The new Nintendo Dsi was met with lots of excitement when it was released in April of 2009.  It can even be considered as a commercial success, though it failed to beat the record set by the first incarnation of the Nintendo DS.  Nevertheless, the new Nintendo DSi has proven a point: that there is a healthy market of passionate users for an upgraded model of an existing product.

The new Nintendo DSi was packaged by the company as a handheld that even old DS owners would want to own.

Guess what?

Nintendo was right.

So, what’s new with the new Nintendo DSi?  Here are some features that many people believe justifies the purchase of a new Nintendo DSi:

- A sleeker, sexier and lighter design.  The new Nintendo DSi is actually 12% thinner than the previous incarnation, the Nintendo DS Lite.  With the new Nintendo DSi, the handheld can actually be considered a “hand” held device as it will fit anyone’s hand.

- An additional level of brightness.  The first Nintendo DS was heavily criticized for its ability to strain the user’s eyes with dark lighting.  The Nintendo DS Lite made the screen brighter, but also allowed the unit to consume more battery life at the highest brightness setting.  The new Nintendo DSi adds yet another level of brightness, but this time, battery life is said to be optimized for such a feature.

- Dual cam.  One camera in front, one camera at the back.  Both cameras come with 0.3 megapixel resolution, nothing special, but adequate for the purposes that the new Nintendo DSi has planned for them.

- Better audio playback.  The new Nintendo DSi can now compete with the best MP3 players in the market.

- Improved WiFi connectivity.  Difficulties in connecting online are now things of the past.  The new Nintendo DSi can immediately connect to the net whenever a connection is detected, and the player can immediately compete with other DSi users from all over the world.  Additionally, because of the improved internet connectivity, digital downloads are now a critical part of the new Nintendo DSi’s marketing strategy.  The DSi Shop has been improved as well to accommodate the new handheld.  Titles from old Nintendo consoles (and other 8bit and 16bit systems as well) can also be purchased and played on the DSi.

- External SD slot.  Now you can save all the new files you can take and play with your DSi on an external storage device.  You’re no longer a slave to the system’s limited internal memory.

Are these new features enough to make the new Nintendo DSi a “must buy?”  Well, many people in the UK and the US believe it is, as evidenced by the more than 600,000 sales garnered by the system in its first two days of launch.

The Nintendo DSi appears to be a fantastic portable machine that any gamer-on-the-go is sure to cherish and enjoy.  It is being marketed as such: the ultimate handheld gaming system that is all you’ll ever need during those idle parts of the say when time seems to slow down to a crawl, or when you get stuck in a deserted island in the middle of nowhere which, heaven forbid, hopefully won’t happen.

However, is the Nintendo DSi the supreme portable gaming machine that it is being hyped up to be?

In this article, we will explore the positives and negatives of the Nintendo DSi and answer the question of whether or not it is worth the purchase.

The Pros Of The Nintendo DSi

The Nintendo DSi is a significant upgrade to the previous two iterations of the portable console.  It packs enough features to warrant a new model.  These features include:

- Dual cam, with each camera having 0.3 megapixels.  Not only do these cameras add more functionality for the Nintendo DS, they also allow for more game play possibilities that are sure to be integrated in future titles that will be designed specifically for the Nintendo DSi.

- Lighter design.  The Nintendo DSi is 12% lighter than the DS Lite.

- Better audio playback.  Gone are the days when the DS was always criticized for having the softest sounds in all of gaming.  The Nintendo DSi’s audio features are said to rival the best MP3 players in the market today.

- External storage device.  More memory space, more files can be used.
- Faster processing, courtesy of a 16MB RAM which is 4 times faster than the DS and the DS Lite.

- Better online features like improved WiFi connectivity and a DSi store where gamers can download new titles as well as old games from the consoles of yore.

The Cons Of The Nintendo DSi

All is not a bed of roses for the Nintendo DSi, however.  There are a number of negatives plaguing the newest iteration of Nintendo’s flagship handheld system.  These are:

- The absence of the GBA cartridge slot.  Such effectively puts an end to Gameboy and Gameboy Advance backwards compatibility – at least via physical storage – as well as peripherals that rely on the same.

- The two cameras have very low resolutions.  A badly lot environment will only render useless pictures.

- It is, in essence, not really that much different from the DS and the DS Lite.

The Verdict

So, should you or should you not buy a Nintendo DSi?

In a nutshell, the DSi is an evolution rather than a revolution.  It doesn’t intend to change the basic engineering of the DS and the DS Lite.  If it’s not broke, why fix it, right?  The DSi is merely meant to improve on the DS and the DS Lite, and this purpose it does well.

So, if you already have Nintendo DS or a Nintendo DS Lite, stick with them and save your money for the next big handheld console a couple of years down the road.  If you don’t have a Nintendo handheld, then the DSi is the best choice you can ever make.