$170 DSi drops in US April 5

Have a DS phat, picking this up

I will consider getting the DSi, but only if I can sell my old DS lite for $100. The improvements are too small to justify anyone who already has a DS Lite buying a new system. Also, the loss of Game Boy Advance titles is a big thing when many gamers still have those titles. If Nintendo really wanted to attack the PSP Market -- which they didn't need to do -- they could have gone much farther. I fear this system just isn't enough when compared to cell phones and everyone else entering the game. *sigh* But I still have faith...

They should shift the style back to the older version. Not the hardware, but the build. I know 3 people who have had their DS Lites break. My DS feels like a tank, it can definitely take some damage from my experience without side effects. Also, it just has a nicer look in my opinion. Not the color, I am a bit sick of grey gameboys(all of mine have been), but the shape is a lot nicer, and more comfortable in my opinion. Have any of you guys tried both?? I couldn't stand how the Lite made some colors in games look really off. Red was pink in Age of Empires haha

About bloody time!

whats up with the no revers compatibility? Some of the new DSi features are solid but alot of them are in my opinion just fluff. come on, 2 cameras? Picture editor and music file player/ half-assed editor? And shame on them for sell people that "not meant to replace the other systems" de ja vu malarkey. sigh*

How was the PSP the iphone of Handhelds, Last time i checked The Iphone was actually selling well.... So yeah

the psp was always the iphone of handhelds but now nintendo kicking it up in america. Now all we need is microsoft to get a handheld and we can have a mini console war

@ akobi I can't believe some of you. Acting like "PSP is pwns DS" is a fact. >_> You can have an opinion, but don't think for a second everyone else thinks the same. I personally think the amount of great, exclusive DS games is twice as much as the amount of great, exclusive PSP games(and I do own a PSP, but thinking about selling it). Anyway, I might get the DSi, since my DS Lite has a cracked hinge. At least it has been almost 3 years since the DS Lite. Was there this much complaining when the PSP ver. 3000 came out?

The biggest draw here is not the cameras, but the ability to download apps from the DSiWare shop similar to how we have been using the WiiWare shop. That SD slot on the system is what will allow this, so I can see many people upgrading to the DSi. Unfortunately, as CeltQueen's reaction to this may indicate, this move is certainly going to alienate some of the newer DS Lite owners out there. You know what they say: you can't make an omlet without breaking some eggs! Bottom Line: I salute Nintendo's forward thinking, but wish there was a way to accomodate the DS Lite owners with a peripheral that fits in the GBA slot that reads SD cards so DS Lite owners can enjoy DSiWare as well!

According to Argos the DSI will be available in the UK from the 3rd of April !!!

The DSi just doesn't have anything big that makes everyone want to buy it.

Don't worry too much CeltQueen, i'm sure GameStop will have a trade in deal for your DS to get the DSi. And glad I held off on getting my DS replaced. I can wait two months!

HA! I just got a DS Lite for my birthday last month and NOW they come out with DSi! Sheesh!

drangel_jam - "Nintendo is just doing what they've been doing for years. They are going to keep selling the DS, and keep updating it, until its sales are no longer relevant, and only then, they will launch their true next-gen portable device. And I think that they might just do the same with the Wii, just like Sony has been known to make slim PS's." Business 101: "Supply and Demand." Thank you.

Huzzah, looks spiffy to me, will get when it's released; wonder how the homebrew will be handled.

everyone who already has a ds lite (at least the majority) isn't going to "upgrade" to the dsi. i am definitely going to get the dsi! people are saying that the upgrades aren't that good, but i'm disagreeing with them. it has a camera! yes, i know, the interior one is an itty-bitty .3 MP, but judging by the videos that i've seen, it's not terrible. i think that the dsi is going to fun. they're adding these features so you don't have to go out and buy all of those games for it. now you can lay and have fun with the features that are already built in. plus, some of the dsi-only games have some really cool functions, such as WarioWare: Photograph. the dsi, i think, sets itself apart from the nintendo ds lite (which i DO own). my ds lite is messed up, though, so it's not like i'm buying the dsi for no reason (especially after naming all that other stuff). the L shoulder button doesn't work unless you push it down as hard as you can, when you put a new game in it sometimes doesn't recognize it and you often have to do the old-fashioned cartridge blow, and sometimes when i turn on the system i have to enter all of the information again. i'm gonna say bye, now, because i'm getting off topic. BUY THE DSi !!!!!

Isn't $170 the US price? Isn't the article all about the US.

i still dont see the point of spending 170 bucks on this with such minimal upgrades. the memory, hdd, and proc upgrade are good, but its still a bit steep. i could use that money and get a 360. nintendo knows what to do to get people to run out and spend more money on upgrades that aren't really worth it, and then a few years later come out with the real ds2. remember that stupid ds micro, lol. i guess if you dont own a ds you will probably get this, or wait and see if the price of the ds lite goes down. people keep saying there are many improvements but i really dont see it. the screen got a little bigger, but how much graphical improvement is there. everything nowadays has a camera, stores photos, and can play music. i am sure the dsi will sell well in the usa and in europe. last time i heard it was really selling the way they hoped for in japan.

@thunderhorse55 I dont have a DS yet I couldnt decide between the PSP with its webbrowser music etc. or the DS which had most of the games I want and a better cartridge design. Im just upset the two colors first made avalable to the US are (Black and Blue) I wanted White -_-;

From the gamespot hands-on article: "We took a peek at the networking settings and it looked like the system still only has WEP compatibility." No thanks. My router setup uses PSK2, which all of my consoles support. I'm not going to change my entire setup to WEP just for a DS. I was considering the DSi had they changed the network support to include more security encryptions for wifi, but I guess not.

No thanks. I'm perfectly happy with my DS Lite and my PSP.

Kravyn81 is right. Everyone who cares about DS stuff already has one by now. the ds lite was bad enough, they don't need to make this worse

looks cool. I'd probably get it if I didn't already have a DS

oops clicked wrong thumb button. yay, it's coming to US!

Akobi, I had a psp, and is just isn't any good. Sorry. The DSi will be the greatest handheld of all time, until the next Nintendo handheld, that is. Try harder, Sony.

and you know what? people are going to buy these damn things before they buy a PSP. what a messed up world we live in.

Only Nintendo can get away with this sort of crap. That's like selling a CD walkman alongside a cassette walkman and expecting consumers to be stupid enough to buy both when they only need one.

I'll get DSLite when DSi come! :P

rephin, if you're going to talk about math, at least get it right. 170-130=40 and I wasn't trying to say the DSi deserves no blame, I'm just saying the PSP should have people complaining too =/ sorry about that.

lol.. Wow what great new features.. NOT.. i wont be upgrading.. We need a new hand held device not just another update.

yikes that is overpriced for a built-in camera with no flash.

k0r3aN_pR1d3 Posted Feb 19, 2009 5:48 pm GMT Europe might be getting it two days before us, but Europe is paying about $214 for a preorder noobs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We always pay more, it's nothing new. The standard of living is higher here.

Nintendo is just doing what they've been doing for years. They are going to keep selling the DS, and keep updating it, until its sales are no longer relevant, and only then, they will launch their true next-gen portable device. And I think that they might just do the same with the Wii, just like Sony has been known to make slim PS's.

Europe might be getting it two days before us, but Europe is paying about $214 for a preorder noobs.

I'm happy with the regular DS Lite. I have no plans get this right away. Maybe next year when the economy starts to recover. I have no plans to buy much of anything this year. I actually started playing the retro game Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Man, that old stuff is addictive. So many great games in one package.

If you have old GBA cartridges, you should also have an old GBA or old DS to play them in. No one is forcing you to give up your current DS or GBA to play this. No, it doesn't have a GBA port for you to play your 5 to 8 year-old games. Get over it! As for DS Guitar Hero, why don't you play the real thing on the consoles instead? Those of us who have had an empty GBA slot for years will enjoy this. As for it not being new or different enough, Sony has already released 3 identical versions of their crappy handheld without any major differences.

Tough decision, buy the DSi or wait till E3 to see if a new handeld comes out...

I want some sort of sweet deal at Gamestop. Ya'know trade in a Lite and a couple of games and get a huge discount. Although I can't STAND trading games so...

So it's $170 for the DSi and another $50 for a used Game Boy Advance SP to play your GBA carts. Hmmm... I really like the idea of the DS Store, but I'm not convinced that it'll be worth it to give up my GBA slot. Decisions, decisions.

YAY! I don't care what crap other people say, I can't wait for April 5th to pick this up!

I wonder if the DSi will have better internet support - I can connect to my internet with my iPod Touch, but not my DS, which sucks.

Wow only Nintendo could get away with not only not dropping the price of the original ds/lite for how many years now, but actually release a near identical "new" handheld with a price *increase*? Hey Nintendo, theres a recession over here, cut us a break and cut your prices / huge profits if you want to sell anything thanks :) My xbox360 cost twice my wii when I bought it, now it costs almost half a wii which hasnt moved in price. Sick of hearing how much money Nintendo makes while not seeing it passed back onto the consumer with price cuts!

Hell yee!!! Europe is geting it 2days before you all !!! :P

I can't believe anyone will buy this peice of crap. Wheres a BRAND NEW handheld?. I'm sick of the DS and PSP now, all Sony and Nintendo are doing is making there handheld what it should have been like in the first place OR adding stupid pointless camera's and other gimmicky crap so they can milk more out of them.

well i still only have the original ds so this is a must have for me cant wait for april 5th!

Like: bigger screens, DSiWare, SD cards, WPA support (FINALLY!), cameras, if for no reason other than they might add another interesting gameplay element. Don't like: Loss of GBA port, price, cameras are too low resolution for anything that a cheap in game gimmick. I'm still not sure if I want one or not. The lack of GBA support really has me turned off, and I'm not really jumping at the price. Basically, none of the things I LIKE really sell me on the DSi, but two of the things I don't like make me want to turn the other way and run.

I agree Fatal Byte that the PSP is unmatched - but then, there isn't a handheld like it in the market.... the DS is also arguably unmatched as there is nothing competing against it either. The reason the DSi has two screens is because it needs two screens, just like the DS and DS Lite. It has two cameras so you can either take photos or use the internal one to show a picture of yourself whilst it's open and being played on. I still think the DSi is a waste of space though..... the DS lite is perfectly adequate. Out of the two systems, the DS has more fun games, but the PSPs multimedia capabilities make it a good choice if you don't have a personal media player to watch movies on.

I still do not get the DSi. I still have my old DS... somewhere. It is probably packed up with all my room stuff in the storage. I prefer PSP, but I still play DS cause of the game choices only on there (Castlevania for instance). Both good systems, but the problem witht the DS is the same with the Wii, Third-party developers do not know the system as well as Nintendo, thus the touch screen is either overused or underused in their games.

PSP is still unmatched. If Sony ever done anything right it was making an excellent handheld. And why 2 screens and two cameras on the DSi?

Hmmm, I feel a new acronym coming here - WOM = Waste Of Money. Oh, and how about NAUG = Nintendo Are Unnecessarily Greedy? I mean, come on? The DSi really is a waste.... I love Nintendo's DS and the Wii and they are ever improving them, but this DSi stepping stone until "DS-2" comes out is laughably over priced. Nintendo are becoming masters at fleecing buyers who don't have a clue what they're paying for and as much as you can admire a company for generating profits, morality has to creep in somewhere for the consumer. If only they spent as much time on their Wii games titles as they have done concocting ever more ingenious methods of selling rubbish games for loads of money over a long period of time, there wouldn't be so many of us putting question marks over the Wii's viability as a console for the "hardcore" gamer. That said, they're stepping in the right direction with some great new titles coming up - Madworld in particular. It's taken them long enough though....