Whenever a new system is developed, tech demos are made to show off the system’s power. There are tech demos for the N64, GameCube and of course, the DS. You can read about the Nintendo DS tech demos on this page.
Table Hockey
Table Hockey makes great use of the DS’s most obvious feature – two screens. The objective is obvious. All you need to do is get the puck into your opponent’s goal by hitting it with your paddle, controlled using the touch screen and stylus. This game was never released as a full game.
Carving
Another interesting tech demo for the DS. Carving makes great use of the DS’s touch screen and 3D rendering capabilities. You can choose a few different things to carve – from wood to a Mario-textured item. In their preview of the demo, IGN said they enjoyed playing it and that you can make many different designs. This game was never released as a full game.
Mario’s Face
Mario’s Face is like an extended version of the Super Mario 64 title screen. You can manipulate the faces of Mario and Wario, until they grow tired of you and jump out of the pipe on the top screen (they come back, don’t worry). You can essentially do the same thing with the Super Mario 64 DS title screen.
Nintendogs
An early version of Nintendogs. It has some major differences from the final version – this version has a solid white background and a different menu system. Also, the demo is only one game, but the final game had actually 5 versions (Lab/Shiba, Dachshund, Chihuahua, Best Friends and Dalmatian).
Special Effects
A very simple-looking demo that shows off graphical effects the DS can pull off. Using the bottom screen, you can control sounds and graphics.
Balloon Trip
This game is rather interesting. The demo is called Balloon Trip, but was later released as Yoshi Touch & Go, making it the only demo besides Nintendogs that was released as a full game. You have to guide Baby Mario by drawing clouds to take out enemies, collect coins and get him to Yoshi safely.
