Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 02 October 2008 22:50
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Nintendo’s upgraded handheld games console has been dubbed the DSi,
coming with interesting new features that could well have been better,
although only Japan will get it before Christmas, with the rest of the
world missing out – until 2009!
Whether you’ve already purchased a Nintendo DS, and then a DS Lite, or have never purchased a handheld games console before, Nintendo wants to tempt you with its new DSi.
Slimmer but equipped with a bigger screen (at 3.25-inches compared with the DS Lite’s 3-incher), the DSi also comes with two cameras, better audio, a web browser, an online “app store”, a music player and an SD card slot.
It’s not clear whether the slot is SDHC compatible, although surely in 2008 this would have to be a feature. The internal camera is only 0.3 megapixels, but the external one is 3.0 megapixels.
It’s a shame that Nintendo didn’t spring for a 5 megapixel camera instead, but 3 megapixels will be good enough, with the images to be stored on SD cards, the same location that mp3 files can be stored for the DSi’s musc player.
The old GameBoy Advance slot has been removed, which means games like “Guitar Hero” that used the slot for the buttons will need to be recrafted or re-imaged to deal with the lack of this add-in slot.
As with previous DS models, Wi-Fi is included, but it’s again unclear whether WPA or WPA2 encyption will be supported, although it is hard to imagine otherwise.
An online store for the DSi lets you download and purchase games content, which will be done with “points” as is currently the case with the Nintendo Wii, although some games will be free, with others costing all the way up to 800 points.
What else has Nintendo done to make the DSi an attractive purchase? Please read on to page 2.
