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DS Daily: So did you import one?
We know we asked you before it released if you were going to import, but now that the Nintendo DSi has hit shelves in Japan, did you? We couldn't help ourselves, so we imagine at least some of you probably imported one. If so, how are you enjoying it? What's your favorite aspect of the redesign? If you didn't import one, what made you hold off?
Nintendo's DSi gets cracked wide open
It's only fair, really. We've seen both the DS and the DS Lite exposed under the camera, and now it's time for the DSi to suffer the same humiliation. As expected, things are pretty packed on the motherboard, and there's oodles of green underneath the white lettering. For more images of the DSi's internals (and rainbows, and maybe a few unicorns), give the read link a click.[Via MAKE]
Nintendo DSi: The Unboxening and Impressioning
Yes, several other outlets have already posted their unboxing photos and first impressions of the Nintendo DSi, but we've put together our own article documenting the imported system's arrival, as we have a few new things that we can share with you, those things being: Photos of a cat stalking the box while we unearthed the DSi Surprises that we didn't expect with the DSi Video of us trying to load DS Fanboy on the DSi's new Browser Video of DSi Sound's 14 music visualizers Music from a renowned Wu-tang Clan rapper All of that, past the post break!
Nintendo DSi blocks R4 carts
OK, so maybe 90 percent of DS owners aren't using R4 carts to play pirated games on their DS systems, but it's still a problem for Nintendo, especially if it wants to have enough money to have both Shigeru Miyamoto and Howard Lincoln cloned.But it seems as though the R4's days may be numbered, as it appears from the video below the jump that neither the carts nor Slot-1 cheat devices work in the brand new Nintendo DSi. Sorry, pirates. At least you still have the sea.
Apple poised to become a mobile gaming force
Welcome to last year, Business Week. Their writer Arik Hesseldahl has a story up about how Apple seems poised to take over the mobile gaming world this holiday. He's been playing with an iPod touch and the games available on the App Store, and he's ready to drink the Kool-aid: what Apple's assembled on their mobile devices rivals some of the experiences on the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP.Not really news to us here at TUAW, of course, but he's right about one thing: this holiday is all-important for Apple in finding a foothold with the iPod touch. Halloween's over, gift shopping is only a few weeks away, and Apple needs to prove why people interested in handheld gaming should pick up a touch before the DSi (and its App Store-style online store) or a new Sony device make their way to our shores.The good news for Apple is that the games are getting better, and that the touch brings a lot more functionality to the mix (iPod, utility apps) than a dedicated gaming device would. But then again, Nintendo and Sony are established brands for gamers, and even kids looking for a game machine from Santa probably won't have an iPod touch first on their list. We'll have to see how it all plays out.
Shocker: DSi sells big, sells out in Japan
Seriously, who's really going to buy another Nintendo DS? Everyone who could get their hands on the Nintendo DSi during its first four days on sale in Japan, it turns out.According to JCN, Nintendo shipped 200,000 of the revised handheld for launch, 170,779 of which were sold within two days. That's nearly as many units as the "old" DS was selling in the country per week up to that point. Within four days of launch all 200k were sold through, with Nintendo promising a shipment of 100k additional units by Friday, Nov. 7.[Via GameDaily]
Nintendo moves over 170,000 DSi handhelds at Japanese launch
Nah, Nintendo didn't move as many DSi handhelds in Japan as it did DS units in America last Thanksgiving, but hey, the week's not over yet. Even in the midst of an economic slowdown, the Big N managed to sell through 170,779 DSis during the first two days of its Japanese launch. Many outlets had just enough stock to appease those that pre-ordered, and small queues were present in a variety of locales. That's a number that Nintendo's surely proud of, particularly since total Japanese sales of the original DS and the DS Lite stood at 23.6 million at the end of October, or about one DS for every fifth person in the nation. Who says a sleek redesign can't rekindle interest?
Nintendo DSi off to a flyer in Japan
Famitsu publisher Enterbrain has reeled in the first Nintendo DSi hardware sales figures, revealing that the console has gone down a storm in Japan, with 170,779 DSi handhelds sold over the first two days. So much for Japan not being hyped for the thing! As we mentioned in passing yesterday, the DS Lite took three days to sell 68,438 consoles, but it appears Nintendo has learned from Lite shortages, and shipped many more DSi units (200,000, to be precise). Our congratulations and barely concealed, envious glare to those who bagged themselves a console.Even though Japan's public is evidently totally hot for the DSi, Siliconera reports that people aren't exactly panic-buying yet; one evil scalper purchased fifty of the consoles, and is now struggling to reap any profit whatsoever from them on Yahoo! Auctions. And that, my friends, is the beauty of karma. Har.Source: 170,779 DSis sold ... Source: ... including fifty to this guy.%Gallery-33263%
Rumor: DSi hacked, world surprised it took so long
"Hello? Yes, this is World. Hello? Hello? Why does nobody answer me?!"Just imagine how annoyed you would be if the planet's numerous hackers, modders and programmers sought to address you every time they wanted to prove the effectiveness of a piece of code. The "Hello World" proof of concept is customary, but oh so rude. People always leave poor World hanging after that.In any case, it would appear that the latest voice to join the choir of electronic greetings is Nintendo's newest portable wonder, the DSi. According to an unverified Youtube video, provided by one "Yasusoft" (developer of the YSMenu custom DSTT menu) and embedded after the break, the camera-equipped device has already fallen prey to software tinkering. Posters on GBATemp speculate that the hack sore used a modified TIFF image file to cause a buffer overflow. Well, obviously. We totally knew that. Didn't we, World? Hello?[Via GBATemp, DS Fanboy]
DSi hacked already?
We're tempering our excitement with a healthy amount of skepticism, but this video would appear to show custom code running on the brand new Nintendo DSi. It comes from Yasusoft, developer of the YSMenu custom DSTT menu. Experimenting with a friend's DSi, he seems to have gotten a "Hello World" message running from somewhere within the DSi's photo channel. GBATemp posters speculate that he is using a hacked TIFF image file to cause a buffer overflow, much like early PSP exploits did.Our skeptical nature causes us to think that maybe the DSi's photo channel allows for animated images, or, on a more basic level, the video was somehow faked. We shouldn't be that surprised that someone is already running unsigned code! If this is true, it comes just one day after we asked how long it would take.Yasu claims to be reluctant to release the method out of distaste for the proliferation of flash cards, though he is considering releasing some kind of "custom firmware." [Via GBATemp; thanks, mko!]
DSi already hacked, greets us with a lusty 'Hello World!'
We love those two magic words: "Hello World!" It's not even been a week since the DSi's Japanese launch and someone has hacked the handheld, stirring up all our homebrew dreams in the process. The coder in question has yet to release any specifics, but the touchscreen seems to be blank (you can make of that tidbit what you will). Exciting, yes? Still, until any other details emerge we're inclined to be a little skeptical. Just a little. In the meantime, be sure to catch the glorious video of the event after the break.
New WarioWare games coming to DS, DSi
Being the foul-smelling, eternally greedy anti-hero that he is, it comes as little surprise to see Wario delve into the lucrative field of video game development yet again. According to a recent operational briefing, delivered by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, DS owners can expect to see the mustache-twirling glutton in several upcoming titles -- and they'll even get to design some of them."WarioWare Myself" continues the franchise's celebration of all games deemed mini, with the addition of some user-created content. Players will reportedly be able to create their own frantic minigames and inflict them upon share them with others. There's also talk of a WiiWare application that allows these creations to be played, though not designed, on the Wii. As for Nintendo's new DSi, Iwata revealed plans to release "WarioWare: Photograph," a camera-enabled, gesture-based affair, as well as several WarioWare minigames that will be available for download on the system's online store. For the sake of productivity, we sincerely hope Nintendo fails to include that infernal, paper airplane game. You know the one.
Nintendo DSi floods Japanese market
The Nintendo DSi launched on Saturday, and Ninty hasn't held back on manufacturing the console. While we westerners can only look on mournfully (or cough up petrifying amounts of cash for one of our own), Ninty shipped almost 200,000 DSi units for the launch in Japan, which has been lovingly photographed by Game Watch.The official terminology for 200,000 is A Lot, but is it enough? Surprisingly, if the Lite is anything to go by, then it should be plenty. The DSi's predecessor sold 68,438 units during its first three days on sale, so 200,000 DSi consoles will probably keep Japan going for a while, though Nintendo will play it safe and release a further 100,000 this week. It's as though lessons have actually been learned from previous hardware shortages. In which case, bravo, Nintendo!%Gallery-33263%
DSi taken for a spin, wept over for lack of homebrew
Yes, you've seen the unboxing and all other manner of granular coverage for Nintendo's new DSi handheld, but now you can see the thing in action via the magic of YouTube. Embedded below is the requisite unboxing, a helpful browser speed test and a hopeless attempt at sticking in the R4 cart for a bit of homebrew. The good news is that the Japanese DSi fires up an English DS game just fine, so those slightly-confusing region lock concerns can be put to rest -- certain DSi-specific games won't work for everybody else, but the DSi fires up regular DS games from wherever with no problem. Import away![Via DS Fanboy]
Walking with the DSi
The DSi launched this weekend in Japan, and for those of you who (like this blogger) lacked either the courage, or the enthusiasm (or, uh, the pile of bones) necessary to import the new handheld, we've compiled a few videos so you can at least experience the DSi. An array of walkthroughs and explorations await you after the jump, and you've also got the option of kicking back with this epic walkthrough. For 22 minutes of our time, they better throw in some popcorn or something. Gallery: Nintendo DSi
DS Daily: Countdown
Okay, the DSi has "officially" been out for three days. How long until we get functioning homebrew? At this point, the idea of having a DS and not being able to play AXE and Rinlen is scary and alien, so entrenched has homebrew become in our DS-playing lives. Not to mention the fact that there's a new camera to mess with, and we'd like it in the hands of the really creative people!We have faith in our amateur developer friends to come up with a solution. We'd like your guess as to how long it will take -- and what form it will take. Do you think our Cyclos and M3 Reals will get new DSi-friendly firmware? Will an SD-based loader appear? Will we have to buy new hardware? %Gallery-33263%
DSi rejects current homebrew flashcarts
Another reason to keep your current DS if you want a DSi: word is that ten homebrew slot-1 carts have been tested by a member of the Chinese gaming community Hacken.cc on the DSi, and all ten failed. Looks like DSi owners who want to dangle their toes in the homebrew community may be back to the more complicated solutions of old, at least for a while, and it will be some time before we even see FlashMe or other workarounds. The following carts were tested: R4DS EZ Flash V CycloDS G6 DS Real M3 DS Real Supercard DS One iTouch DS FCard NCard M3 DS Simply U2DS The DSi's official release is tomorrow, so we're crossing our fingers and hoping that, as soon as the system is more widely available, we'll start to see people working toward opening up the new handheld. As for today, we're saddened, but not wholly surprised.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Nintendo's DSi gets unboxed nice and early
If you can't stand waiting till Summer 2009, and you don't live in Japan, it's your lucky day. We've uncovered an unboxing of Nintendo's new DSi which should thoroughly whet your appetite (though whether that will hold you over for a whole eight months is another story). If you follow the read link you'll discover a plethora of photos of the packaging and device, including some pretty nice macro shots of all the slots, ports, and LEDs. We've included a couple of pics after the break, but if you're a stickler for details, you'll want to take a gander at the whole set.[Thanks, Waroxy Future]
New Art Style, WarioWare on DSiWare shop starting December, plus first look at Made in Ore
Nintendo buried some awesome news in the slides for their financial briefing today. With just one day until the Japanese launch of the DSi, we finally get a brief look at some upcoming downloadable DSiWare software. Nintendo plans to release six Art Style puzzle games on the service, for 500 points each. Of the four games shown in screens, all are brand new. One features a flat surface being folded into cubes, one looks like sort of a flat Rubik's Cube, one features a little guy walking around and specifying where to drop cubes, and one features three columns of colored blocks that the player shifts around.A brand new WarioWare will be available from the shop at launch for 500 Points. Utsusu! Made in Wario (Take a Picture! Made in Wario, basically) uses the camera to involve your pictures (and your live motions!) in microgames.In addition to Utsutsu!, minigames from previous WarioWare titles, like Paper Plane, will be available as separate downloads from the DSi Shop for 200 Points each. Also on the way: a Japanese train line map and guide software.It's not a DSiWare game, but Iwata also showed off a bit of Made in Ore, (at about 44 minutes), which is a full-on WarioWare microgame creation utility! You can draw sprites, create music, and even design the logic of the in-game elements, saving your microgames to virtual Famicom cartridges. There will even be a WiiWare game, Asobu! Made in Ore (Play! Made in Me), that allows you to upload your games to the Wii and play them with friends! Allow us to be absolutely clear: this is the greatest event in human history.To see the DSiWare stuff, scroll to the "DSiWare" slide (using the second button) and start the video (third button) to look at the footage for yourself, or head to Vooks for a series of screen captures![Via NeoGAF]
Iwata: DSi launching worldwide by summer 2009
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has announced that the Nintendo DSi will be shipping overseas "by summer 2009," narrowing the previous US launch window of "well into 2009" set by Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. According to Reuters, Iwata said, "Specific plans will be unveiled by our local subsidiaries, but an autumn or year-end launch would probably be too late."As of this writing, the DSi is now officially available in Japan. The DS Lite's launch spawned some iconic photographs of people waiting in seemingly endless lines to pick up the portable. That doesn't seem to be the case this time. According to ground reports from IGN, many stores in Tokyo opted to take only pre-orders and/or set up raffles where winning customers could come by at anytime that day to pick it up. Hype-inducing photo ops: Denied.
