Nintendo DSi Revealed, New DS Titles Announced

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






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.