That's right, it's official, DSi LL is like the Escalade of the DS world. Blingtastic "Red Wine" paint job (or Dark Brown or Natural White in Japan), executive style stylus, and 4.2 inch displays. Mm, it's a shame my Zombie Survival DSi is still so ferociously awesome. Still though, having extra huge monster screens like that is something to drool over right? Looks like the Japanese release date is set for November 21st... this year. Europe and the US get it Q1 of 2010 with the name "DSi XL" and it will be more expensive than the current DSi.
I guess Sony is gonna have to make a PSP Go SE or something to follow-up right? DSi LL is targeted primarily to the gamers out there who are a little hard of seeing... like Brain Age players who have a physical age approaching the triple digits.
So, what are you thinking? Want one? Infuriated that this will be the tenth DS system you buy? Are you gonna be savvy and wait for DSi LL in black so you can ensure it's zombie survival skills? Or is it something that is just not floating your boat; I mean it IS more bulky and harder to carry around, though it is pretty much the same depth. And that pen really doesn't hide inside the thing anywhere does it? To be fair though it does have a second "regular" type stylus that does fit inside it.
Japanese Package includes: Easy Meikyo Kokugo Dictionary, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, and Brain Age Express: Math.
Nintendo's licensing policy is just getting more ridiculous every time they open their mouths. This time it's the turn for DSiWare; Australian site, Nintendo Life, has confirmed that DSiWare purchases are locked to the specific hardware they were downloaded to and cannot be transferred to another DSi unless you send it to Nintendo.
According to their interview, if you download a game or app for your DSi, it stays there forever. Should you get bored of the color and want to change your DSi, you lose all of your purchases. Yup. All of them.
The only way that DSiWare titles can be transferred from one handheld to another is by sending them back (both devices) to Nintendo so that they can perform their super secret procedure. Oh, but wait! That's not the end of your ordeal! Oh, no! Nintendo will only authorize the transfer IF the original DSi is broken and/or damaged.
Although Nintendo of America seems to be a little more user-friendly than Aussie Nintendo, there's still hope that such a policy is not in effect this side of the ocean (but not too high, though). And as GameSpot points out, should you read Nintendo's End User license, you'd get why:
...software downloaded from Nintendo DSi Shop is licensed to you, not sold.
Rejoice, Europe! You're getting shiny, new colors for your DSi! If the rumors are true, of course... According to reports from a Nintendo distributor, three new colors will be available for DSi shoppers by the end of October (on the 23rd to be exact if the report is accurate). Now Euro gamers will have blue, navy, and red on their DSi to choose from.
While the fact that around this time Sony will be releasing the PSPgo and would make it look as a move for Nintendo to boost DSi sales and beat the PSPgo, reports that the aforementioned handheld is dead before it even arrives (retailers refusing to stock Sony's new mini-wonder, pre-orders not even being touched, distributors refusing to give publicity, mixed reviews, and insanely high pricing) make it look as if this was not the true reason why the colors would be released.
Bear in mind that Nintendo has NOT made an official announcement yet, so take this as is: RUMOR.
Not many details are known about the game, but it claims to have over 100 varieties of monsters and such creatures are to be found using the DSi's camera (ergo, the DSi exclusivity). The game is set to be released this winter in Japan. No news yet about this game ever making it out of the Land of the Rising Sun into the rest of the world.
Well, they're soon to be here: DSi-specific games. We all talked about them and wondered when they were coming out; a few developers actually expressed that unless the system became uberly popular, developing specifically for the DSi was not yet an option; some of our own even questioned the DSi's capability of actually running slightly more powerful games. Well, not anymore.
While Nintendo did say during GDC that these games were coming, they never had a 'fixed' date...until now. Games like Ubisoft's Jam Sessions 2 or My Healthy Cooking Coach will be DSi only games that will be sold via 'regular' cartridges. However, and to avoid frustrated buyers, DSi-specific games will be packaged in all-white cases, making them stand out from regular dark-gray casings used for general DS games. Even the cartridges themselves will be white and, of course, a 'warning' label will be added to both the cartridges and the package.
A few days after Sony announced their downloadable line of cheap games, aptly dubbed PSP Minis, Nintendo has reacted and responded accordingly. It will now begin to lower its bar to allow more publishers to develop for the platform.
Now, it is no secret that current DSiWare titles are slim (and mostly crap, unless you love clocks and calculators galore), so Nintendo is trying to reinvigorate it's handheld digital distribution platform by allowing publishers to offer titles via DSiWare with lower barriers, while keeping the same pricing currently offered (US$2, US$5, US$9). However, Nintendo still has some degree of control over the pricing of the game, mostly on file size (for instance, a US$5 game should not be greater than 200MB in size or it would be charged higher royalties otherwise).
Well, this should get all you DSi lovers fired up (and those who call it a 'stopgap' too). According to a Kotaku Interview, Band Hero developers are aware that their soon-to-be released game is not compatible with the DSi... The worst part is, it is an easily solvable issue; one they just don't care enough to correct right now.
With Guitar Hero, for instance, the problem is that the game requires a GBA-slot peripheral to work; something the DSi lacks. There, the problem is hardware-related and much more complicated to solve. However, with Band Hero, the problem is that the 'peripheral' they use is just a 'skin'; it wraps itself around the DS with four drum-like pads that fall over the DS buttons. Now, this 'skin', won't fit the DSi because it is not the same shape as the DS (and I don't know, but I guess the same goes for the DS Phat). However, and although the problem is easily solved by releasing an adapted skin, they just don't feel the DSi audience merits their investment.
It's something we want to work on and we have been investigating ways to get (Band Hero) to the DSi, but we looked at how many people already have the Guitar Grip and already have the DS and not the DSi."
Again, Nplusser Chas4 gives us a great tip-off. If you haven't already, we suggest you go download the free application "Flipnote Studio" off of the DSi Shop. You can make cartoons old-school style, only instead of paper and pencil, it's DSi and Stylus. Just like those Post-It note cartoons you made when you were spending a boring day at your mom or dad's office and needed to waste supplies AND keep entertained. Yeah, this is just like that, only cooler. Discover it!
It took a while, but it's finally here. If you live in America, you own a DSi, you don't use flash carts to play homebrew, and you desperately want to post your DSi-taken pictures on Facebook quickly, then you want to download the 1.4 firmware release for your handheld. Japan already has it. Europe already has it. Only the US were missing.
The update is slated to hit the States tonight (August 3rd, 2009) at 8PM EST.
If you own a DSi and you live in Japan or Europe, then you're already up for a firmware update on your console. Firmware version 1.4 for the DSi is available for Jthese region's consoles as of a few hours ago.
Now, the 'biggest' update is the inclussion of Facebook connectivity, although Nintendo's listing also says it loads camera pictures a little bit faster. The update is slated to hit the US this fall.
UPDATE: This new firmware also renders all current flash carts unuseable with the system.
Welp, it's finally complete! Shortly after buying the black DSi at launch, I was too busy enjoying the dang camera app and the much faster Opera browser to think about anything else. Shortly after that, I began noticing how easy it was for people to know I was taking pictures of them and because of that dang pink light everyone would hide away. I thought to myself: how can I hide that dang light, but still keep the awesomeness of the DSi intact? A skin!
Here is the problem, though: I never liked the skins available for the DS or DS Lite. Even if I did find a cool one, it would have cost more than I wanted to pay or I would have had to wait for the mail. There were no 3rd party accessories out on the second day of the DSi, and I wanted a skin right then! That left only one option: I had to make one. I tried to ask myself "What theme?", but because the answer came to me so fast, I didn't even have time to think the word "theme" - Zombie Survival DSi.
Read more for bigger pictures and more description!
I have to apologize for that title ... It is happening, but only in Japan (for now).
When Nintendo first unveiled the Wii in 2004/2005, they showed a variety of colors: black, white, red, green, blue, purple, and more. Now, three years after launch, Nintendo is starting to make good on that promise with the release of a black system and controllers in Japan only. Priced the same as a normal white system, the black Wii will ship with a black Wii Remote and black nunchuk, and black classic controllers will also be available. The system will launch on August 1, 2009.
Nintendo also announced a red DSi for Japan, which I'm choosing to ignore because: 1) they release new colors like every week and 2) I STILL DON'T HAVE A FRIGGIN WHITE ONE. Ahem.
No word yet on either of these systems coming to other regions.
Now that the DSi is out and we've summarized the beast, what do you think? Are you reading this on your DSi now? NO?! Wait, don't tell me you don't know how to download Opera for your DSi?
From the comments on the YouTube video we did comparing the speed of the new Opera Web Browser for Nintendo's DSi, I've found that people who comment on videos there should be used for food. They always ask if the browser can play YouTube videos, I guess because they spend all day on the site, and ask how to 'get' Opera on a DSi. Are you kidding?
DSi is finally out and about around the world, and while crumpet-eating Nintendo said there would be no official launch event, there were events hosted by the retailers. America and Australia did get down to party as well, just as in the GameStop launch party yesterday at Los Angeles.
So, if you were of those lucky few who were at a launch event or party (lucky after you get your DSi; unlucky while you have to stand in line for hours, have to live through boring speeches while youre DSi awaits, endure kicks and bumpings from an ever expanding crowd of not-always-so-clean-and-good-smelling gamers...I mean, just take a look at this guy, GameStop's first DSi customer), we wanna know from you! Tell us what it was like, what happened, what didn't happen, and give us your photos! (Especially those you might have taken with your newly unpackaged DSi)
If you have pics, leave a link here or send a message to any of us ops so we can upload your pics for you.
Since everyone is interested in different aspects of the DSi, we decided to run this like a list of features, all of which we see as improvements. There are a few caveat's like the choice of AAC over MP3. Truth is, AAC sounds better but MP3's are what everyone's got, so converting is a pain for some people, and will probably confure more people than it pleases - bit of a drawback, but in an added feature, so can we really complain? These types of micro details are all inside. Find what you're looking for, and see what else you may have missed about this excellent system. The truth is, games really make the system, and we know support for the DSi is going to be huge. However, this system comes with a great deal of additional ways to use it for fun, to record your life, share, and browse the web. You can't really go wrong. So, since no one's reading this long paragraph anyway, here's the listed details:
Continue reading for the full explanation, thoughts, pictures, videos, and more. N+RSS
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That's right, it's official, DSi LL is like the Escalade of the DS world. Blingtastic "Red Wine" paint job (or Dark Brown or Natural White in Japan), executive style stylus, and 4.2 inch displays. Mm, it's a shame my Zombie Survival DSi is still so ferociously awesome. Still though, having extra huge monster screens like that is something to drool over right? Looks like the Japanese release date is set for November 21st... this year. Europe and the US get it Q1 of 2010 with the name "DSi XL" and it will be more expensive than the current DSi.
A skin!
(41%)
WIDGETIZE