Nintendo MP3 Player (Nintendo DS) (German version)

 

 

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I received the Nintendo MP3 player today (20/12/2006) for my sons Birthday on Boxing Day. We've got him a Nintendo DS for Christmas and had big debates over which consule to get: Sony's PSP or a Nintendo DS. We decided to go for the DS becuase it has more games for his age group (8) even though I knew he'd love the MP3 feature of the PSP.

I was tempted to buy the Japanese Nintendo MP3 player that also plays movies but I read that the instructions were all in Japense so I decided against that. So I was delighted when I heard about the Nintendo MP3 player being launched on the 8th Dec 2006, although when I asked Nintendo UK about this in late November they knew nothing about it!

Anyway you plug the MP3 player into the GBA slot in the DS. You had to click on the GBA button on the DS to activate the MP3 player - something the instructions don't care to mention. I'm a novice so these sort of basic instructions would have saved me half an hour!

You'll need to by a seperate SD card - I went for a 2GB which I got for less than £14. You'll also need an SD card reader. Then you drop you're MP3 files onto the SD card. Just a warning - I originally had all my mp3 files in one overall folder - don't do that as the MPS player can't read it. You can have sperate files i.e ABBA containing all ABBA songs etc but not one big file containing other files.

Just out of interest, I got the MP3 palyer for £20, the SD 2GB SD card for £6 and the SD card reader for £14, so for £40 ish you get and MP 3 player which works on the Ninendo DS. £40 for a 2GB MP3 player is OK - not the cheapest but not the most expensive either, by a long way. Of course you can get a smaller SD card i.e 1GB which wil bring the cost down.

Another warning I did read the odd review of the Nintendo MP3 player saying it came with an SD card : it doesn't. Another review said it only plays 500MB SD cards: it read my 2GB SD card fine.

When you start up the MP3 player it gives you two options: super mario version or blip man version. It will then display all your files in a tile type display and you scroll up and down and select what you want to hear. It took me, a novice, a while to work out what buttons does what but its pretty easy really.

The MP3 player only uses the top half of the DS and you can make the screen go to sleep while you listen. You can hear music without the headphones although the sound quality is not great. The MP3 player comes with its own headphone socket. Through the headphones the sound quality is what you expect.

This really is a good kids introduction to an MP3 player - although an adult will need to be in charge initially of downloading the MP3 files onto the SD card. What makes the Nintendo MP3 player fun is that pressing the B button to the beat of the music makes the Super mario man or the Blip man dance - which is fun even though it will probably bugger up the B button given time. Also at the bottom various graphics play along to the music - I'm sure the novelty will wear of given time of these features but its fun.

The only gripes is that it does stick out the GBA slot even though the instructions show it fully flush with the DS. Oh and you can't play games while listening to your MP3 player - its one or the other but not both at the same time. Also it would be a million times easier if the MP3 player just came with it own memory rather than having to buy and SD card and an SD card reader. Software to turn your CD's into MP3 files would also be useful for complete MP3 novices.

So all in all the Nintendo MP3 player is a good 'add on' and its really designed for kids. The SD card makes it less kiddy freindly as an adult will need to set this up first. You'll also need to know how to get hold of MP3 files. But overall it pretty good and I know my son will love it to bits and that the main thing.

This product is a great idea. However, I was disappointed when it arrived. It is simply a Game Boy Advance cartridge which means the software does not use any on the DS features, such as the touchscreen. It would have been really cool to have the touchscreen for song selection and the top screen displaying song information etc. Instead you get crude Gameboy graphics on the top screen. Song navigation is just painful. It is also very ugly, especially if you have a white DS. It is black and sticks out of the bottom of the DS by a couple of centimeters. I was hoping that they were going to be able to use the GBA slot in some clever manner to allow the DS to control the playback hardware contained in the cartridge. On the plus side, the sound quality is pretty good. Like I say, a great idea, just a bit poorly executed.

Good:
Use DS speakers for external sound or plug in speakers or headphones for much better quality and the ability to raise volume more.
Good value for a reliable MP3 player.
Can use different SD cards instead of one inbuilt memory.

Bad:
Does stick out of the DS too much for its own good, but isn't much of a problem unless you're picky.
Doesn't make use of DS stylus (or second screen) as its a gameboy advance game.

Other notes:
The display on screen of mario or a stickman doing stuff is nothing special but it's a MP3 player after all so no biggie.

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3.0 out of 5 stars A Slot 2 device, but works!
I bought this thinking it was a slot 1 device, IT'S NOT it's a slot 2 for DS and the DS Lite.
It dose work and amazingly well but it dose stick out a lot from the slot... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Ian

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty clunky but a perfectly usable player
My MP3 player was an iPod shuffle before I bought this, but somehow one of the audio channels developed a loose connection inside the player, and I couldn't stand to use it any... Read more

Published on 13 Mar 2009 by Mr. R. Moss

5.0 out of 5 stars ?????
I Am thinking about getting this mp3 and game combination for myself.I need help chosing whether to get this or mario kart.This idea sounds absolutely great! Read more

Published on 25 Jan 2009

1.0 out of 5 stars Rubbish!
Got this as i didnt want to pay large amounts for an MP3 player, and i always have my DS with me so it seemed to make sense. Read more

Published on 19 Nov 2007 by Luke Taylor

2.0 out of 5 stars poor sound quality
I am the dad of two young ardent DS fans, who also use mp3 players. So the prospect of holiday trips and long car journeys with a combined game and music device seemed very... Read more

Published on 2 Jun 2007 by Paul S. Weaver

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