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[T627]The New Nintendo Dsi

by Chris Hagen, Chr

The launch date of the new Nintendo DSi has been confirmed! The new system will be the newest member to the Nintendo DS family, and will be released to Japanese fans in November. North American markets can expect to have the system on their shelves no sooner than April 2009.
Nintendo's DS was originally released to eager gamers in 2004. The hugely popular system introduced an intuitive touchscreen, a built-in microphone, and a wide range of titles for almost every genre. In 2006, Nintendo released the DS Lite, a sleeker repackaging of the original DS.
But is the DSi just another rehash of the DS Lite?
Thankfully, the answer is no. When the DS Lite was released, there was little in the way of component changes; most of the modifications were made to the physical casing. It was thinner and sleeker in design, but it was not that much different, component-wise, from the original DS. The DSi does offer a whole new set of features and gadgets that will truly legitimize it as a separate system.
Physically the DSi has some modifications from the DS Lite. Nintendo has announced that it will be available in matte colors, as opposed to the DS Lite's glossy casing (good news for those who cursed the fingerprint smudges on their DS Lites). Also, both screens on the DSi will be increased to 3.25 inches.
Like the DS Lite, the DSi will also see a reduction in size. Nintendo has announced that the DSi will be 2.6mm thinner than its predecessor (that's a 12% reduction). The bad news for some gamers is that Nintendo sacrificed the DS' backwards compatibility; in other words, the DSi will not be able to play Game Boy Advance titles.
Perhaps the biggest cosmetic addition to the system are the two built-in cameras. There will be an external camera and a VGA camera, which will be located in the hinge. Users will be able to edit the 640x480 pictures using the touchscreen capability.
The DSi will also include an SD-card slot, as well as on-board memory. Nintendo is hoping to expand the role of the DSi into the realm of multimedia devices, allowing owners to utilize their DSi as a media player. Unfortunately, the device will not support the MP3 format, but only AAC files.
The DSi will also come with a built-in DS web browser, and DSi owners will be able to download games. Nintendo will utilize the same point system that was adopted for Wii. With these so-called Nintendo Points, games and demos can be purchased and downloaded.
The DSi is certainly chock full of new features and gadgets, making gamers and technophiles alike giddy in anticipation, myself included. Nintendo has done a terrific job garnering attention and excitement regarding the release of the new system, but will it surpass the DS Lite? I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

No one can blame Nintendo for not wanting to move on to another generation of consoles too quickly. It's easy to forget where Nintendo were in the last generation of console wars. The GameCube gave them impression that Nintendo would shortly be following their old rival Sega out of the hardware market. The Wii and DS quickly turned this around and put Nintendo back in the Number one spot where it had not been since the Super Nintendo. It's taken Nintendo a long time to regain its crown, and they don't want to take any unnecessary risks.

The most prominent feature of the black Nintendo DSi is the two digital cameras built into it. Both of these feature a VGA resolution (640 x 480) sensor. One of these cameras will be located on the outer casing while the other camera will be positioned between the two screens focusing on the user.

The cameras are expected to be used for features integrated into future games, especially the internal camera which will be able to capture players' movements. The main purpose of the VGA camera however, will be to stream a video of the player to other plays around the world when the camera is connected to a wireless hub. Photos taken on the cameras can also be sent to the Wii's Photo Channel via the Wi-Fi connection.

Nintendo are playing-up the fact that there are 11 different filters which can be used in-real time when taking photos. This does seem rather to be a gimmick and something that will not be used by most on more than a handful of occasions.

To store these images, the DSi includes an SD card reader/writer. It is unknown what capacity memory card the reader/writer will be compatible with. A further unknown is whether Nintendo intend to allow homebrew applications to be used through the SD card. This could potentially open up the door for all manners of mp3 players, video players and office applications to be used with a Nintendo DSi. If Nintendo do allow homebrew applications, this could be the most important selling point of the new console, however in an effort to avoid piracy, this seems unlikely.

The size of the new DS is a further reduction from the DS Lite's size. The new model is 12% slimmer but with the reduction in size and the new features, something has to give, and that is backwards compatibility. Unfortunately the DSi will not be compatible with GameBoy Advance cartridges.

The screen has also undergone an upgrade and is now 17% larger. Speaker and volume quality are said to have been improved making in game effects and music produce a high quality output.

The DSi Shop is a new feature designed to allow users to download software and carry it around with them. This would not have been possible on the previous generations of Nintendo DS due to their lack of memory.

The white and black Nintendo DSi are due to be released in the UK in spring of 2009 although an exact date has not been confirmed. A price has not been given either but estimates set the new system at around £110 in combination with a slight price reduction for the DS Lite. Whether the new features are put to use well enough to justify an upgrade for current DS owners remains to be seen, but for most that do not already own a DS, the DSi seems like the best all round package.

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