Nintendo DS: DS Peripheral List

November 24, 2004 - The Nintendo DS may, by itself, cost 15,000 yen over in Japan, but we have a feeling that Japanese gamers who pick up the system on launch day are going to be forking over a lot more cash than that. There's games to buy (Japan is launching with twelve titles simultaneously, including games like Pokemon Dash and Sawaru: Made in Wario) and, of course, peripherals!

Today, Nintendo updated its Japanese website with a handy list of all the upcoming officially licensed Nintendo DS peripherals. From headphones to carrying cases, early NDS adopters in the land of no habeas corpus will be able to buy a number of products on launch day to complement their new portable hardware.

The list includes a number of items, all detailed in full below. Our favorites? We love the NDS headphones -- they're stylish, and not too pricey. Plus, the product is being developed by Hori, who's been trusted with a number of licensed peripherals including PS2 memory cards and wild items like the Final Fantasy X "Twinbee" controller and the Onimusha blade controller. Unfortunately, this item arrives a bit after launch, meaning interested parties will need to use another pair of headphones until the time comes.

We'd also definitely suggest that Japanese gamers pick up a case of some form with their system. The Game Boy Advance SP proved that overly used portable hardware (and we expect to overly use our DS systems) can take quite a beating, resulting in ugly scratches on outside surfaces. Nintendo's 3rd party peripheral manufacturers will be providing a number of cases, both soft and hard and in a variety of colors (making up, somewhat, for Nintendo's release of just one DS color at launch).

The other products, including screen guards and sun filter, are a little iffy at this point. We'll have to see how the DS performs over time before deciding on their need.

Here's the full list of peripherals as provided by Nintendo Japan. Remember, all items are Japan only, so America-based gamers will want to check with their favorite importer about their availability in the import channels. Or, just turn to one of the American peripheral makers for a similar product.