Nintendo DSi deconstructed

Posted by Adam Hartley on Tue 28 Oct 2008

With surgeon-like precision we delve deep into the DSi

The new Nintendo DSi is out in Japan next month (and the UK next spring) and is sure to be greeted with the usual scenes of slightly hysterical J-Popsters mugging for the cameras of Famitsu magazine snappers in an Akihabara electronics emporium.

Over in the UK, the reaction to the announcement to date has been slightly more subdued. Greg Howson, writing in the Guardian, claimed that the DSi failed to excite him and that "a low-spec camera, slimmer case and a download service is hardly getting the pulses racing."

However, criticising a new bit of gaming kit because it is not a revolutionary all-singing, all-dancing mega-toy that blows the previous iteration out of the water is slightly disingenuous. Nintendo has made no hyped-up promises about DSi being 'the future' and the company is firmly positioning DSi as an evolution rather than a revolution. Much like Apple does with its annual iPod refresh.

Sure, you can argue that 'all' Nintendo has done is to add a couple of fairly low-resolution digital cameras, iTunes-compatible AAC playback and a number of other slight improvements to a winning formula. It is only when you add up the various new bits and bobs that you really start to understand why, come March next year, you are going to NEED to give your current DS Lite to your nephew or niece and upgrade to a DSi.

Nintendo's ever-smiling bossman, Satoru Iwata says that the DSi is a much more personal machine, allowing users to store, customise or swap pictures and music. As a business move, it is yet another genius example of Iwata's ability to imbue his technology with a little humanity, and to make your gran want one.

"In Japan, the DS is seen as having reached something close to saturation point in terms of sales, there is nearly one per household," says NGamer's deputy editor, Martin Kitts. "What Iwata wants now is to give families a reason to stop sharing a single DS."

Dsi nitty gritty

So, just to recap, let's look at what's new and better about DSi. Firstly, the 640 x 480 resolution external camera, while hardly a replacement for your current ten megapixel point-and-shoot, is perfectly adequate for taking pictures to be displayed on the DSi's screen. In typical Nintendo fashion, you will be able to warp, merge and pop Mario moustaches on all your mugshots. Remember how much fun the Game Boy Camera was? Times that by ten, and you have the DSi. You might also want to send your pics to the Wii Photo Channel, to show off your holiday snaps on the telly.

In terms of the form factor, when you look up close you realise the DSi is slightly slimmer than its older brother, with a matte finish (similar to the current DS Lite's inner surface) to stop your mucky fingerprints from dirtying its firm and lithe white body. The music playback feature also allows you to record your voice via the microphone and then change the speed and pitch when you play it back. We're already having fun just thinking about this! On top of all that you get heaps more RAM and built-in internal storage space for all those games you'll be downloading from the DSi Shop.

What the DSi developers say

Need we say more? All we really want to see in 2009 are more, better games. So what do DS developers think of the new device?

"Nintendo has a history of success for ventures such as this," says Zoo Games' Andy Gray. "Just look at the DS Lite or the Gameboy Advance for example.

"The camera will be interesting as it does raise the prospect of creating EyeToy like games for the DS. There could well be some exciting developments here."

Keen Games' Pete Walentin is equally buoyant about the possibilities, telling T3 that "it is always nice to get some extras, something additional which offers new possibilities for the developer and therefore for the user as well."

"I think for some games the camera is pretty awesome. Just think about What's cooking? with Jamie Oliver. You are able to be creative and cook your own meal, store it and send it to your friends. Now think about being able to create a real meal, record the steps on your DSi and then taking a picture of your served dish. It would be even cooler to show your skills and your creativity."

Gripes? Our main annoyance is that the region-locking means that we cannot buy one from our mate in Japan next week. Well, we could, but we wouldn't be able to download any non-Japanese stuff on it, which kind of defeats the point. But really, the likelihood of not being able to play Japanese Kanji Training games on your UK DSi next year is hardly a deal breaker.

"The region locking is not the big deal some people have been making it out to be," notes NGamer's Martin Kitts. "Nintendo is really pushing the DSi online capabilities, and DSi-specific software is likely to be available exclusively online, at least until the machine has a bigger userbase, so it must be purchased via Nintendo's online shops.

"You buy stuff from the online shops using a stored value system that's specific to each region - you must buy Japanese Nintendo points cards in Yen to pay for Japanese content, US cards in dollars to pay for US content, European cards in Euros / pounds etc. It's exactly the same as the current stored value systems on Wii and also Xbox Live."

Finally, the lack of a GBA slot has obvious drawbacks for things such as rumble packs and the Guitar Hero controller, as well as GBA games. But if you really want to play those, then just keep your DS Lite.

Really, the only problem with the DSi is that we'll have to wait so long to get or hands on one. Go faster, time, go faster!