# Nintendo DS
**Nintendo DS** (ニンテンドーDS) is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, released in 2004 and distinguished by two backlit LCD screens, a touch-sensitive lower screen, a built-in microphone, and wireless communication.[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) With 154.02 million consoles sold, it is Nintendo's most successful hardware platform, the world's best-selling dedicated handheld games console, and the second most popular video game system of all time behind Sony's PlayStation 2.[2](https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/retrospective_the_awkward_birth_of_the_ds_nintendos_most_successful_system)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release dates | 21 November 2004 (North America), 2 December 2004 (Japan), 24 February 2005 (Australia), 11 March 2005 (Europe)[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/) |
| Screens | Two backlit 3-inch LCDs; the lower one is a touch screen operated with a built-in stylus[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) • [4](https://web.cs.wpi.edu/~claypool/papers/hand-held/paper.pdf) |
| Processors | ARM9 at 67 MHz and ARM7 at 33 MHz, with 4 MB of on-board RAM[4](https://web.cs.wpi.edu/~claypool/papers/hand-held/paper.pdf) |
| Media | Two cartridge ports: one for DS Game Cards, one for Game Boy Advance Game Paks; GBA games playable in single-player mode only[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) |
| Sales | 154.02 million units, second best-selling video game system of all time[2](https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/retrospective_the_awkward_birth_of_the_ds_nintendos_most_successful_system) |
| Main rival | Sony's PlayStation Portable, which sold 76.4 million units[5](https://as.com/meristation/reportajes/mejor-o-peor-comparativa-del-catalogo-de-lanzamiento-de-switch-2-con-todas-las-consolas-de-nintendo-n/) |
| Family | Original DS, DS Lite, DSi, and DSi XL iterations[6](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-Family-Nintendo-UK-s-official-site-Nintendo-DS-Nintendo-DSi-Nintendo-DSi-XL-116380.html) |
## Design and features
The console's name comes from "Dual Screen": one screen can show the main action while the other serves as a map, inventory, or secondary viewpoint, or both can be used together to depict large characters.[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) The lower screen uses touch technology for direct control, and the built-in PictoChat application lets users draw pictures and send them to nearby systems.[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) Every system includes a microphone port for voice communication in selected games and for interacting with the game environment, and the hardware supports voice recognition.[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) • [7](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/kessan/annual0503e.pdf)
The original model carries two separate media ports, an unusual arrangement that made it compatible with the [Game Boy Advance](https://www.edgepedia.org/game-boy-advance)'s entire back catalog in single-player mode.[1](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html) Nintendo's announcement press release also listed two processors, 3-D capabilities on both screens, 16-channel sound, and a rechargeable battery with a low-energy-consumption design.[8](https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/pr/9576/nintendo-officially-announces-the-nintendo-ds)
## Launch and reception
Nintendo formally announced the DS at the start of 2004, a period when the company was in a difficult competitive position: the Game Boy Advance was selling well without offering genuine innovation over the [Game Boy Color](https://www.edgepedia.org/game-boy-color), and the GameCube was struggling against Sony's PlayStation 2.[2](https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/retrospective_the_awkward_birth_of_the_ds_nintendos_most_successful_system) Nintendo positioned the DS as a "third pillar" alongside the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, marketed separately from both.[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/)
The debut at E3 2004 in Los Angeles was greeted with wide derision by technology experts, whose attention fixed instead on Sony's sleeker and more powerful [PlayStation Portable](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation-portable).[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/games/handhelds-the-battle-for-our-hands-and-minds-1795010.html) The DS was not a graphical match for the PSP, and some observers worried Nintendo was leaning too heavily on gimmicks.[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/) Demand in North America and Japan was nevertheless enormous: Nintendo had shipped 2.8 million consoles by the end of 2004, exceeding its own forecasts by 800,000.[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/) Launch software such as *Super Mario 64 DS* and *WarioWare: Touched!* each sold more than a million units worldwide, and in the United States and Europe initial hardware shipments included the *Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt* demo.[7](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/kessan/annual0503e.pdf)
## Competition with the PSP
The DS and the PSP defined the handheld market of the mid-2000s. The PSP pushed higher-resolution visuals, but came at roughly twice the cost of the DS.[10](https://www.engadget.com/2005-12-15-gamespot-picks-neither.html) Nintendo's machine won decisively on volume: 154.02 million units against the PSP's 76.4 million, which remains the largest sales figure any non-Nintendo handheld has achieved.[5](https://as.com/meristation/reportajes/mejor-o-peor-comparativa-del-catalogo-de-lanzamiento-de-switch-2-con-todas-las-consolas-de-nintendo-n/) • [11](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ex-playstation-boss-recalls-nintendo-employees-reaction-to-the-psp-reveal-you-bastards/) Titles such as *Dr Kawashima's Brain Training*, *Nintendogs*, and *New Super Mario Bros.* achieved widespread cultural reach and helped the DS reach audiences that had never played video games before.[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/games/handhelds-the-battle-for-our-hands-and-minds-1795010.html)
**Broadening the audience.** [Shigeru Miyamoto](https://www.edgepedia.org/shigeru-miyamoto) later explained that Nintendo designed the DS and the Wii to attract both gamers and "non-gamers," after [Satoru Iwata](https://www.edgepedia.org/satoru-iwata) identified that "being a gamer has not been normalized all over the world" as a reason for poor console sales.[12](https://www.gamesradar.com/hardware/nintendo-designed-the-ds-and-wii-to-normalize-being-a-gamer-says-shigeru-miyamoto-we-dont-say-book-readers-and-non-book-readers/) The DS's wireless functionality also supported local multiplayer without separate game cards: in *Mario Party DS*, one Game Card and four DS systems were enough for a four-player game via DS Download Play, with connections taking about 15 seconds.[13](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2007/Playtest-Mario-Party-DS-249927.html) Online play arrived with games such as *Mario Kart DS*, in which a reported 45 percent of first-week American owners played online, a figure Nintendo compared with the 18 percent of *Halo 2* owners who had played on Xbox Live in that game's first three weeks.[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/)
## Hardware revisions
The DS family progressed through four main iterations: the original DS (late 2004), the DS Lite, the DSi, and the DSi XL.[6](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-Family-Nintendo-UK-s-official-site-Nintendo-DS-Nintendo-DSi-Nintendo-DSi-XL-116380.html) The DS Lite combined dual-screen action with touch interaction in a redesigned body and was widely judged a winner in the long run against the PSP.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/dec/16/nintendo-ds-gaming-phenomenon) The DSi, the third hardware iteration, launched in Europe on 3 April 2009 and added the ability to create, customize, and share photos, play with music and sounds, and download games through the Nintendo DSi Shop.[15](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2010/New-Nintendo-DSi-XL-console-is-perfect-for-family-fun-252306.html) The DSi XL followed with two 4.2-inch screens, 93 percent larger than the DS Lite's screens.[15](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2010/New-Nintendo-DSi-XL-console-is-perfect-for-family-fun-252306.html)
Nintendo shipped its 100 millionth DS system in 2009, five years after launch.[16](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2009/Nintendo-ships-100-millionth-portable-Nintendo-DS-system-251524.html) The two best-selling video game systems of all time, the [PlayStation 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation-2) and the DS, each took nearly a decade to sell 150 million units.[17](https://time.com/3750545/does-nintendo-have-any-big-ideas-left/)
## Legacy
The DS succeeded the [Game Boy](https://www.edgepedia.org/game-boy) line, and in time Nintendo did effectively set the Game Boy brand aside in favor of the DS and its backwards-compatible successor, the [Nintendo 3DS](https://www.edgepedia.org/nintendo-3ds), released in 2011.[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/) The 3DS never came close to the original's heights.[3](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/)
## References
1. [Nintendo DS, Nintendo UK Hardware history](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-627143.html)
2. [Retrospective: The Awkward Birth of the DS, Nintendo's Most Successful System, Nintendo Life (2017)](https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/retrospective_the_awkward_birth_of_the_ds_nintendos_most_successful_system)
3. [20 Years of the Nintendo DS, GamesRadar (2025)](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/20-years-of-the-nintendo-ds-if-someone-had-told-you-in-2004-that-nintendo-was-about-to-abandon-the-game-boy-would-you-have-believed-them/)
4. [Hand-held games: a WPI paper on DS and PSP hardware](https://web.cs.wpi.edu/~claypool/papers/hand-held/paper.pdf)
5. [Comparativa del catálogo de lanzamiento de Switch 2, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/reportajes/mejor-o-peor-comparativa-del-catalogo-de-lanzamiento-de-switch-2-con-todas-las-consolas-de-nintendo-n/)
6. [Nintendo DS Family, Nintendo UK](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Nintendo-DS/Nintendo-DS-Family-Nintendo-UK-s-official-site-Nintendo-DS-Nintendo-DSi-Nintendo-DSi-XL-116380.html)
7. [Nintendo Co., Ltd. Annual Report, fiscal year ended March 2005](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/kessan/annual0503e.pdf)
8. [Nintendo officially announces the Nintendo DS, Nintendo World Report (2004)](https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/pr/9576/nintendo-officially-announces-the-nintendo-ds)
9. [Handhelds: The battle for our hands and minds, The Independent (2009)](https://www.independent.co.uk/games/handhelds-the-battle-for-our-hands-and-minds-1795010.html)
10. [GameSpot picks neither: DS vs PSP, Engadget (2005)](https://www.engadget.com/2005-12-15-gamespot-picks-neither.html)
11. [Ex-PlayStation boss recalls Nintendo employee's reaction to the PSP reveal, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ex-playstation-boss-recalls-nintendo-employees-reaction-to-the-psp-reveal-you-bastards/)
12. [Nintendo designed the DS and Wii to normalize "being a gamer," says Shigeru Miyamoto, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/hardware/nintendo-designed-the-ds-and-wii-to-normalize-being-a-gamer-says-shigeru-miyamoto-we-dont-say-book-readers-and-non-book-readers/)
13. [Playtest: Mario Party DS, Nintendo UK (2007)](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2007/Playtest-Mario-Party-DS-249927.html)
14. [Nintendo DS: from ugly duckling to gaming phenomenon, The Guardian (2009)](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/dec/16/nintendo-ds-gaming-phenomenon)
15. [New Nintendo DSi XL console is perfect for family fun, Nintendo UK (2010)](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2010/New-Nintendo-DSi-XL-console-is-perfect-for-family-fun-252306.html)
16. [Nintendo ships 100 millionth portable Nintendo DS system, Nintendo UK (2009)](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2009/Nintendo-ships-100-millionth-portable-Nintendo-DS-system-251524.html)
17. [Does Nintendo Have Any Big Ideas Left?, TIME (2015)](https://time.com/3750545/does-nintendo-have-any-big-ideas-left/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Platforms and hardware › Handhelds, mobile, and peripherals › Nintendo handheld consoles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license