The feelings seem a bit half and half around here parts. That might not be true as it seems many people feel as if this new device is not worth it or "sucks" as one kind, gaming gentlemen put it in his blog. But why so much hate?

Let's get the fairly obvious ones out of the way that most probably attribute to why it sucks.





The Battery Life

This used to be only a problem with the PSP. Now it is here to plague Nintendo's latest device. But that is what happens when you try to cram so much in a tiny device. Except with the reported three to four hours of fun, isn't that less than the PSP? I was thinking about getting one of these DSi items since I am still playing my DSPhater (I put an extended battery on a DSPhat, hence the "-er") but the battery life is what might make me think twice. I can go weeks without charging my DS. I'd probably only be able to go a day with this one.





The Price

$180 (give or take) is a lot of money to spend on something you theoretically already have. I can't fathom buying another device that does the same thing you already are doing. Maybe if my DS/system died and I had no warranty but that is a stretch. That price isn't the final US price but it might be pretty darn close. Do you really want to spend that much on it?





The Camera

That's great, it has a camera! But wait, it only does 640x480? That's only VGA or 0.3 Megapixels. Don't cellphones have 2 Megapixel cameras standard? I can see them trying to sumo out the iPhone competition but when everyone already has a camera of better quality, what's the point? There are only two ways this camera would be useful as is: if it was a phone or it was used a DS game. The latter of the choices is probably going to happen. Nintendo will use that camera for a game and it will probably fun/amazing. I guess if they had a bigger megapixel, it would mean less battery time and/or the screen can only handle so much. Lame.



This last point is probably the main reason I can gather...





No GBA Slot

The funny thing about this is that the GBA was originally just tagged on to make sure people could play their old games while they tried this new, unproven device. Now that it is proven it will grow and the next iteration will have to eventually shy away from it. Looks like it is starting early. It was only a matter of time before it was removed. It is truly funny how many people are upset over the GBA slot missing. But then again if you want a GBA slot, just keep a DSPhat or DSLite.

I have to admit it though, that Arkanoid DS Accessory is a downfall for no GBA slot but it was never released in the US so no biggie. And who actually plays Guiter Hero on their DS? The only other reason there is a need for a GBA slot is if you want to play illegal games. Perhaps Nintendo wants to cut back on DS piracy and this is the first step in the right direction?


I honestly don't play GBA games that often so it isn't a huge deal. And I could careless about the camera (although DS control does sound sweet) and music playing ability. Is there even controls on the outside of the DS for music playing? Who cares, I have an iPod for music/videos and a 7 megapixel digital camera for pictures. It would be nice to upgrade from my DSPhatter. But my main reason for hating the DSi is the battery life. It is the one thing I hate about my PSP. Hate having to recharged every few days.

So...why do you hate it?