When the original DS launched on November 21, 2004 Nintendo told us that the DS would not be replacing the Game Boy. Nintendo did not proclaim the DS to be the next generation Game Boy because they did not know if the little portable gaming unit would catch on. They were taking a big risk introducing a new portable system that was so much different than the existing Game Boy line.
A little over four years later I have to wonder if the powers that be at Nintendo are still thinking of launching a new Game Boy or if they have decided to just tell us that the DS was meant to be the next Game Boy after all.
As of March 6, 2009 Nintendo announced that they had shipped over 100 million DS (includes DS, DS Lite and DSi) units worldwide. Not too bad for a system that has only been out for four years! You can compare that to the Game Boy line (original through GBA SP) which has sold 200 million units worldwide.
Now that you know a little bit about the back story of the Nintendo DS and Game Boy lines let me tell you a little bit about the changes we see in the DSi over the DS Lite, its most recent ancestor.
Dual Screens
No, the dual screens are not going away! If anything they are getting bigger!
The new screens are 3.25" compared to the 3" screens on the DS Lite.
Sound
The speakers have been improved and are louder!
Backwards Compatibility
It was a rather sad day for me when I moved on to the DS. Even though it featured a slot for GBA games it would not play any of the older GBC or GB titles. What about the DSi?
The DSi has completely dropped the GBA slot and replaced it with an SD card slot. This change is a precursor to a DSi-Shop channel (much like on the Wii) and will allow users to download (and pay for) games that will be stored on the SD card.
As an added bonus early DSi owners will receive 1,000 shop points for use in acquiring software.
This also means you can not use a Rumble Pak or the Guitar Hero: On Tour games because they need the GBA slot.
The Other Stuff
For starters the DSi is thinner than the DS Lite. It has upgraded hardware and sports two VGA cameras.
The DSi also has five brightness settings. The DS Lite had four.
The DSi has a better CPU and RAM (ARM 133Mhz/16MB) than the DS Lite (One ARM9 and one ARM7/4MB).
The DSi also breaks the DS out of the world of WEP by including support for WPA and WPA2. Sadly this support is not implemented in a manner that would allow older games to use the better encryption standard. I'm not sure why Nintendo chose to go this route (I would have the hardware handle all the Wi-Fi rather than the game) but it may have been a design flaw from the first DS that just sort of hung around.
In fact, when the Wi-Fi adapter was released for the GBA line it suffered the same compatibility problem in that only games designed for the adapter could use it. Yeah... Wonderful!
You will be able to edit photos you take with the built-in cameras and Picto-chat will work in color now.
My Thoughts
I didn't buy a DS when it first came out but I might consider getting a DSi. It all depends on if the games I want to play are optimized for the DSi or not.
I am not very happy about the GBA slot being dropped (I play Pokemon) but I can't say I have played a GBA game on my DS Lite recently. In fact the only thing I use that slot for is Pal Parking my Pokemon to Pearl. As long as I have one DS Lite in the house I can keep doing that, well, sort of. The Pokemon games on DS know if you put them in a different system and lock out the Pal Park for 24 hours!
At $169.99 the price point is a bit high for me as well. Not a deal breaker but I don't know if the DSi has enough to offer me to get me to upgrade.
If you want some more reviews or to buy nintendo dsi why not look around or talk to your friends? I don't know if I will have access to one after they launch on April 5, 2009 so don't hold your breath for a review!
[...] Read more from the original source: The Nintendo DSi is Coming [...]
Sleek design but I don’t really care as long as I have my iphone :D … Great review here.
This looks like a great new portable system. Great review!
My daughter is saving up for hers but I’ll hold off until something comes out that I want that will not work on the DS Lite.
I just got one and, I have to say, I love it!! Yeah, i am disappointed about the loss of the GBA slot (I play Pokemon as well, as you well know, Steve), but like you I also have my DS Lite which is practically brand-new (just before the DSi announcement, I had picked up a new DS Lite to replace mine, which had a broken hinge). Pretty much what I’m planning on doing is using the DS Lite for my copy of Diamond, and my DSi for my copy of Platinum – that way I can easily trade over some of my favorite Pokes from Diamond into Platinum, and I can still Pal-Park in any Pokemon from the 3rd gen games! All in all, I am very very happy with the DSi already, and am looking forward to them beefing up the DSi shop content!!
Want to do me a favor and review it for me?
I myself am a big fan of the GBA and like the side scrolling games like Castlelvania. It was disappointing that they dropped the game slot for them. Hopefully they will come out with a new Game Boy. I could care less about a touch screen.
I haven’t thought much about the nintendo dsi until I read a review recently. It talked about how the nintendo dsi’s firmware can be updated and such.