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Nintendo Announces DSi XL
lbalbalba writes "This morning, Nintendo announced the third upgrade to the DS family, the DSi LL (or DSi XL). It will be released in Japan on November 21, one year after the DSi debuted, for ¥20,000 (approx. $220). The LL's main improvement is the size of its screens, which have been increased from 3.25" to 4.2" with a moderate increase to the size of the chassis. The device also includes a much bigger stylus, which looks to be the size of a ballpoint pen, and battery life has reportedly been increased to five hours at maximum screen brightness."
It prints free money for nintendo.
When your portable costs more then your home system, something is wrong with your pricing path.
I'm wondering where the demand for this was? It's not like they're increasing the resolution and now the DS size history has gone from its original size, shrunk down to the Lite version, then the DSi came out which was comparable to the Lite, and now they're making it larger than the original DS with the XL.
But Nintendo usually knows what they're doing, as long as they don't color it red and require it be strapped to your face, that is.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
So is this "DS 39" or "DSi 40" or "DS9L" or "D6L" or what?
Bow-ties are cool.
The one person who uses his NDS Lite more than any other person I know is my 63 year old father. He likes to play all those brain games as well as card/puzzle games and those My Language Coach series. His only complaint - the size of the screen and the size of the stylus.
Nintendo knows EXACTLY what they're doing. Giving "casual" gamers exactly what they want.
Nintendo has been trying to broaden its market with handhelds the same way that they have with the Wii. Games like brain age, professor layton and the Personal Trainer series appeal to and older crowd but the small screen size can make it rather limited. My mother for instance loves her DS but constantly complains about the text being too small or icons being indistinguishable, a larger screen size would be great for her. Based on the included bundle that appears to be the audience they are going for...smart idea IMHO.
One of the comments that came out from people reviewing the PSP Go was that the screen looked "sharper" because it was smaller with the same resolution as the PSP 3000. Wouldn't this just have the opposite effect for the DSi? As it is the DSi has a rather low resolution and I'd be worried that increasing the screen size will just make games "bigger and uglier". I'm skeptical that this is going to do anything but highlight the shortfalls of the system; it being both the oldest and the slowest architecture on the market.
http://xkcd.com/605/
From the article: "Nintendo's handheld sales dropped nearly 20% in 2009. This, paired with unfavorable exchange rates, brought Nintendo's profits down 61% in mid-summer."
While it's never good for a company to have dropping profits, this might not be too unexpected. Their biggest earning seasons are probably Christmas and Chinese New Year.
I wonder what last summer's profits were like, for Nintendo?
Mediocre upgrade with no real reason to buy.
:)
I'll be waiting for the rumoured TS next year
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
Nintendo's niche isn't making things bigger, faster and stronger. They make things that are new and different. The Wii has been hugely successful, not because it pushes boundaries in graphics and processing speed, but because it is a brand new idea. Taking the same old DS and making the screen bigger isn't going to boost sales the way that going in a new direction would.
Now with it's two wide screens they will finally listen to my demands for it to play two movies at the same time! or watch a movie on the top wile playing an old 1 screen game on the bottom, the options are endless mwaahahahha!.... seriously two screen even bigger... don't really see how this is going to improve their sales, they might as well make a four screen device...
This is a Mac, what you have there is an embarrassment to your fellow computer users.
I remember the good ol' days when the gameboy color could entertain you for days and days without the need to replace (or recharge) your batteries. The battery life alone would make me not buy this.
As it happens, this device has some of the best battery life of any device you're likely to find.
I never use anything more than minimum brightness indoors. You won't need max brightness except in sunlight. Although, my DS lite goes so long between charges (on minimum), I couldn't really say how long it lasts exactly.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
Nintendo predicts 10" screens on Nintendo DS Lite XXXL by 2012
By that time, they might as well introduce the TV adapter already.
That's what I thought too when I saw the summary. I've never actually tracked it but I'm pretty sure my DS Lite goes more than 5 hours on a charge. I'll have to time it some time and see.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Or maybe they struck a deal with an lcd manufacturer that gave them a really good price on some over sized stock?
The only reason to switch is if a killer app you really want comes out which won't work on your current DS. For me that's WPA wireless on the DSi etc, and a big screen would be nice, but I'm not touching it until somebody less lazy than me cracks it to allow homebrew software to run.
Perhaps they just want to expand their market and sell it to people that didn't buy a DS because they want bigger screens.
Really? I've even got linux on the original DS, you don't need huge amounts of real memory to get it to do things especially now that they have storage on SD cards. More memory is always nice but not always essential.
Technology from a couple years ago, larger fonts for older eyes...they're clearly targeting the Korean market.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I believe they go 5-8 hours on a charge at least thats what I get out of mine and its not a new unit and has seen much use...
I also watch movies on mine so that may kill my battery faster but who knows for sure.
[It'll be popular among Korean seniors] Only if it includes an email client.
DSi includes a web browser developed by Opera. There are numerous providers of WWW gateways to Internet e-mail. Do the math.
What is there to be puzzled about? It's a DSi with big screen for old people who have trouble seeing the regular one. You're not supposed to run out and buy one.
It's the same price (in Japan). The Wii is ¥20,000 in Japan, and apparently so is the DSi LL. It looks like you're converting the price of the DSi LL against the weak dollar and using the $220 price, and comparing that against the US price of the Wii ($199).
I kept wep on my router longer than I should have because I just liked playing Mario Kart just that much. I lost my dslite and thought to buy the new model, but it still doesn't support wpa, just wep. I decided I wasn't going to switch back just for one game, and opted instead to buy nothing. Maybe I'll get the new one if it can do wpa, but if not, no sale.
Larger screens, more legible text, better wifi features... perhaps Nintendo is trying to break into the e-book reader market with this device. After all, e-book readers are popular in the DS homebrew scene, which Nintendo is not totally unaware of, and a company with Nintendo's clout could arrange a deal with Amazon for a Kindle app. I have limited pocket space, and when I'm on the go, I know I'd rather carry around a sightly larger DS than a DS and a Kindle...
You're not supposed to switch, any more than you should buy a new DS because they introduce a new color. This is just a different variant of the DSi. They've kept all specs except for physical size the same.
There's no reason for anybody to get this if they are satisfied with the size of the standard DS screen... and if they AREN'T satisfied, this is a good option to have.
anyone else think its possible- nay probable- that Nintendo and Apple are locked in a vicious Trading Places-esque gentleman's wager over who can most rapidly refresh their product lines
It apparently has all this with online downloads, newer Opera web browser and enough memory to run it, and a card slot for flash storage. It isn't that nice to have to buy the GBA games again as files or use some piracy tool to play roms but the machine is capable of running them. I'd miss the slot-1 for guitar hero and even a pedometer that plugs in, plus others have rumble packs, extra ram or extra storage there. There's even a very cheap slot-1 CF card reader that will plug in and let you view photos from digital SLRs (GBA media player).
It does look as if the slot is gone forever.
Why don't DS and PSP publishers just partner with cell phone manufacturers to build mass market crossover devices with the same hardware specs?
I used to get way more than 5 hours on my 1st-gen. If this is how things are now then I'll never be buying one of these.
Jesus, the reading comprehension of ACs... Less than 5 hours on maximum brightness, which is considerably brighter than the 1st gen. On the lowest brightness setting, I consistently get 10+ hours, some pages on the net say it's 15-18 hours, and this new DSi should improve on that too.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
I remember the good old days where you barely even see what you were doing on a Gameboy / Gameboy Color / Game Boy Advance because the screen was so atrocious that it only worked in direct sunlight. I expect backlighting and other advances come at a cost to battery life.