Buzzin Games

I had a chance to have a brief play with the Nintendo DSi today – the update to Nintendo’s incredibly popular DS Lite console. It’s currently only available in Japan, and is coming to the UK on 3^rd April this year for an eye-watering £150.

Before I start, I should point out that it’s not just the cosmetic improvement to the console that it appears to be. Under the bonnet, there’s a lot of significant improvements that you won’t see in current DS games: the clock speed is doubled from 67mhz to 133mhz, memory is upped from 4mb to 16mb and it has 256mb of flash storage memory, where the previous console had none. Then there are some obvious changes: the Gameboy Advance port has gone, and it boasts a 0.3 megapixel camera – which really won’t be a selling point on the surface unless you’re never owned a digital camera (and if you have a phone from the last five years, the chance is you already have a better one in your pocket!)

So what use is a faster DS if it only plays the same software as the old one? Well, the reason is that in the long term it won’t. The DSi uses that internal memory to download games to it from the DSi store, which works in a similar way to the Wii Shop Channel, right down to using the same fictional currency. Right now there’s not a lot there – a web browser and a Warioware game aside, but there’s real potential and Nintendo themselves have said that it will consider whether to phase original DS software out depending on how the new version sells.

You could be cynical and say that this new version only exists to stop the rampant piracy around, and there’s probably some truth in that. If you currently use your DS Lite to play homebrew games, or run old LucasArts point and click adventure games, you’ll want to steer clear of the upgrade. This new version will take firmware updates like the PSP or Wii, which could very easily see your console bricked or locked out if you try to play in the way Nintendo doesn’t want you to.

But anyway, on with my impressions. Firstly, it does feel a lot nicer than the DS Lite – this is mainly thanks to the new matte coating, which unlike the Lite’s glossy finish doesn’t leave fingerprint smudges all over the place. The shoulder buttons now stick out a little, which is a welcome change, making them feel a little more tactile, while the remainder of the buttons remain the same. Both screens are now a little larger as well, and while this seems like a welcome idea, it does make the jagged edges of the current crop of DS titles that bit more obvious. The game I tried was Mario Kart, and in truth I almost preferred the way it felt on my trusty ol’ DS Lite.

The multimedia functions it boasts are either a lot of fun or completely baffling depending on where you’re sitting. I was able to take photos of myself and friends, and manipulate them in all manner of ways using the built in software. This could be as simple as bending and stretching images, scribbling all over them or blending two faces into one. There’s also some neat facial recognition software built in, which promises to do things like adding comedy features in the anotmically correct place, or comparing two people to guess whether they’re related. The image quality is a little patchy as both cameras offer only 0.3 megapixels (640×480 photographs), but I’m interested to see what games developers have up their sleeve with camera integration. Currently it’s a fun little diversion, but little more.

The cost still remains a bugbear. Even with its improved specs, a £150 retail price is quite hard to swallow. The PSP has better specifications and manages to retail cheaper than that, and you can even pick up the massively more powerful Xbox 360 for £20 less. I’d advise holding off on launch, but keep an eye on things, because as ever the exclusive software will inevitably be the deal breaker.

The DSi is out in Europe on April 3^rd.