Official Release Date - 3/20/09Receive Date - 3/24-3/25
Price - $249.99
-from publisher-
The Nintendo DSi is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS handheld developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on November 1, 2008 and is scheduled for release in Australia on April 2, 2009, Europe on April 3, 2009 and North America on April 5, 2009.
The Nintendo DSi is about 12% thinner (2.6 mm) than the Nintendo DS Lite. The new handheld has one VGA (0.3 megapixel) digital cameras; one on the internal hinge pointed towards the user and the second one in the outer shell. It also has larger screens (3.25 inches, instead of the previous 3 inches) and improved speakers. Yui Ehara, the designer of DSi's outer shell, wanted to keep the unit "neat" and "simple" with its new features. The power switch has been replaced with a power button, as the original DS had, now located next to the bottom left side of the touchscreen. For DS software its power button also serves as a soft reset to return to the main menu. While for DSi software, Kentaro Mita who is responsible for relaying ideas from the company to the team commented "you can move around, return to the menu, or play a different game, without shutting down the power every time". Once at the main menu, DS cards can be hotswapped. The DSi has a matte surface to prevent fingerprints from showing up, as opposed to the glossier finish the DS Lite has. The speaker apertures were altered due to the redundancy of circular perforations on its shell and since the change can be noticeable while keeping the unit neat. Ehara pushed for this alteration to also make consumers see more of a distinction between the DSi and its predecessors. Excluding North America, Nintendo will release the handheld in both matte black and matte white. Japan will receive pink, lime green and metallic blue colors on March 20, 2009.
The DSi has five brightness settings compared to the DS Lite's four; however, battery life is reduced to 9–14 hours on the lowest brightness setting compared to the 15–19 hours of its predecessor. The unit uses a 840mAh battery compared to 1000mAh for the DS Lite.
Nintendo stated that to improve portability without sacrificing durability, the front slot for Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges has been removed. As a result, the unit has lost its backward compatibility with GBA Game Paks and its compatibility with accessories that require the GBA slot, such as the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak, as well as the Guitar Hero: On Tour and Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades grip, which is required for those games.
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