Meet Nintendo's New Handheld: The DSi

A few days ago, Dawdle clued us in to the rumor that Nintendo would soon reveal a new DS model with added features such as a built-in camera and music playback from an SD card. After Nintendo's Japanese press conference early this morning, we now see the reality of this new DS, which, in a possible nod to Apple, has been dubbed the DSi.

So what exactly is new for the DSi? First off, the camera. The DSi features a .3 megapixel camera (640 x 480) which can be incorporated into games in addition to just taking pictures. But if you are using it to just take pictures, then you will have a photo editing tool built into the DSi allowing you to draw on the pictures or stretch and skew parts of the image. But how will those pictures be stored on the limited DS memory? That's where the DSi's SD card slot comes in. Using the SD card slot you can store pictures from the DSi's camera, but you can also store music and video to be played on the DSi. It will feature standard audio/video playback features such as fast forward and rewind, but also some unique features such as the ability to change the audio pitch. Also, to help with playing videos on the DSi the screen size has been increased. It's a small increase (3.25 inches now over the previous 3 inch screen), but the larger screen is still appreciated.

There are also some cosmetic changes. First, the power button has been moved back to the face of the system as it was on the original DS. I don't know why Nintendo keeps moving the power button around, but I wish they would just settle on a location and stick with it. The system has also been slimmed once again from the DS Lite (2.6 mm slimmer), although the length and width of the system has been slightly increased. This slimmer system comes at a price though, because Nintendo took out the GBA game slot. The loss of GBA games is a significant loss, and a strange move considering Nintendo's focus on its amazing back catalog of games through the Wii's Virtual Console.

The DSi will also have improved Wi-Fi capabilities over the current DS. With these new Wi-Fi capabilities comes a built-in web browser and, starting sometime next year, the ability to connect directly to a DS download store. Using the expanded memory from plugging in an SD card, the DSi can download demos just like the current DS, but now those demos won't disappear when you turn off your system. But there will also be new content in the DS download store. This new DSWare will come in four flavors: free, 200 points, 500 points, and 800 points. You may notice that the DS store appears to use the same point system as the Wii store, though it hasn't been revealed if the same bank of points will be used between the two. My guess is not, considering that the points used in the Wii store are saved to your system's ID number, which the DSi would not share. But to encourage new customers to the DS store, Nintendo will be giving away 1,000 points to anyone that logs into the store before March 2010. That's a free $10 just for window shopping.

I am so excited. While the loss of the GBA slot does make me angry, I guess I'll just need to dig my NES themed GBA SP out of my drawer to play my GBA games. It's an inconvenience, but one I'm willing to deal with for some of the DSi's improvements. The SD card slot I feel is the most significant feature, because I can just imagine how the homebrew community will jump at it. It's a risky move given Nintendo's firm anti-piracy stance, but as an avid fan of indie and homebrew games, I can say that the risk is definitely worth the reward.

The DSi will be available November 1 in Japan for a price that translates to about $180. While there hasn't yet been a US date set, it's expected that there will be an announcement at the US press conference later today that our very own Fruit Brute will be attending.

Update: There are two things that I need to update about the DSi. First, I made a mistake about the camera. There are actually two cameras on the system. The .3 megapixel camera that was previously mentioned is actually a camera on the inside hinge of the DSi, which will be facing toward you when playing a game. Presumably this camera will be of use for things like videochat, though nothing has been confirmed at this point. The camera on the outside of the system is a 3 megapixel camera which will be of use for taking pictures of things other than yourself. Though I'm sure you can take pictures of yourself with it if you want to.

The second update is regarding when the DSi will be coming out. Yesterday at the San Fransisco press conference Reggie said that the DSi wouldn't see a state-side release until "well into calendar 2009." The official reason is that the DS Lite doesn't have the same market penetration here (1 in every 5 households) as it does over in Japan (1 in every 2 households) so there's still more room for market growth. Of course, how Nintendo expects DS Lite sales to stay strong with the promise of an updated model on the horizon is anyone's guess.

Nintendo Announce New DS: The Nintendo DSi [Kotaku]
Let's Compare the DS Lite and DSi [Kotaku]

NaviFairy
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 2 October 2008 · Comments (12)
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