Nintendo DSi

From PCWorld.com
With less than a month to go until Nintendo's new DSi hits the shelves of Japanese retailers, gamers in the rest of the world are wondering when they might see the revised DS. Nintendo hasn't given a clear answer to that question but indications are that it won't be going on sale outside of Japan anytime soon.

When Nintendo launched the DSi in Tokyo on Thursday, company President Satoru Iwata told reporters that Nintendo plans to launch the DSi overseas in 2009, but didn't elaborate further on which markets that plan applies to or when during the year the start of sales would come.

Later in the day Nintendo U.K. said the DSi would hit Europe in the "spring" and at a U.S. event, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said the device would not appear in the U.S. until "well into 2009."

And in an interview with the Nikkei business daily in Japan, Iwata said plans were to launch the DSi overseas "probably" in 2009.

The company can afford this less-than-aggressive approach to overseas launch plans because the current DS model is still selling well outside Japan, while sales at home have been flagging.

In the April to June quarter sales of the DS in Japan totalled 580,000 units, according to Nintendo's figures. That's sharply down on the 2 million units the company sold in the same period a year earlier. In contrast overseas sales in the same period totalled 6.36 million units, up from 4.89 million units in the year-earlier period.

To date, 23 million DS devices have been sold in Japan, roughly 1 for every 5th person in the country. Iwata hopes the new DSi will reinvigorate sales and said Thursday he wants everyone in Japan to own one.

From Wikipedia.org

The Nintendo DSi (ニンテンドーDSi Nintendō Dīesuai?) will be "the third version of the Nintendo DS handheld". The Nintendo DSi was announced during the Nintendo Conference on October 2, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan.



Specifications

Nintendo has announced that it will be about 12% thinner than the DS Lite. The new handheld will contain two cameras (a 0.3 megapixel [300,000 pixels, 640 x 480 resolution] camera on the internal hinge pointed towards the user and a camera on the outside of the shell), larger screens (3.25 inches as opposed to the previous 3 inches), and improved speakers. The power switch was replaced with a power button, as the original DS had, now located next to the bottom left side of the touch screen. A new SD card slot will be utilized for external storage of pictures and downloaded software and to play AAC audio. The front slot for Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges will be removed, thus removing the unit's backward compatibility and its compatibility with accessories that require the GBA slot. The DSi will have its own internal flash memory and will ship with a built-in web browser. Photos can be synced to the Wii's Photo Channel. It is possible to download games from an online store, called the DSWare Shop, and store them on the DSi. The applications will either be free, 200, 500, or 800 Nintendo Points. Due to the higher power consumption and slimmer profile the battery life is reduced compared to its predecessor, the DS Lite.
It has been reported that the DSi will utilize region locking, since it will provide internet services tailored for a specific region. In addition, the DSi uses rating-based parental controls, which differ by country.

Release

The system will first be released in Japan on November 1, 2008 for ¥18,900 (tax included), around US$180, in matte black and white, and in 2009 for the rest of the world. Rose Lappin, President of Nintendo Australia Pty Ltd has not commented about the NDSi but it is expected to be released around the same time as Europe, as they are both part of the PAL region.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime claimed that DS Lite sales in the United States were still strong, so introducing the DSi to the USA is not a high priority, and will not be available in North America until after April 2009.

Mr.Nick wrote:u think they'll go on Ebay after the first?

Cjfidler wrote:The better perks are download able games for it and new software that can also be gotten. I personally can't wait for it! ^_^

Mr.Nick wrote:I was thinking bout getting my mom a new DS cause she has the old school one