What they can play:. Game Boy Advance games in single-player mode only. Game Boy Advance videos What they cannot play:. Original Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. Game Boy Advance games in multi-player mode Why there are limitations: There are two main reasons that the Nintendo DS and DS Lite are not compatible with older software:. The system is designed for wireless play and lacks a link cable port.
Take a look at the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, including the Nintendo 2DS, and the great selection of games available. The Nintendo 3DS family of systems is designed for gaming on-the-go!
Because older games aren't designed to use the wireless features, they can't communicate for multiplayer games. The Nintendo DS and DS Lite systems lack the special processor that is required to play these games. Because of the age of the processor, and the difficulty in adding that processor to an already highly complicated architecture, the processor was not included in the final design of these systems.