Nintendo DSi

The Nintendo DSi is a Nintendo manufactured handheld console that was announced on October 2nd 2008 and first released in Japan on November 1st of the same year. Nintendo explains it as the third Nintendo pillar, the other two being the Wii and DS Lite, suggesting that the DSi is not intended to replace the DS Lite. Despite this, the majority of the store bought games for it were initially released exclusively for the Nintendo DS and DS Lite. Nevertheless it includes a plethora of exclusive features and does in fact have downloadable and retail games made only for the DSi. The features are listed below.

Features
The new handheld has wider screens than the both original DS and the DS Lite and is capable of enlarging games made specifically for the original. It features two 0.3 megapixel cameras--one situated between the dual screens and the other on the outer casing. Pictures taken can be manipulated via the stylus. Similar to the Wii, the DSi has an internal memory which players can store games and apps downloaded through a service called DSiWare, similar to WiiWare. Wii Points are now known as Nintendo Points, which are used to purchase things in the DSiWare and WiiWare store.

The system will have a built-in internet browser(downloaded) and will feature improved wifi support. There will be an SD card into which one may save photos. While the bottom screen features a touch screen, the upper one does not.

Notably, the Game Boy Advance cartridge port has been removed, thus, the system is not backward compatible with GBA game cartridges (like the Game Boy Micro in not backward compatible with Game Boy/Color). This came as quite a shock to gamers who were confused as to how the player will play games that require the use of the GBA slot such as the Guitar Hero titles. Nintendo have confirmed that these games will not work with the DSi, though companies are working on ways to take advantage of the new hardware.

Development
Days before the handheld was announced, a news report was released in Japan revealing the console, much to Nintendo's dismay. They proceeded on, however, neither confirming or denying the claims, which stated some of the primary features of the system. On October 2nd, 2008, Nintendo announced during a Japanese press conference the DSi, and reported all the news revealed on their official website, which Nintendo themselves later translated into English. The next day in America the DSi wasn't a major topic since it was confirmed that it wouldn't be released until well into 2009. However, Nintendo of America announced that the DSi would be released in North America on April 5th, 2009. Australia will get the DSi available on April 2nd, 2009 and in Europe on April 3rd, 2009. The "i" in the name represents the two cameras and the console's individuality. Nintendo explains that the cameras give the DS a third human sense; whereas the original DS gave it touch (touch screen) and hearing (mic), the camera gives it sight.

Beginnings
Work on the DSi began in 2006 after the release of the DS Lite (the first Nintendo DS redesign). The designers at the Developing Engineering Department had to create a proposal for their boss and the rest of Nintendo by the end of December of that year, a hefty task to take on at such a short notice. One of the major problems while developing the new piece of hardware was the fact the fact that it really wasn't a new piece of hardware, and that selling it would be a challenge since a host of new games wouldn't be released alongside it. Nevertheless, they pushed on, fortunately with the knowledge that they had already done a similar feat with the DS Lite. Another dilemma was figuring out how to be innovative while still being restrained by the features of the previous Nintendo DS models.

The Cameras
The first new feature that they decided on was the cameras. They speculated whether they should have two cameras, one on the inside looking at you and one on the outside or a swivel that had a camera on it that could turn so you could change the position of it. Ultimately they decided to choose two cameras since the swivel would increase the cost of the handheld. It was also found that swivels break easily, according to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

The next thing they had to come up with was the pixel count of the two cameras. Ultimately they decided to settle on 0.3-megapixel cameras. While considerably less that high profile cameras and even some cell-phones, Nintendo explained this peculiar route. One of the problems was that a higher pixel count would require a larger DSi, and Nintendo was dead set on creating an accessible system that wasn't clunky. It would also increase the processing load and the amount of memory in order to save an image, and with the DSi's very limited space this is something that was not needed.

Presenting it
In October of 2007 the development team modeled a version of their new DS and showed it to ten people working within Nintendo's EAD divisions and asked them if the new console was one that they would want to own. Unfortunately for the designers, only three said it looked like a system they wanted to own and seven said it wasn't. One of the system's designers said that the three who said they didn't were probably lying themselves since the people who made it were standing right there (and thus they didn't want to offend them). So, reluctantly though inevitably they had to go back to the drawing board, and had to remove some features from the clunky design they had showcased. One of those things were two separate DS game card slots. In one of the initial designs Nintendo had planned to have two DS slots so that the player could store two games without having to switch them around. However, despite requests by gamers and workers in house, the unit was just too big and they had to be removed. Apparently the extra slot made the unit three millimeters thicker as well.