBA cart holder. Like so:
