Except for some hardware modioicatifns (small size, brighter screens, longer battery life), The Nintendo DS is RUNS PRACTICALLY THE SAME AS A DS LITE WHEN IT COMES TO GAMES!!!The only games that the DS / Lite cannot run are games that are DSi exclusives (excluding DSi downloadables) At the moment, there's only one DSi exclusive but that'll eventually increase over time.You may not enjoy the original DS as much as the DS Lite, but it's still functional.