The
Nintendo DSi in its current form is just about to round its
first Japanese birthday on November 1st, and if
Nikkei has anything to say about it, the two-screener's all set for an oncoming growth spurt. According to a report from the publication, who has a
good track record on Nintendo reports thus far, a new DSi with 4-inch screens (versus 3.25 currently) is coming to the land of the rising sun sometime before this year's out. No other spec differences, the report claims this was in response to older gamers having trouble seeing the action. It'll replace the current model and retail for the same price, ¥18,900 (US $205.50). If history tells us anything, we'll be waiting a lot longer for this new model to make it overseas.
Update: As noted by our
Engadget Japan friends, the original
Nikkei piece does mention a possible increase in resolution, to the effect of saying games and apps can display more info on screen, but it's very unclear if that was the intended message here or simply a confusion in terminology.
[Via
Joystiq]
posted Oct 27th 2009 12:05AM
Wonder if it will have a big battery since the DSi battery life is already short.
Not just the battery life that would be a problem. The pixel structure is already hugely visible on the 3.25" screens. With 4", the resolution would need to be bumped up for it not to look bad. Having a Tegra would make more since then too.
If you know anything about portable game systems, the resolution is not going to change. Most DS games are 2D, and existing games would not be able to take advantage of the higher resolution since sprites are made of a fixed number of pixels. And no, they couldn't make new games in higher resolution because that would leave 110 million owners of existing DS systems unable to play them.
I'm certain the resolution will be increased, actually. They'll almost certainly just add a full/stretch screen option for older games, it's not without precedent. Remember the move from GameBoy/Color to Advanced?
Kind of surprised this is just now happening (for this reason, anyway), seeing as how many screen size increases it's already gone through and how long the DS has been available.
Im amazed that someone will be able to use a 4inch 256 x 192 pixels screen (GIANT PIXELS) on this new rumered DS for Japan, especially when most common gadgets have higher resolution screens
Another re-modeling?
How about that rumored Tegra DS, eh Nintendo? I know it's too early since DSi still has life left in it, but ya' know, how about some light of hope? Maybe? Perhaps?
hahahah, Nintendo again, is milking it's manchild fanbase for more money for small "redesigns"
Bring back the GameBoy slot or GTFO, Nintendo. Keep your camera; I'll keep my DS Lite.
Screw your Gameboy slot. Bring back the SNES and NES slot.
But you have to play it with your hands! That's a baby's toy!
Maybe ill w8 for this one to come out in the U.S.
The black ones are always bigger
You're just beggin' for it, aren't ya?
it won't be long ...
You would know from sucking them all day wouldn't you?
I just bought a DSi and when I looked at it, I noticed the whole system would be alot larger if they did this. Which they may do to get people used to a larger DS again? maybe their tegra prototypes are large and they need people to get used to larger systems. Oh and I dont miss the GBA slot thats what the GBA is for, or my ds lite
Please let it be tegra! Otherwise I'll just play the waiting game.
The waiting game isn't a DS-exclusive ya know.
Why do they think that putting bigger screens on an already crappy device will fix anything?
Every time they increase the screen size this system gets uglier and uglier. Some great games exist on this but it's like a constant regression in visual quality, to the point where the output is so jagged and blurry now that it's becoming hard to read text and such. I think they're making it worse for people with poor vision by doing this, honestly. Unless they have some magic way of dealing with GIGANTIC 1/10th inch pixels, I hope they make it a special boutique item for old people and not a habit they carry on to their next portable.
Honestly, nintendo's already one the edge of irrelevance for their supposed new market with portables as casual games become better and cheaper on all the random cell phones people have anyway. Making their offering even less appealing and portable seems very strange to me.
My bet is this revision never shows up in the US like the old backlit gameboy color.
You are full of shit up to the brim. That's like saying 1080p TV sizes should have stopped at 32 inches, yet somehow I still really enjoy watching 1080p content on my 65" plasma. I also really enjoyed playing my NES games on a 32 inch TV in gorgeous 256x240.
Damn. I paid a good bit of money for my DSi back last November. Looks like I'll be putting this one back up on e-bay and getting the new one.
Get an iPod touch. i just got NBA Live 2010 today for 10 bucks. This thing friggin rules.
@Mike- real buttons are always nice.
And thank goodness I didn't buy one last time I was in Osaka; looks like I have something I want to get on my winter trip to Japan.
[Insert quip about PSP Go! screen size decrease]
[mention how much better the screen on the PSPGO looks than any other PSP or DS reiteration]
they need to stop coming out with different versions of the DS. it needs new hardware entirely, and I dont mean adding a shoddy camera.
seems pointless since they won't be upping the resolution. i'd rather have a smaller device.
although what i REALLY want is a PSP-type device (made by MS or Sony, w/ native games written for it) but in the Pandora form factor, minus the keyboard (maybe change it a little for ergonomics). clamshell designs are great, and in this case you have plenty of room for a big screen up top and plenty of room for controls (dual analog!) on the bottom. i don't really understand why you would want a gaming device with two screens - all the best games ever made only used one screen.
IF nintendo DO using Tegra.
- There is already change scale in portable game systems. When you using gameboy advance (240 × 160) play gameboy or gameboy color (160 × 144).
- Nintendo DS&DSL is 66+33 Mhz, DSi is 100 Mhz. Tegra start at 600Mhz on chip speed it's posible.
- Add more pixel will make more sense. eg. to let it play movie to fight psp, iPhone/iPod touch, Zune hd.
Last time Nintendo made a handheld with the older people in mind we got the Gameboy mirco. Which is arguably the best build quality of any handheld ever created. It was all metal and looked so good. the dpad was better than any i have ever played with. ill never recover from parting ways with mine. the worst gamestop trade-in($17 dollars) of all time. So if the build quality is any thing like the GBA Micro its going to be well worth waiting to buy it. any even worth a import.
It's like fighting with a pig, responding to a spammer like this, but here goes- It's JAPAN. They have nicer-looking and more efficient solar chargers than that thing if you're planning to buy one. Rakuten International (or Strapya) is your friend.
i'm looking at my dsi, and i'm wondering how the button layout will be affected, because the bigger screen would push the buttons to the edge...might trade in my current dsi if the resolution increases.
Goddammit! Pick a design and leave it! I'm looking at you to SONY.
You boys know what you did. Why can't you be like you're older brother, Microsoft? At least he can go a year without redesigning something, I'm so glad he's finally through those awkward Vista years.
Thats it, go to your corners!
Even more jaggies D:
uh, wtf for?
As someone who just picked up a DS lite - bring back the GBA slot!
This would be cooler if I wasn't boycotting the DSi. It just doesn't have enough new stuff to justify being a new system. Besides, if they do this thing with the screens it'll just support this new trend of upgrading their handhelds in "steps." If they do come out with it, the one after it would be the same thing but a bit slimmer and it'd have some meager new feature that made it an inevitable upgrade.
I agree, if they had released the DSi without the DS Lite in between it would seem a lot better, for one thing, people didnt think the DS was a huge lump of plastic until the DS Lite was released, If they release this XL version, then release something similar to this with actual new functions, it wont seem as good.
Bring back SLOT-2.