Loose Threads: Is the DSi a worthy upgrade?
Probably, but that doesn't mean you'll buy it apparently...
Love them of loathe them, handheld console redesigns are here to stay. With both the DS and the PSP on their third go of the merry-go-round, all of us pocket gaming types have more choice than ever before. It's just that some of us are starting to get dizzy.
The DSi opens up a Pandora's box of unanswered questions, and last week we asked you the biggie: is the DSi a worthy upgrade? This is what you had to say.
Weighing in for round one with a blow by blow response to the topic at hand was danskmacabre:
"What would have been ideal is if Nintendo just stopped at the DS Lite and spent all that dosh it's raking in on a new handheld with a faster processor and lots of other features and brought it out say about late 2009, early 2010. They (Nintendo) could have had 2 touchscreens (and bigger), better wi-fi, battery life, faster processor...
"Personally I think an internal HDD is a stupid idea. Flash card storage is getting bigger all the time, more than enough for a handheld. And on top of that, there wouldn't have been the incompatibility problems that the DS and DS lite is gonna have with the DSi.
"It is a shame that we probably won't be seeing a true successor to the DS for a while now. Interestingly, the Gameboy Advance Micro, also the third costume change for that console, was announced not long after the launch of the DS. Either that means that a new Nintendo handheld is officially overdue or that we will see yet another DS redesign after the release of Nintendo's next handheld console (though possibly it means neither)."
Next up, hunter_alien took his turn to mull the topic over:
"Well to be honest I was surprised. I wasn't expecting the DSi to be such a major evolution. The camera is a gimmick I agree, but the data storage capability is a great thing, and something that I always thought that it was missing.
"Even though I don't want downloadable games to completely cartridge games, this possibility is still a great one, and it could open up a whole new flash-like-games market for the DS, something that we had already discussed here. Think about the possibilities that this could have - low-budget (and I mean low-budget, not XBLA $100k low, but more like $5-10k low development cost) games could be sold via this new feature, and smaller devs could easily become pretty big ones."
We like your thinking there hunter - Nintendo would do well to nurture homegrown DS games, given how popular homebrew has been on the platform. As for your next comment:
"The music player, it has no MP3 support. That's lame and to be honest. I have absolutely no idea why Nintendo made it like this, terrible choice!"
The age old parable wheezes that Nintendo works in mysterious ways, or something. Let's just assume the company has a plan (and let's just hope that plan involves some sort of awesome in-built DJ game).
Next to leap puppy-like into the fold was veteran poster Mandark:
"I think the DSi will give more value to new buyers but it's rubbing early adopters' noses in it with all the significant upgrades Nintendo keeps making. I for one will not buy the newer versions and take financial hits on the old ones."
You make It sound like you are some sort of Del Boy wheeler-dealer,Mandark, punting consoles out the back of a decrepit Reliant Regal, but it's an interesting point.
With the DS Lite, consumers couldn't resist the lure of the sexy new hardware over the briefcase-like refinement of the DS Phat. Seeing as the DSi isn't a significant aesthetic upgrade and the older models will inevitably drop in price, it will be interesting to see how many people are willing to pay more for the DSi's extra features.
Last to the discussion was Accelorata Jengold with a predictable but relevant point:
"I don't care about the camera really, but the addition of a storage solution and the impending wireless DS Store have me jumping up and down clapping my hands like an over-excited child."
Us too Accelorata, let's just hope it gets more content than the Wii's Nintendo Channel.
Elsewhere on the forum, one of our new members, Rockysbabewc, has been having a spot of bother with Block Breaker Deluxe:
"Please help. I can't figure out how to kill the Boss on the Timeout Level. The big orange one where he sucks up the ball and spits it out. Please Please Please help. It is driving me crazy!"
That's four pleases people, so let's respond and ease Rockysbabewc's frustration.
That's almost it for this week, but before we go, here's next week's discussion topic:
Is there space for another handheld?
Well? Is there? We are in the middle of a credit crunch after all. More details can be found in the forum along with swathes of older topics, all just as worthy of your words of pocket gaming expertise.
Remember to click 'Track It!' to be sure not to miss next week's Loose Threads, and until then, happy posting.