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• Akihabara News - Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)


• Japan Probe - Japan news and entertainment (Subscribe)


• Kirainet.com - A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

• Akihabara News - Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)


• Japan Probe - Japan news and entertainment (Subscribe)


• Kirainet.com - A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

• Akihabara News - Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)


• Japan Probe - Japan news and entertainment (Subscribe)


• Kirainet.com - A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Rumours have circled around the net for a few days now, but it seems they were true. Nintendo just announced the new DS model. The DSi.

The DSi is 12% thinner than its predecessor but at the price of the GBA slot. I has two cameras and a slightly bigger screen. One camera(outside one?) will be capable of 3megapixels.

It will have an SD slot to store photos and music; as well as storing downloadable games and swapping between the Wii.

Built in web browser (hope it's better than the old Opera version)

New DS shop will be available where you will be able to buy "DS Ware", software prices from the range of free to 800 points. If you buy one before March 2009, you will receive 1000 points for free.

A new service called "Nintendo Zone" will start similar to the free wi-fi in every McDonalds the US had a while back.

SO! People what are your thoughts? It's being retailed at the not-so-cheap-price of ￥18,900 (USD$180).

I loved replaying my old GBA games when the DS was first released but 4 years later I find myself with an empty slot all the time >.>
Will the camera will be used for any games or if it's just tobe used a simple camera...
I guess the only thing I would get excited about is the smaller size, the web browser and the new DS Store. Downloading games are so much convenient! *cought*R4*cough*, speaking of which.... will this be R4 proof? If so... how long before it's hacked?

[Kotaku]

Reuters reports that Nintendo is planning to launch a new DS model which can take pictures and play music by the end of the year.

This would position the DS to go up against camera phones and Apple's iPods, which could prove either disastrous or hugely successful.

The new videogame handheld, also equipped with WiFi capability, is expected to be below 20,000 yen ($189), compared with 16,800 yen for the current DS. That's a fairly small increase in cost for these features, though the Reuters article said nothing about internal storage, so you still could have to fork out more for storage capabilities.

The DS has been far outselling Sony's PSP globally, even though the PSP has had the ability to play music since day one, and has a camera add-on. In Japan, however, the PSP was selling more than the DS for five months. This means that momentum is slowing for the DS, so this refresh might be exactly what's needed to boost sales. Even if the DS isn't beating the PSP in sales in Japan, the changes the DS will offer are certainly more drastic than Sony's PSP-3000 refresh.

Would you buy this new model? Do you already have a DS? I don't have one, but have really been thinking about getting one. It's been several years since they came out initially, though, and as such I'm thinking that within the next year or two they must be releasing a new one. Perhaps not, though, in which case I might just pick up this new model.