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Jenni Lada brings us information about all of the groovy new gaming imports from around the world.
Jenni Lada brings us information about all of the groovy new gaming imports from around the world.
Nintendo has ruled the handheld market for quit a while, producing two of the best-selling systems ever. With the DSi, the GameBoy is entirely forgotten, at least in physical form, as the GBA cart slot is removed and has been replaced with a much more modern (and potentially useful) SD/SD-HC memory card slot.
Slap a couple digital cameras on it, build in a couple extra apps and add a lowercase “i’ to the end of the name and, yeah, you can make an even better game system.
Let’s Get Physical
As I outlined in the Side by Side post comparing the DS Lite to the DSi, this system is not really smaller, just slightly different. It weighs the same but has a couple dimension that are slightly longer and one that is slightly smaller. The logo has been dropped from the lid and the case’s shiny, finger-smudging exterior has been transformed into less smudgy matte colors.
The slightly resized system does mean that all those nifty gadgets you got to cover, hold and protect your DS lite will not work, neither will the power cable. The good news is that the headphone port has not changes, so those will still work.
Inside the processor has been sped up, the screens are slightly larger (there’s still only one touch screen), there’s more internal memory and the system comes pre-loaded with image and audio software. The menu system is still dual button- and touch-based but now is side-scrolling instead of blocky modular chunks. A small (but very welcome) improvement is that the system does not have to power off and be restarted when you change system settings or switch between apps which is an unavoidable annoyance of the DS Lite (and the Wii).
Gettin’ Yer Game On
In terms of playing games, the DSi has the same arrangement as the DS Lite with the slight improvement of noticeably raised L and R shoulder buttons with more audible click points.
Since the screen is slightly larger but with the same resolution as the DS Lite, DS games look ever-so-slightly blurry, though it certainly does not impede gameplay and you’d likely not even notice unless you put the systems next to each other. DSiWare and apps look fine.
Only a few DSiWare games have touch features with WarioWare: Snapped! being the most impressive for inclusiveness, incorporating the system’s cameras into the game to the point that it requires bright lighting to even get the game started.
The system also promises to allow for personal audio (AAC format, only) to be played over some games.
The D-All End All?
The DSi is certainly an improvement on the already great and popular DS Lite and a welcome addition to the DS line but, in typical Nintendo fashion, it’s a baby (albeit a large baby) step and not a ginormous evolutionary leap.
The slightly larger shoulder buttons, the WiFi upgrade and slightly larger screens are nice improvements for gaming but you’ll notice the pair of “slightlys” in there. The menu is also easier to navigate but, as I pointed out in the Side by Side post, there may be an upper limit to the number of apps you can have loaded on the system (much like the iPod Touch).
The current main advantage over the DS Lite is the free web browser (which should have been a less expensive offering for the DS Lite). The other tweaks - the dual digital cameras and image and audio editing apps - are nice and fun but not significant enough to force anyone to toss out their DS Lite especially in terms of gaming. (If it allowed for video phone-over-IP calls or even full-color video capturing with audio, however, then it’d be a great mobile webcasting device and become instantly more appealing to non-gamers.)
As for potential advantages, the DSi sure shows a lot of promise. The SD card slot and being able to download games (and other apps) are certainly the system’s most important and exciting aspects and the dual digital cameras can certainly be worked into games. Note that it’s still “potential” since the DSiWare library is pretty skimpy and the DSi-exclusive games are non-existent. Over time the DSi will likely prove to be a more popular and useful system but, until the DSiWare shop and the DSi-exclusive library begin to build some reputable titles, hold on to that DS Lite.
If, however, you are one of those few people who do not already own a DS Lite, rest assured that it is certainly worth the extra scratch to get the latest model.
Read [Gamertell] Site [Nintendo DSi] Photo Gallery [Gamertell] Photo Gallery [Gamertell]
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