She's lying there, dressed in a silver-like silk, lying open on the bed. All her buttons are hanging out, just waiting to be pushed. And as the saying goes, if you push the right buttons, you're guaranteed to have a good night! She told me not to touch her top half, which was only to be looked upon and drooled over. The bottom half, well, she wanted me to touch that. A bright gleaming light shone from the area to be touched, a heavenly like aura - I was ready, she was ready. I grabbed my tiny cartridge, tiny, but she didn't mind! The cartridge went in with just one click and I was ready to touch her silly.

She was Japanese too, a girl with style. They called her DS - and her sister? SP! It's true though. My DS is beautiful and the bottom half of the DS sports a touch screen, oh and all the buttons do hang out too! She really is Japanese - I had to import her, do you think I'd wait for the silly Europe release date?

You can probably tell that I'm content with my DS, because I refer to her like she's a person. I will hand my DS over to a friends, quickly telling them to look after her, because the DS is a thing of beauty. It really must be seen to be believed; no screenshot or picture can do it justice. You've probably seen those close-ups where it looks too big, or those Ariel pictures where it looks pig-ugly. But you are wrong and I was wrong; I was pleasantly surprised when I took my DS out of the box, unwrapped her and opened her up.

Nintendo don't do bad handhelds at all and the DS is no exception. Once fully opened, two fairly large screens are glaring at you. The top one seems a little bigger than the other, the bottom screen incorporating touch-screen technology. My granny was right for once. 'Technology these days, isn't it clever?' She didn't say it like that though, you need to imagine a broad Yorkshire accent. So you power the DS up and a bright light does indeed shine from both screens. I don't say bright for no reason either; because these lights are very bright - brighter than the Game Boy Advance SP's backlight and whiter than a dentist's teeth. You'll nip out the small stylus out of the back; it really is dinky but I managed to get comfortable with it after a while, then you'll gently touch the bottom screen, to select languages and customise the DS. That's right! You'll be able to input your name, choose your favourite colour (which is then applied to the whole DS layout) and you can even set your date of birth, the DS greeting you with a birthday message if you play your DS on your birthday!

The first five minutes are spent customising the DS using the bottom screen. I can't help thinking that this has been done on purpose, to display the touch-screen possibilities and show-off how precise, responsive and succinct it actually is. I don't fault this approach at all, because throughout the whole process I was dreaming of what's to come - and what came was just how I'd dreamt it! I went into Pictochat, which is accessible by touching the button that's cleverly named 'Pictochat', other buttons include DS Download play, a button to start the DS game off and a button to start the GBA game off - all of which I'll cover later on. The Pictochat is a clean, honest messaging service. It's not too elaborate but has some nice features here and there to keep you entertained, although not for long.

Messaging yourself can get tedious to be honest, after ten minutes of drawing rude, hairy pictures and laughing like a girl it does become boring. Enter DS number two. I managed to get my friend to buy a DS. It didn't take much doing, my work was made easy for me - all I had to say was "it's bloody good" and he imported one, just like me [If only it was that easy for certain editors attempting to persuade certain reviewers that a certain sequel to Halo is really worth a play… Ed]. We both sat at opposite ends of the room and joined the same chat room - Chat room A. It was as simple as that - a few touches of the screen and we were talking and drawing to each other. We played Hangman, Noughts and Crosses and Pictionary. How we laughed. But the amazing thing was that we weren't connected by wires; we were communicating through wireless technology and that's what really impressed me.

I ventured downstairs, which is quite a long way away from my bedroom and with half of walls being very thick in my house, I was amazed that I could still draw and send messages to my friend up in my bedroom. The signal bar did drop but the connection didn't - until I went even further out and that's when I left Chat Room A. However, as soon as I came back into range, it put me back in the room automatically, which was absolutely fantastic! I quickly ran upstairs; I didn't want my friend going through my drawers! Pictochat is a great inclusion and it's superb that Nintendo don't try to charge for this and that it's built in for any occasion. Sure, it's missing drawing with colours but for an Instant Messaging client, it's pretty damn fine and you can just switch it on when you're on the bus or out around town and see if there are any chat rooms to hop into nearby. Genius!

DS number two didn't have any games as of yet - his games were on backorder, a word that I hate when it comes to ordering things from the Internet! Not backorder - no, please! Don't do this to me! And that's where the camera zooms in and I shout 'Nooo!' holding that word until I'm out of breath. And cut! So, I had Mario DS neatly tucked into my DS and he had nothing. What did we do?

Well I powered Mario DS up and selected the Multiplayer mode, then my friend pressed 'Download Play' on his DS. He started to download part of my game, so we could have a limited multiplayer game. Obviously more features would have been available if we both had the game but it was very good that my friend could download a level or two for us to play together. The downloading process took a couple of minutes but once downloaded we experienced no further loading times or downloading times - it was there until the DS was shut down. That means you'll have to download the game again after you power down, but that's no biggie really.

The DS is a lovely piece of equipment to hold. It fits snugly in your hands, it's not uncomfortable and it's not too small - so even the bigger hand can enjoy the DS. The top screen can be tilted right back until it's level with the bottom screen but I prefer to have it tilted forward, almost like a mini-laptop.

As you probably already know, the DS can play GBA games. There's a slot in the bottom that takes GBA games, then all you have to do is touch the GBA button on the DS menu. You can choose which screen you want to play the game on, which is very handy indeed - the other screen remains off, to save on the all-important battery life. GBA games look sharper on the DS and with the super backlight it brightens up even the dullest of games! It's nice to be able to buy a DS and already have a collection of titles on the shelf that are instantly compatible with your new purchase - and with a GBA game in one slot and a DS game in the other you're walking around with two games and Pictochat in one system. Now that's handy!

The DS cartridges are tiny. If you've ever seen a digital camera memory card, they are about the same size, just a little thicker. These tiny cartridges neatly pop into the top and lock into place. To remove them, all you have to do it push it in further and watch it pop out. I'll never get tired of that nifty feature, that's for sure! To play a DS game you can either head into the menu and select it like you normally do, or you can turn on a feature so that when a DS cartridge is in, it bypasses the menu. To be honest, I don't really like that - I love to touch the menu, because, well, I love to touch… Because the DS is special, we've decided to make the review special. Chris bought a DS the other day, so now I'm going to hand you over to him, before making a joint decision about the DS - so I'll put you in the more than capable hands of our very own, Christopher Martin!

Finally, it took a while, but I've managed to score myself a sleek, compact, lovely little DS. Everything Dex said is true; when you first open 'er up and put your protection on (please, equip yourself with protection - those little screen protectors aren't hard to get hold of!) and navigate those menus to set up your system, you'll get a giddy feeling within yourself. The menus are fluid; little boxes slide across the screen as you change options, it's a beautiful sight really. Your DS comes not only with two pens but a wrist strap that doubles as a thumb strap for use with the touch screen and I was also pleased to find out my Wacom Graphics Tablet pen worked wonders on the DS. Now, Nintendo recommends not using any other pens except the official Nintendo ones but I've had no trouble with my Wacom pen; in fact, the eraser end works great as well and is less likely to scratch your screen.

After playing around in the Pictochat and just staring intently into the beautiful glow of the DS, I finally slid in an early build of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. First off, the sound that comes out of the DS is excellent; much better than the GBA SP and seems to even rival television sets. I was greeted with a fully 3D intro movie of Metroid star Samus, who stretched along both the top and the lower screen. As the movie went on jumped between screens, making for a very dynamic and fun effect. The music and bleeps the game continued to produce impressed me all through the menus and into the game, which is when things really started to throw me off.

The controls for this game could be changed but the default setting used the D-Pad to strafe left and right and walk up and down, while the L trigger fired your blaster. Pushing the X, Y, A, B or R triggers would do the same things, for those who are left-handed. To aim Samus' blaster and make her turn in a new direction you use the pen on the lower screen, or the thumb strap, whichever you find easier. It takes a bit of time to get the hang of this but there is nothing else like it and it's actually a lot of fun to play. Nintendo has made an effort to make sure southpaws can get just as much out of their DS, which is great.

After playing Metroid for a while, I decided to pop The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap into the bottom of my DS. Dex was right when he said these games looked much sharper; I was very impressed with how my game seemed to come to life even more than ever! I also tried Fire Pro Wrestling, which I had always felt looked too dark and plain ugly but on the DS the colours actually rivalled what the screenshots on the back of the box showed!

Now, my main issue with the SP was that after extended playing time my hands would start to hurt a bit. You see, I have large hands, and pressing those R and L triggers was not as pleasurable for me as it was for her, I'll tell you. Fortunately the DS could not be more comfortable to hold; it rests beautifully in your hands and pushing the triggers is so easy and responsive that I could sit here pushing them in and out all day.

Some of you may wonder if the DS has the ability to turn the backlight off like the GBA SP did, to conserve battery life. The answer is fortunately yes - however it needs to be done from the main menu. From this menu you can also activate an alarm clock that gets progressively louder and louder; in fact I used the alarm function to wake me up this morning and it worked wonders! The DS goes into standby (as it always does when you put the lid down), and battery life is conserved greatly (though I had the charger plugged into it as well). Finally, the Game Boy Advance SP built in battery makes a triumphant return with the DS and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, my DS is screaming to be touched. Back to Dex!

Thanks for that Chris! Before we both come to a conclusion about the DS hardware, I'll pick up from Chris' last line about battery. For those wondering, the DS's battery is amazing. I managed to scrape a whole week playing my GBA games for a couple of hours a night and doing nothing else, which was very impressive. I was surprised at the long battery life when I put in the graphically demanding Super Mario DS and it didn't seem to bother it at all. I would say I got around 8 hours in total while playing Super Mario DS on and off. When you're playing Wi-Fi enabled games, with the Wi-Fi beaming out, the battery may be reduced slightly, but I can't see this doing much to it really. In short, you'll be able to take the DS anywhere on a full tank and have a good time with it on your travels without worrying - you can even use your old SP charger, so if you have an old in-car SP charger then you'll never be short of juice! And that's what it's all about.

"So Chris, Graphics out of 10 ?"

"I think about 9. The menus are great; however in Metroid when you get near walls you can see obvious flaws that make the graphics look a bit dated. They're impressive all right, but it is safe to say they won't measure up come the release of PSP"

"Well, yes - you're right there, but it makes up for it with inventive new gameplay"

"The DS opens new possibilities for gameplay, Ones we've never seen or imagined, with added voice support for some games - I'd say a 10, there isn't anything out there like it and probably won't be for a while."

"The sound has to be a 10! Mario has superb sound - loud and tricks your ears into thinking it's surround, with birds flying past, and chirping!"

"Yes, Metroid's music is superb sounding too!"

"Lifespan has to be a 10 then? Especially with DS online just around the corner!"

"As long as Nintendo decide to pursue the DS online capabilities then we have a big winner here. Imagine playing Mario Kart DS with people around the world, all with the ability to quickly switch between items and options with the touch screen without taking away from the action at all. I complain a lot in reviews about Nintendo's lack of taking popular franchises online and this is their window of opportunity. Nintendo has a lot of fantastic games that can shine on the DS, we just need to have a little patience for now"

"I couldn't agree with you more there! Imagine visiting my town on Animal Crossing DS! So are we going to go all out and give this baby a perfect ten?"

"Even though not many games would be a 10, the system is truly impressive and I think it's very innovative. It doesn't support things like MP3 music or movies but I see that as a good thing, because it focuses purely on gameplay and new gameplay experiences! And we know Nintendo can deliver great games, so yeah, 10!"

"Aye you're right there - I think the developers will find their feet soon too, so games will be able to do the hardware justice in the not to distant future!"

So there you go. A unique review for a truly unique console, two writers and two screens, the DS is a fantastic bit of kit and for the price I can see a great future for the Nintendo DS. With protection safely on, DS and I are ready to have some real good fun, without worrying about the consequences. Time to touch her in that special place; that way we'll both have some fun!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson & Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).