The Nintendo DSi is 12% slimmer, sports 3.25-inch screens, does away with the GBA slot but adds an SD card adapter (download from the web and load off the card), allows you to play music and has two 3-megapixel cameras (one on the inside, the other on the outside). The DSi will become available in Japan on Nov. 1 for 18900 yen ($180) and will also be able to surf the web and catalog your photos in a flipbook or port them to the Wii. Nintendo will also launch a DSi Shop where you can download titles for free, or purchase them for either 200, 500, or 800 points (DSi comes with 1000 points free).In just one year’s time, the Nintendo DSiWare service has offered more than 150 downloadable games and applications that illustrate the service’s reputation as a playground for creativity.
Trajectile, Starship Defense and Link ‘n’ Launch are just a few examples of original games published by Nintendo exclusively for the Nintendo DSi system that have been well-received by reviewers. Art Style series games like Art Style: Pictobits and Art Style: DIGIDRIVE also showcase the system’s versatility.
Flipnote Studio is among the best reviewed software of all time for the Nintendo DS family of systems, while Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! is a perennial fan favorite.
Third-party developers, big and small, have taken advantage of the unique properties of the Nintendo DSi system to create some outstanding software. Glow Artisan won the Independent Games Festival’s Best Mobile Game Design Award, while titles like DRAGON QUEST WARS, Mighty Flip Champs and Dark Void Zero all continue to deliver fun game play.
Nintendo DSiWare has a lot of exciting original, exclusive titles on the horizon, including Nintendo’s Photo Dojo, which uses the Nintendo DSi camera to put players right in the midst of a side-scrolling street brawl. With Nintendo's 2-D shooting game, Metal Torrent, players try to convert a shower of opponents’ bullets into cubes that, when collected, increase their score and fill an energy meter that powers special weapons. And X-Scape from Nintendo immerses players in an exploratory adventure involving more than 20 planets.
Upcoming third-party games include Earthworm Jim from Gameloft, Tetris Party Live from Hudson, Surviving High School from EA and Frogger Returns from Konami.
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