How to Use the Touch Screen in DS Emulator

The hand-held video game console Nintendo DS uses two different screens to display game data. One of the screens is display only, while the other features a touch-screen interface with a plastic stylus. You can interact with the game using this interface in addition to the normal buttons that come built-in to the system. Some players prefer to play their DS games on their computer to take advantage of the larger display and to avoid the hassle of dealing with physical media and battery life. Fortunately, the most popular Nintendo DS hardware emulators are capable of replicating the DS's touch-screen interface.

Download and install No$GBA, a Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS emulator that supports the microphone and touch-screen functions of the Nintendo DS. You can manipulate the touch screen by moving and left clicking the mouse in the right area of the screen. By default, the bottom screen in No$GBA corresponds with the DS's touch screen. You can move or resize the location of this screen with the add-on program NO$Zoomer. Both No$GBA and NO$Zoomer are available for free at emuparadise.me.

Emulate the Nintendo DS touch screen with the free Nintendo DS and DS Lite emulator DeSmuME. The bottom screen is, by default, the DS touch screen. Left click and drag with the mouse pointer to simulate the effect of the Nintendo DS stylus on the touch screen. You can also resize and reorient the two screens on DeSmuME's "Options" screen. DeSmuME is available for free from desmume.org.

Get the Nintendo DS emulator iDeaS, which uses the bottom window to mimic the DS touch screen. You can reorient and resize the two screens from the "Options" menu if you do not like the default setup. To interact with the game and emulate the stylus, use your computer's mouse and left click the touch-screen window. You can get iDeaS for free from ideasemu.biz.