With the American release date for the Nintendo DSi just over a week away I’m sure that all you fanboys out there have only one question on your mind: To upgrade or not to upgrade? While I can’t answer that question for you, I can tell you a few things that DSi project leader Masato Kuwahara said about the new hardware at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco yesterday:

The new DSi has two cameras. Most people have heard that the DSi would be equipped with a camera, but I’m willing to bet that some were not aware that there would actually be two: one on the hinge facing the user, and another on the back panel. My wife loves this feature because she doesn’t have to carry a make-up mirror in her purse anymore.
Note: I should clarify that the DSi was released late last year here in Japan, so we got a sneak peek!

It’s thinner. Only two millimeters thinner, but that’s pretty awesome when you consider that they also increased the screen size by a quarter inch at the same time! While it did stretch a little length-wise it also lost some weight as well. Rumor has it the DSi finally got fed up with the slimmer iPhone stealing all its dates…

The power button now has a reset function. On the new DSi the soft reset means that game cards can now be changed at the main menu screen without having to turning off the power.


The speakers have been completely overhauled. This model is much louder than its predecessor and it has been given digital volume control as well.


The slot for the Game Boy Advanced games is now gone. If you play a lot of these you might want to stick with the old DS. There will be some DSi-only cards however, and should you want to get your hands on those you’ll have to spring for the new model.



That accounts for most of the big changes. The hardware upgrade is not revolutionary by itself, but it does lay a solid foundation for Nintendo to push the DSi’s software to the next level. They’ve invited third-party developers to create applications too, and that almost puts Nintendo into direct competition with the recently game-happy iPhone.