The Working Man's Guide to the Nintendo DS

The launch games

The system comes with the built-in program Pictochat which allows you to type on a virtual keyboard, scribble letters, or send drawings. It's quite fun, although the younger set is who will get the biggest kick out of it, and you can only send doodles that are black and white. A demo of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt is also included. It has brief single player missions and a multi-player mode. Not too shabby for free pack-inside.
Here are the quick and dirty details of the six games available at the system's launch:

Super Mario 64 DS Nintendo, $29.99

A souped-up version of the Nintendo 64 game that lets you play as characters other than Mario. The big bonuses are multi-player support and a host of mini-games. Although the mini-games are tons of fun, you won't really get your money's worth if revisiting Mario's first 3D romp doesn't do it for you.

Feel the Magix XY/XX Sega, $29.99

Impress the girl of your dreams and convince her that you are worth her time through a series of wacky mini-games. Quirky and addictive, this was our favorite launch game. Very extensive and unique use of the stylus as well as the built-in microphone. If you're familiar with the WarioWare GBA game, the gameplay is very similar.

Madden NFL Football 2005 EA Sports, $39.99

It's pretty hard to play this rudimentary Madden after the big console renditions, but it's perfectly serviceable for mobile football needs. The game doesn't really take advantage of the dual screens in an innovative way. Going head-to-head via the wireless hook up is very cool though.

The Urbz: Sims in the City EA, $39.99

Should be big with the female audience -- guide your Urbz through adventures in the city. The "adventure" is mostly comprised of mini-games. You'll probably want to skip this one.

Spiderman 2 Activision, $39.99

As the title suggests, the game loosely follows the storyline from the second movie with 3D graphics, but it's played from a 2D perspective. An enjoyable run-and-punch action game that gives you a wide range of spider moves to play with.

Asphalt Urban GT Ubisoft, $29.99

There's nothing Asphalt Urban GT does that another racer hasn't done before, but it's a great driving game nonetheless. The game looks good, has a good number of features, and has four-player support.