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Nintendo's Media Summit has just thrown us its first juicy bone of the night, and it's a big one. As was previously rumored, Satoru Iwata has revealed the Nintendo DSi, the direct successor to the DS Lite which comes absolutely jam-packed with new features and trinkets, including two cameras, music playback functions, expanded screens, an SD card slot, and a whole new, DS-specific download service. Hit the break for the full list of improvements and adjustments, as well as the Japanese launch date and price!
- Overall size has been reduced -- DSi is 12% or 2.6 millimeters slimmer than the Lite.
- Comes with an external 0.3 Megapixel camera (for 640 x 480 pixel pictures) and a VGA camera located on the hinge, directed towards the user. You'll be able to edit pictures using the touchscreen.
- Full music playback functionality, including adjustable pitch and playback speed.
- Both screens have been expanded to 3.25 inches.
- SD memory card slot is included, and there'll be on-board memory also.
- Will ship with an built-in Nintendo DS web browser.
- DSi will allow users to download games from DSWare, a new service that operates with Wii Points -- or, as they are now known, Nintendo Points.
- Logging onto DSWare for the first time will grant users 1,000 free Nintendo Points.
- DSWare comes in four pricing categories: free (!), 200 Nintendo Points, 500 Nintendo Points, and 800 Nintendo Points.
- Will come in lovely matte white and matte black. Begone, foul fingerprints that have taunted us so!
- And finally, it launches on November 1st in Japan, and will cost ¥18,900, or roughly $179. Check out the official site at the "Source" link below!
_cg_oct22_kjgfdhd_thumbnail.jpg "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars")
Reader Comments (Page 7 of 7)
10-09-2008 @ 1:40PM
italiaotoko said...
With this move Nintendo tries to recover from the
massive proliferation of hacked memory cards and piracy on Ds. At the same time they realized the immense market potential of a wi-fi application store.
The wii-ware was ok, but it's mobile counterpart can perform much better.
People here in Japan are totally crazy about the DS - and willing to spend.
Apple's iphone's App store demostrated how fast you can sell directly to mobile in globally, but in japan there is a long tradition of flash lite and DOJA / Iappli java games for mobile phones just impressive.
Ds's are the perfect complement to a japanese life imbue of waiting and commuting times - on train, in line to go to the bank, waiting for a place in the restaurant.
The only big question is: Nintendo is ever gonna change it's licensing strategy to enable young private developers create and distribute applications? Democratization of the tools may be still far away - Nintendo is always really concerned about security and protection of children - as 'Toys- related' rules apply.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:47PM
RoleOfAQS said...
...Is it just me, or does this sound like something SONY would do? You know, put in a lot of useless gadgets and forgo the fun factor part?
Nintendo... are you sick? This is so unlike you! Go get a check up or something, because you're usually all about focusing on fun and ignoring useless gadgets... and you're giving us a downgraded DS full of useless gadgets... What happened?
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10-13-2008 @ 3:36AM
wichenroder said...
Does anyone know, will you be able to take notes and save them?
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10-15-2008 @ 2:22PM
Em said...
I guess I know what I want for Christmas 2009.
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10-22-2008 @ 1:31AM
It97 said...
I was a bit bummed as I started reading about this, thinking that the price would be way out of reach for me. Then I saw that it was still less than $200 and almost screamed out in joy. Hurray Nintendo!
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