bigger screens, 2 brain games and a dictionary...

hmmm, DSi grandpa/ma edition?!

Everyone loves making fun of the DS line, but these people shoud take a look at the numbers and see the DS is a supreme money making machine for Nintendo

Gah, we just got a DSi a few months ago.. thanks Nintendo.

That's great news. I was holding off on getting a DSi, and now that it will have a bigger screen next model I will just wait for that one.

And I was just commenting in another story that it did not sense to have two products at the same time in the market, unless there were a difference. And it looks like this one is pretty big compared to the DSi. Youngers would prefer the smallest one, while adults will prefer the bigger. I am still on an original DS, and won't get updated yet, but it is tempting, if only to watch video.

I also held out from getting a DSi, now I'm glad I did. In fact I'll probably hold out on the DSi LL seeming they push out a new revision of these every few months it seems. Let me know when you get the battery life up to a respectable level for a portable device again Nintendo... (GBA = 10 hours, DS = 8-10 hours, DSi = 5-8, DSi LL = 3 - not in this report but spec'ed as such in a GameSpot article).

@Roberto - but there is a difference... the DSi is available in America, and the DSi LL won't come out until after Christmas... So they will get to double dip with the people that don't hold out for the LL to come to the states.

"According to the report, the DSi LL was a response to customer requests for greater screen area, and is aimed at customers who want to use the portable for internet and music."

The above statement directly contradicts the one below

"The screen area is 93 percent greater than that of the DS Lite, although with the same number of pixels"

Surely all this would accomplish is to make the image blockier so I'm guessing that someone somewhere has made a mistake with the new consoles details and the larger screen actually has a shed load more pixels.

Nope, the screens are the same resolution. But it's not a contradiction in the slightest: just because the resolution doesn't increase doesn't mean it's not more readable. One would expect for example that if the DSi screen size was halved, but the resolution kept the same, that it would become /less/ easy to read, no?

Adam, I believe I read the battery life is actually longer than the DSi (at least from what they are saying at NeoGAF).

Peter, why would it contradict. Adding more pixels to the same area would make the image sharper, but people with eyesight problems will still not be able to read it (plus making all previous DS games incompatible). Keeping the same pixels but making them bigger actually helps old people. It is like using a magnifier on top of the screen.

Increasing the resolution of the new screen would make no sense: all the existing games are written for a fixed resolution and developers already have to take the DS/DSi into account when making their games: a third variation is unlikely to be used. Also, for existing games, you'd either get a border on the screen or the DS LL would have to resample the image - which would probably lead to complaints of "blurriness".

Increasing the size of the screen means that the individual pixels are larger, so the screen may look "blockier" close up, but will be easier to read from a distance - such as when it's sitting in your lap.

Finally: I'd hope battery life would increase, on the grounds that the unit is physically bigger so a larger battery can be installed. Then too, Nintendo may have been able to take advantage of process shrinks to use more power-efficient components...

With the additional size and cost, Nintendo should have included the GBA slot along with the ability to play all GB/GBC games as well. Also with the screen "having the same amount of pixels", that means the screens are of lower quailty and should be cheaper.

We all knew Nintendo would release a new DS as they have almost every or every other year. This one I am actually interested in as I kept my old one (1st gen) just because the new smaller ones are less comfortable to play imo.

Peter, why to readd that when you cannot buy GB/GBC games anymore? GBA games are slowly disappearing too, there are no more releases and you would prefer people buying DS games than GBA ones. Backwards compatibility is important at the beginning of the console life, but later it is not necessary. Most of the new users don't care about it. Just look at the PlayStation 3 (dropped it) or the Xbox 360 (backwards compatibility with only a few games).

Battery life is higher, 9-11 hours at medium bright. Not bad at all, this year I had to replace the battery of my original DS because it was lasting just 45 minutes! I am tempted.

@Peter: Dropping the slot reduces manufacturing costs and also reduces sales cannibalisation. Also, I'd expect Nintendo to start offering emulated GBC/GBA games through the DS store at some point.

@Roberto: B/C: true, though I'd argue that this is partly down to the quality of the backcatalog: there's a lot more on the PS2 that I'd like to have available than on the Xbox. Also, Sony dropped their backwards compatibility very early on to trim costs, which almost certainly had a negative impact on sales. It certainly stopped me buying one: if I do get a PS3, it'll only be if I can track down one of the original 60gb UK models with software PS2 emulation. There isn't enough room under the TV for a PS2 and PS3!

Battery: yup: if Kotaku/Nintendo is to be believed, the battery life is more than adequate. We'll have to wait until the DS LL is out in the wild to find out if it's actually true!

It'll be interesting to see how well the LL sells: personally, I'd expect the DSi to remain the market leader by a significant margin...

Roberto and Juice: It may up the cost, but the reason to include the GB/GBC/GBA slot is to create an All In One, that way a GBA and DSILL wont be needed to play all the games, a single system could do that. As for downloading GB/GBC/GBA game, why repurchase a game you already own when you could be allowred to just insert the cartridge you already own onto it.

With any downloaded content, could I transfer the purchased and downloaded games onto the "NEXT" system, or does it need to be re-re downloaded.

If Nintendo is making the new system to appease the fans, why not reintegerate the GBA slot with additional features like GB/GBC functionality.

And most game specific stores still sell GB/GBC games under the Pre-Owned, so they are still available, and most likely less expensive then there downloaded counterparts would be.

@juice uk: Although pretty much everyone is expecting Nintendo to release emulation on DSi Shop, they still haven't even announced anything half a year later. I'm no longer sure about that. I'm really not sure what Nintendo's up to; closest I can think of is them competing with the Wii, but that wouldn't make sense unless they were working on technology that allowed the user to share Virtual Console games with the DSi (similar to how you can download PSP games on the PS3).

@ Peter Sal: "With any downloaded content, could I transfer the purchased and downloaded games onto the "NEXT" system, or does it need to be re-re downloaded."

Haha, that's funny. I suppose for the sarcastic impaired, no, transferring digital games to the next system is not even remotely likely (given trends of the last few years).

"If Nintendo is making the new system to appease the fans [...]"

They're not. This is almost entirely targeted at people that aren't Nintendo loyalists, like pretty much most of Nintendo's strategy lately. That said, the fact that it'll have a larger screen will probably still appeal to other hardcore fans, but I think many people like myself will be fine with our old DSi's (or earlier DS's).