News: Nintendo DSi Revealed, New DS Titles Announced Page 1

Nintendo DSi Revealed, New DS Titles Announced

02.10.2008

After months of speculation and rumours, Nintendo have unveiled the third in the DS line, the DSi, and have shown off new DS titles such as Mario & Luigi 3.

As previously rumoured, the new unit contains a built-in Camera on both the outside and inside of the unit (0.3 Megapixel camera (640x480) to be precise), and offers support for Music playback (only ACC support has been confirmed so far). Contrary to other speculation, there will still be only one Touch-sensitive screen.

The DSi will be 12% smaller and 2.6mm thinner than the DS Lite, although such a reduction means the loss of the cartridge slot for GBA games, so all you Guitar Hero and Pokemon players might want to hold on to your current systems. The screens are bigger, each 3.25 (look at example below), and the speakers are of better quality.

The new unit includes both internal memory and an SD card slot for running downloaded applications, of which can be purchased from a new DS store on the Wii Shop menu. Games and Applications on the service will be grouped into Free, 200, 500, and Premium (800) Wii point categories. There is also a Built-in Opera web browser, most likely better than the one released to retail for the original DS and Lite.

In the trailer below, you can take a closer look at the new unit, and see old and new titles alike, including Mario & Luigi 3, Picross 3D, Chrono Trigger, Tales of Heart, and what looks to be a create-your-own-minigame variant of Warioware. The previously revealed Nintendo Pedometer is also confirmed to work with a DS title that incorporates Miis.

Update (JB) - Some images/comparision shots of the DS against the DS Lite

Image for Nintendo DSi Revealed, New DS Titles Announced

Update 2 - Complete list of games on the trailer

Nintendo DS 2008 Lineup

Self-indulgent Fashion: Girls' Mode (Nintendo) 10/23
Know by Walking: Life Rhythm DS (Nintendo) 11/1
Kirby: Ultra Super Stars (Nintendo) 11/6
World Food: Talk! DS Food Navi (Nintendo) 12/4
Power Pro-kun Pocket 11 (Konami) 12/4
Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace/Red Joker (Capcom) 11/13
Valkyrie Profile (Square-Enix) 11/1
Chrono Trigger (Square-Enix) 11/20
Chocobo and the Magical Picture Book: The Witch, the Girl, and the 5 Warriors (Square-Enix) 12/11
Mysterious Dungeon: Fuuren no Shiren DS 2 (Sega) 11/13
Let's Make a Soccer Team DS: Touch and Direct (Sega) 11/27
Phantasy Star Zero (Sega) 12/25
Wind of Nostalgeo (Tecmo) 11/6
DS Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series 2 (Tecmo) 11/13
Momotarou Dentetsu 20th Anniversary (Hudson) 12/18
Tamagotchi's Sparkling Shop (Bandai-Namco) 11/27
Tales of Hearts: Anime Movie Edition/CG Movie Edition (Bandai-Namco) 12/11
Harvest Moon: Welcome to the Wind's Bazaar (Marvelous) 12/18
Avalon Code (Marvelous) 11/1
Prof. Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) 11/27

Nintendo DS - 2009 Lineup

DS Fortune-Telling Life (Nintendo) 2009
Friend Collection (Nintendo) 2009
Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) 2009
Made in Me (Wario Ware) (Nintendo) 2009
Solid Body Picross (Nintendo) 2009
Gyakuten Kenji (Capcom) 2009
FFCC: Echoes of Time (Square-Enix) 1/29
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Square-Enix) Winter 2008-2009
Shining Force Feather (Sega) Spring
Seventh Dragon (Sega) Spring
Infinite Space (Sega) Spring

The new DS is expected to retail in Japan from the 1st of November this year, and a release overseas in Europe and the US next year. The Japanese cost will be the equivalent of $180. Like the Lite, the DSi will be released in Black and White variants.

Update 3: "In the flesh" photos of the DSi!

Thanks to C3 reader ~tonks and the guys at NeoGAF for summarizing the conference.

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Jump_button 02.10.2008#1

i was hopeing for a DS2 but it all nice ^^ and hell im happy with DS as it is now so colour me pink

My ART Gallery la la la la!

JoshSL 02.10.2008#2

ANOTHER new FFCC game! WAHOO!!

Gotta say I was surprised by this new DS. What good will bigger screens do anyway? I might actually have to get one if the downloads are worth it...

Although I gotta say, it hardly looks any different from the DSL.

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Firefly 02.10.2008#3

I think I will keep my DS lite thank you! please release one that has a GBA slot!

Onwards, TO NOWHERE! Proud owner of Farming Simulator 2013.

keith 02.10.2008#4

I don\'t get it. The processor, game media, and screen resolutions are seriously the same? Why is Nintendo extending the life of the weak, low-res DS instead of making a whole new unit? Won\'t graphics look horrible now?

This isn\'t going from the GBC to GBA, it\'s more like the GBA SP... 2.

I don\'t think that the cameras, unlike the microphone, could be used for anything too interesting with the DS\'s 67 MHz CPU.

Doesn\'t Nintendo care about their gamers any more? Gamers won\'t buy this, certainly not for the camera, and definitely not for the web browser or media player.

I think that this seals the change in Nintendo going for the casual, teenage girl market.

Cubed 3, I am sad.

( Edited 02.10.2008 04:14 by MasterStyl )

ohm 02.10.2008#5

I don't want a successor yet actually, my bro took my DS so I might as well get this one. I am bit disappointed that it is too similar aesthetically speaking.

Marzeee 02.10.2008#6

I think this is a pretty poor move, in my opinion. It like telling the older DS users to go away, by putting things in the system which is going to cause some incompatibility issues (from what I've gathered anyway).

They must think the consumers are made of money. I certainly can't afford to pay out for this, I really don't want too either.

I'll stick to my original DS.

jb 02.10.2008#7

I agree - I don\'t think it\'s time for a DS successor, as the console (as proven by sale and a decent list of forthcoming games) is doing really well right now - definitely approaching it\'s peak, if not hitting that already.

Hmm - good news that they\'re adding/refining the DS, but these changes could have been a little better - e.g. higher resolution camera, support for a wider range of media (AAC? Where\'s me Mp3?!) etc.

Games lineup seems superb though, looks to be a strong end of 2008 and start to 2009!

I reckon the DS still has a heck load of juice to keep it going well into 2009, and 2010 - a new portable probably on the market in early 2011 or late 2010 at a stretch.

( Edited 02.10.2008 04:42 by jb )

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JoshSL 02.10.2008#8

To be honest I don\'t think it\'s that bad at all. The only problem I have is that it\'s a big \"fuck you\" to people who just bought a new DSL. Thankfully I havn\'t had a new DS since the original DS launch, and I\'ll probably get this for the possible games using the bigger screens, or the dlc stuff, whatever that is.

I kept my GBA SP, since DS can\'t play GBC games anyway, and SP is just BETTER for playing GB games. Smilie

EDIT: I just hope it\'s cheap. Smilie

( Edited 02.10.2008 05:32 by SuperLink )

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Ikana 02.10.2008#9

Releasing an new model is never a waste of time, as they\'re basically doubling (or now tripling) the number of DS\'s that they\'re selling to the fanboys who have to own every model. Like me. Smilie Can\'t wait to buy this. This and the list of new games has completely restored what faith was lost at E3 imo. Smilie

The only complaint I can think of is that it looks really similar to the DSL...but I guess the other non-aesthetic upgrades make up for that.

( Edited 02.10.2008 05:40 by Ikana )

mooojc 02.10.2008#10

Damn I just bought a DSL... but it isn't too bad, my brother can have that while I buy this one. Smilie

My only major concern with the DSi is no MP3... what the hell? and also the placement of the power button may prove a problem. The rest I like.

RufDogRacing 02.10.2008#11

I don�t know what to think. The additions are really great, but if they�re going to be creating a new line of games for the system then surely they could have updated everything else. From Nintendo�s point of view, an extension of the DS makes sense, but I think it�s pretty disappointing for everyone else.

(Looks nice though Smilie )

Tom Barry [ Reviewer - Editor - Resident Sim-Racer @ Cubed3.com ]

JoshSL 02.10.2008#12

To be honest, the differences between DSL and DSi compared to that of PSP Slimlite and PSP 3000 are huge.

PSP 3000 is literally a "slightly better" Slimlite. This is pretty good really.

Although I'm personally disappointed on the aesthetic side too, but GAWD! Look at that blue power light! It's fucking awesome!

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tiamat1990 02.10.2008#13

Bigger screens...same graphics. Huh? I don't get it. That shit is going to look fugly as hell.

Darkflame 02.10.2008#14

As I suspected, its only very marginaly bigger.

\"Why is Nintendo extending the life of the weak, low-res DS instead of making a whole new unit?\"

Isnt that a GOOD thing for current DS owners?

And feck sake, look at that release line up.
\"Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) 2009\"

Theres no mention any of these are DSi only.
I suspect a few might me (Made in Me), but most wont.

The current DS (I\'\'m still an original fat, incidently), has plenty of life *thanks to* revisions.
People that have held off buying now have another reason too.

I dont think Nintendo are foolish enough to split the market.

( Edited 02.10.2008 08:05 by Darkflame )

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WP-Final 02.10.2008#15

Will this DS be able to connect to a router that isn't WEP encrypted? WPA and whatever will be great.

While I would have prefered a GBA slot, my current phatDS and SP is enough for that. My GBA games rarely get played any more.

I wonder what the new Warioware for DS will be like? Seriously didn't they do EVERYTHING with touched?

And why don't Nintendo like MP3? Smilie I don't think I've got a single song in AAC.

J4K 02.10.2008#16

To be honest, I\'m shocked that they made this, and that they made the screens bigger too. I was wrong.

Anyone else think it looks uglier than the original DS lite? I know they are almost carbon copies, but still, the new one doesn\'t look quite as snazzy for some reason. Maybe its the camera on front.

Overall, its a better number of new features than most new revisions (I\'m looking at you PSP3000), and thinner is always better. The included web browser is a nice touch. I suppose I\'ll have to consider this - though my lite is working fine except that the mic is broken. It seems with this release that Nintendo has guaranteed another year or two of the DS 1 phase. Which is cool, there are still a lot of DS games I want to get, and a good number on the horizon.

edit: Oh, and DSi?!

( Edited 02.10.2008 08:19 by Jacob4000 )

Zapp 02.10.2008#17

So basically this is the equivalent to GBAmicro? No?

Still it looks pretty good, but if I was to buy a DS i would probably get DSlite

I see all these people insulting the Nintendo corporation because of the lack of mature content. Yet there is something about Nintendo (at least their games) that strikes a certain unadulterated feeling of joy!!! Pokemon Y - 1048-9263-5562

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Flynnie 02.10.2008#18

Well Nintendo just ruined their US and Europe Christmas DS sales, they arent dropping the price and still retailing the same pack at the same price (DSL with Brain Training �120)

Its silly really in the nature they made the announcement, they should have tried to make it for all areas before Christmas because Europeans and Americans are just going to hold out now.

Unless Nintendo make a price drop to retailing the system (DSL) at around �70 then i'd expect to see a drop in sales at Christmas

JoshSL 02.10.2008#19

The DSL changed aesthetically before launch, only slightly, but it may be the same here. I was NEVER too attracted to the DSL's look, it got way to smudged too easily aswell (I do love the yellow Pikachu one though)

And yeah, it WON'T replace the DSL, but people who got a DSL recently will feel screwed over.

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Super Sonic 02.10.2008#20

This new DS looks very good for sales and I think it will give Nintendo a lot of publictiy and the stuff that they have for downloadable content should be good as well. I think they should have a few more colours like they did with the new DS's that have just come out. Smilie

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k08lpfan 02.10.2008#21

I'm a fan of this except for the outer casing. It seems too generic without the ds symbol on the outside... Like a cheap chinese counterfeit version

Satoshi 02.10.2008#22

SuperLink said:
The only problem I have is that it's a big "fuck you" to people who just bought a new DSL.

Well the DSL has been out for 2 years now...it's time for change Smilie

This is a big "fuck you" to Guitar Hero though Smilie

Avoid Games Like the Plague, productivity++

J4K 02.10.2008#23

k08lpfan said:
I'm a fan of this except for the outer casing. It seems too generic without the ds symbol on the outside... Like a cheap chinese counterfeit version

THAT'S IT!

I've been trying to put my finger on what just doesn't look right about this thing. And you hit the nail on the head.

Similar enough to be mistaken for a Lite, but at the same time lacks the "look and feel" in a bad way. It isn't its own design, its a different - worse - take on the same design. Just like one of those crappy counterfeits that people get duped into buying.

EdEN 02.10.2008#24

So no one is happy about the fact that "DS Ware" and GB VC has just been made posible on the new DS?

Look, we can all bitch as much as possible, but in the end 70% of all current DS owners will get a DSi. I had 2 originals and traded those for 2 Lites (one is my wifes one is mine) and I definetly see myself trading one DS Lite for the DSi next year on release. Now, does it have rumble integrated? If not that's fine since we'll keep one Lite to use the rumble pack...

JoshSL 02.10.2008#25

Like I have said in the past, I never really wanted a DSL, but I DO want this. The REAL extra features is what sells it for me, and correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first time Nintendo has ever done this. (Not including GBASP light, amazing though it was).

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