Nintendo DSi

The third version of the Nintendo DS. The system was announced at the Nintendo Conference on October 2, 2008 in the city of Tokyo, Japan.

Information

• 2 Cameras to take pictures.
• SD Card for storing profiles.
• Sound Editor to change your voice and music.
• Picture Editor to edit pictures.
• Moving Notepad for making animations.
• Internet Browser
• Flash Memory
• DSiWare for downloading games.
• Mii Support

Specifications

The Nintendo DSi is about 12% thinner (2.6 mm) than the Nintendo DS Lite.[6][10] The new handheld has two VGA (0.3 megapixel)[6][11] digital cameras; one on the internal hinge pointed towards the user and the second one on the outside of the shell.[12][13][14][15] It also has larger screens (3.25 inches, up from 3 inches) and improved speakers.[6] The power switch has been replaced with a power button, as the original DS had, now located next to the bottom left side of the touch screen. The DSi has five brightness settings compared to the DS Lite's four; however, battery life is reduced to 14 hours on the lowest brightness setting compared to the 19 hours in its predecessor.[16] The internal rechargeable battery may still be replaced by the user at the end of its useful life of (typically) several hundred charge/discharge cycles. A new SD card slot is utilized for external storage of pictures and downloaded software and to play AAC audio.[6] The front slot for Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges has been removed,[6] thus removing the unit's backward compatibility and its compatibility with accessories that require the GBA slot, such as the Nintendo DS Rumble Pack, as well as the Guitar Hero: On Tour and Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades grip, which is essential for those games. The removal of backward compatibility also prevents games such as Pokémon Diamond and Pearl from accessing saved data stored on GBA cartridges. The DSi has 256 MB of internal flash memory.[17] Photos can be synced to the Wii's Photo Channel.[6][18] All existing flash cards for the Nintendo DS and DS Lite are incompatible with DSi[19]; however, Acekard has produced a new flashcard designed for DSi called the Acekard 2i[20]. Similar to its competitor, the PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo's home console, Wii, the DSi will have upgradable firmware. This is a first for a Nintendo handheld system. It has been reported that the DSi utilizes region locking for DSi-specific software, since it provides Internet services tailored individually for each region,[21] but the DSi itself does not have region lock-outs, so Nintendo DS games from any region can be played.[22] In addition, the DSi uses rating-based parental controls, which differ by country. The WPA and WPA2 support is not backward compatible with original DS games. Only DSi services can use WPA. [23]

Releases

It was released in November 1, 2008 in Japan for ¥18,900 in frosted black and polar white. For North America, the sales of the Nintendo DS Lite were still strong, so it will be released some time after April 2009 with the price of $180. For Australia and Europe, the release date is currently unknown, but the continents will have the DSi on the same month.

External links

• Official Nintendo DSi Japanese Website
• Official Nintendo DSi UK Website
• Official Nintendo DSi US Website

See Also

• Nintendo DS
• Nintendo DS Lite
• List of Nintendo DS games