Nintendo announces Nintendo DSi – Update
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 3:01am by Will
Nintendo DSi has been announced with new and improved features, and a shorter battery life. Let me tell you playing this system with the setting “brightness of 3 suns mode” is sure going to take a bite out of the battery on this system, play time stated to be 3 to 4 hours max. Hit the jump for specs and neat pictures.
Nintendo DSi
The Nintendo DSi features new and enlarged screens now at an impressive 3.25 inches, 17% bigger than the DS Lites. As for other additions to the console they have also improved the “audio capability” with some new speakers and audio playing software for Mp3’s and other various audio content. Along with the much rumored update of a built in camera featuring an awesome 3 mega pixel and one at VGA (640×480) camera. Which is pretty much a somewhat decent camera phone add on.
The DSi will also feature an addition content slot on the right side of the body, which will fit an SD card. Which makes it possible to save various content such as pictures taken by the console and the Mp3s to play on it. As well as giving aspiring hackers a way to pirate games. However, to much of everyone’s surprise the SD cards will bring way of down-loadable content for the system.
Along with the ability to download addition content the DSi has a built in browser since the removal of the GBA slot breaks the Opera browser released for the DS. The internal Opera browser is supposedly been worked on by Opera and Nintendo in an attempt to actually fine tune it for the best speeds possible. No word on how much Internal ram the DSi will have.
The pricing for said content ranges from Free, 200 points, 500 points and “Premium” or 800 points. Customers will get 1000 free points to spend at the DSi Shop that are good until March 2010.
Battery time on the system ranges depending on what brightness setting you are using on the hand held. Minimal brightness gets you the most bang for your buck at 14 hours. Low Brightness 8-12 Hours, Medium Brightness 6-9 Hours, High Brightness 4-6 hours, and finally the mentioned Maximum Brightness at 3-4 hours.
Since the DSi will be released on November 1 in Japan, and retailing for ï¿¥18,900 (about a $180). Chances are we will be seeing these DSi’s in the wild no later than December.
White and Matte Black DSi Handhelds
Content on the touch screen.
SD Card on the Side, Classy.
Quick Summary
Nintendo DSi
LCD screen size: 3.25 inches
LCD screens: active TFT color LCD (260,000 colors)
Hardware size: L: 137mm, H: 74.9mm, W: 18.9mm (stylus length: ~92mm)
Power source: Nintendo DSi AC Adapter, battery pack
Weight: ~214g (including the battery pack and stylus)
Battery charging time: ~2.5 hours
Battery charge length:
lowest brightness: ~9-14 hours
low brightness: ~8-12 hours
medium brightness: ~6-9 hours
high brightness: ~4-6 hours
highest brightness: ~3-4 hours
(This may vary from title to title.)
Playable titles: Nintendo DS software, Nintendo DSi software
Inputs: DS card slot, SD memory card slot, AC adapter port, stereo　headphone/microphone port
*GBA games and DS games requiring the GBA slot cannot be played
[DSi Site]
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:17 am
As I mentioned on the live-blogging article: I just want to know if I can get this and not have to worry about another DS type. In short, is this DSi going to be the next-gen of the DS lineup; not a DS part 3 (DS Lite being part 2 ;p).
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:23 am
FIRST DAY BUY FOR ME!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:07 am
Well, after reading other people’s comments from various websites: this is going to be a really ‘if’ purchase. I don’t want to buy this then one or two years later: DS 2 announced. -.-
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:22 am
THE SCREEN IS A FOURTH OF AN INCH LARGER. LOOK OUT PSP, BECAUSE THE DS IS COMING THROUGH!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:55 am
What
a
load
of
shit!
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:02 am
IGN describes DSi as having an integrated browser. I wonder if Nintendo is powering up the DS, as I am not sure it has the proper computing power to handle browsing in a decent way.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:06 am
@Marcus
Actually
its
a
Load
of
plastic.
Awesome
Plastic
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:49 am
Hmm…I’ve been waiting for a new DS for a while, and I can’t say this really appeals to me. It doesn’t look nearly as slick as the lite I have now.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:53 am
Wow, I’m kind of disappointed. This is cool… but I’m not keen on these “mini-iterations” where there isn’t a lot of advantage in buying the new DSi instead of the considerably cheaper DS Lite.
That said, I am very interested to find out more about DLC using the SD card. That could end up being a brilliant addition, or a rarely implemented feature that is totally gimped because of piracy fears (*cough* Wii SD Slot *cough*).
I also agree with Monteblanco — the DS didn’t have enough memory to handle a web browser before, and hardly enough processing power. Hopefully this means there is more to the new DSi release than Nintendo is admitting to just yet?
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:36 am
Not impressed. I will stick with my phat DS until it dies. Outside of that, is this replacing the DS lite?
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 am
I’ll buy it. My DS Lite is in shambles and I’ve been meaning to get another one.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:09 am
Yeah, I was pretty hyped when I saw last night they were announcing a new DS – until it looked like a pretty boring iteration, imo. big difference for me is the two touchscreens and the DLC. I have a bootcard so that I could use it to play mp3s and movies (gotta love 8GB microSD cards!). We’ll see if either feature is ever put to real use. Until one is, definitely not a pickup for me.
Also, in the live blog last night there were two cameras, one at VGA (640×480) and one at 3MP, not .3MP. That’d actually be useful. I don’t need another crappy camera hanging around. Hell, my cellphone has a 2MP camera.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
Unless some mega feature about it hasn’t been announced, I’ll stick with my DS Lite with my GBA slot. That means more to me than anything they’ve said about the “new” DS.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 am
There is no GBA slot, so if there’s an inbuilt web browser, that means this DS has to have at least 12MB of RAM instead of 4. I’d like to think more along the lines of 32, but even the Gamecube only had something like 24.
I’m going to guess that the fact that they made a big deal about pitch shifting means they have at least a dedicated DSP in there now, too, so don’t write off the possibility that there may be improved graphics as well. Something has to be causing the reduced battery life besides the screens being a quarter inch bigger (in their use cases they said nothing about running the camera or wireless.)
I think the name is pretty boring, but I guess when you have the most popular console in history, you don’t mess with the branding.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Ok, good luck keeping that camera lens clean and unscratched. Also, it’s lowsy resolution. Are we finallly done with broken hinges? These are things I want to know.
I’m not 100% stoked with the look of it, but it will probably end up being mine.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
I really want it!
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
I’ll take the ability to play GBA games over a camera and mp3 player any day.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
“Nintendo DSi software” Uh? So it’s not 100% compatible with Lite?
. That would be the reason to buy it, though I’m not impressed by it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
First day buy for moi. I really want it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
bigger screen is greta- no more gba isn’t. can’t see enough of a reason to upgrade.
this looks like a way to keep things fresh, slightly updated, but largely uninteresting if you already have a lite. kinda like apple’s trillion slightly different ipods. it let’s them keep the price point up for new buyers, but doesn’t get many people to upgrade.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Hmmm… well if you buy this you can say goodbye to guitar hero and all those pokemon that you wanted to take off emerald and put into diamond….like i believe in an upgrade to keep things fresh suck as the lite or the psp slim but i think a third upgrade is a tad too far… usually a third upgrade is a new system all together…
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Color me AMAZED… When I was denying that an upgrade to the DS Lite would ever happen, especially this year, because it wasn’t worth it, I never thought they would add EVERYTHING in everyone’s whish list!!
This raises the question not of ‘if’, but ‘when’… I’ll have to start saving NOW!
I don’t mind the lack of a GBA slot for the games (I only play GBA games on my micro these days), but what happens to the rumble? Does the DSi have it integrated? If so, I’m golden!
(Who am I kidding?? I’m getting this toy on day 1, anyway!!)
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 pm
[...] specs of this new machine since I’m sure you’ve already read about them at other news sites. Mostly I just want to pose a question: is the DSi a big enough improvement over the DS Lite to get [...]
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Thank you Gunder for the clarification. A .3 mega pixel camera is total crap. I was hoping that it was just a very bad typo. 3 mega pixels is 10 times better than .3 thats a big difference.my old razor only had a 1.3 camera and its pictures were crap. 3mp is decent.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
This is great. If they allow for backing up and switching saves for both ds and DSI games this thing will be perfect for me. It is still region free with multiple languages on each DSi right? If so, I’m importing a black one.
Too bad the SD support is just SD and not SDHC, SDHC would’ve been too great.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
can’t wait for this thing to come out, this is the DS I have been waiting for, I will proudly replace my DS Lite. Built in web browser, built in music player, etc…awesome!
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
This is the first thing I’m actually considering importing
Great job nintendo for a great show
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Not impressed. Multimedia gimmicks are of no use to me whatsoever. What’s more, it doesn’t even play mp3s (it plays AAC files). Either way, I have an mp3 player already and my phone has a camera.
The GBA compatibility is one of the best things about the current DS and its been taken out.
Call me old fashioned, but I like my portable gaming devices best when they’re not pretending to be iPhones.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Looks like my DS lite is not going to be replaced.
No GBA slot?
Only slightly smaller n size and slightly larger screen?
SHORT battery life?
Poor Quality camera?
Meh.
I can wait for the DS 2. It should be great.
This is not.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
[...] to a translation of the event, the audio capability has been improved as well, with a new speakers and audio playing software [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:37 am
WTH are you ppl talking about? 3 MegaPixels aint a bad camera… most phones come with 2 or 3 just recently, so the new DSs is decent enough…
Well for me its still “meh”…
i mean, my ipod touch is great, BUT it will all come down to the size of the thing. If its any larger than the Lite, then ill kiss it goodbye.
If its the same size but thiner then ill consider because im used to the itouch’s size already and if i get this it would be to replace the itouch.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Gameboy support.
No GBA slot, but we have the shopping channel. Now we know why they don’t have Gameboy game for download for Wii. N wants to save them for the DSi market they’re about to create.
I doubt, but would like, for at least free b&w downloadable GB games. Or some way not to have to re-pay for cart games you already own.
Still not a complete replacement for a cartridge slot. No more rumble pak, Arkanoid knob, guitar grip, or other accessories. It will sell huge anyway.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
My take on the new DSi?
I like it but don’t love it only because this is the 3rd iteration of DS. Like many above me have stated, I am willing to buy this new DS (probably towards the end of next year), but I don’t want my purchase to become semi-obsolete if they plan on releasing another redux of the DS, or worse, the DS 2.
But that aside, I feel the DSi has features that pretty much every hardcore nerd has been asking for and more.
-Larger screens: Always good
-Built in Opera browser: reading infendo on the toilet helps motivate the plumbing
-SD card slot support: You can buy 4gig SD cards for $10 on Newegg.
-2 cameras : interesting gameplay options there
-Backwards compatible with all DS software (excluding those that need the gba slot): As expected. No system coming out now should ever cut out the previous gens’ library with out some access to it (bc or digital distribution)
Some of the negatives people are complaining about I can’t seem to understand.
-No gba slot: I understand if you don’t want to loose the convenience of playing game carts from 3-6 years ago. But honestly, how much time do you actually spend playing gba games? I feel like the inclusion of the sd slot, coupled with the new DSi shop just screams gameboy virtual console which will negate the need for the gba slot altogether. And if you don’t wanna re-purchase that gba game you own, play it on that original gba you have stuffed in its box in your closet.
-short battery life: It was stated in the article that the battery life is, for the most part, completely dependant on the brightness of the screen setting. As far as I’m concerned, the current brightness level of the ds lite is fine by me and setting my new dsi to ” the brightness of 3 suns” won’t be neccessary. So battery life should not be as prohibitive as say on the psp.
All in all the only real negative I see is the fact that its another iteration of the ds, which is fine. But being only about 2 years from the release of the lite, I hope this is the LAST DS we get from nintendo until the ds 2 in like 4-5 years.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I can see where this is going and who it’s aimed at, but the huge feature is the SD downloadable content which makes me worry that if these downloads go beyond simple non-games then all previous DS owners are getting screwed, which is exactly why I was doubtful Nintendo would even dare do this (because they didn’t before).
I’m shocked they actually stepped a bit outside of their comfort zone but not sure I like the results, losing the GBA slot for a slimmer frame is soemthing i’m not too sure about yet.
Having the slot removed kills a lot of cool add-ons that used this but also might hint strongly at Nintendo’s direction moving on with how their next portable might be (seems like the GBA brand might be dying for good this time).
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Uses for two cameras on a ‘device’:
- like certain DVD commentaries, one could shoot live video while at the same time having another stream for your reaction to primary video stream in a small corner square on screen. Not sure how that could be used in a game, though
- Ext. cam shoot a scenery shot to be stored and used as a background layer in a game. Int. cam shoots you’re face and puts it on an in-game character.
- in a new PictoChat, video conferencing and shared “vision.” In other words, not only do you see each other, you also see through the eyes of the person on the other end as well. When chatting with someone w/ a DSLite or “phat,” still images could be auto-simplified to b&w pixelated ‘drawings’ to send over.
- since the cameras differ in quality, the lesser one is a thumbnailer, for quick previews in any kind of photo-viewing application within a game or channel. However that means turning the DSi around and taking 2 pictures
- live webcam host for a website, while ext. cam is used for either shared vision or to take a static background shot
- Yoga exercises through EyeToy-like interface. When using ext cam, audio tells you what to do
- speaking of EyeToy-like interface, facial expression = more ‘action buttons’. i.e. stick your tongue out to launch a bomb.
- two cameras facing different ways can prove where you are and that you’re there. Go to a historical monument, for example, and send the two pics online to a game server to unlock something
- detect motion for motion-based moves. i.e.: shake the DSi left and right to tilt a pinball game. Tilt to steer a car. Probably really difficult for dev’s to do this, though.
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Razorkid, most of the people complaining about the loss of the GBA slot are complaining not about the lack of old games, but the lack of GBA slot peripherals.
For example, good luck playing Guitar Hero on the DSi. The Japanese have it way worse, though, because they’ve gotten GBA slot peripherals we never did.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Honestly, the SD slot is the single most interesting thing about this. I can understand the reasoning behind the cameras, since Nintendo want to position this as a social networking tool; having a built in webcam and the ability to snap photos is *really* good for community features, especially with expanded internet capabilities. The only real thing I have to wonder about is whether or not it’s really even worth doing that; most people have cellphone cameras nowadays, especially in Japan, and I’m not sure you can do anything with the DS that gives value added over that. Unless there’s some very unique, and more importantly compelling, way of turning that functionality into something that you *need* a DS for, most people will reach for their phones instead.
But it’s the SD slot where the real change is here. You’ll see DS Ware type stuff along the lines of the Wii Ware stuff you can get on the Wii now. Smaller games, more experimental stuff. And yes, that’ll suck for people that don’t upgrade, but it’s almost necessary if you’re going to branch out into the digital distribution model, and that’s a model that’s going to become increasingly important going forward. This is a very good way to proof of concept that stuff too, and having that network established and in place well in advance of a new hardware update makes a lot of sense.
All in all, this is a *much* more significant change than the Lite redesign was, and as such I’d actually consider buying it instead of just sticking with my DS Phat. The loss of GBA-slot peripherals kinda sucks though, but since those were almost entirely relegated to individual games, the damage should be very minimal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s a replacement expansion slot, which means that there can never *be* any peripherals with this thing. That’ll be a bit limiting.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I understand about the lament for the gba slot due to the peripherals.
But really, how many games released here in America use peripherals for the ds? 5 or less? And count those against the hundreds of other games on the system that don’t use it. I say small sacrifice for the other features added on (although Raindog is right that the Japanese will feel that loss harder).
And going forward, especially if your a wii owner, are you really that sad about not being able to get more peripherals? (and for a portable gaming system no less)
And lastly, we don’t have to pick this thing up if we are perfectly happy with our phats and lites. It’s not like DS games are gonna suddenly stop being made or that we are gonna be forced to upgrade.
Heh, its just gonna burn knowing that there is a better version of our system out there that we chose not to own, however we deny it
A simple form factor redesign this is not.
October 4th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
They’ve already said there will be DSi-only games, and just as with the transitions to the GBC, GBA and DS before it, if this thing does as well as the DS Lite did, it’ll only be a year or so before DS games start getting scarce. Nintendo has already pretty much stopped first-party DS development and the thing’s not even out yet, so they’re feeling pretty confident.
New features are the carrot; the earliest possible obsolescence of the DS will be the stick.
I don’t say this as someone who wants to cling to my DS Lite, because I’ll be getting a DSi as soon as it’s opened for homebrew; I say this as someone who’s watched Nintendo and other companies do this sort of thing for about 30 years.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
I really want to know about the internals. Is the processing speed improved at all? Any changes to graphics (better 3d? any fancy graphic processing options the original didn’t have?) Increased RAM – how much? Increased wi-fi speed – how much?
I have the opera browser cart for internet access, and a Games-n-Music to run DSOrganize and play music (MP3s, not AAC. I can’t even find a program to convert music to AAC.) I’m not particularly excited, since it adds nothing that I need and I really like “Guitar Hero On Tour”.
Eventually my DS Lite will break, or a DSi only game will come out that I really want. I just wish there was some talk about boosting the general horsepower. Right now it sounds like a DS with a Slot 2 card reader soldered into the GBA slot and a camera pasted on.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I do eventually plan on getting a DSi, but not as soon as it launches. But I hope that it truly isn’t the DS 2 or anything because they’re touting it like how the DS lite was. As long as they don’t release games that you MUST play on the DSi otherwise you’re screwed. However I am looking forward to Mario and Luigi 3.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] japanische DSi-Seite : http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsi.html Zusammenfassung der PK betreffs DSi : Nintendo announces Nintendo DSi – Update – Infendo – Nintendo news, podcast, Wii, DS, and GBA blog Dürfte Probleme geben mit den GBA-Spielen. __________________ ~Patriotismus, nur um des [...]