The DS DSi

The Latest DS - and Best?

The DSi is the latest in a hugely successful series of hand-held consoles. The original Nintendo DS was launched in Japan, the USA and Canada in 2004 - a folding, dual LCD screen console which allowed gamers to play against each other over Wi-Fi, originally within a short range and then using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Service which launched later.

Two years later in 2006 the DS Lite was born, and as is implied by the name this was a slimmed down, lighter version of the original which also benefitted from brighter screen resolution and longer battery life. By Nintendo's figures there had been 65.5 million units of the DS Lite sold up to September 2008, and it's still going strong, especially in the USA, so it adds up to a phenomenal success.

The new DSi games console is another step on in the series. Launched in Japan on 2nd October 2008 and the UK on 3rd April 2009 the DS DSi boasts several improvements on the DS Lite and one controversial omission - more on that below.

Improvements DS - DSi

• Two cameras, one on the front, one on the internal hinge


• Improved speaker quality


• SD card slot


• AAC audio player


• Five brightness settings instead of four

Drawbacks DS - DSi

• No Game Boy Advance cartridge slot - this makes it impossible to use accessories like the Rumble Pak and Guitar Hero grip, and to access saved data from GBA cartridges


• Battery life is only around 75% compared to the DS Lite on the lowest brightness setting