Quote :

"As expected, Nintendo just announced the DSi at its fall presentation -- and it's got dual touchscreens. The company is calling it a "third platform," which means it's complementing the existing DS Lite, not necessarily replacing it. Lookswise there's not much different, but it's some 12 percent thinner, partly because it doesn't have a GBA cartridge slot. The touchscreens are also slightly larger, at 3.25 inches, and there's an external three megapixel camera -- we don't know what that dot in the hinge is, but we're told there's only one camera. There's an SD slot and internal storage -- we're not sure how much at the moment, but photos can be taken directly to the Wii Photo Channel on the card. Nintendo's also launching an online DSi Shop, which will sell content directly over WiFi, including a free browser app and "DS Ware" game -- and you'll be able to get on for free at "Nintendo Zone" hotspots, which'll be in Japanese McDonalds. The store will take the newly-renamed Nintendo Points, 1000 of which will come free with the DSi until March 2010 and content will be priced in 0 / 200 / 500 / 800 point brackets. ¥18,900 ($178), launching in Japan on November 1st in black and white -- the rest of us will have to wait until next year."

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/02/nintendo-announces-the-dsi/

10/2/2008 2:10:53 AM

time for a dual touch screen version of zelda, metroid, mario kart, and smash bros

10/2/2008 9:26:19 AM

^ if smash bros ever comes out for ds i will scream like a little girl. Hopefully this comes out by the time my DSlite finally breaks in half

10/2/2008 11:56:56 AM

this sounds pretty awesome.

10/2/2008 11:59:42 AM

I'm not sure this was the smartest move for Nintendo. Is this the successor to the DS? Am I supposed to go out and buy one, but keep my DS around as well? From a consumer standpoint, it's very confusing. They pulled the same stunt when they released the DS when the GBA was pretty popular. And it pretty much so killed off the GBA. I wonder if the same thing will happen here or if a 2nd touch screen and a camera are justification enough to drop ~$200.

I also wonder how many games you'll see that will be DSi exclusive and how many will just be regular DS games that are enhanced somehow for 2 touchscreens.

I mean, if you're making video games do you program for the console that has a 75 million + installed user base or do you program for this new machine that hasn't proven itself yet at all ... but has two touchscreens. I mean improvements are great, but I really think Nintendo didn't make enough here. The jump from GBA to DS was huge. Besides the obvious 2 screens they beefed up the processor(s) and added wi-fi. It was obviously a completely new device. What we've got here is the same old DS with some small improvements that may or may not justify a purchase. If Nintendo would have doubled (or quadrupled or more) the processing power and planned a whole new enhanced lineup of games for it and truly set itself apart from the regular DS then I think it would be a must buy. As it stands now, I guess we have to wait and see.

10/2/2008 12:20:38 PM

I'm just glad they are going to allow you to save games onto an SD card.

10/2/2008 12:44:56 PM

I don't think it has dual touchscreens. Engadget has "dual" struck through in the link you posted. I also haven't heard anything about an improved processor.

It's a pretty stupid move IMO. Basically we're getting a DS with mp3 playback, a camera, and internal storage... but no GBA slot. Unless they have killer stuff for the DSWare store, it's pointless.

10/2/2008 12:58:08 PM

There are conflicting reports, is it .3 megapixels or 3 megapixels?

Is it 1 touchscreen or 2?

10/2/2008 12:58:09 PM

I'll probably be all over this.

Hopefully it has built in video/music playing capability, and supports SDHC cards. By the time this comes out, 16 gig SD cards may be fairly cheap, and 32 gigs will probably be reasonable.

10/2/2008 1:07:55 PM

That dot in the middle sure looks like a lens in this pic



http://bb.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/23361.html

10/2/2008 2:00:06 PM

Pirating is already pretty popular with DS games, adding an SD slot into the console itself, I see it going through the roof.

10/2/2008 3:22:03 PM

Maybe this is Nintendo's way of getting back at the companies that make flash cards.


saying something like "we can't stop the pirating, but we'll be damned if you are making any more money from it"

10/2/2008 3:24:08 PM

Quote :

"I don't think it has dual touchscreens. Engadget has "dual" struck through in the link you posted. I also haven't heard anything about an improved processor."

Ah. That was changed from when I posted it this morning. Now it all makes perfect sense.

Quote :

"It's a pretty stupid move IMO. Basically we're getting a DS with mp3 playback, a camera, and internal storage... but no GBA slot. Unless they have killer stuff for the DSWare store, it's pointless."

No, No, it's brilliant. It was just the whole dual touchscreen thing that was throwing me off. That one improvement shot it from being a new version of the DS to an entirely new console that needed special games to be written for it. Now that I know there's only one touchscreen, it's become clear what this is.

Nintendo has a history of making improvements to consoles and then re-releasing the hardware. And yes, they make be improved in small ways, but they are still at the heart, the same hardware. The NES, SNES, GameBoy, GBA (2 times) and the DS have received this treatment. And that's all this is. Just new hardware. If you can't afford to go out and get the latest and greatest, that's fine because the old DS and DS Lites still play all the new games. But if you're the kind of person that had to have the newest versions of everything, or if having a couple of cameras on your DS is something you must have, then you'll rush right out and buy one. And that's what Nintendo is counting on. Convert a lot of the current users. And new users can choose between the regular DS Lite, or the DSi with all the bells and whistles. Everyone's happy.

Quote :

"There are conflicting reports, is it .3 megapixels or 3 megapixels? Is it 1 touchscreen or 2?"

Looks like the final word is the outside camera is 3, the inside front facing "webcam" is .3 (640 x 480)

And just the one touchscreen like always.

10/2/2008 5:39:20 PM

Quote :

"The company is calling it a "third platform," which means it's complementing the existing DS Lite, not necessarily replacing it."

This is the same thing Nintendo said when it launched the DS. That is would be a third platform and not necessarily replace the Game Boy Advance.

Yeah well, where's the Game Boy now?

10/2/2008 9:19:24 PM

After messing up the whole dual touch screen thing, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Nintendo never actually said that the DSi would be a third platform. Most likely they said that it was the third iteration of this platform and the details were lost in translation. Either that or someone at Engadget/Joystiq took some editorial liberties. I seriously doubt Nintendo means for this to be anything other than the DS Lite +.

10/2/2008 9:57:13 PM

So if it has wifi and a browser, and a webcam does this mean I'll be able to connect with someone else who has one and have a video chat with them? If so that's pretty awesome.

10/2/2008 11:16:15 PM

I know it's just wikipedia, but honestly it's the most credible source right now

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DSi

Looks like both cameras are .3 megapixels

I'll probably skip it.

10/3/2008 1:09:09 AM

^That article has since been changed several times.

Here's some bad news for anyone that was planning on importing one so they didn't have to wait 6 months to get it. They won't be region free like other DSes have been.

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=32358

10/6/2008 12:11:58 PM

ttt

7/5/2009 5:29:52 PM

Just obtained a DS from a friend who didn't want his anymore. Any game recommendations? I'm an RPG fan and was thinking about getting the latest zelda. Already have a few mario games, metroid and mario kart.

7/5/2009 5:44:31 PM

there's a ds game thread proper floating around here somewhere for more input

I'm paraphrasing but the zelda game starts off cool until you have to do this same dungeon over and over, and after the 3rd time I said I'm not doing this. I quit playing it after that and never picked it up again.

7/5/2009 7:42:50 PM

^ yea a terrible idea was putting a timed-stealth dungeon you have to do repeatedly in an otherwise great game

tetris is awesome
picross is a great puzzle game
gta chinatown wars is great

7/5/2009 10:18:50 PM

can't find any DS games thread. anything else i should check out? Want a good rpg. I'm kind of turned off by zelda because you have to play the whole thing with stylus and flick movements.

7/6/2009 9:34:27 AM

Dude, it was the first thread in the section when you posted.

7/6/2009 9:39:07 AM

woops fail on my part. sorry i typed "Nintendo DS" and nothing showed up in the search.

7/6/2009 10:21:48 AM

So as to the topic of the thread, does anyone actually have a DSi? I was thinking about getting one, but I can't for the life of me figure out why I would. Aside from being able to webcam chat with someone (which I would never in a million years do) is there any reason to get a DSi?

Edited to say: Holy crap. I just read the wiki page and you can't even webchat. They took the one potentially cool thing to do with this and fucked it up. All you can do is take 640 x 480 postage stamp pictures and upload them to facebook. Pass.

7/6/2009 6:09:46 PM

its not worth the price imo

still really nifty. im thinking anyone who wants to dump that kind of money on a handheld system, will just go for the PSP, and i wouldn't blame them

aside from the camera (which you can buy for the PSP), touchscreen and game selection, they have pretty much the same capabilities. And its a pure t bitch for me to get my DS to do anything over a wireless connection. 95% of the time i get errors and cannot connect

7/7/2009 3:02:04 AM