(Check out the above video first from our hands-on session for a short tour of the various DSi features.)
Sure, the Japanese DSi has been out since November (and you’ve probably seen plenty of impressions of it since), but it’s always fun to get our hands on an American version of a piece of software or hardware item prior to its release. We got the opportunity to do just that with the DSi a couple of weeks prior to its launch yesterday at an exclusive event at the local Gamestop (it actually wasn’t a press event—Club Nintendo Platinum members were invited selectively, though we only saw around 20 people at the local get-together we attended). Although our review unit hasn’t yet arrived, we also managed to spend some time with the system and take some nice-quality video (as you’ve seen above). In our write-up here, you’ll find some additional details that the video doesn’t cover.
It’s obvious by the specs and new features what the current plusses and minuses are of the DSi compared to the DS Lite (you’re essentially trading off some battery life and your GBA slot in exchange for a sleeker, sturdier form factor and some new functionality). But, after touching the DSi for ourselves, we have gained some new insight on the improvements that aren’t noticeable simply by perusing the specs. Here’s what we noticed.
First of all, the actual plastic casing itself has been changed from the glossy DS Lite style to a matte, smooth-textured alternative, which does a much better job of preventing ugly fingerprints (a huge plus if you’re an anal-retentive perfectionist like our editor Greg here). The thin frame, though only 2.6 mm thinner than the DS Lite, was noticeably thinner when held in-hand. However, since the DSi is actually a slight bit longer than the DS Lite, this may help to maintain the level of comfort on one’s hands when holding the system (it felt quite comfortable in our own). The buttons also seemed to click a little better than those of the DS Lite, and they all felt a little smaller. This includes the D-pad, which seems to work quite a bit better than its DS Lite counterpart.
Speaking of which, another part of the DSi that we love is the L & R buttons. It seems as if they’ve finally fixed the problem they had over the last two DS iterations by creating small, functional trigger buttons that (presumably) shouldn’t suffer from the same deterioration problems that occurred with the DS Lite and GBA SP (where after a long enough time, your L & R buttons stopped registering presses). These buttons actually click and only take up a small portion of the top of the DSi rather than the entire edge of the casing where your fingers rest (as they are on the DS Lite).
As for functionality, the photo-snapping and music-listening functionality seems inspired in a Game Boy Camera sort of way. Sure, it’s mostly novelty, but it’ll be fun nonetheless, and it doubles as a fairly competent daytime camera in a pinch (even if it is only VGA, which actually is considerably lower-res than even most modern cell phone cameras… though the color accuracy is much better than any cell phone on the DSi). All of it’s easy to use and pretty functional. Though our video doesn’t demonstrate it, we also saw the facial-manipulation features in action, and they work pretty seamlessly. The sound recording and manipulation features are interesting, but not quite as appealing overall as the picture-taking and editing functions. You can, of course, listen to music on the DSi as well, though it doesn’t support MP3s—your music must instead be converted to .AAC format for it to work. We didn’t get to fool with it during our demo, but you can set it up so that you get a nifty Excitebike-like visualization when your tunes are playing (you can check it out here along with some SUPER HAPPY FUN J-Pop music).
We have picked up on a few things that have us a bit disappointed—such as the fact that the much-appreciated WPA wireless encryption technology compatibility only works with future software and DSiWare applications—but that’s nothing that could have been avoided, seeing as existing games have the Wi-Fi Connection software hard-wired into them. The DSi’s battery life is also shorter than that of the DS Lite, sporting just 9 – 14 hours on the lowest brightness as opposed to the DS Lite’s 15 – 19 hours. Homebrew also won’t work on the DSi… yet. So if you’re into that, keep that in mind.
But there are enough positives to outweigh the negatives. One major plus is that the DSi is also the first Nintendo handheld ever to support upgradeable firmware—which leaves the door open for future upgrades and enhancements that could circumvent future problems such as that with the WPA encryption. And, of course, you can’t even take advantage of the new DSiWare games and apps if you don’t have a DSi, so that’s probably reason enough to own one.
We’ll have more on the DSi as soon as we get our hands on a review unit. Until then, stay tuned.