• Enhanced games for the Nintendo DSi

"Last month's Games Developers Conference saw Nintendo clearing up the confusion surrounding DSi-only games. The bad news for anyone who hasn't upgraded, there will be DSi-exclusive titles that won't be playable at all on the DS or DS Lite. These will take advantage of the console's increased power and new functions, resulting in prettier games with more technical clout. And with a load of camera mini games, presumably. None of these DSi-only games have been announced so far, so there's no need to retire your Lite just yet.

There will also be 'DSi-enhanced' titles, which are essentially normal DS games but with a few added gimmicks that only DSi owners will be able to take advantage of. Expect to create textures from photographs taken with the built-in camera, which you'll then be able to use inside games, designing, for instance, a custom rug in Animal Crossing. Er, great. In future, you might also be able to shove your ugly mug onto characters' faces, creating a personalised avatar that will look in no way absolutely terrifying."

• NGamer June 2009

good thing i didn't upgrade when DS lite came out, so it didn't hurt much to upgrade from DS phat to DSi
Anyway, was the thing with the rug in Animal Crossing an example by Nintendo or by NGamer?

NGamer. It is in this months edition (June 2009), I just got it cos it's got and exclusive on Pokémon Platinum, and GTA Chinatown War essential maps, oh, and a glow in the dark Wii controller cover amongst other things. There's another article here about Game Boy games for the DSi too. Check it out (below).

a pity
so most likely I'll have to wait till the next generation for a new Animal Crossing game :/

• Old Game Boy games for the Nintendo DSi

"...The DSi is getting its own virtual console at some point, which will feature downloadable Game Boy and GBA Games. It'll be limited to first-party Nintendo titles at first, though none have yet been revealed. So far the service has only been announced in Japan, with Nintendo neither confirming nor denying the possibility of it coming to the West. We don't see why it wouldn't, though - it would be a great way to make up for that missing GBA slot."

• NGamer June 2009

The only game I'm missing is WarioWare: Twisted
bad thing the DSi has no built in Gyro Sensor (or does it?^^)
I bet Nintendo will re-release the GBA Pokemon games on this "Virtual Handheld"

I think Ubisoft already announced a cooking game that uses the camera...

This is good news. With a much faster chip and four times the ram it'd be incredibly annoying if they DIDN'T make games that were optimised for the better specs…

1. The CPU specs are all over the place I even heard about from actual devolopers not to expect any enhanced peformance even with DSi spicific titles.
Besides the DSi doesn't need a faster CPU the cameras along with it's fancy filters.
There's even a camera atachment for the DSPhat/Lite.
Besides which it's cost money to devolop a whole new Doule CPU whith a faster pimemary core when stopgaps geneally developed of a low budget.
2. The DSI only has 16MB of ram not 32 so it's doubled not quadrupled.

you guys think its worth getting a DSi. I currently only have the DS Phat. It is kinda ugly and bulky and im ready for an upgrade but i dont know if i shoudl wait for the next Nintendo handheld or do you think the DSi is gonna be the market for years before a new one comes out?

I'm waiting to see what the exclusive games are. My advice: Don't jump the gun. No telling how many exclusives there'll be, or of what quality they'll be. Nothing is announced yet.

Well TBH the DSi is a worthy upgrade (even from a DS Lite in my books). But if you want to play your old GBA games forget it (for now), but then again if you want to join in the DSi Ware download revolution, mess around with photos, listen to your favourite music, surf the web, then a DSi is for you.

Ninty DSi more than just a games machine, it's a way of life! Everyday is a DSi day!!!

Yeah, I think it's worth an upgrade since you only have a Phat. It'll definitely be around for a long time. The ability to use DSiWare and the SD Card slot alone would be worth it. Myself, I only just got my Lite last summer and I never had a Phat, so I can't really justify the upgrade yet. But, if you play GBA games, keep your Phat around if you do end up upgrading.

Hackers have opened the system up and confirmed that the DSi has a 133 MHz processor compared to the DS Lite's 67MHz processor. So it is twice as fast. However, the GPU tends to be more important for graphics output, so it may not have any real-world benefit for graphics.

Besides the DSi doesn't need a faster CPU the cameras along with it's fancy filters.
There's even a camera atachment for the DSPhat/Lite.

I think the faster CPU is primarily intended to help with imagerec type stuff. The faster the processor is, the more types real-time manipulation you can do to captured images. The DS Lite may have had a camera attachment, but it didn't have as much horsepower to back it up.

Besides which it's cost money to devolop a whole new Doule CPU whith a faster pimemary core when stopgaps geneally developed of a low budget.

CPUs generally run at whatever speed they're clocked at. Upper limitations are imposed by how long it takes for state changes to propagate the entire chip and reach a fully stable state. The smaller the chip, the faster the upper limit. Fabs are constantly upgrading their equipment to the point where etching a smaller and faster chip often becomes cheaper and easier than continuing to etch a larger chip. The chip itself can be the same design and can even be slotted into a device with the same clock. But the footprint gets smaller and the upper boundaries go higher.

2. The DSI only has 16MB of ram not 32 so it's doubled not quadrupled.

The DS Lite had 4MB, not 8. That's why everyone says it was quadrupled.

@thewiirocks

Yes, I also refuted KawaiiPikachu's odd claims elsewhere on this site, pointing out his lack of basic computational skill (the DSi undeniably has four times the RAM), his misunderstanding of the camera (the fact is that it does need a faster CPU for real-time effects), and the importance of the faster CPU for browser performance (Opera employees confirmed in an article that the CPU is the crucial bottleneck for page rendering on the DSi, where they also confirmed the new 133mhz spec). For some reason, however, he just keeps repeating the same incorrect assertions.

The upgraded specs are not in question, although some relevant details such as the potential GPU differences etc are still open. As for how they will be used, I believe we will eventually see DSi specific titles that do more than just use the cameras, and that Nintendo is planning to repeat the transition from GB to GBC, with a slow phase-in of the new tech. I'd say that the timeline, however, is highly indeterminate right now.

The one thing I would bet money on: if you're waiting for a DS successor other than the DSi, you will be disappointed. I doubt we'll see any new handheld hardware for at least 2 years, and likely more.

New core is 133 ARM9 with 16MB RAM

Welp, I guess we'll have to keep correcting him so that bad information doesn't spread.

As for how they will be used, I believe we will eventually see DSi specific titles that do more than just use the cameras, and that Nintendo is planning to repeat the transition from GB to GBC, with a slow phase-in of the new tech. I'd say that the timeline, however, is highly indeterminate right now.

I would tend to agree. With the caveat that this is one of Nintendo's poorest planned launches ever. They have effectively started out with zero software available. The closest thing to a DSi exclusive title is WarioWare Snapped; which is rightly mentioned as a demo by detractors. (I still think it's cool, but it's not really polished into a complete title.) It's sort of as if Iwata said, "I know where I want to go with this, so let's wing it."

The one thing I would bet money on: if you're waiting for a DS successor other than the DSi, you will be disappointed. I doubt we'll see any new handheld hardware for at least 2 years, and likely more.

In defense of those that don't realize that the DSi is the DS2, Nintendo didn't need to create as large of a generation gap as they did between the Wii and the Gamecube. Unlike the GCN, the DS Lite was 90% of the way to meeting Nintendo's current goals and philosophies. In result, you don't quite get the same mental separation between the two. The fact that the DSi looks a LOT like a DS Lite only exasperates the issue.

The market will eventually "get" it, but it may take them a while to fully feel the impact of the next generation of Nintendo handheld. Especially with Nintendo winging it.

its quadrupled because the Phat and lite only had 4 ..now the "i" has 16..,doubled?? check ..your math

I don't think Nintendo is going to leave out DS Lite owners any time soon with DSi only retail releases. I'm sure they'll put the extra hardware punch to good use with DSiWare and the possible DSi Virtual Console emulation but they're still selling too many DS Lite systems to start alienating their core user base. So it seems understandable that they'll add features that work on the DSi but allow the game to still play on a regular DS or DS Lite system.

Only an absolutely magnificent Dsi only game would make me want to buy a Dsi, or maybe a good VC release too ; the handheld is nice and everything, just not for me, I'm alright with my DS Lite, and surely there will still be plenty of games to play on it.

Your statement makes sense, the funny thing is that it made me noticed why I don't want a Dsi, I only want a games machine