[DS] Nintendo Announces DSi - What?

Quote:

Nintendo just announced the DSi at its fall presentation -- we're getting more details by the second. The company is calling it a "third platform," which means it's complementing the existing DS Lite, not necessarily replacing it. Lookswise it's almost exactly the same, but it's some 12 percent thinner, partly because it doesn't have a GBA cartridge slot. The screens are also slightly larger, at 3.25 inches, and there are two cameras, at least one of which is VGA res. The SD slot is retained, but there's now also internal storage -- we're not sure how much at the moment. Photos can be synced with the Wii Photo channel. Nintendo's also launching an online DSi shop, which will sell content directly over WiFi -- including a free browser app. Wii Points are being renamed Nintendo Points so as to work across platforms and content will be priced in 0 / 200 / 500 / 800 point brackets. ¥189,000 ($178), will launch on November 1st.

Sauce [more photos and a video across the jump]

To be completely honest, this doesn't really excite me at all. I was hoping for something better than the addition of two low-quality camerasSure, the screens are a little bigger, but that seems to be all that's going for the DSi. I've been reading that the battery life went to shit on this model, too. God help them if they didn't add WPA support to the WiFi options.

Cameras? Whoo, I can finally use my Game Boy Printer again--oh shi--they took out the GBA slot. That means no Guitar Hero or Paddle controllers either.

More details, specs, and comparison to DSlite:

• Size of Liquid Crystal Display
Nintendo DSi: 3.25 inches
Nintendo DS Lite: 3 inches

• Liquid Crystal Screen
Nintendo DSi: Possible to display 260,000 colors
Nintendo DS Lite: Possible to display 260,000 colors

• Portable Size
Nintendo DSi: Width 137mm, Length 74.9mm, Thickness 18.9mm (touch pen is approx. 92mm in length)
Nintendo DS Lite: Width 133mm, Length 73.9mm, Thickness 21.5mm (touch pen is approx. 87.5mm in length)

• Power Supply
Nintendo DSi: AC adaptor for Nintendo DSi
Nintendo DS Lite: AC adaptor for DS Lite

• Weight
Nintendo DSi: Approx. 214g (with touch pen)
Nintendo DS Lite: Approx. 218g (with touch pen, Game Boy Advance cover)

• Charging Time
Nintendo DSi: Approx. 2 hours and 30 minutes
Nintendo DS Lite: Approx. 3 hours

• Battery Life
Nintendo DSi: The lowest brightness (9-14 hrs), low brightness (8-12 hours), medium brightness (6-9 hours), high brightness (4-6 hours), highest brightness(3-4 hours)
Nintendo DS Lite: The lowest brightness (15-19 hrs), low brightness (10-15 hours), high brightness (7-11 hours), highest brightness(5-8 hours)

• Software
Nintendo DSi: Software for Nintendo DS, Software for Nintendo DSi.
Nintendo DS Lite: Software for Nintendo DS, Software for Game Boy Advance

• Input-Output
Nintendo DSi: DS card slot, SD memory card slot, AC adaptor connection, stereo headphone/mic jack
Nintendo DS Lite: DS card slot, Game Boy Advance cartridge slot, AC adaptor connection, stereo headphone/mic jack

...Either way, this thing will still print money, especially with the addition of 'downloadable content'. Whether that means full games or game add-ons, I'm sure people will just suck that up.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, there's apparently going to be a 'DSi Store', with 'DSiWare', much in the line of the Wii's Shop Channel and Wiiware. I don't know, could be interesting. They're also including 1000 Nintendo Points with the DSi, which is a nice incentive, but that alone doesn't sell the unit, either.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by BigCN401

I wonder why no one said that while one camera facing you is .3 megapixel the other facing away from you is a 3 megapixel camera.

From what I understood from G4's interview with Reggie [among other things] was that the outside camera was 0.3MP, and the inside one was 'VGA' [which I assume would be about the same quality].

I have read in some places though [Neowin forums, for example] that what you're saying is true, and the inside is 0.3MP, while the outside is 3MP. I haven't seen any 'official' sources for this, though, so I'm not sure which is true.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.