The new Nintendo DSi and why it seems a bit lame to me

[ManicMatt]

First there was the Nintendo DS. Then came the sleeker DS Lite. And now, it's the DSi! It's been selling like hotcakes with gold on them in Japan, and I've only just heard about it! I thought to myself, oh no, they're going to make my DS seem crap like the old style, arent they?


Looks a bit 1980's now.

Looks nice!

Another DS Lite. Oh, wait.. that's the new one. My bad.

Well.. lets see now. It now comes with a camera. Great, just what I always wanted. My phone's camera has 3.2 megapixels. The DSi has a whopping 0.3 megapixels! That's incredible! Wait.. 0.3.. that must be a bit shit then. Well can't complain, it's a nice little extra. But theres a catch! In order to fit the camera into the device (Apparently), they removed the GameBoy advance cartridge slot! So chuck all those old games away folks, and look to the future, because Nintendo said so.

It also comes with a slot for an SD card so you can play music and save your photos onto one. Yeah great, I have an mp3 player for that, thanks.

ooh, a bigger screen. A bit. That's actually good, but not worth trading in my old DS Lite for, especially as I'd lose my gameboy compatibility, and I already have a camera on my phone, and I already have a good quality mp3 player.

So will the DSi sell amazingly well over here? Probably, although tons of people werent happy with the PS3's lack of a ps2 hardware chip, so I do wonder. (In the UK, it was removed from the PS3)

If I had one device that was a phone, mp3 player, gaming system and camera in one, that does sound pretty funky, but I'd have to charge it up every bloody day, wouldn't I? And then the battery won't last very long. So I think I'll stick to having seperate devices! Plus if I lose it, I've lost them all!

Yes I can see why Nintendo have done this; it's obviously to compete with some other device out there, like an Apple device or something.

Your thoughts?

[BOYD1981]

well if you already have a DS then there's absolutely no reason to get this new one.
and the whole backwards compatibility argument is so completely redundant to me because you can just you know, keep your old hardware, it's not that difficult to do, and why pay all that money for a new machine just to play old games anyway?
and i'm sure the camera is just a gimmick that a handful of games will use to get your face into the game, or to be used a webcam for the wifi stuff, and you'll be hard pressed to find a webcam that isn't 0.3 megapixels. yes it's a crappy resolution for taking still pictures, but who on earth is just going to pay the hundred some pounds just to use their DSi as a camera? that's right, nobody is.
so stick that in your shop and sell it 

[abstauber]

I mainly use my DS(old version) as an audiobook player. Speakers are okay for voice and fastforward via touchscreen is also really nice. Second usage is playing games while I'm on the train - bigger and brighter screens would be a big plus for me.
And since the new model already has an SD-Card slot, I don't need the GBA-Slot for my *cough* homebrew-device anymore.
The last GBA game I've actually bought was "Zelda and the Minish Cap" (or the prequel of Brothers in time?), but after that I can't think of any decent titles.

There's also a slight hope that the new DS somehow gets homebrew enabled so I would get portable scumm vm back. But on the other hand, unless my current DS gets broken, I'll stick with it.

[Darth Mandarb]

I have DS ... it is an effective paper-weight on my desk.

I played it for awhile, but now I'm back to my trusty ol' GBA (I only ever play Tetris Worlds anyway).

There were/are some really cool features on the DS.  I got this little DS cart that you plug an SD card into and it plugs into the DS game slot and has it's own OS on it.  Which I totally customized (loading screen, backgrounds, interface, etc.)  Came with a NES emulator too (which of course I own all the games I use in emulation)

This new one doesn't (to me) look as cool as the one I have and the new features are just blah.  At first I thought 0.3 megapixels was crap ... but I'm inclined to think that decision to put that low of a resolution camera was more to match the screens' resolutions rather than as a digital camera replacement (there are probably games coming out where you can use the DSi's camera to put your face on the characters (something like that)).  There are some pretty damn clever uses of the dual screens being put in use on that thing.

I don't know if I'm qualified to guess though ... I am, after all, the guy that bought a PS3 just for the bluray player.  I don't own a single game for it.

[LimpingFish]

No GBA slot. No R4 compatibility. Battery life has gone down.

Two low resolution cameras, a 0.25 inch increase in screen size, an SD slot, "improved" speakers, and a slimmer profile.

Pointless for people who already own a DS lite, and less than essential for people who don't.

Especially since it will the more expensive of the two.

The lack of a GBA slot smells of Nintendo planning to add the GBA to the Virtual Console.

[tombom62]

This makes me mad!  I mean what I wanna say's already been said, but I prefer my classic DS over the new kind!  I'd rather just have a old bulky thing that a tiny new thing. :o

[ManicMatt]

At least the old DS looks a bit sturdier, I guess. Although both suffer from potential Hingitis, a disease which cracks the hinge until it snaps if you don't treat it nicely enough. I suspect the DSi is also susceptible to this disease. Bah. Although it's never happened to me, I've seen it happen to others quite a lot. (Working at Game World and all. Hey yes of course I'm going to talk about my shop again, it's relevant!  )

Oh yeah Limpy, I forgot about that. Down from 19 hours of battery life to 9, isn't it?

Boyd, yeah sure, if I had a gameboy. But I'm talking about if someone was to trade in their DS Lite for a DSi, which is probably what Nintendo would want us to do, so more money for them. But it's clearly not justifiable. I've never been interested in owning a gameboy, but it was a neat feature when I bought my DS Lite. It's true though, when people would come to my store and moan that the 40/80gb ps3 isnt backwards compatible like the 60gb model, I'd say "why not just keep your ps2? Arent you buying a ps3 to play next generation games after all?" There was a time when backwards-compatibility ready consoles didnt exist.. we're spoilt!

[Phemar]

The only reason I would want backwards compatability is because I wouldnt own a ps2 or any other previous model if I were to buy a ps3. I've never owned a console other than a nes, a sega genesis and a gameboy color. There's just simply no point if you have a pc

All these 'extra features' are just gimmicks. My cellphone can do all of that better, and more.

[Domino]

I am happy with my current selection of Portable Gaming Devices.  I use my PSP the most, but not for games. I use it in the morning when I get up to check the Forums using the Internet Browser.



I do use the other two, just not as much.

[Ryan Timothy B]

The only portable gaming device I own is a Black and White LARGE Nintendo Gameboy.

I promised myself I'd never buy a hand-held device until they had two joysticks.  One for movement, one for camera, or whatever they decided.  Just like the consoles.  I realize the psp has one joystick and a control pad, but common, how user friendly is that crap being forced to use your left thumb for both.  Also the fact that it's a control pad makes matters worse.

[tombom62]

The only portable gaming device I own is a Black and White LARGE Nintendo Gameboy.

I have one of those too.

[Ryan Timothy B]

Yup that would be the one.

I sometimes chuckle when I think about how large that hand held was.  When I was a child it was like holding a brick in my hands. lol  I thought it was the best thing ever invented.

[IndieBoy]

I thought it was the best thing ever invented.

I agree

[InCreator]

If I had one device that was a phone, mp3 player, gaming system and camera in one, that does sound pretty funky, but I'd have to charge it up every bloody day, wouldn't I? And then the battery won't last very long. So I think I'll stick to having seperate devices! Plus if I lose it, I've lost them all!

Huh?

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/w580i?cc=us&lc=en

Whatever I do, even play for half of day and listen to music other half, it still survives 3-4 days without recharging.
Not exaggerating here. Battery life was first priority when choosing the product. Since I usually don't play that much, only a charge a week is usual.

Nintendo DSi costs what? $300? My phone did $400, brand new.

Not seeing point here.... but of course, Java games are not DS games.
Then again, who plays handheld games much anyway? Bus rides aren't that long and if you have more time to play than only on those boring transportation events, why not use computer or console? They are almost everywhere today?

[Tuomas]

I have this one... portable you say? that I'm very happy with and I see no need in getting a new one!

[tombom62]

I've seen those

[LimpingFish]

In the past thirty two years I have thrice owned a Donkey Kong Jr Game and Watch. It is without doubt the greatest of all Game and Watches.