DSI - A Step Back Or a Step Forward ?

[wraggster]

Nintendo always seem to have some controversy with their consoles and sometimes have failed miserably - Virtual Boy - and sometimes changed the face of gaming - Wiimote.

The DSi seems to have some major pluses not only for commercial but for Homebrew in the long run and some obvious minuses.

The loss of the GBA Slot is a killer for GBA Homebrew and emulators made for the GBA which theres hundreds of great games released.

The stopping of it seems all present DS Flashcarts is a major triumph for commercial game fans but disasterous for Homebrew and moreso for piracy.

Another minus is that the new console only at the moment ships with Japanese language only where the DS Lite and DS Phat you could change your language, another downturn.

Pluses are of course the SD Slot, could this lead to a homebrew scene without the need for flash carts, it sure makes you wonder, i do see at first a need for some type of passme type device to allow access to the sd slot.

The SD Slot may also be the start of a virtual console system for the DS, judging by what we know is possible already via the homebrew scene, it shouldnt be too much of a dream to have Snes, Genesis, Master System, Nes, Gameboy games via a DS Virtual Console.

What are your thoughts on the new DSi ?

[firedragon_jing]

I think the DSi is a great step in a positive direction. The loss of the GBA is a bit sad, but when you look past it, it's not a huge deal. There are still several GBA compatible systems, and some of the homebrew can be ported to the DS. Also all the flash carts not working is a slight hindrance, but I'm confident a work-around will be available soon enough.

The new DS interface is nice, the photo editor looks to have some good enjoyment, especially in a Japanese setting. It's nice that it has two cameras, of course it wouldn't replace a good camera, but to be viewed on the DS it should be good. I'd also like to see how it will be incorporated in some games that make use of it. The music player is a nice addition as well.

The DSWare is probably the best addition, we've seen some fun small games for the Wii using WiiWare, World of Goo, Megaman9, Lost Winds, and now we'll get it for the DS. A system I think is more suited for these small games, and they would be great for the stylus. I'm glad I waited on getting my DS, as soon as I heard these rumors for this DS upgrade. I'm getting a DSi right when I get to Japan next March, my first true DS.

[mikebeaver]

Maybe Nintendo will allow you to use games bought on the VC to be played on the DSi (providing they run via similar emulation).
Nintendo have stated that they will release a way of putting your VC and Wiiware games on to SD card for extra storage, wouldnt it be a turn up if somehow the game would also run on the DSi, maybe they have already thought of that?

Mike..

[Duobix]

As I have said, wraggster, every ds has everything to play GBA games, even DSi (we just have to wait for a proper hack that will open the SD slot for Homebrew).
BTW, you know that DSi is not compatibile with any existing flashcart?

[Brainy142]

Duobix, they just tested flash cards and NONE work

[iofthestorm]

Nintendo have stated that they will release a way of putting your VC and Wiiware games on to SD card for extra storage, wouldnt it be a turn up if somehow the game would also run on the DSi, maybe they have already thought of that?
That almost seems plausible since the VC files come with their own emulator, but that emulator couldn't be the same from the Wii to the DS, so unless they packaged both emulators together that wouldn't work, and Nintendo seems too lazy to do that in my opinion.

[Lastron]

they stepped back then fell down a flight of stairs

[Grey Acumen]

It's just a jump to the left

and a step to the riiiiight!

so put your hands on your hips

and bring your knees in tiiiiight!

seriously though, DSi is not replacing DS lite, it's not a step forward or backward, it's just doing things differently, so it's more of a sidestep that puts it next to the DSlite, rather than ahead of or behind it.

[nightblade36]

The DSi is a bit off to me. I think the real questions is:
"Is this really 'something else' or just a crappy DS?"

I mean, it's not like I'm used to Nintendo rehashing consoles, such as the Gameboy into a the Gameboy Pocket, and the Gameboy Advanced into the Gameboy Advanced SP (and then the Micro. Barf.)

The problem is, Nintendo is trying to pass it off as 'something else' even when it's just a different DS. When it comes down to it, Nintendo is a company--it's in it for the money. If they do things like this, it will make money. It's not a good or bad thing, but how the customers react will be the main impact as to whether this perpetuates.

I don't really like to encourage the trends like the DSi, so I'm not supporting it. People can buy it if they want, but I'm fine with the DSLite. A relatively crappy camera, slightly larger screen, and SD slot isn't anything to want me to put down the money for it. Still, I'll have to wait for the exclusive content and 3rd Party developer reactions before I can really do anything.

I haven't been hearing many good things about it. I'll say that much.

[Hypershell]

The DSi to me is a definite mixed bag. I still use my GBA slot often and very much enjoyed the whole custom border shpiel. I like the look, and I'm glad they moved the power button back to the inside where it belongs (the Lite bothered me for that reason, and I like the phat's Start/Select better), and the cameras will make nice toys. But by axing so much of Nintendo's back catalogue, stepping down the battery life, and offering completely inadequate multimedia (no homebrew user is going to take the DSi defaults over Moonshell), the DSi's appeal hangs almost completely on downloadable content. And from what IGN's said thus far, even if they get decent apps, browsing the DSi store is extremely sluggish. Granted the Wii Shop Channel isn't exactly seamless either, but for a handheld, one expects things to be readily available. Are we, who can barely stand to sit through the split-second Health and Safety warning, really going to trade in our current handhelds for that?

If homebrew devs can utilize the DSi's extra web-browsing RAM, maybe that can open up some nice possibilities. But as it stands, I just don't see a strong enough appeal to justify its drawbacks. I'm not saying I won't get it, but they will need some incredibly kickass downloadable content to convince me.


As I have said, wraggster, every ds has everything to play GBA games, even DSiActually, that's not true. Every DS has the ARM7, which is the main processor of the GBA, but actually playing GBA games also requires some sound circuitry carried over from the GBC, and the GBA BIOS files. Neither of these are accessible in "DS mode" on any DS, and this is why playing GBA games solely through Slot 1 flash cards has never been done (or at least not done well enough to be called playable).

GBC sound and GBA BIOS are not needed in the DSi and as such they may be absent from it, but even if they're included by some stroke of production laziness, the lack of a proper slot to access in GBA mode will render them utterly worthless. The same thing happened with the GB Micro and its unused Z80 processor; it's there because Nintendo didn't bother to make a new chip for the Micro, but without the necessary hardware switches to read a GBC cart, flash or official, it's impossible to use beyond just watching the Nintendo logo.