10 WEIRD Nintendo DS Facts! | Nintendrew

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[@Nintendrew]

Hey all, thanks for watching! If you've ever dreamed of having your own career in game development, don't forget to visit today's sponsor at snhu.edu/Nintendrew to learn how you can get started. Take care!

[@woow3980]

Man got sponsored by a university, somehow

[@lobstercoco]

shout outs to NEW HAMSHIRE

[@Caprock64Draws]

Nintendrew, I found a bug in Carl that clipped me out of bounds EDIT: I might make a short about it

[@Caprock64Draws]

One more thing, do you think you'll ever do an update to carl?

[@benjaminsable587]

You should get the Analogue Pocket for your retro collection and make a video about it.

[@aliceinmansonland448]

I remember that birthday trick. I had just got my pre-order of Castlevania Portrait of ruin, and I played it for quite a while. I got home from work one night and started to play it, and I got a birthday cake that fully restored my HP. It blew my mind that a video game had remembered my birthday and I didn't.

[@Seattleguyreviews]

To bad no one uses pictochat

[@wibawabo6978]

​@@Seattleguyreviews if i hop on pictochat at school i usually find 2 or 3 users online

[@terriblecod4player]

lol

[@Gameboy-Unboxings]

@@terriblecod4player lol

[@athought1110]

I can hear Mario bye bye after 10 years

[@FN64Productions]

I mean I can hear it to.. It was in the video

[@carlrygwelski586]

​@Jedistache I can hear it after 15 years

[@gorfelbt]

Buh bye!

[@AnimsOfTheAnims]

@@gorfelbt*ITSA ME MARIO*

[@patricks.fedora]

Lol

[@TheLegoNation]

The DS Lite was my first system too. I have a lot of nostalgia for it. This video was epic

[@CoffeeFlavoredMilk]

Not THE first but one I still have memories of. Played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon on it the most of all games I've had for it. Rest of what I had was "shovelware" so to speak. Though some of those games actually weren't THAT bad.

[@JayBirdBlu_117]

Same, my First Nintendo is Black!

[@uncletacosupreme7023]

My first system was an NES. When the first gameboy came out it blew my mind. I consider myself lucky because I get to watch how things advance through out the years. I loved my first DS. I bought the psp and switched over because playstation didnt release crap for it. Playstion made me so mad because i wasted my money as far as Im concerned.

[@moppupaws]

mine too! i was around 4-ish when my parents bought me a pink ds lite. they got me a few games to go with it like pokemon dash and yoshi's island ds. they even got me a hello kitty carrying case. its such a key moment in my life and really kickstarted my love for gaming.

[@NinjaPheonix26]

My first DS was a Mario DS Lite as well! (Not my first console, was my first handheld)

[@JohnnyCProduction]

After hearing Drew saying the DS was his very first game system made me realize that he is much younger than I thought.

[@TheRed02151]

yeah omg I thought he was at least 24/25, I'm 26 and I thought I was young

[@animeloveer97]

​@@TheRed02151lmao I'm 26 and my first console I played was the N64 or the Genesis 😂

[@xMarvin732]

Well, it can mean that he's younger than you imagined or just the first console he had his hands on. I am 22 and my first console i played on was the SNES following with the Gameboy Color

[@Riddle_wright]

Same, my first handheld was the sega game gear

[@barrettdecutler8979]

Yeah, this made me feel old. My first was the OG Game Boy.

[@SSBBPOKEFAN]

With Typing Adventure having Bluetooth in the cartridge itself instead of a slot 2 accessory, that game was released in 2011/2013. During Pokémon's 5th generation. The 3ds was already out, so I doubt many people were playing with a system that HAD a slot 2.

[@JamesTDG]

Just makes you wish they had the idea sooner so that they could have made it have a slot 2 accessory, or hell, individually sold the accessory to allow users to play their games with a wireless controller. I would heavily thank them if that were the case just because I hated smearing my touchscreen to play Metroid

[@mactep1]

*Even funnier fact:* The magnet in in all DS/3DS systems is actually the speaker magnet and not a dedicated part, except for the "new" 2DS xl, which needed one cause the speakers are on the bottom.

[@sakurojason]

when I started my Nintendo DS lite on my birthday, I noticed that new startup sound but when I went into Pictochat, I started tearing up when my DS announced my birthday to everyone... It was just so incredibly cute and heartwarming... I wish Nintendo would still do this today...

[@barrettdecutler8979]

Yeah, that would be cool if the Switch gave you like a little welcome screen with a cake, played some music, and gave you a discount or some coins to spend in the eshop.

[@user-nx7fr3qp3v]

That Happened to Me when I got my DS Lite!

[@sakurojason]

@@user-nx7fr3qp3v Nintendo used to have a good heart but all they got now is money.

[@wickem]

My birthday passed recently it’s still good in 2024

[@TDGalea]

If you really want to get to that hidden WiFi one, you can make it much easier to hit if you recalibrate your touch screen and purposely misalign it, by tapping the bottom right of each target. This will technically bring the button's hitbox inward for easier tapping. You'll obviously want to then fix your calibration later once the "novelty" wears off.

[@JessicaFEREM]

the magnet trick is common. most laptops have this same sleep mechinism implemented. older laptops used a button hidden under the hinge but if you look for it you can find it

[@emperorbulblax]

that was fun to do at school

[@susiehaltmann3342]

I remember accidentally learning this in class

[@animeloveer97]

I took the magnets out of an old laptop to attach to a screwdriver and voila, magnetic screwdriver 😅

[@barrettdecutler8979]

Yeah, I remember finding those hidden buttons on laptops and on the fridge. Took away some of the mystique.

[@JokerDrip]

3:20 Even Nintendo had some fun with that name years later on Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, calling it the Dual Scream (or even Dispositivo de Sustos in the Spanish translation)

[@serena9165]

I miss the DS days. So many memories resurfaced after watching this video and this era was truly special to me

[@wyndiahighwind7477]

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass requires you to close the system to solve a puzzle. The Nintendo Wii also offered a download station, so you could download demos at home. I tried the game Avalon Code that way.

[@Nintendrew]

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 does this, too! So fun and clever 😄

[@drumpad1234]

My first console was a Polar White DS Lite, still remember being terrified when my mom came in incase I accidentally hit the volume slider when I was playing mariokart at midnight. Good times.

[@slushier.]

The DSi was my first, but recently I got my hands on a DS Lite and it's so cool to get to play gameboy advance games on it!

[@animeloveer97]

DS lite still has the best screens out of all the ds line it's even brighter than my n3ds xl and more vivid

[@sethbessinger2025]

The DS Lite was my first system! I used to play on my sisters’ GBA SP’s and DSi’s, but this was the first thing to call my own. Awesome video, Drew!

[@Remiweb]

10:40 You can also re-calibrate your touchscreen to add an offset on purpose. Then it's way easier to click in the corner. This is how I was doing it :)

[@johnvida3426]

But How?

[@firecreeper2249]

@@johnvida3426 go to the setting and click the big yellow button

[@sophesteranimates]

my sister used to think this was a game for some reason and her DS was messed up and my family had no idea why💀

[@reroreroreroyourboat8447]

Such an incredible system which I still play to this day! Just started collecting a decent PAL library for it. Great video as always Drew 👍

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

PAL DS? I thought it was region free

[@reroreroreroyourboat8447]

@@adventureoflinkmk2 it is, however I live in the UK so it’s far easier to obtain PAL formatted games, unless they never released over here then I’d have to import them.

[@ryuudrako86]

I remember that download play function. I got a custom robo demo as a kid while my mother worked in a mall... And i loved the game so much, that I kept it in sleep mode to keep playing the demo for almost 2 weeks or so. What a cool time

[@EnricosUtLP]

I remember as a kid I set my DS down on my laptop's trackpad and the screen just shut off, it always confused me, but now I get why it did that!

[@TheLegendOfRune]

Now that I see this comment, it now makes more sense as to why my ds and 3ds shut off when I place them on my laptop. I would always get freaked out when I but them down, but then as soon as I pick them up, they'd be fine again.

[@mysticaxolotl8215]

The "magnet" in every DS version except for the New 2DS XL is actually the speakers! The reason the N2DSXL doesn't work this way is because the speakers were moved to the bottom.

[@robotortoise]

Wow, I didn't know the DS firmware revision thing with Pictochat! That's such a weird and oddly specific fact. Thank you for teaching me something!

[@rocketpg_9532]

My original DS Lite was the onyx color one. it got brutalized by my younger (then 4) sister, having had the top screen almost completely severed from the bottom. My dad did some crazy micro-surgery on the thing and managed to totally swap the shell for a silver one. I miss that onyx shell, but I like having my original DS in a functional state more.

[@imprincesswolfy2565]

I like this sponsor. It’s not a bs course or app that anyone can teach on with no certification or anything. It’s a university, it’s a reputable institution and I would feel more comfortable learning from them than some rando on Skillshare

[@ilikecurry2345]

Speaking of Skillshare, I've heard rumors about it actually being just as bad and fake as BetterHelp.

[@MiniCrew11]

​@ilikecurry2345 I wouldn't be surprised, they're quite literally on every video

[@Larry]

Nintendo made a TV out version of the DS for media/promotional use, Nintendo Europe lent me theirs years ago when they wanted me to do a promotional KZbin video about Monster Hunter, normal DS, but attached to a huge blue box with twin TV outs for each screen. Could the TV-Out board be originally intended for that. Save money creating another motherboard?

[@NikkiWrightVGM]

"It may be hard to believe but my very first game system was a DS Lite" Mine was a Nintendo NES... in 1991. *dusts cobwebs off face wrinkles*

[@user-hi6fw1bm2x]

fun fact. My friend discovered the magnet thing in such a funny way: he likes to vape when he plays DS and his vapemod has neodymium magnets to hold its battery cover in place. So one day he was holding a vapemod in his right hand while in some cutscene and he was up to skip a dialog so he moved his hand close enough to activate the sleep mode. Side note here, he is handyguy who basically refurbished old 3DS on his own and the fact screen goes off and on randomly made him panic so much he was nearly up to open the console and re-solder screen connection once more. Luckily, he soon realised that his vapemod was the culprit!

[@jamberri7528]

omg, the magnet sleep function makes SO much sense now! i remember as a kid i was playing with two small round magnets and i wondered if it was possible to make them stick to eachother through the screen. when it turned off i was so scared that i broke my ds with some magnetic shockwave or something lol. and my fear that magnets (or anything metal) continued long after that! i remember back in pokemon X and Y people would slide a coin under their circle pad to hatch eggs. i was terrified to do this because of my magnet experience! 😂

[@AtomBrown69]

To be more specific about the ds sleep mode, the magnet from the right speaker is what activates sleep mode

[@iBangAPES]

playing mario kart DS with my friends at school is a very nostalgic. Also i was flabbergasted on how i was playing a mario kart game, WITHOUT, owning the title itself. it was magic in my kid eyes

[@TheGlitchyMario]

The magnet In the top is the speaker Also, I knew all of these, but it was cool to hear them again!

[@LennyQUMFIF]

All speakers have magnets right? Or is it exclusive to the DS's and 3DS's speakers? That was a genious idea, until people discovered that 3DS exploit...

[@TheGlitchyMario]

@@LennyQUMFIF all speakers are magnets. They vibrate back and forth with the help of an electromagnetic coil to make sound waves.

[@numberfortyone]

If you’re a seasoned collector and your first console was the DS, then I’m getting old. My first console was the NES. 😩

[@Megadoomable]

My first DS was a white DS lite, same one you show at the beginning. Unfortunately, the touch screen was defective when I got it and would register different areas than I pressed in some areas. I ended up buying another one that was black and red.

[@BraydenDarrell]

The first time I heard the birthday DS jingle I actually thought there was something wrong with my DS. My dad was even getting ready to check the speakers. While we waited, my sisters and I booted up Pictochat. Then we noticed all the sounds were normal so after some testing we noticed it was just a cool easter egg.

[@boo1_gaming927]

This is kind of relatable to the DS Download Stations, but if you have a Wii with the Nintendo Channel, you can essentially do the same thing. You can choose whichever game was in the demo list, and you can play a demo of a game from your Wii with download play. It's officially shut down now, but with some homebrewing, you can get the Nintendo Channel back up and running.

[@PumkimspiceGloStix]

The nintendo ds will always be my favorite nintendo handheld thanks drew for covering some tidbits of my favorite childhood console on my birthday

[@retroprogamer7009]

I remember playing Legendary Starfy a few Years ago on my Birthday. I was surprised it had a Happy Birthday Screen^^

[@awesomeferret]

That's so cool to hear that you are collecting out of appreciation and not nostalgia.

[@Kkmzji]

The ds lite was my first introduction to gaming, and I still love it to this day. Without it I wouldn’t be the gamer I am today. I miss the days where I’d go on picto chat with my friend and be jealous because she could draw in rainbow on her dsi and i couldn’t. Such a simpler time…

[@syntaxerror9994]

Safeco Field in Seattle during baseball games used the download play feature to share an app to that let you get the score, player stats, strikezone info and other data about the game as well as order food delivered to your seat.

[@JohnRiggs]

DS will go down as one of the best systems of all time. So many may not realize that just yet.

[@Nintendrew]

Hear, hear!

[@darktetsuya]

I definitely remember the Mario Kart DS thing with the shyguy... my brother was the one that got the copy of it for christmas, I just had pac-man world lol. and yeah you couldn't swing a broken stylus without hitting a game with 'DS' in the subtitle, easily about as common as '64' for N64 or 'Super' titles on SNES. didn't know about the TV tuner, that one's neat.

[@JeskidoYT]

Yoo congrats on a sponsorship from a university! That is super cool! First one I've ever seen in a decade on KZbin (other than full sail, rip in peace)

[@leftyfourguns]

That TV tuner is INCREDIBLE. The DS really is the ultimate handheld

[@CitrusArchitect]

Wha- I just got home from picking up a few DS games at a pawnshop today! (finally picked up rhythm heaven). Very excited to cozy up and watch this video :-)

[@TrialzGTAS]

Despite having a GBC in 2000, the DS (along with 360) are my favorite consoles. Developers actually cared. Good times long lost unless we visit back like this

[@Zorgot.]

10:39 you can also do it by calibrating your touch screen and click the bottom right of each box to make it easier to click the top left corner button with a stylus

[@NightW3VL]

I love how whacky some of the features and accessories are for the DS. They’re super interesting.

[@lizardguyNA]

The birthday chime is one I knew since I got the dang thing. My Birthday is the day after Christmas, and I happened to get a classic DS for Christmas.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

I’m so glad that, after all these years, I now know the official name of the system is the “Nintendo Dragon Sword”.

[@eieiw32424]

i love your videos, they cheer me up when im sad :)

[@supercj.8546]

the Nintendo DS was a Great little Console! It even had World wide Online! I loved playing MKDS online!

[@catholiccontriversy]

That. was magical. I remember playing late at night and only matching with Japanese players.

[@JuzzyQ7]

Omg, I was wondering what the high pitched version of the opening was about. I had a glitch on my DS where it always thought it was my birthday

[@kirbistNoor]

I still use the DS on my way to school, looking for goob games and knew to check out your channel for that!!!

[@demontamerbf18]

I remember playing a Kirby game once on my birthday, I think Squeak Squad and it showed a special screen, that was so awesome because I wasn't expecting it at all, a birthday surprise.

[@iloNiki2078]

fun fact I don't see people talk about: the Wii had a ds download play feature. you could broadcast ds demos from the Wii shop channel, similar to the download station cartridges.

[@AstroBladeZ]

Ayy new video Great job as usual These definitely surprised me being the owner of 4 DS

[@michael1234252]

Also for number 6 those downloadable demos could also be done at home with a Wii. Cause I remember doing that back in 2008-2011 with my DSi.

[@3DJapan]

The video output was probably there for hooking it up to store displays.

[@BoompaWorld]

Nintendrew! Is there any chance that there was an ability to get demos and trailers from DS download play via the Wii Eshop? I have a vague memory of doing it in the family room at my parents old house

[@batmanlava1495]

Yes it is still possible with a soft Modded Wii

[@soulsilverarlooker]

Bought C.A.R.L. at launch and it's one of my favorite games on the switch now!

[@Nintendrew]

Thank you so much!

[@Matthew27567]

3:34 its not a fun sound when its 1 in the morning and your parents walk into your room

[@FondyCrew]

Watched this day of my birthday, so I fired up my DS Lite and sure enough, different boot sound. Neat.

[@jameswelch8275]

That quiff gets bigger and bigger every episode T birds comes to mind 😎keep up grind brother

[@oogaboogazoogawooga3450]

i was an 08 kid but my parents bought me a ds lite real young. i remember playing team oomizoomi games and toy story games, but eventually as i got older i got pokemon games and mario games. my dad gave me his ds library and in 2017 they got me a new 3ds xl. they got me into handheld gaming and gaming in general. ill never forget my first times on the ds :)

[@KrowsGraveyard]

Hey Drew, any info on a physical Switch release of C.A.R.L.? I'd like to add it to my collection.

[@the_shiny_wartortle_8913]

Hi Drew those were fun and educational facts some I personally already knew and a few I had never heard of.

[@VirtuaMaster]

they literally shrunk simple start down and shoved it into a corner. priceless!

[@JamesTDG]

5:57 looks like my model has the latest revision. I like this neat little tidbit

[@VotickVTIX]

Dang, the ds I bought off of eBay (and the one I dropped and broke the hinge on 😬) is the earliest ds revision! Nice

[@novostranger]

Hey Nintendrew! Does the DS TV tuner work here in Peru? I heard that it's a 1seg compatible country so

[@StewDogR]

Great video, I actually only knew a couple of these facts!

[@bimper2213]

Awesome video, the da was always one of my favs. Do you think you’ll ever do some more live streams.

[@Nintendrew]

I would love to start the live streams up again in 2023!! What sort of streams would you like to see?

[@bimper2213]

@@Nintendrew that’s a good question, idk I guess anything that showcases your collection. Maybe you could play some or your really weird and goofy games in your collection

[@peej10do91]

Fun Fact: WarioWare DIY actually made fun of the confusing naming with a comic called DS Dad.

[@clouddnjshdjdndhd]

Thank you for making this video! I’m was trying to convince myself to buy a Nintendo DS and I think I am finally convinced. Thank you :D wish you the best! Keep making awesome content!

[@Darkrift120]

Nice ICP reference at 3:28

[@houraisheperd9721]

Ah, so that’s what that chime was. I never connected the dots that it was a happy birthday and thought something was wrong with the sound chip every time that happened. Always made sure to turn it off and leave it alone in hopes that whatever the problem was, it would fix itself.

[@sgal5845]

I don't put my birthday date onto my DS systems, but I did put it into my 3DS. I have 2 DS Lites, one that I got on 20.04.2022 (DD.MM.YYYY format), and another more recent one I got on 7.8.2023. Hearing the birthday chime when I had powered on my 20.04 DS Lite spooked me for a reason, probably because I wasn't ready for a second since my birthday is in January.

[@ilikecurry2345]

Even The Legendary Starfy, OF ALL PIECES OF INTERACTIVE FICTION, has that feature. Boot the game on your birthday (or New Years Day, if playing on an emulator) and you get the audience going crazy as Starfy, Moe, and Bunston stand in front of a cake.

[@ZealKingdom]

Fun video. The Nintendo DS was a great system. I have a lot of good memories with it.

[@MrMarinus18]

3:40 It's the magnets of the speakers that are detected. With the 2DS XL it needed a magnet in the top half since it's speakers are on the bottom.

[@Gojiro7]

shocked there wasn't any mentions of duel screen gimicks like the one in Phantom hour glass to stamp the map

[@KoenDoesThings]

10:35 this also works on a 3ds in the ds connection settings in Internet settings in the 3ds settings app. However it doesn't display text but that may be a pal thing

[@alltheyoshigames1]

Ahh the Nintendrew intro song always gets me vibing

[@jake1225]

Love the icp reference

[@chl_ca]

8:37 that’s because this game came out in 2012 (even 2011 in Japan), so when the DSi and even the 3DS were already out, with no Slot 2 available

[@outsider9149]

I knew the magnet one… did it by accident when I was little and it freaked me out

[@constellationtheprotogen]

The picto chat thing doesn't work on dsi for checking the version I have checked

[@animeloveer97]

Because the dsi isn't the same as the ds lite

[@jamsaltifyouwill]

ayo the ds lite was my very first exposure to gaming too! for the boring personal story: i was extremely young (and i mean young, just recently turned 18 this month) when i first starting borrowing my mum’s pink ds lite. i played nsmb and scribblenauts to DEATH on that thing thanks to the r4 card that we had with it, but sadly the screen stopped working on it so we had to get rid of it. my grandma had a black ds lite for professor layton and stuff but i ended up being the one who used it the most (prof layton is just too good okay) but i dropped that down the stairs during a time that she had to stay over at my mums and seperated the screens. got a black ds lite for my birthday soon after and i crammed it with mods and got the thing online and found discord for the first time, which i primarily used for ds online matchmaking. lost that ds, went without ds games for about 3 years until i caved it and bought a new 3ds xl last month in january. finally got a official boxed copy of mario kart ds, which is by far my favourite game period and is the game that i have easily sunk the most hours into. i could go on forever about this thing, such as the time that i found out that it could play gba games and the local multiplayer lobbies that me and my friends used to set up on the last lesson on fridays at school when we could bring our ds’ in for an hour. this system is godly and i’m so glad that i grew up with it as a kid, and seeing this video in my feed made me so giddy. cheers nintendrew, keep up the good work.

[@ViVaLaRan]

Fantastic vid The DS had so many Quirky secrets and stuff, wish the switch had more of that charm!

[@djlamar2]

I knew about fact 10. When I got my first ds and got that special message I was like "Cool"

[@Thertra70]

Drew I wanted to hear these interesting facts I might have missed but it’s my first time to your channel a minute and a half into the video and you’re already doing 2 ad reads…

[@Sierra_Vice]

3:23 Nice ICP reference

[@warriorskitcat3859]

2:20 that sound gave me goosebumps and i saw myself playing it

[@zigaudrey]

I used to play a lot of wifi matches in Mario Kart DS and All-Time Classic Game. What a great way to add longevity to the game! I still have the Wifi Max USB. That DS Download Station is surprising! These hidden DS tho! That secret wifi button at the top left was very sneaky! The birthday one is so cute! That's coming from someone who think birthday is just a day like another.

[@NachoMist]

i heard about the top left corner wifi thing back in the day, i tried to do it with a safety pin but couldn't get it to activate. for some reason my child brain thought that it wasn't working because i wasn't pressing hard enough so i jammed the safety pin into the screen as hard as i could until whoops! suddenly it wasn't a touch screen anymore lmao

[@superduperdrew12345]

When someone has just repaired their DS, they will boot it up and it will ask for the date, time, and your date of birth again since the battery was removed. If you hurry by setting both dates to 1/1 then each time you start the system after it will play the different jingle. More than a few have heard this and worried their ds was damaged

[@akelaclismo1953]

i still have my original ds lite i got on launch. i havent touched it in about 5 years and i opened it just now. full battery. amazing

[@chefkdowg]

So is CARL only for current systems, or can I get it for the wiiU, and is it download only or if I buy it, is it a hard copy?

[@ProjectDv2]

The "DS" motif in the game titles is a king standing tradition of Nintendo's. For the SNES titles frequently had "Super" in the name. For the N64, titles had "64" in the name. For the DS, as you mentioned, they'd work in names using D and S for the initial letters. It's silly, but I've always appreciated it.