For years now, the video game generation has watched Nintendo slowly lose ground in popularity and power: first to Sega, then to Sony, and now to both Sony and Microsoft. But one thing has kept
Mario and company from spinning down the toilet: handheld games.
Since the Game Boy, Nintendo has retained its status as the torchbearer for portable games, regardless of graphics limitations, competitors, or a refusal to abandon the cutesy characters that perhaps marred their home system rep. When it comes to jacking in on a subway or transatlantic flight, Nintendo knows how to deliver fun and simple games that users trust. Their latest contraption, the DS, boasts high-end graphics and two touch-sentitive screens; though bewildering at first, this type of innovation keeps Nintendo in the palms of kids and adults from Toledo to Tobago. The mighty N can point to record-breaking sales for the DS to bolster their status as handheld video game leaders.
