With the Gameboy, Nintendo revolutionized handheld gaming and conquered the world. And with the DS/DS Lite, they pretty much did it again. The DSi is not the next revolution, but it's an intriguing evolution.
The DSi has been out in Japan since November, and it comes to US stores this Sunday for $170. It still plays the normal DS games, plus it supports new iPhone-app-like DSiWare titles, captures digital pictures/audio and utilizes SD storage.
Build and Feel
We really, really liked the DSi when we held it for the first time. It's 12% thinner and ever so wider than the DS Lite, plus it feels more solid and features a grippy matte finish. All these tiny details translate to a device that feels infinitely more comfortable in adult hands. Even after hours upon hours of play, we always felt on the verge of dropping the DS Lite. Not so with the DSi.
The buttons are mostly the same to the naked eye, but they're coated with a new texture we could appreciate, and both the D-Pad and XYAB face buttons are less mushy than the DS Lite. The Start and Select buttons are bigger and easier to press, plus the L and R shoulders click with all the obviousness you want in a button, even though they're no longer flush with the body.
In terms of hardware specs, there are a few notable upgrades. The screens are 17% bigger than the last DS, each measuring 3.25-inches across (up from 3-inches flat), but their resolution is still a measly 256 x192. You get two .3MP cameras (one facing front, one back) that take shots to internal memory or newly-supported SD cards. (Note: SD cards work for media and game storage, but you can't play games without copying them to internal memory first. Also, the cap on the SD slot feels like it might break off if opened too frequently.)
The biggest upgrade, however, is one that few people will see. The console now boasts an ARM9E CPU clocked at 133 MHz (in place of the original ARM9/66MHz) and has 16 MB of RAM. The biggest downgrade? Other than the missing GBA slot, the DSi uses a different charger than the DS Lite. Ugh, not again!
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