Nintendo DSi to debut April 5 in US

Nintendo announced today that the next generation of Its DS line is going to be released in North America on April 5 2009. The DSi has been available in Japan since November of last year selling an estimated 170,800 units, equaling more than 85% of the first shipment. Nintendo has consistently dominated the market with their Wii and DS systems. The DSi will be the first handheld system to lose support for previous generation games, notably the Game Boy Advance.

But where it loses the GBA cartridge slot, it has gained an SD slot, which allows for a slimmer chassis design and potential for a whole new family of mods. It also gives the option of downloadable games, which are now available through the DSiWare app store. New in the DSi is support for WPA Wifi encryption over the previous WEP that is found in the DS and DS lite. Some older games still use the WEP style of encryption.

The DSi has 2 cameras built right into the unit, allowing for more options to game makers. The earliest DSi shop games in Japan (region locked) have only just touched upon some of the things that can be done with the cameras. The DSi will retail for USD $169.99.

Posted in Gaming by Baron on February 19th 2009 at 10:33pm