I spent most of last night fiddling about with the DSi, a new version of Nintendo's popular five-year-old handheld gaming system designed to bring the machine's hardware and firmware into sync with the desires of modern consumers. It's slated for release on Sunday.
I'm not going to formally review all of the new features and capabilities of the updated platform—check out Scott Colbourne's DSi coverage for a comprehensive overview of the device. Instead, I provide for your consideration 11 features that—to use contemporary web phraseology—either pass or fail.
Music player – Pass
A long overdue feature for Nintendo's handheld platforms, music playback allows game-loving music fans (or music-loving game fans) to lug around one less device as they trek about town—assuming their music is in encoded AAC format (more on that in a bit). What's more, Nintendo has tarted up the device's music player with some funky features that let users record sound and lay it over commercial tracks, alter pitch and playback speed, and apply sound effects.
No support for MP3s – Fail
Granted, 75 per cent of people who listen to music while on the go do so with an iPod, which leads one to believe that much of the music in their libraries is encoded in Apple's AAC format. However, the lack of support for MP3 tracks will be a bummer for everyone else.
DSi Shop – Epic pass
Nintendo's new online store, available only through the DSi (the original DS and DS Lite haven't the means to access the shop or to store downloadable content), is set to become a warehouse of cheap, fun games, social networking applications, and various other fun and useful bits of software. Get started with a the free web browser, then try out Wario's new camera-based micro-game adventure, WarioWare: Snapped!, which costs just five bucks.
SD card slot – Pass
The DSi's new expandable memory is used to store both music and downloadable software from the DSi Shop. What's more, now that the platform has its own storage, game saves could potentially be kept on either the system or an SD card, which would eliminate the need for the limited flash memory currently found on DS game cartridges. Sadly, there are 100 million DS units out there that don't have onboard memory or memory card capability, which means the likelihood of this convenient, cost-saving measure ever actually happening is slim.
Larger screen – Fail
More visual real estate sounds like a plus, but the number of pixels hasn't increased. Instead, they've simply been made larger, which, depending on the keenness of your eyes and how close you are to the screen, can make images appear less crisp. Plus, bigger screens require more juice. IGN reports that, at maximum brightness, the DSi delivers only three to four hours of play time, whereas the DS Lite offered five to eight. At least the charge time has been reduced from three hours to two-and-half.
Removal of GBA slot – Fail
The DSi's lack of backwards compatibility with the Game Boy Advance isn't a big issue for me—whenever I have a craving to play Mario Golf, Golden Sun, or Fire Emblem I just pull out my terrifically tiny Game Boy Advance Micro. However, it might cause some consternation amongst gamers who haven't the desire to keep a drawer full of aging handheld systems.
Dual cameras – Pass
Like many modern phones, the DSi sports a pair of cameras; one facing the player when the device is open, the other on the back of the top shell, allowing users to snap pictures of their environment using the top screen to frame the shot. As with the DSi's music software, the picture utility offers lots of fun ways to play with your images, whether it's warping pictures, adding text, or creating a kaleidoscopic effect.
Dimensions and weight – Minor pass
