Andrew’s Usability in the Real World: Living with the Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS has just been released in the UK. The DS is a slick new handheld gaming system with two screens and innovative screen input, and it wasn’t hard to find volunteers to playtest the early units we had obtained.

We’ve studied gaming from quite a number of directions. We’ve looked at why some games just grab you while others leave you cold. We’ve studied how routine interfaces for registration can affect overall game sense. We’ve looked at games on mobile handsets, on computers, on PCs, and on interactive TV.

In my informal observations, I’ve also enjoyed seeing how thoroughly electronic games can infiltrate real life. While the stereotype gamer may be a teenage boy, the truth is that its reach extends much further. I can remember heading up the aisle of a widebody jet on a transatlantic flight and counting 14 laptops showing solitaire. In more cases than not, the head bobbing above the screen was balding or grey.

My colleague Christina Carini, an associate consultant with our group, studies gaming with an eye toward widening the appeal of games to a broader audience. She awaited the release of the Nintendo DS with a gamer’s passion. We thought you might enjoy her musings from her first sense of anticipation, continuing through the process of discovery. It’s a personal piece, not intended as a detached evaluation, and provides a compelling perspective.

Here are Christina Carini’s thoughts on the Nintendo DS.

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My life with the Nintendo DS: An epic tale of technology, playability and user impatience.


Background

When I first heard about the Nintendo DS in late 2003, I was a bit sceptical. I didn’t see the point of having a glorified Game Boy Advance (GBA) with two screens. In fact, I thought it sounded gimmicky. Even the most hardcore Nintendo fans will admit that some of the company’s experimentations, though interesting in concept, have been playability flops. Virtual Boy (see http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/nintendo_virtualboy.htm) and Power Glove (see http://www.armchairarcade.com/aamain/content.php?article.39) – I’m looking at you.

It wasn’t until the annual E3 conference (http://www.e3expo.com) in May 2004 that coverage of DS sparked my interest. Not only was the system to have two screens, but one of the screens would be touch sensitive, opening up a range of new gameplay possibilities.

From what I understood at the time, the top screen would be the ‘normal’ game action, while the bottom touch screen could be used to view the game from a different prospective (e.g. top-down, if the ‘normal’ view is over-the-shoulder 3rd person). It was also proposed that the bottom screen could be used for things such as maps and inventory.

Admittedly, this did not strike me as the most innovative way to use the screen, but excited me because I enjoy role-playing games (RPGs). Using maps and inventories is a huge part of RPG gameplay.

The acquisition
Being in the UK, I was at a disadvantage; the Nintendo DS would not be released in Europe until Spring 2005, while it was scheduled to be on the shelves in the US in time for the 2004 holidays.

The actual US release date was the 21st of November and I was to visit my parents in the US for Christmas a month later. So, I pre-ordered it and had it sent to my parents’ house. This turned out to be wise, since retailers were reporting selling out of the system early on. In fact, the initial shipment of 500,000 Nintendo DS’s to the US was sold out within one week of the release date, forcing Nintendo to increase production.

Knowing that I would not have my hands on the DS until at least three weeks after its release, I did my best to ignore reviews and comments about the system. I wanted to approach it without any preconceived notions. Plus, I knew I was going to be writing this article.

Okay, I admit it. I’m only human, so I did sneak a peak at reviews – but only briefly. The majority of the reviews about the system itself were positive. In fact, the only real complaint I saw was that some people received their units with several dead pixels on the top screen. While this may not seem too bad, a few dead pixels could potentially be annoying when dealing with a three inch, 256 x 192 LCD screen.

So there I was, on the plane going to the US for Christmas, hoping that my DS had no dead pixels. I had also ordered Super Mario 64 DS, so that I would have something to play as soon as it arrived.

I was quite excited at the prospect of the DS being backwards compatible. After all, as I was sitting on the plane playing "The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap" on my GBA and thought it would be so much nicer to play it on a newer, bigger, brighter screen.

Pre-release reports
As I mentioned, I had tried my best to avoid reviews after the DS was released. I did, however, have some idea of what to expect specification-wise from the pre-release reports and the E3 coverage.

Aside from its main features (dual screens, one being touch-sensitive as well as the unit being backwards compatible), I also knew that the DS had wireless capabilities (I was certain it was 802.11, I assumed it was 802.11b). I also knew it had multiplayer network capabilities (with multiple players being able to ’share’ a single game cartridge!), stereo speakers, a rechargeable battery (which was reported to get ten hours of battery life), and an eight-way digital pad (d-pad) used for control.


The last feature I was most curious about, as Super Mario 64 DS is a rehash of Super Mario 64, made for Nintendo’s first 3D console, the Nintendo 64 (N64). Having played the previous version I wondered how the eight-way d-pad on the DS would work; Super Mario 64 exploited the 3D environment by using the analogue stick on the N64 controller, thus offering a smooth and essentially unlimited range of directional movement. This is true with most current 3D games, which made me wonder how games for the new DS system would cope with only having use of the d-pad – especially since the DS would surely set itself apart from the GBA by being capable of 3D graphics.

First impressions
When I finally arrived home and recovered from jetlag I hastily opened my DS, hands trembling with anticipation. My first reaction was, ‘Wow, this is big!’ It’s true; the DS is much bigger than the GBA SP – about 50% bigger. It doesn’t bother me, but I can see how this may limit portability – it’s not what I would call ‘pocket sized’.

The first thing I noticed when I turned it on was that the two screens were clear and bright. Despite owning a GBA, I was never much of a hand-held gamer, as my farsightedness does not allow me to be able to focus on such a small screen for too long. I could tell immediately that this was going to be easier on my eyes. The sound was crisp and clear as well. The little stereo speakers in the DS sounded better than the little stereo speakers in my laptop.

Usability, out-of-the-box
Before I go any further, I have a brief caveat (or a guilty admission, depending how you look at it). Like many connoisseurs of consumer electronics I seem to have an allergy to manuals. I never read them. Ever. Even if I have a problem, the first thing I do is to look it up on Google or a relevant website. Besides, I’m usually so excited to play with a new gadget, the last thing I want to do is set it aside and read some boring text. So both as a user with an allergy to manuals and a usability consultant, I believe that the main functionality of a product should be able to be used right away without having to refer to a manual.

For the most part the DS passed this test. The initial setup process was a breeze. It walked me through a few simple steps like setting the date and time. I had already loaded the Super Mario 64 DS cartridge. It was obvious where to select the game from the main menu. It wasn’t all milk-and-cookies though. There were some things that confused me right away as well as some design elements that were... just plain strange.

Upon turning on the DS (after the initial setup), the top screen displays an analogue clock and a calendar, the top bar of the screen repeats this information (a digital clock and the shortened date) as well as some confusing icons, the only obvious of which is the battery charge icon. The bottom screen (the touch screen) displays a few choices, which can be selected by touching the screen with the PDA-like stylus, which is kept in a slot at the back of the device. The choices are in big blocks, so precise selection with the stylus is not important. This is good because I am lazy about pulling out the stylus and tend to use my finger instead.

From the main menu there are four main choices and three minor choices. Of the main choices, the one at the top is whichever DS game is in the slot (in this case it was Super Mario 64 DS), which has an icon of Mario’s head next to it. Underneath there are two options side-by-side, the left being Pictochat and the right being DS Download Play. The bottom choice merely says ‘Start GBA Game’.

The system will now shut down
Intrigued at the middle two options and equipped with the foreknowledge that the DS is wi-fi enabled and my parents have a wireless home network, I chose DS Download Play. A message came up that said, ‘Looking for software available for download.’ I had no idea what this meant. Perhaps it downloads minigames? It sat there for ages with the same message. Trying not to be impatient, I made myself a cup of tea, and sure enough, when I got back it was still trying to download whatever it was trying to download. My only option at this point was to quit.

I assumed that hitting the quit button would bring me out to the main menu. I was wrong, after hitting quit, a message appeared that said, ‘The system will now shut down’, only giving two options: ‘cancel’ and ‘yes’. ‘Cancel’ goes back to ‘Looking for software...’ and ‘yes’ shuts the entire DS down.

So I turned the DS back on, and selected Pictochat. This was a little more obvious, as it included the word ‘chat’. From here, there was a menu to select a chat room. There was no one in any of them. I was there alone. It gave the ability to type or draw pictures – which would have been nice if there was someone there to draw pictures to. I quit Pictochat only to be presented with the same message as before: ‘The system will now shut down’.

The three minor choices on the DS main menu include: backlight on/off (I don’t know why anyone would use this, as this makes the image barely visible) alarm on/off (this literally turns the alarm on and off, to actually set the alarm time, you have to go through the settings) and settings.

The settings are fairly straightforward. You can change the settings that were in the initial setup. It also has additional settings, such as the alarm time and which screen you want the GBA games to play on (GBA games are not designed for the DS’s dual-screens and will only play on a single screen). I realised that this relates to one of the ambiguous icons on the main screen – it’s showing which screen GBA games are set to.

Within the settings, many of the icons are unclear. Luckily, there are only a few settings within any of the settings groups (of which there are four: general settings, date / time settings, user settings and touch screen settings), so going through each is not too time consuming. The main problem is that, when quitting the settings, there is no way to just go back to the main menu -- you are always met with: ‘The system will now shut down’.

When I was a child, my dad gave me a talk about switching electronics off and on over and over again. He said that it wasn’t good for the system and that I should always wait 30 seconds before turning something back on again. While I would assume Nintendo would not design the system to constantly shut down if restarting it over and over would actually cause any harm, it just doesn’t feel right to do so. Not to mention that it is just plain annoying, especially when switching between settings and a game, or from a game to Pictochat.

For example, I think it is a great feature to be able to have a DS and GBA game loaded in the DS at once. Before bed, I often play Mario DS for fifteen minutes or so, and then switch to Zelda for the remainder of an hour. Once in the DS game, there is no way to go back to the main menu to choose the GBA game. You must switch the unit off and on. This is acceptable for the GBA game – it wasn’t made for this system – but why can’t I exit a game designed specifically for the DS?

I thought this thing was supposed to be wi-fi...
After being unable to connect to Pictochat or DS Download Play, I went to my favourite games site to see what was going on. Alas, my manual-phobia had gotten the better of me. The DS is, indeed, wi-fi – but not the standard 802.11b as I had assumed. In fact, the DS uses its own proprietary format: IEEE 802.11, with a range of 30-100 feet. This means that the DS is only capable, at this point, of creating local area networks (LANs) with other DS’s.

How disappointing.

What I also found out is that DS Download Play is to connect to another DS to play a game. I knew from the initial reports that the DS was set up so that some games could be played networked, with only one cartridge. This is a very nice new feature, since the GBA required each player to have his or her own copy of the game for networked play. The DS Download Play option is to be used when your DS is looking to download game software from another player’s DS cartridge.

I wanted to try these features, but could not convince my dad (a PC gamer, to boot) to buy a DS for himself. Then an opportunity arose. Every year I attend a New Years Eve party for geeks where everyone sits around playing multiple games consoles and eating snacks. A friend of a friend was rumoured to be bringing his DS along.

As soon as we were introduced, I asked him to try Pictochat with me. It connected immediately. Just as I thought, it was possible to type (using the on-screen, PDA-like keyboard) or send quick scribble drawings. It actually worked quite well, although it was something of a novelty. The interface was fairly straightforward. However, considering that it can only be used over a LAN, I didn’t much see the point. I suppose the only real use for it is if you’re a child and it’s past your bedtime and you want to sneakily message your friend in the flat next door (depending on what your walls are made of).

DS Download Play was a different story. We both initiated it and waited while it was ‘looking for software available for download’. It never connected. I thought of two possible reasons for this: First, perhaps Mario DS was not one of the games that could be played over the network only using one cartridge. I later found out that this was untrue. In theory, it can be multiplayer for up to four people using just one cartridge. Second, within the game itself, Mario DS also looks for other DS’s when ‘vs’ mode is selected (‘waiting for opponents’), so maybe it was confused or we did not select the right command. Neither the DS Download Play or ‘vs’ mode worked for us. I am still unclear at this point what we did wrong, as the wi-fi is clearly working since Pictochat could be used.

Playability
I will not get into game usability specifics, as that is another article altogether. (Like, why oh why does the camera in Mario DS have collision detection?! ) But I do want to talk about the control in general, from what I played of Mario DS and the demo version of "Metroid Prime: Hunters", which came with the DS.

I had mentioned previously that I was quite curious how the DS would deal with controlling 3D games with only an eight-way d-pad. My suspicions were correct: it is not good at all. The d-pad is fine for less precise movement, such as running in a general direction for periods of time. However, the d-pad is nearly impossible to use for any precise movement – the sort of movement that is needed to target and shoot something, or manoeuvre along a narrow ledge.

Luckily, the touch screen and stylus creates an innovative method of control. Using either hand, you can move the stylus on the touchpad to move your character in any direction. The d-pad then mirrors the buttons, so that either hand can be used for the other actions (e.g. jump, shoot, crouch, etc.) Although it takes some getting used to, the touchpad becomes as precise as using an analogue stick on a standard controller. There is virtually no directional limitation.

Much like the GBA, the DS is not the most ergonomically designed device. The layout of the controls is similar to Nintendo’s consoles of yesteryear – the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). While the thumb-cramps make me feel nostalgic, they also make me appreciate the wonderfully ergonomic design of the controllers for Nintendo’s N64 and Gamecube consoles. The GameCube’s controllers have six buttons, three triggers, a D-pad and two analogue sticks, but nonetheless it is incredibly comfortable to hold, with all controls being under-thumb at all times. Compare this to the DS, which has six buttons, two triggers and one d-pad that is not so comfortable to hold. Of course, being a portable device, the DS certainly could not take the shape of newer console controllers.

Admittedly, the use of the touch screen and stylus in lieu of an analogue stick is more comfortable than using the d-pad. However, I find that when I use the stylus I can only support the DS with one hand (because of size, not because of weight), causing me to have to prop it up against something for support (not exactly ideal for a portable device).

A nice feature of the DS is the sleep mode. The DS goes to sleep by folding it shut – no additional commands needed. The GBA SP (which also has a ‘clamshell’ design) did not do this, although some games could be put to sleep manually. This feature is great for games that only use save-points.

Finally, a brief note on battery life: Though I have not tested it myself, Nintendo claims that the DS has up to ten hours of playtime on a full-change. I will say that I have gone a week between charges (playing every night), without it going dead. While I do not play for too long in any one sitting (about an hour), I find the battery life more than adequate.

General suggestions
Overall, there are only a few issues with the DS that actually need rectifying.

First, the use of ambiguous icons; this is a problem with many devices and should be looked at carefully. The DS is made for six different localisations (Japanese, English, German, French, Spanish and Italian) and, understandably, the design is trying to avoid using words as much as possible – which is all the more reason for icons to be clear!

Second, the inability to switch between DS functions (games, settings, Pictochat, etc.) without shutting the system down first is unnecessary and annoying. Especially when some of the functions just require a quick check, like the alarm time.

Finally, a very brief explanation of what the system is actually doing in sections like DS Download Play for those of us who do not read manuals. Something like "looking for other DS players in the area" would suffice.

The future
It’s very tempting to rattle off a list of features that I would like to see integrated into the DS to make it a super-device that does everything. However, I will try to restrain myself and only suggest features that are feasible.

First, more PDA-like functionality would be nice. Much of the bare bones is already there: the touch screen and stylus, the clock and calendar and the alarm and the on-screen keyboard in Pictochat.

Second, network capabilities beyond LAN. The hardware is already there. Though I don’t necessarily want to be able to browse the internet or check my email on the DS, it would be nice to play a game against someone in a different time zone... or even across the street.

And finally, I would like enhanced wi-fi capabilities that will allow for the ability to download updates, mini-games and mini-applications.

The recently released GBA media player, Play-Yan, can be used in the GBA slot in the DS (see http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/580/580790p1.html). In Japan, Nintendo already produces mini-games for the device that can be downloaded from its website.

Though this may be a transparent attempt to compete with the PlayStation Portable’s (PSP) ability to play DVD-quality video, the Play-Yan certainly a step in the right direction for the DS and opens up a range of possibilities. My digital camera uses the very same memory cards as the Play-Yan (Secure Digital – SD) and it would be nice to pop the card into the DS for a slide show, as the screen on my digital camera is so very small.

In conclusion
Aside from a few questionable interface design choices, I am happy with the overall quality, especially that of the screens and sound.

I am excited about the potential capabilities of the DS. Once the built-in hardware is utilised, there will be numerous possibilities for the device.

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For a free paper on portable handheld gaming devices, see http://www.usability.serco.com/research/research.htm.

Cristina and I would love to hear what you think. Send me an e-mail at aswartz@usability.serco.com and I’ll forward it on.


by Andrew Swartz, Serco Usability Services
© 2005 Serco Limited, All Rights Reserved.

Associated Link: Serco Usability Services

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