Nintendo DSi Announced, Launch In Europe Spring 2009 >

	2008/10/02 9:03:16: Posted by DM
	Nintendo has taken the wraps off the new DS model, called the DSi. The unit features a built-in web browser, enabling users to download and store games right on the handheld. There will also be an online DSi shop, which allows users to purchase DSiWare. Microtransactions! There is also a .3 megapixel camera, as well as better audio capabilities. A slot for SD cards will allow the photos to be transferred to the Wii as well. Finally, the model comes with a slightly larger screen at 3.25 inches, and it is 12% thinner. Sounds like the all-around package. The unit goes on sale in Japan Nov 1, and in Europe in Spring 2009. No US dates announced yet. View our DSi images here. Link has no images. Updated, more images added, web browser, photo editor. >Link
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I just picked up a DS recently for Ninja Gaiden, but I'm already thinking about trading it in for this new model.

I really don't like the current trend of re-releasing consoles and handhelds

I suspect this is a direct result of the iPhone/iPod touch threat. Good for Nintendo for acting quickly, but I suspect it won't make a huge difference. Most people buying an iPhone or iPod touch are doing so for other reasons and then realizing it also plays games. In the end I think they are targetting different markets with some overlap. That being said, someone who buys an iPhone/iPod touch is less likely to feel the need to also buy a DS, but the same probably isn't as true the other way around since the iPhone/iPod touch still do a lot more than the DSi will ever do given the open development platform.

It's actually pretty sad that Nintendo might beat Sony to the mobile digital online store sales model since Sony seems to be already much further along in getting there. Hopefully this will light a fire under Sony's but to get the mobile PS Store finished.

I highly doubt Ninty feels any kind of pressure from the iphone/ipod.

Outside of a few games, the vast majority of Itouch games suck the big fat one.

Sony and their psp is more in line with apples market than Nintendo will be with the DS

@Xenos

I'm not sure. The PSP appeals more to hard core gamers, and the iPod touch/iPhone have a much broader appeal and the games for it are much more casual, which I think overlaps more with Nintendo's market. Also, the iPhone has unique/innovative controls, which is kind of Nintendo's domain right now with the DS and Wii. There may not be a lot of great games for Apple's App Store yet, but it's only been open a couple of months and judging by the number of large game developers that are expressing interest/announcing products, I suspect this dearth of great games will be very short lived. With iPhone sales projected to be as high as 45 million in 2009 (that isn't even counting the iPod touch), if they don't feel the pressure now, they probably will soon enough.

The PSP isn't any more hardcore than the DS. In fact many would say that the DS has the stronger line up of games, especially with RPGs.

The touch screen is the only real way they overlap with each other. The Ipod/Itouch is touted as a multi-media device, something that Sony has pushed with the PSP.

It doesn't matter how many Ipods/Itouches are out there, Nintendo has little to worry about.

Seriously, why do you guys think Sony is untouchable but the other two guys are so vunerable to competition? No matter what, you have to understand that something like this takes a long time to plan and can not be seen as a "direct result" of the Ipod/Itouch

I don't think Sony is untouchable, I just think that the average DS buyer has more in common with the average iPhone buyer. Sure, the DS might have a stronger line up of games, but it also has a larger lineup of games that target casual gamers than the PSP as well. Casual gamers probably make up a really healthy slice of the DS's sales, so if Apple is successful in making the iPhone/iPod touch the most popular platform for casual gamers, Nintendo has the most to lose from that. My wife is a good example. She won't touch a videogame in our household, no matter how hard I try to get her into it. Yet she's playing Sudoku every night before going to bed on her iPhone.

My main point is that in no way should this be viewed as a "direct response" to the Iphon/ipod/itouch.

I understand what you're saying about the DS having more casual games, but it's a mute point. The DS has more hardcore games, more casual games, and a larger line up in general.

With 3rd party publishers and even sony showing concern over the PSP's software support, I would imagine that apple's iphone/itouch would be more of a threat considering it's more powerful and reaches the same multi-media audience.

@Xenos

I don't know. The camera I can see being a feature they had thought of long ago and just waited for the cost of parts to come down to put it in, but mp3 playback, a memory card slot and an online store? This just doesn't feel like something that Nintendo had planned for the DS, otherwise they probably would have included them sooner. I mean, the PSP has had MP3 playback and a memory card slot since day one and Nintendo didn't feel it was important to match it.

My theory is that the memory card slot and online store are a fairly new strategy because if they had been planning the online DS store for a long time, they'd probably have put the SD card slot in the existing units so they are ready to take advantage of the store once it was available. By not doing that, they're locking out the 85 million existing users from being able to buy from this new store. That's a pretty big lost sales potential. Makes it seem like the online store is a relatively new strategy, and the timing of it is pretty coincidental, given that Apple just starting touting the iPod touch as a gaming platform a couple of weeks ago. Also notice how they've just mentioned they're going to have an online store, but have nothing to show? That to me suggests it's early in it's planning/development.