DSi – First Take April 3, 2009
Posted by Chaim Gartenberg in : First Look/Reviews, Video Games , trackback
The Nintendo DSi
We here at TeenTechBlog happened to be lucky enough to get our hands on a brand new Nintendo DSi (which we wrote about before here). So here’s my quick first take [with some notes sprinkled in]: (full review and comparison to DS and DS Lite coming over the weekend.)
Well, after initial setup, I tried out a few things:
Cameras: Cool use of the two camera system (should be interesting to see where games go with this.) Camera effects range from cool (color switcher and compare faces) to standard (distortion and doodling.) Video Chat seems like a likely possibility.
Music: The DSi read the music off my SD Card from my phone just fine (I have like 400 songs there – real useful). App’s definitely not designed for heavy duty music use, but it can play music, which is a start. More stymieing is Nintendo’s lack of (Note: DSi can play iTunes Plus songs and the audio from .mp4 movies). However, the audio effects and recording stuff is pretty fun to use, and seems to be more what the app is designed for. Verdict: hang onto your iPod for serious music listening, but definitely take a look at the audio effects. (also, it seems like the tech is there for a video app, so maybe Nintendo will add one.)
Games: Waiting to see some DSi specific stuff that takes advantage of the cameras and such. Until then, it plays like a DS Light. If there’s anything on the store that uses the new stuff, I’ll post about it.
Store: Basically Wii store, but mini. Complete with the same music. Had to software update to access it though.
Browser: Had to download from online store. Looks like an improved version of DS browser. Works well, and has a cool use of the 2 screens – top shows zoomed out whole page, bottom zooms in on a block that you can move around. And they can be switched.
Closing comments: Compared to the other DS’s, its nice step forward. Should be cool to see where this goes in the coming months. It’s not as mature a product as the iPod Touch, but it’s not supposed to be; first and foremost, it’s a Gameboy – designed with fun in mind. And in that regard, the DSi succeeds rather well – the photo effects and music effects are fun to use – maybe not so practical, but its a Gameboy. And in the end, its fun.
Charger: While I’m sure there’s a technical reason for it, Nintendo’s decided to make another new charger for the DSi. Aside from the original DS and the GBA SP sharing a charger, they seem to have abandoned the “standard charger across the devices idea”, which is a shame, as it was a good one.
Anything specific about it you’d like to know? Drop it in the comments.
Full review, along with a Battle Royale of the DS’s coming over the weekend.
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