DS Daily: Born free

by JC Fletcher { Sep 12th 2007 at 9:00AM }

There are a lot of games on the DS whose origins are in free online games. Some, like Diner Dash, Nervous Brickdown, and the upcoming N+ and WordJong, are good, or even great. Some are Elf Bowling 1&2. In every case of a free game getting remade as a DS cartridge, money is charged.

Do you have any games based on freeware? Do you plan on getting any in the near future? Is compelling gameplay enough to warrant a purchase for a portable console, when the experience can be had for nothing on PC? Or do you require significant expansion and upgrading before you'd even consider it?

Our personal view: even if a game costs nothing, that doesn't mean it has no value. We don't want to pay strictly for portability, but we're entirely willing to shell out for new content in a game whose progenitors were once free. Not Elf Bowling 1&2, though.

Tags: diner-dash, elf-bowling, n, nervous-brickdown

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alisha Karabinus @ Sep 12th 2007 10:08AM

Hello there, Line Rider! I think I will buy you! Then I can lament my lack of drawing prowess while watching the little dude sled around. Yay.

Peter @ Sep 12th 2007 10:27AM

What game is shown in that picture? It looks like fun.

Matt @ Sep 12th 2007 11:12AM

I've got Diner Dash for the DS, it's pretty decent. It was twenty bucks, which is fine because the PC version really isn't free either -- it's a $20 download.

Spencer @ Sep 12th 2007 12:03PM

With co-op and versus, N+ is a must buy for me.

ambient @ Sep 12th 2007 12:18PM

Peter, that screenshot is of Nervous Brickdown -- click on the NB link in the article text and you'll see the same pic there.

tamriel @ Sep 12th 2007 1:38PM

I got Zoo Keeper and I like the touch interface a lot. I also have my sights set on N+.

The one things these free games have is that they run on computers. I find it much easier to play such a small game on my DS than lug around my laptop, even though it is a rather small and light 12-inch iBook.