Most of the new gadgets being released in the market today are dubbed as multimedia beasts, meaning, aside from their primary functions, they also have additional features that allow the user to enjoy different kinds of experiences with different kinds of file formats. Cellular phones, for example, are more than just electronic devices used for sending and receiving calls and messages. They also include built-in cameras, audio playback systems, video recording and video playing functionalities, PDA-type scheduling, and the likes. The same is true for MP3 players, GPS systems, and even some calculators these days.
Should the Nintendo DS Lite be any different? After all, its closest competitor, the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), is already being marketed as a handheld multimedia hub.
The Nintendo DS Lite can play games, indeed. It can also play music in the popular MP3 format. It can connect to the net via wi-fi. And it can be used to browse through many websites.
But can it play DS Lite videos?
Alas, such is the biggest failing of the portable gaming system, at least in the eyes of many folks: its inability to play DS Lite videos.
However, this doesn’t mean that the system cannot play any DS Lite videos at all. This only means that the Nintendo DS Lite cannot play videos in popular file types. Formats like .avi. .mov. .mpeg, .rm and the likes are out of the picture. The Nintendo DS Lite cannot play them.
The Nintendo DS Lite cannot even play videos in .mp4, the format used by the highly popular iPod video and iPhone systems, and the format adopted by the Sony PSP.
What Nintendo’s handheld can play is the highly compressed and highly specialized .dpg file format. All video types can be converted to .dpg and there are many freeware, shareware and commercial programs in the market that will allow users to do this.
This DS Lite video format, however, is not without its shortcomings:
- This DS Lite video format is, as mentioned earlier, highly compressed, resulting in pixilation and very low resolution. Movies can’t be enjoyed fully because of the limited range of their rendition as .dpg files.
- This DS Lite video format, though already compressed, will still take up considerable storage. Even if you’re using an SD card, you will still find it difficult to save a full movie.
- Playing this DS Lite video format consume the system’s battery by four times more than usual.
- This DS Lite video format cannot be played straight from the box. You will need a homebrew program installed on a custom-made SD card to be able to play .dpg files.
With all these limitations, we have no recourse but to accept the fact that the Nintendo DS Lite is not meant as a portable video player.
The Nintendo DS Lite is only meant as a handheld gaming machine – the best one in the market today – and it’s best that it remains that way. As many people say, a jack of all trades can be a master of none.
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