The North American launch of the DSi is wrapping up, and many of you probably have a DSi in your hands now. With that in mind, I'd like to share some final thoughts on the system—or as final as they get for a little over 72 hours of use, at least.
But first, I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading our coverage. I've had the pleasure of answering questions for and conversing with some of our readers on the merits or lack thereof of the DSi. It really makes my day to hear from you, so please don't hesitate to send comments on anything I write. You make it worthwhile.
And with that, my final thoughts.
The DSi is the definitive system to play DS games on. It's compact and solid (as opposed to "small" and fragile like the Lite always felt). Its controls are the best the DS has ever had—and I might be committing some act of unknown sacrilege, but I'd say the shoulder buttons are the best I've felt on any gaming product, ever. I've been playing a lot of Avalon Code lately and appreciating the extra beauty of the screens, but I also gave Daigasso! Band Brothers DX another spin and marvelled at how much more accurate it felt.
The inbuilt apps (and for the sake of simplicity I'll lump the free Nintendo DSi Browser in with the others) are all kind of neat to play with but ultimately don't hold a whole lot of draw in the long run. In particular, Camera is great fun to play with friends, messing with each others' photos, but solo? Not so much after the first few minutes. I can see some people playing with them endlessly; it's not so much that they're bad as they probably are just not really my thing.
In regard to the state of DSi's infant exclusive library: in addition to Art Style: Aquia, my favorite of the DSiWare launch bunch, I've rather come to appreciate Brain Age Express: Math. Even if some if its training games are rehashes, they're good rehashes... and the idea that Brain Age is always there, in my DSi, seems to increase its value. That said, I totally understand where this might not be all that compelling to people who don't dig small games (and their associated small prices.) DSiWare may yet have some evolution to do in that regard. We'll see where it goes down the road.
So, what is the sum of these parts? Well, the DSi looks from my point of view to be the kicking-off of a new portable (though I'd really say "personal") strategy at Nintendo. They're getting on-board with digital distribution, now that they've seen it can work on Wii. There is—universally accepted, though not officially confirmed—a spec bump under the hood that new software can take advantage of. And, of course, the hardware quality itself is very good.
This is not just, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said, a strategy to expand DS saturation so that every person in every household as a system. It is also a move to create what is both a new platform and still DS, so that the future of the DS idea continues to live on even as the gaming landscape changes.
I hope everyone who got a DSi today is enjoying it. And, if you're on the fence yet, I hope that you see something down the road that makes you want to take the plunge.
But first, I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading our coverage. I've had the pleasure of answering questions for and conversing with some of our readers on the merits or lack thereof of the DSi. It really makes my day to hear from you, so please don't hesitate to send comments on anything I write. You make it worthwhile.
And with that, my final thoughts.
The DSi is the definitive system to play DS games on. It's compact and solid (as opposed to "small" and fragile like the Lite always felt). Its controls are the best the DS has ever had—and I might be committing some act of unknown sacrilege, but I'd say the shoulder buttons are the best I've felt on any gaming product, ever. I've been playing a lot of Avalon Code lately and appreciating the extra beauty of the screens, but I also gave Daigasso! Band Brothers DX another spin and marvelled at how much more accurate it felt.
The inbuilt apps (and for the sake of simplicity I'll lump the free Nintendo DSi Browser in with the others) are all kind of neat to play with but ultimately don't hold a whole lot of draw in the long run. In particular, Camera is great fun to play with friends, messing with each others' photos, but solo? Not so much after the first few minutes. I can see some people playing with them endlessly; it's not so much that they're bad as they probably are just not really my thing.
In regard to the state of DSi's infant exclusive library: in addition to Art Style: Aquia, my favorite of the DSiWare launch bunch, I've rather come to appreciate Brain Age Express: Math. Even if some if its training games are rehashes, they're good rehashes... and the idea that Brain Age is always there, in my DSi, seems to increase its value. That said, I totally understand where this might not be all that compelling to people who don't dig small games (and their associated small prices.) DSiWare may yet have some evolution to do in that regard. We'll see where it goes down the road.
So, what is the sum of these parts? Well, the DSi looks from my point of view to be the kicking-off of a new portable (though I'd really say "personal") strategy at Nintendo. They're getting on-board with digital distribution, now that they've seen it can work on Wii. There is—universally accepted, though not officially confirmed—a spec bump under the hood that new software can take advantage of. And, of course, the hardware quality itself is very good.
This is not just, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said, a strategy to expand DS saturation so that every person in every household as a system. It is also a move to create what is both a new platform and still DS, so that the future of the DS idea continues to live on even as the gaming landscape changes.
I hope everyone who got a DSi today is enjoying it. And, if you're on the fence yet, I hope that you see something down the road that makes you want to take the plunge.