Product Mini Profile Nintendo DS Hardware in: Nintendo DS links » p/reviews user reviews faqs/guides

The recent announcement of Nintendo's second revision of the DS made waves across the Internet, as you'd expect. For example, in our forums, reactions ranged from "MANNN I JUST BOUGHT A NEW DS!!!" to "the fact that it has no GBA slot means I won't even consider buying this unfortunately..." to "I wish it were winter, so we could freeze it into ice blocks and skate on it, and melt it in the spring time and drink it! I want one. ". You get the idea. So with all the divisivness this has caused, I thought it might help us all to divvy up all the pros and cons of the thing, thereby helping everyone make a more clear decision as to whether or not the system is something you want. Generally, both sides will correspond with each other (i.e. any plus will show next to it its resultant downside).

So, overall, it looks like for most it could be a smart buy. Of course, it does depend on your needs, wants and preferences, and just general opinion. In either case, it'll be interesting to see how well this sells worldwide. If it's a flop, as some are predicting, I'm getting mine quick and never letting go!

An interesting thing brought up in the press conference that seems to have been missed by many journalists is Nintendo's view on the "non-Nintendoness" of this multimedia approach. This is what the company's President Satoru Iwata said about it:

"While these functions for cell phones are offered as extra utility tools, we would like to propose with DSi the entertainment of playing with and enjoying visuals and sounds by using these functions in more proactive and fun ways in your daily activities. The Nintendo DSi will be a tool to enrich each of our daily lives."

Without getting extensively into the features and ideas they have for these tools, Iwata noted "For a number of small children, Nintendo DSi will be their very first camera." Never thought about it that way before, and in a sense, that seems very Nintendo-esque to me.

Another thing he makes a point of is the interactivity the DS has always had, thus lending itself in a unique way to these functions (ex. the music player, called DSi Sound, is touch-screen interactive, has functions distinct to itself, etc.). I wonder then, will Nintendo bring in new applications to the Wii in the future, considering its interactive functions? Well, WiiSpeak and the SD storage solution have already been announced, so I suppose it's well on its way.

To me, I think the DS Lite will be known as the Nintendo console for those who basically just want to game, while the DSi will be for everyone else who like to have everything in one, and plenty of toys to play with (and for $179 or less, I think it's quite a good deal). However, I also expect some of the features (improved sound, DSiWare/Shop, smaller size, bigger screens) will draw in some of the former crowd, too, if not grudgingly.

I, for one, applaud Nintendo for this redesign. I just kind of wish the DS Lite was the original launch model, and this was the first revision. Then, I suspect, there'd be a lot less yammering.

If you're keen to get every last detail, I reccomend reading the Nintendo Conference transcription through the link below. Exciting stuff!