Nintendo DSi

Nintendo has a winner in its hands with its dual-screen line of handheld gaming consoles, with over 100 million consoles sold worldwide and dozens of great games (and some not so good) to go alongside it. Now, Nintendo introduces the latest iteration of the DS, the Nintendo DSi.

It's important to realise that the DSi is an upgrade to the current DS Lite, and not an entirely new console, so many people will be considering whether it's worth making the switch. Some people may not believe that a redesigned home screen interface and a couple of cameras are worth the extra AU$100, but the DSi hides a lot more than that under its matte surface.

First thing you'll notice as you open up the DSi is that the screen of the DSi is slightly larger than the DS Lite, although by a very small degree. At the moment, there are no games with support for this slightly larger format, so you're left with a thin band of dead pixels on either side of your game screens. The home screen has been redesigned as well, now being somewhat reminiscent of Apple's Cover Flow system. Nintendo has also made it so that you don't have to restart your console every time you want to open a different app, or change games, which is a welcome change.

These changes to the programming do, though, come at a price. Nintendo claims you can get nine to 14 hours of gaming set at full brightness out of the DSi, a number significantly lower than the 19 available to the DS. Standby battery consumption is also much higher, which may be an issue if you're planning on using it for extended periods of time — for example, on long flights or car trips.

The DSi also features two VGA (0.3 megapixel) cameras, one on the inside hinge and one on the outside of the case. While the resolution may not be too impressive, neither is the resolution of the DSi's screens, so the two match fairly well. After taking images, you can use the "Nintendo DSi Camera" feature to mess with the images — tweens and tweens-at-heart will enjoy this feature, at least for a few moments. Others will swiftly get bored with warping images and their colour, and the ability to stamp love hearts and other decals all over. The program does feature fairly sophisticated facial recognition software, allowing you to apply cat ears and whiskers, glasses or several other objects with a single touch. After selecting the application, the DSi finds the faces with fairly appreciable accuracy, even if the faces in question aren't human — try adding cat ears and whiskers to an actual photo of your cat.

The DS Lite's power and volume slides have been replaced by buttons on the new model, with the power button placed to the bottom left of the lower screen, and the volume buttons located on the left hand edge of the device. We're not entirely convinced about the volume buttons, as it's much harder and more irritating to change a game's volume without breaking the flow than with the older models. The power button placement, however, should go some way to eliminating accidental shut downs that plagued the DS Lite.

Nintendo made an interesting choice with removing the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot. The original DS was released in 2004, so for most people this old-style slot served no purpose. Unfortunately, it also removes compatibility with the Guitar Hero On Tour and Guitar Hero Decades peripherals, a device required to play those games. If you're a big fan of Guitar Hero, we'd recommend getting a DS Lite over the DSi.

While the Game Boy Advance slot has been removed, an SD/SDHC card slot has been placed on the right edge of the device. The card allows you to store pictures taken by the DSi's cameras, store games downloaded from the DSi Shop, and import AAC audio and photos on to the device. Presumably, you'll eventually be able to run home-brew and cracked games off this card, although at present no such software exists.

One new feature of the DSi that is sure to garner much attention is the device's ability to download new programs and games, called DSiWare, from the DSi Shop. As yet no apps have been released outside of Japan, but we're looking forward to a multitude of mini-games and programs similar to those available on Apple's iPhone in the future.

Of all the features present in the upgraded model, Nintendo DSi Sound is perhaps our favourite. All three DSes have had a microphone as part of the package, but Sound gives you the option to manipulate these recordings in almost any manner you see fit. Filters may be added to the sound, such as that of a chirpy bird, trumpet, echo or chorus, but the ability to manipulate the pitch and speed of a recording makes this possibly the most enjoyable feature of the new console. With a slick, easy-to-use cross interface, you too, can sound like a chipmunk or James Earl Jones. You can also apply these effects to songs or other sound bites you have on either the SD card or the DSi's 256MB flash memory, so if you ever wondered what Beethoven's Ninth Symphony sounded like if sung by a robot, here's your chance.

The DS Lite will be sold indefinitely so it is possible to get a Nintendo DS for AU$199 for quite a while yet. We'd recommend spending the extra AU$100, however, as the additional features in this new DSi version offer some pretty fun and compelling extras.