Your Pocket Gamer guide to the Nintendo DSi
Everything you always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask
If you look at the row of tabs above these words your eyes will naturally be drawn to the one tagged with a little red mark. That's our new DSi section, and its sudden appearance can only mean one thing: The DSi is nearly here.
The launch line-up has been announced and everything: Paper Plane, Art Style: CODE, Art Style: Aquite, Pyoro and WarioWare: Snapped!
Some of you will have dismissed the DSi entirely as a more expensive DS containing a set of features you don’t want. Others will be nervously aware that as the months and years go by a growing number of DSi-only titles will come out and your hand, along with the credit card it’s clutching, will be forced.
Some of you will have pre-ordered the console, or will be planning to hit the streets at midnight on Thursday so that you can be amongst the first Britons to own a DSi. Some of you, of course, will have elected to take the moderate path: wait and see.
But you all need to know what’s waiting for you, so we’ve compiled a repository that will equip you with as complete a knowledge of the DSi as you could ever hope to need.
The reviewFor a start, you’ll want to know what the hardware’s actually like. Check out our review, which we first published back in November of last year when the DSi became available in Japan.
You can go straight to the DSi review by clicking here, but if the journey’s too gruelling this is what reviewer Jon Jordan had to say in summary.
“The DSi is full of potential, but at present it's mostly untapped. Given some forward-thinking software applications and the inevitable growth of DSiWare it won't remain that way for long. Above all, the DSi is a few levels ahead of the Lite in terms of both ergonomics and features, and it's a joy to use”
We gave it an 8 out of 10.
The comparisonsKnowing about the hardware in isolation isn’t enough, though. You also need to know how it compares to the other pieces of gaming technology vying for your attention. Most crucially, how does it compare with the plain old DS?
As you can well imagine, we’ve already tackled the question. Have a read of Kath Brice’s definitive comparison of old and new: DS vs DSi.
It’s not all about hardware, though. One of the central features of the new DSi is DSiWare, Nintendo’s answer to Apple’s block-rockingly popular App Store. Nintendo’s online service will allow you to download games and apps just as you can on your iPhone, and many would say the future of the handheld rides on its success.
In comparing DSiWare with the App Store we decided to mix things up a little and invite three developers to do the talking. In a two part feature, Nic Watt (Nnnooo), Thomas Kern (FDG Entertainment) and Luc Bernard (Oyaji Games) patiently explained the advantages and disadvantages of both systems, and you can read their views here (part one) and here (part two).
The reflectionsOver the months we’ve had plenty of opportunity to think about the forthcoming DSi, and naturally we’ve published our reflections. Here are a few of them.
- Given the intriguing inclusion of DSiWare, we wondered whether the DSi could become a portable virtual console, like the one on WiiWare.
- Having seen what features the DSi boasted, we gave ourselves over to thoughts of what Nintendo should have included in the DSi.
- After learning that DSiWare was likely to host apps as well as games, we thought we’d suggest the apps that would work best on DSi.
- With the announcement of the first DSi-only boxed game shortly after Iwata’s keynote at GDC, we decided to give in to the inevitable backwards incompatibility and suggest a few more DSi-only games we’d like to see.
- Then, with the rumour that Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games might be making an appearance on DSiWare, we immediately set to work compiling a list of 20 GB and GBA games we’d like to play on DSi.
So far we’ve danced around the issue of whether or not you should buy a DSi, gently pushing you this way and that, but nothing beats getting straight to the point. Damien McFerran did exactly that in the frankly entitled Should You Buy a DSi? If you've been wrestling with that question, read the article.
The timelineWe’ve also been following the DSi’s approach with news stories. You want a rough timeline of the console journey from its announcement to its arrival on UK soil? Here it is.
- 2nd October 2008: Nintendo unveil details of DS-i, the successor to the DS Lite
- 3rd October 2008: Nintendo's DSi announcement gets negative reception from analysts and investors
- 7th October 2008: Nintendo confirms DSi will be region-locked
- 7th October 2008: Nintendo expects DS and DSi to 'coexist' in US
- 20th October 2008: Nintendo has no DSi-exclusive games in the pipeline
- 29th October 2008: Developers facing compatibility issues with DSi?
- 4th November 2008: Nintendo announces exclusive DSi-only games
- 6th November 2008: Big shock - DSi sells out in Japan
- 6th November 2008: Don't expect your R4 cart to work with DSi
- 4th December 2008: DSi gets its first working flash cart
- 23rd December 2008: DSi tops 1 million sales
- 19th February 2009: DSi out two days earlier in Europe than US, £149.99
- 5th March 2009: Nintendo to phase out the DS Lite?
- 19th March 2009: Nintendo to take on Apple and Google in app store competition?
- 20th March 2009: Nintendo stresses non-gaming uses of DSi, plus a little white lie
- 24th March 2009: Rumours of Game Boy and GBA virtual console for DSiWare
- 25th March 2009: Nintendo breaks DS backwards compatibility with DSi-only cart
- 25th March 2009: DSi to come with 1000 DSiWare points
- 25th March 2009: DSiWare titles Moving Memo and WarioWare Snaps shown during Iwata keynote
- 25th March 2009: DSiWare launch line up revealed
- 25th March 2009: First Nintendo DSiWare screens released
- 31st March 2009: Nintendo promises weekly DSiWare updates
- 31st March 2009: Nintendo: DSi an evolution, not a replacement
- 1st April 2009: DSi Shop launch line-up revealed
- 2nd April 2009: DSi enhanced software won't be revealed until after launch
- 2nd April 2009: US DSi launch titles revealed
And finally, here are a few links to the various DSi videos that we've collected, so that you can see Nintendo's update in action.