While the jury is still out on just how significant an update the DSi is over the DS Lite, the American public has voted emphatically with their wallets by snapping up almost half a million of the machines since launch.
To put this figure into perspective, the DS Lite sold 226,000 units in the same time frame.
Strong DSi sales will only help continue Nintendo’s dominance of the US hardware market; throughout March the Wii and DS achieved an astonishing 1.16 million-plus in hardware sales, although it should be noted that that total is 17% down on this time last year, when the two machines shifted 1.42 million sales.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 17
@ Damien McFerran:
@ "although it should be noted that that total is 17% down on this time last year":
I think one reason is that last year Easter was in March, this year it is in April.
So in the next month we should see a growth in the sales.
I honestly didn't' expect the DSi to sell that well given that it's the third version of basically the same portable game system. That shows you what I know!
Nintendo makes sexy products......TOO SEXY!!!
I'm actually a bit suprised by the DSi selling so strongly. None of my friends own it or have even heard of it. But as I've said a million times, I'm getting mine soon.
DS vs PSP
Well if Nintendo Announce the DS successor sooner than later I can expect 435000 americans be pretty upset about being ripped off which means that the DS successor going to have less launch sales.
"To put this figure into perspective, the DS Lite sold 226,000 units in the same time frame."
thats a jaw dropper..
@kawaiipikachu
"Well if Nintendo Announce the DS successor sooner than later I can expect 435000 americans be pretty upset about being ripped off which means that the DS successor going to have less launch sales."
They might just be ushering in a successor silently via the DSi. It has a much more powerful processor and four times the RAM of the original system; right now, when you put a normal DS game in it, it automatically scales back the CPU to a "compatibility mode" similar to what the Wii does when playing GC games.
In time, we may see games that take advantage of the powerful hardware, that are DSi exclusive, and it might just be that the DSi will be the only DS successor for many more years.
@Warioswoods
Um 4X8MB=32 but yet all reports says it's only 16MB & as for reports for CPU speed I heard conflicting reports in regards to it.
Some finding info based on the numbers found on the CPU some saying it has the pretty much rumored 133MHZ CPU but others unable to find info but others saying a simaluar numberd CPU has that speed but not the same.
Doesent help that the DS series has a wide range of numbers labled on there CPU's for some reason but still it is currently unclear what CPU the DSi really have especally as there isn't really any reason for a different CPU.
@kawaiipikachu
No the old DS had only 4MB, so 16MB is indeed 4 times the RAM. As for the CPU speed (and the fact that it is underclocked to half speed for compatibility) I am going by the homebrewers currently working on hacking the DSi, at their wiki here:
http://dsibrew.org/wiki/Hardware
While full details are indeed sparse, homebrewers/hackers tend to know much more about these things than general press; this wiki is run by some of the same people instrumental in hacking the Wii.
As to why it needs a faster CPU -- the real-time camera features and the tremendously improved web browser are good reasons for that at present, and I imagine more reasons will become apparent over time.
So, even more to the point, I believe the chances are extremely low of any DS successor (other than the DSi) within at least the next 2 years, possibly more. They just opened up DSiWare as a new platform, after all, and they've also focused all their attention on future uses for the current feature set. Even that article here about phone capabilities and a future DS successor was a misreading of Nintendo's comments on the matter.
It'll be interesting to see what will come off the upgraded specs. It should definitely offer those developers who have been pushing the DS to do even better. I'm sure looking forward to the DSi titles.
And to think without me this would only be 434,999.....
I feel so special.
I lol'd at comment 13.
@Warioswoods.
Theres some 2-3MP digital cameras that works fine with only a 30-40MHZ CPU so as for DSi's .3MP cameras should in theroy need less CPU power & as for web browsing the faster WIFI the DSi as alone is enough to make it faster .
The old DS (Lite & Phat) had only 802.11b but the DSi have the much faster 802.11G & it was the wifi itself that held the DS browser back & as i can say for myself was slow .
It's not just a basic camera, though -- it does some basic tracking and facial recognition, real-time morphing, real-time color swapping, etc. Try out the special "lenses" and you'll see that, while they aren't all tremendously complex, several would have to take some real processing power.
But anyhow, the web browser is not just held back by network speed; rendering time is a serious bottleneck -- rendering a webpage actually takes considerable resources on any system, since it's much more complex than one might think. If you want confirmation (1) that the CPU is the primary limiting factor for the browser, and (2) that the main processor is indeed 133mhz, here is your quote:
"Scrolling around pages on the DSi was dazzlingly smooth, although pages didn't load instantly. The DSi only has a 133 Mhz processor, Grønvold reminded me."
And Grønvold should know, since he's from Opera, who of course developed the browser for the DSi (and the old browser).
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2338736,00.asp
@Pikamander: I try
BLAR BLAR BLAR MEGA PIXEL BLAR BLAR BLAR MEGA PIXEL
type mega pixel myth into ur google search come back educated there is no pixels = quality its contrast colour and lens that make pictures look great
and since wen did dsi have a 1080p or above screen so why would you need 1/2/3/4/5 etc mega pixels
wghy would you take a above 1080p pixel count picture to look at on a sub 480p screen 3 inches big
APPLY SOME GOD DAM COMMONSENSE SERIOUSLY WAKE THE HELL UP TO THE PIXEL MARKETING MYTH ROLLING MY GOD DAM EYES AT THE MARKETING BELIEVING RETARDS
0.3 pixels is = to 480p ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SUGGESTING THATS WEAK the picture is then optermized and down scaled to dsis screen gving a very sweet image
any imported pics from dsi to pc can easily be optermized again in the photo edit software to a higher resolution AGAIN WAKE UP
and last of all there not there for photography they are there for gaming innovations and fun (gameplay)
theres a guy [posting pics on web of dsi vs a sony 10mp pro camera you wont believe how well dsi is doing against such high end competition
stop counting pixels ITS A MYTH
MEGAPIXEL MYTH GO TYPE IT IN A SEARCH ENGINE a 1 mp cam with great lens and picture optermizing hardware will wipe the floor with a 10mp cam with shhit tech like lens etc
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