Thursday, October 02, 2008

Nintendo officially unveils Nintendo DSi and online store, coming Nov 1 in Japan for $180



Even before Nintendo announced it, the DSi had been the talk of the town. According to our Japanese correspondent, the DSi will be 12 percent thinner, and will get rid of the GBA slot entirely. The DSi will also include two built-in cameras (one reportedly VGA resolution) and music playback. It will add an SD card slot and internal storage (we don't yet know how much) to enhance its multimedia capabilities. The screens are now slightly larger at 3.25 inches, photos can be synced to the Wii Photo Channel, and the unit will include a free browser application.


Nintendo is also launching the "DSi Shop" to sell content directly over Wi-Fi. Prices for the store, which are also tied into Wii Nintendo Points, will use 0, 200, 500 and 800-point tiers. Until March 2010, 1000 Nintendo points will come bundled with the device.

Nintendo is calling the DSi a "third platform," implying that it's not competing with the DS -- though as a history lesson, the DS was originally a "third platform" against the now-retired Game Boy Advance.

The DSi will launch November 1 in black and white colors. It will cost ¥189,000 (approx. US $178). We won't fault you for misreading this as "iDS," given the very iPod Touch-esque additions.

Update: The official DSi website is up.


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