We all know with christmas comming up, nintendo have been heavily promoting the new range of Ds colours that were released during the  summer. I must admit that some of the new colours are pretty cool but is this the final push of the Nintendo lite ds bundle before the  release of the much rumoured nintendo Lite DSi console in europe and america in the spring of 2009? Or has the market already been too  saturated?

WHo knows? But the big questions I would like to ask is ‘How many of the current DS Lite and DS users will upgrade to the new console?’  and ‘What will the new handheld dsi unit offer them that the current unit does not?

The new DSi will have the following specifications:

- Increased screen size (up from 3.0 to 3.25 inches)
- Dual touch screens
- Improved resolution (640 x 480)
- Dual 3 megapixel Camera Built in ( pictures can be merged together and distorted etc)
- Thinner overall unit size (depth is reduced from 21.5 to 18.9mm)
- On-board storage
- SD Card slot to give full capability for the new features and storage
- GBA Slot has been removed
- Ability to play MP3 file
- 12% lighter in weight
- Built in browser with the ability to purchase and download games online

Now that sounds pretty cool, but will my 6 year old son need this when he wants to pay mario karts with his friends, have a game of super  mario bros or sonic and mario at the olympics? I don’t think so and neither will any of his friends or more to the point their parents.  Ands will I need any of these new and improved features to play one of the more integectual games such as ‘boggle’, ‘scrabble’ or ‘brain  training’? again I would say no and to be honest I cannot see the point of many of these additional functions when the main audience in  reality are under 12. A build in browser may me cool but it’s not something I want my 6 year son using without my supervision and what  about the good old virus crowd? I doubt that before long the credit cards used to purchase game will be hacked as has happened with most  of the major players already in those markets. 

I can see this as maybe another sony type mistake in assuming that all the current DS users will upgrade to the new unit. It is still not  clear on whether the current games will work with the new consoles  or the new DSi games will be compatible with the current nintendo  lite ds stock that is available. One feature that is built in however is that of region locked compatibility. What does this mean? it  means that if you have a european locked console then games purchased from japan or other non-europe regions will not work on the new DSi  console.

The console will be released in japan on the 1st of november and will have a price tag of JPY 18,900 (GBP 101, USD 179, EUR 129)

Technorati Tags: Cheapest Nintendo Wii, HandHeld DS, In Stock Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Bundle, Nintendo DS Stock, Nintendo Lite DS Bundle, Wii Nintendo Price

• Easily Distracted » Blog Archive » Wii Wii Wii All the Way Home – Since the beginning of summer, I’ve been occasionally stopping by various local retailers and asking if they have a Wii in stock. I’m not going to go chasing the thing like Ahab after the white whale, nor do I want to pay twice the retail price to get it from some skeevy dude off eBay. Yesterday, I joined the family for lunch at a mall restaurant and afterwards I wandered into a GameSpot and asked the ritual Wii question.
• Machinima at GDC 2008 – GDC 2008 had some official sessions on machinima and some rather well hidden gems. In fact, very well hidden at times. The conference is simply too big to attend or even find every interesting talk so here are my impressions. …
• Video Game Bonanza! – Although I’m not a huge advocate of video games, I must confess that I had too much fun this weekend playing with Guitar Hero on PS2 and the new Nintendo Wii system. In an effort to cater to a larger audience (maybe this’ll attract more …
• Engineering Library Instruction – This contest is open to current students in all schools with active trials and subscriptions to Knovel. All entries with a total of at least 3 correct answers will be placed into a random drawing for one of (2) Nintendo Wiis , (3) iPod Nanos and (6) iTunes Gift Cards. The drawing will take place on December 1st, 2008.
• Nintendo of America Initiates Replacement Program for Wrist Straps … – If consumers swing the hand-held “Wii Remote” game controllers using excessive force and accidentally let go, the cord connecting the controller to the wrist strap can break, potentially causing the controller to strike bystanders or …

Technorati Tags: HandHeld DS, Nintendo HandHeld Console, Nintendo Lite, Wii Console games, Wii Systems