DSi, to be or not to be.

General Discussions
#1

I mean, yes DSi has a bunch a cool new features but multiple of them seem more gimmick than anyting. Nintendo promotes the cameras as a toy only in their marketing. No game using it in ads. The only one using it is the DSi wario ware, which use it to track player movement. To me this is THE killer feature of DSi. Why still no focus on that?

DSiWare, seems really cool, but again really few use of camera (only in brain games if I’m correct and this is gimmick IMHO).

Sound software, a toy again. And like the camera, the interest for it will fade fast enough for real gamers.

On board memory and flash card, yes that’s good and DSi games should make use of it for better and longer games if necessary.

Bigger screens, well ok I won’t complain.

Where are the killer games???

All of the above is ok and I’m not against it but seriously I would not pay more than the current DS lite for the gimmick features.

#2

from what i’ve seen of the new DSi on the trailer at http://www.gametrailers.com/player/45770.html

it looks pretty cool, already has a killer library of games and with recent reports of over 100 million DS units sold, its a damn attractive system to own or develop for.

Looks a bit big to use as a portable audio player and lacks a built in mobile phone :slight_smile:

I reckon the Iphone is pretty attractive choice atm too, since theres quiet some interest in IPhone gaming.

#3

[quote]it looks pretty cool, already has a killer library of games
[/quote]
Those are DS games and not DSi specific. You can play those games on any DS.

[quote]Looks a bit big to use as a portable audio player and lacks a built in mobile phone
[/quote]
Audio player may be useful, if you don’t already have an MP3 player, which is pretty rare these days.

So, why does it look pretty cool? And do you want to pay like 40$ or 50$ more for it compared to DS Lite?

#4

well for one its smaller and better looking than the DS, has ability to surf the net and i think i read somewhere about it being able to work with online nintendo store where you can download demo’s, games (online purchasable games?) and other content.

#5

yes that is all cool but again too expensive to me. I can afford it but it shouldn’t be that expensive considering the records profits Nintendo did.

#6

I’m getting it for the better firmware, essentially. I still have one of the original silver fat DS’s, and it has trouble connecting to lots of wireless networks and has no ability to save games or anything like that. I don’t care about a camera or any new gimmicks, I just want an upgrade.

I also have an iPhone, which means the camera feature on the DSi is pretty meh to me, because nobody uses it on the iPhone either.

#7

Well, let’s see, aside from the cameras:

  • MUCH faster processor
  • more memory
  • MUCH better speakers
  • Memory card slot
  • WiFi store for downloadable games
  • Bigger screens

Need I go on? Almost a new platform for them…Day one for me

#8

Well, we’re talking about DSi only games right? What about continuing to support DS, which will continue to count for the vast majority of players. Yes developers can develop for DSi only but really hardly ignore DS since they will lose lots of revenues. What’s a better strategy would be to support both for a same game; downgrading resources as needed (either on the fly or have two sets a resources) such as graphics, textures, sounds, etc.

If all of this is true then yes it’s a killer console. Otherwise all the upgraded hardware won’t make a difference for DS (not counting DSi) games.

#9

I’m ordering one.

Kev

#10

My wife just ordered one for my b-day :):):):):slight_smile:

#11

You dam lucky! :stuck_out_tongue:

#12

Provided more games like Professor Layton come out perhaps I can get my fiance to order one for me. :wink:

#13

Yes, same for me. You know what? In Canada the DS Lite is priced at 140$ and now the DSi is at 200$. Why this high price gap?

#14

It’s because the Lite is still selling at a breakneck rate, so there is no reason to lower the price yet.

#15

Yeah, some strong competition in this area would be beneficial for the consumer!

#16

Why? It’s not as if the price is so far out of whack that it is prohibitive. There is competition, it’s just that the competition has not been strong enough or had the right tech platform. Considering the capabilities of the DSi, I think the price point is very reasonable. AND, if you wait for the DSi to release, the price drop on the DS Lite will follow shortly.

#17

I assume you mean that you can’t save entire games on the original DS, not that you can’t save the current state of your chararacter, etc. for a specific game. DS and DS Lite both can save games, though they only 4 MB RAM to do it (at least according to Wikipedia). I assume it’s preserved somehow when you shut off the DS, though I could conceivably be wrong.

Even the DSi’s 256 MB flash card won’t store much if you’re saving entire games to it.

I plan to get a DS Lite, or possibly even the original DS. I just want to play a few games I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I’ll most likely buy it from Ebay or Gamestop. I don’t want to pay much for it because I don’t plan to do much with it.

I will most likely buy some Gameboy Advance games for it, which I can’t do with the DSi.

#18

You have 4MB of flash ram to store downloadable games but you lose them when the power is turned off. The DSi actually has a memory card slot so the 256MB limitation is not one really. If you want to get the best platform that straddles between the GBA and DS, get the DS Lite. the screens are worth the price difference above the original DS screens alone. Seriously.

#19

No I meant more as memory management. Your save games on the GB, GBA, and DS are all saved to a writable section of the actual cart. So, you lose your cart and you also lose all your save files. I prefer to have it all in one location where I can manage it as I wish, although come to think of it there’s probably more benefit to having your save files in multiple places. I guess one big thing here is that you can now transfer saves between different copies of the same game. Then again, if you lose your DSi, you lose everything.

As for the wireless thing - I’ve had a lot of trouble using absolutely any kind of security, no matter what the DS says it should be able to handle. Not sure if the Lite fixed this or not but it will be nice. Honestly though you can’t beat the iPhone, which gets internet practically anywhere, with or without wireless. You can’t really beat that.

#20

[quote]Why? It’s not as if the price is so far out of whack that it is prohibitive. There is competition, it’s just that the competition has not been strong enough or had the right tech platform. Considering the capabilities of the DSi, I think the price point is very reasonable. AND, if you wait for the DSi to release, the price drop on the DS Lite will follow shortly
[/quote]
Well, I have a DS Lite. I want a DSi. Yes I know that 200$ CAD isn’t a blocker. I just don’t see the point of having a more powerful CPU and more RAM when we have to see the potential of DSi specific games yet. Why no focus at all on that? That’s why 200$ for a new console that plays DS games only (yes I don’t forget DSiWare here) for now is ridiculous to me. And I don’t want to pay for toys like transforming low res photos and sounds/music. I mean where is the meat???