Nintendo DSi Coming to the USA in 2009

The upcoming Nintendo DSi was released in Japan on November 1, 2008, and for the month of November 535,379 of the DSi units have sold. The DSI will not be sold in the USA, or outside Japan, until either the first or second half of 2009, the exact date is still undecided.

The DSi is not exactly a successor to the Nintendo DS Lite, but rather an alternative, with some pros and some cons. Here’s more information:

The Nintendo DSi is about 12% thinner (2.6 mm) than the Nintendo DS Lite. The new handheld has two VGA (0.3 megapixel) digital cameras; one on the internal hinge pointed towards the user and the second one on the outside of the shell. It also has larger screens (3.25 inches, up from 3 inches) and improved speakers. The power switch has been replaced with a power button, as the original DS had, now located next to the bottom left side of the touch screen. The DSi has five brightness settings compared to the DS Lite’s four; however, battery life is reduced compared to its predecessor. The internal rechargeable battery may still be replaced by the user at the end of its useful life of (typically) several hundred charge/discharge cycles.

A new SD card slot is utilized for external storage of pictures and downloaded software and to play AAC audio. The front slot for Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges has been removed, thus removing the unit’s backward compatibility and its compatibility with accessories that require the GBA slot, such as the Guitar Hero: On Tour grip, which is essential to play the game. The removal of backward compatibility also prevents Pokémon Diamond and Pearl players from migrating Pokémon from the GBA Pokémon games, which is essential if they wish to complete the Pokédex or obtain some rare legendary Pokémon unless you access the G.T.S., or global trading system. The DSi has 256 MB of internal flash memory. Photos can be synced to the Wii’s Photo Channel.

All existing flash carts for the Nintendo DS and DS Lite are incompatible with DSi. Also, similar to the Wii, the DSi will have upgradable firmware like its competitor, the PlayStation Portable. This is a first for a Nintendo handheld system.
It has been reported that the DSi utilizes region locking for DSi-specific software, since it provides Internet services tailored individually for each region, but the DSi itself does not have region lock-outs, so Nintendo DS games from any region can be played. In addition, the DSi uses rating-based parental controls, which differ by country. The WPA and WPA2 support is not backward compatible with original DS games. Only DSi services can use WPA.