Nintendo unveils big-screen DSi

By Ellie Gibson Published 29 October, 2009

Now you get 4.2 inches to play with.

Nintendo has confirmed a new version of the DSi is on the way, complete with bigger screens.

The DSi LL, as it's titled, will feature 4.2-inch screens. It will come complete with two different sizes of stylus, one long and one short. You'll also get two brain training games and a dictionary pre-installed.

A choice of colours will be available - Dark Brown, Wine Red and Natural White. You can take a look at the new handheld over on the Nintendo Japan website.

The DSi LL will launch in Japan on 21st November, just over one year since the original DSi hit shop shelves there. It's priced at ¥20,000 (£135 / €150).

There's no word yet on European launch plans, but seeing as we only got the DSi in April there might be a bit of a wait.

'Nintendo unveils big-screen DSi' Screenshot 1

The Nintendo DSi LL.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mkreku #1 2 years ago

    Why though? The DS's saving grace is that the screens are so small that it smooths out the jaggies..

  • Santino #2 2 years ago

    for older people who may have trouble with the current screens

  • chukcyQ #3 2 years ago

    I already have a thick 6.5 incher.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 2 years ago

    I was just about to comment on pretty much the same thing. The resolution just isn't high enough to justify such a big screen. I'm very happy with my DSLite but I didn't get a DSi because I thought the screens would be too big and the image quality would suffer because of the bigger pixels.

    Oh well, I really need to see one in action to see wether it really matters or not.

  • spekkeh #5 2 years ago

    Oh I see, this is just an intricate ploy of Ellie to have us all discuss penis sizes. Well she'll never know mine is 19 inch.

  • DDevil #6 2 years ago

    IT PRINTS MONEY!

  • wizlon #7 2 years ago

    Surely it should have been called Nintendo DSi Senior. What does the LL stand for, Large LCD, Lengthy Laughs? Suggestions please?

  • TILT #8 2 years ago

    Battery life has been improved from the DSi, according to the spec page... for example, from 6-9 hours at medium brightness to 9-11 hours. It weighs 100 g more?! 314 g for the DSi LL vs. 214 g for the DSi. That's quite a jump. Surprisingly, it still seems to use the same AC adaptor.

  • DaemonSpawn #9 2 years ago

    Aren't Nintendo's consoles supposed to be simple and accessible?
    I'm kinda technogeek, but already don't quite get which of the DSx to buy if I want a DS - cheap DS light, DSi or this new thing. I mean it's not like with PSPs - they all got pretty much the same hardware, and any game is fully compatible with any handheld.

    Knowing Nintendo I think they must have done something to fight aliasing - e.g. simple upscale filter (there shouldn't be a problem if you remember how weak original DS hardware is) though it won't be of much help with 2D.

    And by the way - don't they have regions on DSi? Now that's simple and accessible!
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/09 @ 08:49

  • gav_and_the_gavster #10 2 years ago

    I just want a bigger D-Pad! (Or are they holding this back for the DSi-i-i XL v9.18g?)

  • Lukree #11 2 years ago

    Interacting with touch screen must be more precise with bigger screen, but don't see too much other pros here without bigger resolution.

  • brod #12 2 years ago

    - Anyone know a good (read: cheap) japanese import site that will be stocking this?

    @Lukree: Saves your eyesight. Starting at tiny screens up close is no good long term.

    @DaemonSpawn: The DSi LL will obsolete the current DSi IMO, mainly because it will be the same price and most people think bigger = better.
    As I understand it there won't be any need for upscaling because these screens will have the same amount of pixels, they'll just be larger.
    Edited by 2 at 29/10/09 @ 10:41

  • el_pollo_diablo #13 2 years ago

    I think it's a fantastic idea to cater for older players. Why should they miss out? Nasty colour though.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #14 2 years ago

    That shit is iLL, yo.

    respec.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #15 2 years ago

    A choice of colours will be available - Dark Brown, Wine Red and Natural White

    Surely they missed a trick by not naming the dark brown colour 'Wenge'...

  • Ignatius_Cheese #16 2 years ago

    Nintendo's current strategy regarding hardware updates reminds me of The Hudsucker Proxy.

    They certainly need to do more than improving the hula hoop to win back my interest...

  • wizbob #17 2 years ago

    I hope they have included some hardware to do bilinear filtering because the 3d games are going to look nasty on the bigger screen.

  • Incarta #18 2 years ago

    Flooding their market much? It didn't work for Sega...

    Not that you can really compare the early 90s console market to todays handheld market. That would be silly. But still, too many new and rehashed versions of your own products will do more harm then good.

  • DaDon123456 #19 2 years ago

    Man I wanted to get one, but I think think this DS will be too big!

  • smelly #20 2 years ago

    >Flooding their market much?

    This will be the DS's 4th revision.

    The same number of revisions that the psp has had.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #21 2 years ago

    @mkreku
    Do old Japanese people really care about jaggies?

    Oh, and those gamers who want Nintedno to put western gamers first, maybe they will when we quit the whinging finicky opinions. Meanwhile.... Panasonic, Denon and Toyota have announced new models for next year, the bastards.