Is Nintendo aware that its DS system is portable?

And that people tend to play portable games for a few minutes at a time, and batteries that power portable game systems do not last forever?

If New Super Mario Bros. is any indication, the answer to both questions is no.

I'm attempting to get all three star coins in every level of New Super Mario Bros., but because the game allows saving only at specific points, and only once at each point, I'm not saving until I'm ready to stop playing.

I defeat Bowser Jr. in a tower, but before the game can ask if I want to save (which happens automatically after finishing a tower or castle), the battery in my DS Lite dies.

I lose everything I have accumulated. I have to play every level I have just played and attempt to get every star coin again.

If New Super Mario Bros. were not New Super Mario Bros., I would give up in frustration after this incident. (New Super Mario Bros. is that good.)

This would not happen if the New Super Mario Bros. save system were designed with portable play in mind: automatically saving after finishing any level (no matter how many times you play any individual level). I would have replay that tower, but everything else would still be there.

Game developers need to understand that people do not use portables the same way they use consoles. It's okay for a console game to have limited save points; people are likely to play console games for an hour or more at a time and (usually) don't have to worry about losing power. Portable games tend to be played when people have a few minutes of unexpected free time, and the hardware that powers their games runs on batteries. so people do have to worry about losing power and, by extension, everything they have accomplished.

And people complain about PSP developers not understanding how people use portable game systems.