The DSi Revolution Begins
No doubt our readers are savvy enough to know that the DSi is in stores today, giving North American gamers access to the device that makes the young girls cry in Japan. Now geeky American men and women can begin their journey on that trail of tears with a down-payment of right around $170 USD.
I’m not going to knock the DSi, but do the extra features really bring enough to the table to warrant a purchase if I already own a DS Lite? Some will say yes because its feature set is pretty nifty, but when I fooled around with it at GDC I wasn’t all that impressed. I don’t feel like manipulating pictures of people on my hand-held when I can do that stuff in Photoshop, and the selection of bite sized aps and games aren’t all that exciting. But it’s way too early to make a judgment: as Nintendo fills up its DSiWare store and adds new features to the device via software we’ll know if its worth it or not. If you don’t currently own a DS Lite, then there’s no reason not to buy one of course.
So what’s the difference between the DSi and DS, for those thinking of running out and buying one? The unit has improved speakers and its two screens are larger – measuring at around 3.25 inches. The DSi is 74.9 mm high x 137 mm wide x 18.9 mm thick, when closed which makes it slightly thinner than the DS light. Other features and changes? The power switch has been changed into a button, two VGA 0.3 megapixel digital cameras (one on the internal hinge and another the outer shell), no Game Boy Advance, an ARM processor clocked at 133 MHz, 16 MB of RAM, 256 MB of internal Flash memory, wifi support, and a new store that uses a points system just like the Wii Shop Channel.
