Nintendo DSi: camera, web browser, and more! |
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| BY Mike Wehner Oct. 2nd, 2008 | More on: |
We’d almost hesitate to call the rumored announcement of the new DS model an obvious one, but it’s definitely no secret that most people were expecting Nintendo to say something about a new handheld during their Japanese conference today. Had you bet money on the announcement beforehand you’d be a tad bit richer now because that’s exactly what happened. Literally within seconds of taking the stage, Satoru Iwata “dropped the bomb” as he is so apt to do, and made the Nintendo DSi a reality.
So far what is known about the system is that it will be 12% smaller than the DS Lite and will do away with the GBA slot altogether. The screens will be getting a bump up in size to 3.25″ each and will presumably retain the DS Lite’s multiple backlight settings. It will include an MP3 playback feature (half-wow), a 3.0 megapixel digital camera (full wow), and the ability to edit your pictures using the touch screen and stylus (double wow!). It will also include an SD card slot (homebrewers rejoice!) and the ability to wirelessly purchase and download full games using “Nintendo Points”. The handheld will include the DS browser software and will allow you to download and run an application called DSWare, much like the Wiiware that everyone is already familiar with. The software will be divided into 4 categories based on how many points they cost: Free, 200, 500, and 800 (also known as “Premium” content).
A release date of November 1st for Japan has been announced, along with the price of 18,900 yen, or roughly $180.00. That price isn’t bad for even a decent digital camera, much less a full handheld game system with photo editing software, digitally downloadable games, and full DS compatibility. The initial release colors will be standard DS white, as well as matte black.
October 2nd, 2008
at 5:51 am
Sounds interesting. I think I’ll be getting this and I feel the 180 price tag is pretty fair.
October 2nd, 2008
at 9:43 am
Yeah, I’ll be getting this one when it comes to the US. However by that time the dollar value might make this what, like $350?
October 2nd, 2008
at 12:34 pm
Oh that’s PERFECT! Because I, for 1, can’t tell you how many times i’ve been thuroughly engrosed in my DS gaming experience that I loathed my eyes to look up for a second to check if I was still, in fact, NOT locked in an asylum yet; only to have my sight met with something that was so amazingly awesome that I said “wow… this sight is so incredibly awesome and full of win that is simply /must/ be doccumented via photographic evidence.” Yet my joyous-ecstacy would be short lived when the time it took me to fumble through my pocket for something with which to photograph this glorious sight was 1 second longer than the amout of time that the glorious sight was there to bear whitness to. CURSE YOU, DS!!! If only you had had a camera!!!
Now all they need to do is add the option of a little printer that prints out stickers of your fun-edited photooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooossssssss…
Hey shut up, I liked the gameboy camera.
October 9th, 2008
at 4:59 pm
I still have the original DS. To this day I still love playing it (i got it one month after the very 1st release) but I always wondered if there was anything they could add. I saw the ds light but the only difference I saw was a bigger screen and less mass. When I saw this the first thing I thought was that heaven has brought us what I have dubbed the portable wii (or DSi) I’m really excited about the release of this awsome new nintendo product.