Absolutely!
The DS brought out more creativity from devs for any Nintendo console since the NES. And a greater volume of development support than any previous Nintendo console thanks to lower dev costs and the first or second highest consumer base in the history of the industry at the peak of the industry (around the PS2 and Wii).
The DS was the first time in over a decade where I couldn’t count the number of game released this month on my fingers for a Nintendo platform - usually of one hand in the case of N64 and Gamecube. Less expensive development prices and a high consumer userbase are what made the Wii and DS the most popular destination for developers on a Nintendo console to that time, even surpassing the NES; and this coming after two consecutive generations of decline both in consumer and developer interest. We went from a generation where nearly every game of the previous generation of Nintendo were derivative titles and ports with very little new or interesting from developers compared to even the Wii U/3DS generations. By comparison, the DS release was a garden of original experiences that I hadn’t felt since at least the PSX era - but this time it was Nintendo, not Sony as the home of the most creative titles.
As well, I think if Sony had launched their first handheld without the DS, the developers might have gone there instead in as big a way as the home console industry. But DS not only brought them to Nintendo, but with more creativity and variety than any Nintendo platform since the NES.
Short answer: The Nintendo DS gave developers something new to be creative on. And it was the seed that kicked off the mobile industry’s touchscreen games which is now a whole new industry that is thriving and filled with competition - and despite there being a lot of exploitative chore games, there are also multitude of creative games as well - and I feel its surpassed Steam in that regard, largely thanks to the handheld nature of mobile devices and the touch screens - this all started on DS.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
