The Greatest Console Feature Ever Designed - DS Download Play

[Vamptastic]

I briefly touched on this in another thread, but I wanted to expand on this thought a little more. DS download play is, in my opinion, the single best console feature ever designed. (Warning Very ranty and unrefined)

Something I applaud Nintendo on, especially in the DS/Wii era, is their dedication to making consoles around the idea of connection. I am aware that this was a marketing gimmick, I think it was an extremely positive one. The Wii coming with Wii sports, Mario Bro's Wii, and sometimes Mario Kart was such an amazing way to ensure that out of the box a family of four could sit down and have an experience together. It was a way to foster community in gaming (and ensure future customers) which I really admired.

Pic Credit: https://www.reddit.com/r/flashcarts/comments/1kr5yat/single_cartridge_ds_download_play_works_with/

And while the Wii had out of the box gaming, the Nintendo DS had DS download play. I used my DSi nearly every day as a kid, At the time we got the things my family was flat broke, and it was crazy they could even afford two DSi's. Given this, we almost always only had one copy of a game. But through DS download play, we could play mario kart together, we could play pvz together, mario bros, peggle dual shot, and so much more. It being a handheld meant the DS could also be used to interact with new people as well! Even oustide the family of four , anyone carrying one around would instantly be able to play each other without having to worry about each others game libraries. No other console had such an emphasis on together play like the DS

I think DS download play is genuinely the most innovative design choice for a console I have ever seen, I'd love to know if anyone else used this feature as frequently as I did!

 

[Zerohour2k12]

May not be the Greatest but the PS2's ability to play DVDs is a whole other selling point at the time many households bought the console as an affordable DVD player as some retrospectives on the web say.

 

[opeb]

I remember download play very fondly, Mario Kart as always was the most memorable. There were two twins who lived down the street that me and my brother went to go do download play with. Rarely ever done anything so outgoing with games ever since then aside from FGC meetups which is definitely different, and Smash 4 and Pokemon XY launches on 3DS having everybody breaking out their 3DSes in high school.

 

[DinoRexMax]

Really makes you wish everything sort of had this feature. Steam download play is something that exists, but if infrequently implemented, and can't really be done over long distances. I once played KI 2011 with a friend on his laptop through it, that was pretty fun.

 

[bjork]

Can't say I ever used it, but it sounds like they got it right.

For best console feature ever, I'll say the ability to use different game cartridges. It's basic by today's standards, but wasn't when it was a new thing.