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Nintendo DSi: The lowdown

Posted by Al Warmington on Fri 3 Oct 2008

Who should be more scared, PSP or iPhone?

Ninty overlord, Saoru Iwata, took the wraps off the new DS model, the DSi, which continues the handeld's incredibly boring naming conventions.

The lowercase 'i' could be an acknowledgement of the fact that nothing without that one important letter somewhere in the title has any hope of being recognised as a desirable technology product. Or it could be something clever to do with the two cameras that the new handheld is equipped with.

These cameras, located on the inside hinge and on the outer edge of the upper screen, are only equipped with a weak 640 x 480 pixel sensor. That's nowhere near the level of detail necessary for actual photography so they're only there to give game devs an extra gameplay mechanic to toy with. We expect quite a few DSi specific titles to show up around the new hardware's launch.

The DSi gets a major upgrade to its predecessor's multimedia abilities. While each was capable of playing music and browsing the internet, it was only through third-party tools; Nintendo wanted them to be for gaming only, which set it aside from the multifunctional PSP.

The games industry is changing though, especially when it comes to portable devices. The launch of the iPhone App store has brought an influx of games to the handset, leading some to believe that it will soon be seen as major threat to the handheld console makers, as well as rival handset makers.

The DSi includes an integrated photo viewer, MP3 player and web browser; a major step in the multimedia direction that will challenge new mobile devices. All it needs now is a video player and Skype, and PSP will really have to panic.

Furthermore, Nintendo is opening up a new DS Store that will allow you to browse and buy games without making the trip to the shops, which keeps it in pace with the iPhone and Sony's planned PSP Store.

The screen width has been increased by a quarter of an inch, to 3.25". Unfortunately that comes at a cost. The battery life has taken a bit of a battering; on its brightest setting you can only expect 3 hours of gameplay, compared to the 5 hours of the DS Lite.

This might sound pretty bad, but in truth, you rarely need to use the DS Lite's highest brigthness unless you want to punish your retinas. At more restrained settings you can milk as much as 14 hours out of the DSi - easily enough to keep you busy on a trip across the Atlantic.

Related Links

- DSi in surprise unveiling

- Pay attention to the internet rumour mill, it's actually right once in a while

Link: Nintendo