I wavered pretty hard when it came to buying a DSi, even though my DS works just fine. I guess it's the power of Nintendo to make you want things you don't even need. That blue DSi is so sexy, though! Oh well, maybe I'll buy one in the future after the craze has died down or I get to see more of what DSiWare will really offer. Speaking of that, Nintendo has announced the DSiWare that will be available for the launch on April 5th. Here's what you will be able to download:
* WarioWare™: Snapped! – Using the built-in Nintendo DSi camera, this outrageous title puts players right at the center of fast-paced mini-games, challenging them to race the clock and get a peek at Wario’s photo album. * Bird & Beans™ – Using an elastic tongue, players must scramble to collect falling beans. The harder a bean is to catch, the more points it’s worth. * Brain Age™ Express: Math – In this math-focused edition of the popular Brain Age series, players can enjoy a mix of new and familiar training exercises. A new Themes mode also lets Nintendo DSi users experiment with images and voice recordings in fun, unusual ways. * Master of Illusion™ Express: Funny Face – This game uses your Nintendo DSi as a prop in a card trick. Draw a face on the touch screen and astound your audience as the face tells them which playing card they picked. * Art Style™: AQUIA™ – The newest addition to the eye-popping Art Style series, this mesmerizing underwater puzzle game challenges players to help a scuba diver reach the ocean floor by matching a series of colored blocks.
These all seem like decent titles, but nothing I'm foaming at the mouth to own (I reserve that right for Korogashi Puzzle Katamari Damacy). However, if you buy your DSi and connect it to the online shop before October 5th, Nintendo will automatically give you 1,000 DSi points to use in the store, so it's likely you can try out at least one of these games for free anyway. You can read a bit more about that on this website. Excited to try out any of these new DSiWare titles?
New Nintendo DSi Ushers in Era of Personalization and Sharing
Two Cameras, Interactive Audio and Nintendo DSiWare Provide Creative, Customized Experiences
NOTE: Multimedia available below
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On April 5, Nintendo launches Nintendo DSi™, the third iteration of the best-selling portable video game system and the latest evolution in hand-held gaming. Nintendo DSi gives new and veteran gamers the ability to customize, personalize and share their experiences with friends and family. Two built-in, interactive cameras let people snap and modify photos, while recorded sounds can be played and manipulated in interesting and imaginative ways. Also on April 5, Nintendo will launch the Nintendo DSi Shop, a new online storefront where users can redeem Nintendo DSi Points to download an ever-growing variety of inventive games and applications. Nintendo DSi will be available in the United States in Blue or Black at an MSRP of $169.99.
“The concept of entertainment is clearly expanding to enable self-expression and creation in ways never before possible,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Nintendo DSi is loaded with software to help people do exactly that. It’s not just about the cameras or audio playback, but what people can do with these features that makes Nintendo DSi such an enjoyable game system.”
Beyond the creative user experience, these features also give developers the tools to create new games and applications not previously possible. In the same way that WiiWare™ has given developers big and small a way to deliver their most original games directly to Wii™ users, Nintendo DSiWare™ provides access to the latest and most inventive hand-held games from a variety of studios and genres. Here are the Nintendo DSiWare titles that will be available when the Nintendo DSi Shop launches:
* WarioWare™: Snapped! – Using the built-in Nintendo DSi camera, this outrageous title puts players right at the center of fast-paced mini-games, challenging them to race the clock and get a peek at Wario’s photo album. * Bird & Beans™ – Using an elastic tongue, players must scramble to collect falling beans. The harder a bean is to catch, the more points it’s worth. * Brain Age™ Express: Math – In this math-focused edition of the popular Brain Age series, players can enjoy a mix of new and familiar training exercises. A new Themes mode also lets Nintendo DSi users experiment with images and voice recordings in fun, unusual ways. * Master of Illusion™ Express: Funny Face – This game uses your Nintendo DSi as a prop in a card trick. Draw a face on the touch screen and astound your audience as the face tells them which playing card they picked. * Art Style™: AQUIA™ – The newest addition to the eye-popping Art Style series, this mesmerizing underwater puzzle game challenges players to help a scuba diver reach the ocean floor by matching a series of colored blocks.
In addition to a diverse, constantly expanding lineup of DSiWare game titles, visitors to the Nintendo DSi Shop can also download the free Nintendo DSi Browser to enjoy portable access to the Internet. Powered by Opera, this simple-to-use application makes use of the Nintendo DSi system’s dual-screen display to provide fast, intuitive Web browsing.
As an incentive to get people connected and enjoying the online content, consumers who buy a Nintendo DSi system and connect it to the Nintendo DSi Shop by Oct. 5, 2009, will automatically receive 1,000 Nintendo DSi Points. (Visit dsioffer.nintendo.com for more details.) Software in the Nintendo DSi Shop will be available at four price points: free, 200 points, 500 points and 800+ points. Users can purchase additional Nintendo DSi Points in the Nintendo DSi Shop or via a Nintendo Points Card sold at retail locations. Nintendo DSi Points will be available in increments of 2,000 at an MSRP of $19.99.
Nintendo DSi allows users to create and share unique moments using a number of distinctive features. Two cameras – one pointing at the user when the system is open, one facing away – let people take photos and manipulate them with 10 built-in “lenses” including Distortion, Graffiti and Mischief. The cameras inspire creativity by letting users personalize their photos and trade them wirelessly with friends and family. The Nintendo DSi Sound application lets people put their own spin on their music with the ability to play and manipulate AAC sound files accessed from an SD card. These sonic tweaks are not saved or stored – they’re meant for having fun on-the-fly, changing the pitch or playback speed of a clip with a simple touch of the stylus.
Nintendo DSi features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about Nintendo DSi, visit www.NintendoDSi.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 2.8 billion video games and more than 485 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.
My DS Lite still works, even though it suffers from the hinge crack. If it craps out on me, I may give the DSi a once-over. But, the lack of a GBA port is a minus, and the DSiWare isn't much a plus...at least at the moment.
I have no intention, or inclination, to buy the DSi. In fact, i`m a touch vexed by its arrival, as the DS is going strong, and this is nothing more than a more multimedia-application-equipped-normal DS - not something that will affect the level of creativity in the games being released on DS. They could of at least offered a half price trade in for current DS owners! Because shelling out for something with such cosmetic improvements, seems lame. And why have the eschewed the GBA slot? To me this is pure mainstream chasing catch up play from Nintendo, and not very comforting to us hardcore gamers who have been enjoying our DS`s for the last few years.
To me, at the moment, this is far from being worth the money, ESPECIALLY for DS lite owners.
Hmm I have no problem with with, I mean I am still on the Phat Ds so I geuss that might mean a difference, but as "hardcores" shouldn't you have a way to play your GBA games anyway like I don't know a GBA or GBA SP, heck you'll get over it eventually, i was ticked to learn that the Original DS wasn;t going to be backwards compatible with the old GB carts, but you know what i got over that (although the DS was a sizable upgrade from the GBA) still after awhile you won't miss it, especially if one the have VC games ( which i heard it will) and two if you have an alternative way to play them
Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy SP, Game Boy Micro, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite, and Nintendo DSi. Yup I am official fucking broke, also did I mention I am a Nintendo whore? Don't even get me started on the Game Boy and Nintendo DS accessories!
My big question is does the DSi have a longer or shorter battery life?
I mean I'm sure it's a decent unit but I often take flights that are 12 hours long and no way to recharge.
Does anyone who owns one know if the battery lasts longer or about the same, on medium brightness?
@Covertpoet You ever try to play a GBA game on an SP after playing it on a DSLite? It's akin to turning down the brightness on your HDTV and squinting to see what's going on. I suppose, though, it all depends on whether you still play them. I still pick up on good GBA games that passed me by.
I still haven't bought a DS because Nintendo neglected to allow it to play original Game Boy games. Now they're trying to make me buy all my old games again on DSiWare thinking I'm an idiot. Nintendo is teh retarded.
/sarcasm
Honestly people, buy a fucking Micro and play your GBA games in all their glory!! The GBA slot was never more than a lame attempt by Nintendo to cover their asses.
@Adam: It is Pyoro. That's even what it's called on the Australia DSiWare store. It goes for 200 nintendo points, which are sold in lots of 2000 for $35 here (when converted that's US$27, you guys pay US$20 for your points) There's even a warning when you buy the software that the content is the same as that used elsewhere. I got mine yesterday and we have the same games you guys are getting and, to be quite honest, they're garbage.
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10:40 AM on 04.02.2009 
