The first of a series of Iwata Asks columns discussing the upcoming DSi handheld has been posted at nintendodsi.com. Here’s an excerpt from today’s update:
Kuwahara:
To explain simply, the outer camera is there so you can take pictures of other objects or persons as you usually would with a digital camera. The inside camera is for taking pictures of yourself while you play. That’s why there are two.
At first, we thought having two would be a waste—that having one that you could rotate would be enough—but integrating a new swivel mechanism into the body would increase the cost all on account of that one piece and the overall size would increase. That’s why in the end we decided that overall it would be better to have two cameras.
Iwata:
There was also a durability issue. We discussed how a swivel mechanism could break more easily, defeating the whole purpose. Simply adopting a camera swivel mechanism such as in cell phones wouldn’t satisfy Nintendo’s quality standards.
Iwata:
Umm, I think it might be easier to understand if I specified what that “certain specification” was. Originally, the Nintendo DSi was designed so that two DS games could be inserted.
Kuwahara:
Right. There were two slots.
Iwata:
There were a lot of requests among gamers, of course, and from in house as well, for two slots. We also thought that would be good, and, even though we were aware of the drawback of increased size, we decided to proceed with two slots. But when you and your team made an actual model and I held it in my hands, all I could think was, “It’s so big!”
Kuwahara:
Compared to the final version, it was much bigger. It was about three millimeters thicker too.
In other news: That’s what she said.
Click on over to nintendodsi.com for the full translated column.
