OMEN
03-27-2009, 10:58 AM
http://i39.tinypic.com/257hjm9.jpg
COMING SOON: The Nintendo DSi is an exciting little machine, but with a hefty pricetag.
On 2nd April, New Zealand and Australia will see the release of the third in the line of Nintendo's DS consoles - the DSi. Eclipsing the stats of Nintendo's middle-child, the DS Lite, the DSi is poised to all but take over the handheld market.
The only other player - Sony's PSP - has been struggling to keep gamers interested, and hasn't been drawing quite the numbers of new customers it needs to put up a real fight: the DSi may have quite an easy race to run.
At first glance, apart from the camera mounted in the shell on top of the machine, there's not too much to distinguish it from the Lite.
The DSi is slimmer, but not by all that much, and the difference in weight is a paltry few grams. The outer is finished in matte white (or black) so should remain pretty smudge free. The DSi is also slightly longer, allowing for the system's larger screens.
While giving you a bigger playing space (and browsing space - more on that in a bit) the new screens do stretch the old DS titles a bit, and cause some mild pixelation (this is noticeable in games like Animal Crossing: Wild World, for example). That said, bigger and brighter wins the day for me: the difference isn't bad enough to effect the playability of the games.
But before you get into using the DSi for something as elementary as playing games, you'll want to mess around with a few of the system's new features. The aforementioned camera is one of two - the other is a pinhole deal mounted between the base and upper screen, so when the DSi is open, you have one camera pointing out into the wide world, and one pointing right at you.
The photography software consists of an album, calendar, and a range of tools for manipulating your snaps. Pictures can be taken with either camera, switching between them as you wish. Either touch the screen to capture a pic, or use the L, R or A buttons.
You can take your photo with a 'lens' attached, allowing you to warp images, create mirror effects or add graffiti, among others. Effects can also be added post-snap. The picture will attach itself to the calendar, so you can see at a glance when it was taken.
This is no Photoshop, but the range of options available is still pretty impressive. Using a kaleidescope effect, I managed to turn a fairly horrific picture of my feet into something positively artistic. Maybe you're more likely to add a pair of buck-teeth and call it a day, but for those with plenty of time to spare, this little gadget offers hours of entertainment.
Other built in software includes the DSi Sound feature. Record short bursts of sound - music, speech, whatever - and manipulate it with a few neat tools. Compared with the photo feature, Sound doesn't stretch nearly as far, but it's a nifty little addition nonetheless. One limitation is the length of time you can record for - banjo songs aren't very long, and I couldn't even get through one before it cut me off. Hey, that's the DSi's loss, not mine.
Thirdly, the DSi allows players to get online, browse the internet and buy goodies at the Nintendo DSi Shop. At launch, those who've stumped up the $375 (NZ SRP) to get their hands on one (or traded in their Lite depending on the retailer) will be able to download the DSi's free browser software.
Once this is on your machine, the world (wide web) is your oyster. Games and software can be purchased via credit card or with a Nintendo Points Card, and the support for the DSi is promising to be rich and full.
Numbers one and two on any list of downsides are the missing GBA slot and hefty, oh so hefty, price tag. Now, some retailers always offer the life saving trade-in option, but if you trade in your Lite, what will you play your GBA games on? Unless you've got a dusty SP kicking around someplace, this could be a problem.
The release of the DSi is an important milestone for Nintendo in 2009. It's an exciting little machine and will prompt many fans into upgrading and getting online, which is ultimately where the DSi will really shine.
The addition of an SD card slot for expandable memory will mean downloadables can be stored in great numbers and that your DSi can double as a music player - functionality the PSP has always had and something I often wished of my DS.
2nd April isn't far away, so start researching and asking yourself if you can justify letting the DSi bite a mammoth chunk out of your recession-tainted wallet. For my part, I'm already looking at what I can sell. If that's a kidney, so be it.
- NZGamer.
COMING SOON: The Nintendo DSi is an exciting little machine, but with a hefty pricetag.
On 2nd April, New Zealand and Australia will see the release of the third in the line of Nintendo's DS consoles - the DSi. Eclipsing the stats of Nintendo's middle-child, the DS Lite, the DSi is poised to all but take over the handheld market.
The only other player - Sony's PSP - has been struggling to keep gamers interested, and hasn't been drawing quite the numbers of new customers it needs to put up a real fight: the DSi may have quite an easy race to run.
At first glance, apart from the camera mounted in the shell on top of the machine, there's not too much to distinguish it from the Lite.
The DSi is slimmer, but not by all that much, and the difference in weight is a paltry few grams. The outer is finished in matte white (or black) so should remain pretty smudge free. The DSi is also slightly longer, allowing for the system's larger screens.
While giving you a bigger playing space (and browsing space - more on that in a bit) the new screens do stretch the old DS titles a bit, and cause some mild pixelation (this is noticeable in games like Animal Crossing: Wild World, for example). That said, bigger and brighter wins the day for me: the difference isn't bad enough to effect the playability of the games.
But before you get into using the DSi for something as elementary as playing games, you'll want to mess around with a few of the system's new features. The aforementioned camera is one of two - the other is a pinhole deal mounted between the base and upper screen, so when the DSi is open, you have one camera pointing out into the wide world, and one pointing right at you.
The photography software consists of an album, calendar, and a range of tools for manipulating your snaps. Pictures can be taken with either camera, switching between them as you wish. Either touch the screen to capture a pic, or use the L, R or A buttons.
You can take your photo with a 'lens' attached, allowing you to warp images, create mirror effects or add graffiti, among others. Effects can also be added post-snap. The picture will attach itself to the calendar, so you can see at a glance when it was taken.
This is no Photoshop, but the range of options available is still pretty impressive. Using a kaleidescope effect, I managed to turn a fairly horrific picture of my feet into something positively artistic. Maybe you're more likely to add a pair of buck-teeth and call it a day, but for those with plenty of time to spare, this little gadget offers hours of entertainment.
Other built in software includes the DSi Sound feature. Record short bursts of sound - music, speech, whatever - and manipulate it with a few neat tools. Compared with the photo feature, Sound doesn't stretch nearly as far, but it's a nifty little addition nonetheless. One limitation is the length of time you can record for - banjo songs aren't very long, and I couldn't even get through one before it cut me off. Hey, that's the DSi's loss, not mine.
Thirdly, the DSi allows players to get online, browse the internet and buy goodies at the Nintendo DSi Shop. At launch, those who've stumped up the $375 (NZ SRP) to get their hands on one (or traded in their Lite depending on the retailer) will be able to download the DSi's free browser software.
Once this is on your machine, the world (wide web) is your oyster. Games and software can be purchased via credit card or with a Nintendo Points Card, and the support for the DSi is promising to be rich and full.
Numbers one and two on any list of downsides are the missing GBA slot and hefty, oh so hefty, price tag. Now, some retailers always offer the life saving trade-in option, but if you trade in your Lite, what will you play your GBA games on? Unless you've got a dusty SP kicking around someplace, this could be a problem.
The release of the DSi is an important milestone for Nintendo in 2009. It's an exciting little machine and will prompt many fans into upgrading and getting online, which is ultimately where the DSi will really shine.
The addition of an SD card slot for expandable memory will mean downloadables can be stored in great numbers and that your DSi can double as a music player - functionality the PSP has always had and something I often wished of my DS.
2nd April isn't far away, so start researching and asking yourself if you can justify letting the DSi bite a mammoth chunk out of your recession-tainted wallet. For my part, I'm already looking at what I can sell. If that's a kidney, so be it.
- NZGamer.