Zach gives us his glowing impressions of his newly-purchased Nintendo DSi. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=18120 I've been excited about the DSi since its announcement, especially its friendlier menu system. The system's updated aesthetic design, which includes the addition of two .3 megapixel cameras, has received the most attention, but it's the more Wii-like interface that really caught my eye. This morning I ran over to my local gaming store and grabbed my DSi. It's not like I had a choice; I sold my DS Lite and a game to help fund my DSi purchase. So far the DSi has exceeded my expectations.
The most obvious change right "out of the box," so to speak, is the system’s finish. No longer will it be tarnished by fingerprints and dirt that gets under the transparent cover. The DSi is sleek, with a matte finish that’s slightly “sandy” to the touch, which I can only assume further reduces the appearance of prints. That’s great news for me; I spent way too much time wiping off my DS Lite’s shell. Interestingly, where the DS Lite only has two indicator lights (for power level/online play), the DSi has three: one for power level, a battery charging indicator, and one indicating online play. Little icons on the upper screen tell you what each light means. When closed, the DSi is impressive in its conservative design. A single camera lens decorates the lower-right corner of the unit. Along the sides of the unit, the DS headphone jack is on the front, the stylus storage and SD slot are on the left, volume buttons (not a slider anymore) on the right, and the power adaptor port, game card slot, and weird two-hole connector on the back.
Open up the DSi and you’re treated to much the same aesthetic as the DS Lite. The speakers have been repositioned, sitting about a fourth of the way up the screen. There’s another camera lens positioned where the mic was on the DS Lite—the mic now sits just to its right. The face and shoulder buttons are shallow and have a good click to them, unlike the soft, cushioned buttons of the DS Lite. The power button is more like that of the DS Phat in that it’s a button, and it sits just to the left of the lower-left corner of the bottom screen. There are now five brightness settings instead of four.
But the most drastic changes have occurred in the DS’ software. Even the system’s startup sound has changed. You’re immediately presented with a menu system that’s obviously taken its inspiration from the Wii. The DSi has a “home menu” that you can scroll through with the stylus or D-pad. The upper screen displays the first picture you take (more on that later), while the lower screen displays your options. From left to right you have System Settings, DS Game Card, DSi Camera, DSi Sound, DSi Shop, DS Download Play, PictoChat, and then Downloaded Games. You can get to the camera function right away by tapping L/R. It’s a really nice setup and works much better than the bare-bones menu system of the DS Phat/Lite.
The camera is excellent. You can store photos on an SD card or use the system’s internal memory. The DSi lets you store 412 photos internally, but the SD card gives you pracitically limitless storage—mine has 3,000 photo slots. Despite its low resolution (.3 megapixels), the quality is generally better than a camera phone if you have adequate lighting, and you can even zoom in on pictures in the Picture Gallery. You can switch between the internal (looking at you) and external (looking at everything else)camera on the camera menu screen. After taking pictures, you can play around with lenses and colors, and even doodle on your picture. What’s even better is that you can take the SD card out, stick it in your Wii, and mess around with your pictures on the Photo Channel (send ‘em to your friends!). There’s also DSi Sound. You can record yourself, and then play around with pitch, speed, and adding silly effects. It’s surprisingly engaging. If you have AAC music files on your SD card you can play them on your DSi.
The DSi Shop channel is the same as the Wii Shop Channel , right down to the way games are organized. It takes a little while to connect, but itÂ’s not a big deal. DS Download Play and PictoChat are standard. WhatÂ’s really nice about all this software is that you can go right back to the menu without having to turn off the system. Most of the software has an exit button, and those that donÂ’t (like downloadable Aquia) have a quick-fix of sorts: giving the Power button a tap sends you back to the main menu.
I downloaded Bird & Beans and Aquia with the 1,000 free DSi points I nabbed for signing into the DSi Shop for the first time. Bird & Beans is basically a cell phone game: beans fall from the sky, and you have to lick them up with a bird and his enormous chameleon-like tongue. It’s a high-score-fest, really, but it’s pretty fun for quick gaming jaunts on the throne. Aquia, on the other hand, is a great puzzle game with a twist—you have a vertical column made up of blocks, and you have to push your own blocks into the vertical column. However, doing so will push a new block out the other side, so you have to figure out where everything will end up in a single move. It’s not very pretty (neither is Bird & Beans), but despite its simplicity, it gets the job done. I can only hope that more robust offerings are coming down the pipe.
The system is incredible overall, but there are a few minor gripes. First, once again, you can’t play DSiWare games from your SD card, so if the internal storage fills up (and it will), you’ll have to do the whole "fridge-cleaning" shuffle that we hated on the Wii. Hopefully a future firmware fix is in the cards.That’s another nice thing about the DSi—it supports firmware updates (in fact, you’ll activate one when you try to sign on to the DSi Shop Channel).
The DSiÂ’s touchscreen doesnÂ’t seem any more robust than it did on the DS Lite, which makes me worry about scratches and dead zones for a game like Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The power cord is different from the DS LiteÂ’s, so you canÂ’t swap them. I also worry about the systemÂ’s limited storage space. If Nintendo of America begins supporting a " Virtual Console " for the DSi, I can see the meagre internal memory being eaten up pretty quickly. IÂ’ll need a bigger SD card, but more importantly, IÂ’ll want the same fix Nintendo rolled out for the Wii last week.
Overall, I canÂ’t recommend the DSi highly enough. If you donÂ’t have a DS, this is the version to get. If you have a DS Phat, youÂ’re now officially living in the stone age (upgrade, man!). The cameras and new DS menu software are so good that you might want to sell your DS Lite. If youÂ’re worried about the lack of GBA support, go buy a used GBA! The DSi is here, and you know you want it.
Topic: IMPRESSIONS: Nintendo DSi (Read 4670 times)
