Nintendo DSi now available in North America
By Ross Miller 
posted Apr 5th 2009 3:56PM
posted Apr 5th 2009 3:56PM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
i will be the first to
be a failure.
Test
eat some pie.
the pie is a lie.
If you guys keep this up, I'm liable to cry!
this combo needs to break, or someone's gonna die.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edDloV5VwWw
Me & My Friend's very own DSi unboxing. Full of nerdiness and randomness.
C-C-C-Combo Breaker!!!!
Cake is lie, Pie is awesome.
Easy as pie = Piece of cake.
i was just at target and saw a ton of these sitting next to the ds lites. there was no dsi on display or any posters or banners or anything and nobody seemed to be excited about it. but that's probably because there really hasn't been much publicity on these things. i don't think most people even know about them yet.
Officially sold out in USA
I don't think anyone cares about them to be honest.
As Ryan said... I don't think anyone cares. When I first heard about it, I though "oh... a DS with a camera. How predictable." and already it was old news to me. There's really not much more to it than that. Just another gimmicky add-on, and the only games to support the camera will likely be just as gimmicky with few exceptions.
For the same cost of the DSi, the PSP is a far better deal. Better 3D performance, loads of great games, nicer screen, and LOTS of rather nice bonus features for those that take the time to hack theirs. I can't believe Nintendo advertises photo editing as a killer app. That's remarkably lame.
My guess is that everyone who really wants a DS already has one.
Yeah i bought one then returned it. There was A LOT available in Vancouver Canada. No line up, no sign of anyone else buying, I guess so one cares.
Picked one up, I'll see how it ranks up when I'm done some studies :)
I bought the DS phat day one, for what I can remeber, around the same price. What a big mistake that was. No game support for 2 years, and was not very fun. Im not buying another portable system again. MSN on my phone entertains me now if im bored and mobile.
DSi's are for kids.
Trix are for kids
Do you work for Sony?! :P
Well, I finally upgraded my phat, and lovin' it.
You share!
psp are for cool people, so I'm a cool kid?
I'm neither a kid or cool so I don't understand how that works out
So am I both a child and a cool kid for owning both... but using neither? Well, sometimes I pull out the DS to learn Japanese. I even unbricked a motherboard for my PSP, to get it to work.
Bad time to mention that I have an iPhone?
Don't forget pensioners!
My Phat is still going strong and is less likely to cramp my hands.
yeah I forgot grand theft auto is a kids game O_o...wait...it's not. What about Ultimate Mortal Kombat for the DS...nope not a kids game either....hmmm...Resident Evil: Deadly Silence for the DS?....those don't seem like kids' games to me. The DS is not just for kids like you or most other people think. At least that's the stigma Nintendo is trying to get rid of. Adding the internal storage was a smart move. Also having the camera opens the way for Skype on the DSi. I'm not even a Nintendo fanboy. In fact, I don't even own a DS. My girlfriend has one and I have a PSP (that I don't really even play) To each is own and you buy what you will use. I for one would play my psp much more if the UMDs were better quality and the memory sticks were cheaper.
when will DS lite price go down damnit!
I bought one in mid-march for my sister's birthday.
Been keeping the receipt in my wallet and checking BestBuy website every single day to see if I can get price-match. Extra money...me like
i am actually leaving this comment from the DSi i just picked up!
I am leaving this comment from my computer.
@Connor:
No shit!
Bet it took a long ass time for the page to load, and to tap out your short reply.
You must have the patience of Buddha.
Pages load surprisingly quickly, but they look like sh*t. Like WinMo, or IE...
That's pretty cool. Seems like the DSi browser is at least halfway decent.
ipodf touch commentsd are where it's att!
I bought a DS as soon as it was available and bought a DS lite as soon as it was available but... eh. The DSi just isn't doing it for me. I have enough cameras as it is, on my phone, on my computer, on my camera, I don't need to shoehorn another one onto my DS. Besides, no GBA cart slot? That's a deal breaker in my book.
Yeah seriously. I had an original DS (my friend still has his), and have had my DS Lite for a while. The DS Lite is such a huge leap from the original DS that it was worth upgrading. This one isn't, though. I still love some of my GBA games, and want to play them!
Also, I think that the new features take away from what the DS/Lite were all about. I bought a DS Lite again instead of a PSP because it was simple, didn't have all the extra features that I'd never use, and not to mention cheaper. The new DSi is not simple, has most of the extra features of the PSP (but will admit they won't work as well because the PSP has been around for a bit longer [save for UMD]) and is now expensive.
Now excuse me while I go back to playing Mario Party DS.
The DS Lite has mushy buttons. It's either a quality or design issue.
On the topic of mushy buttons, I find it funny that the new buttons are more clicky because the original ds had clicky buttons. Why'd they ever change them? (though personally, I like the buttons on the lite, so I'm fine with it).
That and my DS Phat refuses to die.
I picked on up this morning. Its a pretty solid machine and the new case, matte instead of KFC-grease magnet, is a welcome addition.
The new DSi store is the whole reason to pick one up. Forget the camera and anything else, which is actually pretty good.
One thing I can definately see happening is in the future is video-calling. It has a front-facing camera and a microphone, and Wifi. Either nintendo is going to offer something, or the jailbreaking community will.
The DSi store is useless for me.
Nope!
Waiting to see if the DSi Store actually makes it worth the purchase. I don't play my DS that much anyway, so updating right now isn't a priority.
I AM picking up Rhythm Heaven though. The demo of that game is hilarious!
i have been saving up for it, BUT then i heard it has no flash video player. Unlike Sony, Nintendo never seems to go all out and make it an all around system. too bad, but i love it. i bet the psp2 will be able to play youtube videos and hopefully have a camera that can capture short movies. Nintendo, close but no cigar!
On another note, i hope there's a software update soon for the flash player, and it better be before Sony sends out a challenge. I still have the money to buy this for my girlfriend and I. So do something Nintendo, DO SOMETHING!!!
PSPTube FTW
There is actually already a camera for the PSP (http://www.renchi.com/renchi/PSP_PSP_Slim_Lite_Accessories_PSP_Camera_Official.htm) I don't think it was ever officially released here in the US though. There's a lot the PSP could do if given the chance. Hell there is a GPS unit for it and a mic/"game" combo that will translate your speech into Japanese, Korean, and another language that I can't remember right now. None of them were released here in the US though.
No thanks... MAYBE, MAYBE it'll replace my DS lite by Christmas if:
1) Enough DSi-specific games are out with amazing review scores.
2) Sony doesn't announce/have a PSP2
Then, yeah I might get it.... also hopefully for a better price.
Got mine in my hands right now. Its cool I like messing with the cameras but what i really want is downloadable Gameboy/Advanced games.
No gameboy advance card slot is slightly disappointing, but it has SD card slot which just sounds like easy modding everyone can enjoy. Old school NES and SNES roms anyone? Not that I would ever do such illegal things...
Holy Crap you're right. The SD card slot opens up a ton of potential. I mean, I've seen Gameboy advance roms on Nseires phones, what's to prevent them from working on the DSi.
Nintendo R&D failed in the color department.
Of course, they passed in the "buy now, suckers, then buy again when new colors come out ... because they'll be so much better" department.
And there's already a new one announced. It's a Gyakuten Kenji DSi Limited Edition. They have a new game based on the Ace Attorney (Phoneix Wright) series "and for the occasion, Capcom will release a limited editionDSi covered with Taihokun, the Police mascot designed by Gumshoe (a character in the game) and a special package including the new opus."
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_details.php?id=17896
I picked my up at WalMart this morning, It's very Solid, overall good system, I welcome it
With the exception of the hideous power button and the odd-looking headphone jack covering, it is gorgeous looking and I am loving the buttons. I needed an upgrade from my old red DS. This is a nice change. Internet is a bit... :/
I think the DS lite is great, but the DSi is a bit of a head scratcher. It's too similar to the DS, and given that you can get an iPhone Touch 8GB for $20 bucks more if you know how to use coupons and "Cash Back" sites, too expensive. You can load up your Touch with tons of free and cheap (under $5) games and never have to worry about losing a $25 cart. Plus, more and more DS games seem to be for kids. The great puzzles and platform games are drying up, and Madden was never that great. Plus, given there are no "must have" launch titles, I think the DSi is destine for FAIL heaven. Perhaps they were trying to one-up the PSP in that category.
Honestly, with the iPhone/Touch 3.0 s/w coming I think the Touch is the next big portable game machine.
except that ipod touch games are crappy (I say that as a very happy 1st gen ipod touch owner)
u really think the ipod touch will be the next big hand held gamming device? and you also think the DSi will fail? WOW just WOW get outa ur bubble
1) iPod touch games are good looking, but extremely shallow.
2) GTA: Chinatown wars.
dwain222 I am with you 100%. I love my iPod Touch but the only game I really play on there is tetris. And solitaire, can't forget that. I'm waiting til summer to see what this possibly new iPod Touch is like before upgrading my 1st gen. I'm out of room on the 8 gig but am willing to wait to see if this 3rd gen is really worth it. If not I'll upgrade to a 2nd gen 16 gig cause they'll be cheap(ish, hopefully...)
The iPod Touch is a great system for "oh i forgot my other system gaming"
They have fun quick games, but most of the games are dumbed down versions of the DS games which isn't saying much.
I love both my DS and iPod touch.
but honestly i don't think i can ever truly consider the iPod Touch/ iPhone to be a true to blue video game system.
It's an MP3/MP4 player that happens to play games, to of course satisfy the normal person.
woops, let me add.
Games like "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" and games to that extent
Wasn't going to upgrade from from the DS Lite but was in Game Stop and saw they were offering at $70 trade-in for the Lite towards purchase. That's a pretty good deal so figured why not. Never used the GBA slot anyway so no loss on that. Seems worth the money especially for anyone trading up from a Phat ($50 trade-in).
DSi is for little kids. It has crap graphics and useless functions and bad games. I have a PSP. But then again, if xbox comes out with their own portable, my PSP would probably be garbage too.
I'm ordering one tomorrow, haven't had a DS since I sold my phat a few months before the lite came out. Now that there's actually some worthwhile games for the system and a new version that actually has some added potential, it's worth it to me to buy a new one.
Don't really care about the lack of a GBA cartridge slot, I've got emulators on my PSP for any GB/GBA/NES/SNES gaming I feel like doing, and the guitar hero games for DS sucked.
"if you're interesting in"
If you're interesting in? Have you outsourced article writing?
I work for Target and at my store we had not sold a single DSi as of 2:30pm. I believe it was in the weekly ad and we had a little sign sitting on the electronics counter....but beyond that I have seen pretty much zero advertising for it. Nintendo really messed this launch up.
I don't think nintendo was planning on going against its own top-selling platform. As far as i know, they are still producing the DS lite, and the DSi is its media edition sibling. Personally, the DSi didn't need a launch.
I just bought one from Amazon. It'll be my first Nintendo handheld since the Gameboy Color.
Had I known the launch was going to be so lackluster, I wouldn't have pre-ordered one from Amazon in February (ordered it for my 8 year old, who has a GBA and has been wanting a DS for a while...). Now I have to wait until Wednesday to get it when I could have gotten one today (figured there would be some kind of rush on it; guess not)
i wont be getting it any time soon. i got my DSlite years ago for $129, the day of release. there is no reason to still be charging this much money, just because of a refresh. (i lost my DSlite :()
wow ive never heard of this "DSi" so far i think it sucks but thts becuz i hate nintendo. lol
I picked mine up this morning, still working witth it thus far, so far so good...
Got the blue one from Amazon. Let's see how it appeals to my son. I was skeptical about the Wii too initially. Then, when we actually bought one, it was great.
"I was skeptical about the Wii too initially. Then, when we actually bought one, it was great."
Really??
The cameras are a bit pointless, but if it had(has?) a half decent photo editing app built in (or available to buy) it's SD card slot/touch screen would make it a handy compact digital camera companion.
Highest Ranked
No.
Stupid UPS not delivering on the weekend!
lol i h8 it 2
I don't expect sales at first to be spectacular, there seemed to be very little demand for it around here, and no hype for it (not that it deserves any). But come the holidays, the DSi will sell like hot cakes, just as the DS has done for years.
I wonder how long it will be until the DSi is cracked. The SD support should make this an excellent for home brew....I totally need another device that plays Quake!
Well there are already some flash carts out for it. Acekard 2i is the one off the top of my head. So that means something like that should be right around the corner.
Anyway I picked mine up at midnight cause my friends and I had just got done watching a movie not too long before that. I was shocked to be the only one picking one up at the time. Nintendo really slouched on this launch. Pretty sad because I am quite enjoying it. I had a lite but ended up selling it last year and held off on buying another one for this. The whole lack of gba support doesn't bug me because I never really played gba games on my previous ds either. Not to mention I didn't really care for the guitar hero ds. So I am really happy with it. Also I do think it is cool about the 1000 free points when you get it. Speaking of which, what game should I get from the dsi store? Wario Ware, or Aquio (or whatever it's called)?
Is it true that games for the dsi won't work on the ds lite.
Games for the dsi are the same for the lite. The only thing I can think of is the games coming out with games with special features only accessible by the dsi though. Otherwise a ds game is a ds game.
At least for now they're saying that DSi-enhanced games will still be playable on DS, but the DSi has twice the 3D processing power and four times the ram of the original, so I wouldn't really be surprised if down the road they released games that only ran on the DSi and used it to its full potential.
I have to wait until later this week for UPS to mail it over to me.
I'm so glad you told us.
i got mine as soon as the local eb games opened, and the manager said i was the first to get one at his store. he said half his stores stock was preorders and only two non preorders were on display for sale behind the counter id imagine they are gone by now. i love the dsi so far. it replaces a launch DS phat (im kinda pissed i paid the same amount for the dsi i did for the ds phat) (which i intend to keep for gba) i then went to the ontario science centre for a members event and some people were amazed i had one
I have my DS lite for 1 1/2 years. So out of all this time, I've probably used for 8-10 hours. For me, no upgrade or "for some people downgrade" at this time.
since I spent my entire game budget for the next several months on rock band last week, I'll have to wait awhile to get one (possibly longer depending on when verizon launched that new blackberry)
Is it my monitor or does that DSi kinda look greenish in that pic?
Just checked that myself.. and yeah, my monitor shows it as a camo-green color too.
its a good upgrade for someone who owns a phatty, but if you own an itouch you'll be hating the dsi's browser, media player, etc in comparison. I bought it as an upgrade to my phat and i love it, but I also have an itouch and i love my itouch for all of the more practical uses (i also hate the itouch for the games).
I've got a little list of gadgets that I'm getting this year.. and the DSi is definitely on it. My fiancee "acquired" my DSLite a few months back, and I haven't gotten a hold of it in some time, SO I'm just going to go get my own again.. Next on my list though is an iPod touch.. but after I get that, the DSi will be the next gadget I get my grubby little hands on.
Wow so u gonna carry cell in one picket n iPod toucd in other. Whrn u can just get iPhone for $99. What a dee dee dee.
I picked it up :3
Pretty hot little piece of hardware compared to my original DS. And actually the matte finish I disliked so much when pics first surfaced is growing on me. It feels nice lol.
I got mine this morning, I didn't get it at midnight, but I went to the mall at 10 (even though the mall opens at 12 :P). So far, my only complaints are that the outside casing feels like sand paper and DS games don't support WPA (only DSiware does)
My bro got one (first one at that to get one at the Game Stop lol) and he hasn't told me his review on it. I'm going to get mine probably by Christmas (most likely new colors will come out by then...and hopefully at that time I'll have steady income coming in ^_^...please? LOL)
And yes, if you go to Game Stop you get $70 credit by trading in your Lite. That's pretty solid :).