The Nintendo DSi is go, people! The dual touchscreen handheld is here to help keep Nintendo‘s crown as the king of portable gaming, but it’s been a long wait, from first announcement to Japanese launch to UK landing. We’ve covered it from every angle in that time, so bone up on the Nintendo DSi before heading out to buy one with everything you need to know right here.
We first got wind of the Nintendo DSi way back at the beginning of October, with a tip off the day before that a new DS would pack an in-built camera. Nintendo didn’t disappoint. Nintendo made good on the prediction, adding extra sprinkles like an SD card slot, internet browser and dual touchscreens (Both bigger, of course), and 12% reduction in thickness with the Nintendo DSi. We were straight on it, dishing up all the official photos, as well as a video of the Nintendo DSi in action.
But it’s been a good long while since then. We saw the Japanese release come and go in November, with Nintendo racking up more than 170,000 sales in just two days. We had to wait until February until the European and US launch date was made official.
As everyone was quick to point out, the Nintendo DSi’s rival isn’t just the Sony PSP anymore: there’s the iPhone too, with downloadable games via the App Store, to go up against. That didn’t put Nintendo off: it made clear it wasn’t afraid of the threat of mobile games, and you can see why, considering how well it did our stat clash.
Nintendo may not fear mobile phones when it comes to gaming, but maybe mobile phone makers should fear the Nintendo DSi when it comes to mobile productivity. It may not place calls, but there’s plenty you can do with an internet browser and a camera. We’ve looked at how the Nintendo DSi is a blogger’s best friend, and what’s more, Nintendo is pushing developers to turn the DSi Shop into a real App Store rival. Hell, it’s even got police worried in America, it’s so powerful.
Of course, not everything about the DSi is necessarily an improvement: we’ve looked at how the battery life has dropped from the DS Lite, and how the Nintendo DSi region lock is damaging for Ninty as well as gamers. There’s been no sign of a virtual console for the Nintendo DSi either, as rumoured, but with DSi Ware game downloads rolling out worldwide on launch today, there’s plenty of time and scope for that to change.
The Nintendo DSi is out now, and you can be sure we’ll be bringing you even more news about it over the coming months – it’s only going to get better.
