Nintendo unveils brand new DS

By Ellie Gibson Published 2 October, 2008

Bigger screens, SD slot, camera.

Nintendo has unveiled the next iteration of the DS at a press conference in Tokyo.

The DSi, as it's called, will have 3.25-inch screens - that's 17 per cent bigger than the current model. It will also feature a 0.3-megapixel camera.

You'll be able to take pictures with the DSi, save them to SD card and view them on your TV via the Wii. The GBA cartridge slot is being done away with.

The DSi will have a built-in browser, and you'll be able to download games - known as DSiWare - and store them on the SD. Some titles will be free, while others will cost either 200, 500 or 800 Nintendo points (GBP 1.70 / 4.25 / 6.80). There will be a special deal offering customers 1000 points which must be spent before March 2010 - but it's not clear yet what the terms are, or whether the deal will be available in Europe.

A separate DSi Shop selling downloadable software is also being launched. Customers will receive 1000 free points to spend at the shop

The handheld's audio capabilities have been improved - you can now adjust the pitch and playback of sound. This is designed to help with language study and improve the experience of listening to music, apparently.

Thanks, Kotaku.

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 (54) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • ChrisOTR #1 3 years ago

    Engadget's reporting the two screens are touchscreens! If so, it's a seriously lovely bit of kit, but they'll have the problem of different SKUs- which one do you develop for?

    Any news if they're both touch or not? If not, then it seems like a 'nice oddity but no thanks' for me.
    Edited by 1 at 02/10/08 @ 06:45

  • Agent_Llama #2 3 years ago

    Sounds lovely!

  • DDevil #3 3 years ago

    Meh, I don't think I'll both my arse buying this one. Unless some clever sausage cracks it and we can run emulators from the SD slot or something.

  • spookyzombie #4 3 years ago

    The article says that the camera is .3 megapixel. Is that supposed to read 3 million megapixel?

    Anyone heard about a possible UK release date?

  • superjag86 #5 3 years ago

    I think it's probably going to be 0.3 megapixel - which sucks!

  • Talha #6 3 years ago

    Sounds brilliant. Now if they only add a phone module to it ;-)

  • The_Inquisitor #7 3 years ago

    A nice and reasonable update, something to consider if you really need it, but not enough to make those who don't feel left out.

  • Brogan #8 3 years ago

    won't make me upgrade but nice if i lose the one i've got suppose.

  • Canyarion #9 3 years ago

    Yeah, like others said, it's a 0.3 and not a 3 megapixel camera. It's worse than my webcam.

    Also, you messed up while copy-pasting or something. You talk about the DSi Shop and the 1000 free points twice.

    It's weird, every site is telling something slightly different. Translation problems I guess.

  • Lovemoose #10 3 years ago

    Doh. I don't want to really give them any more of my cash, but my phat ds died over a year ago and I never got round to replacing it. This'll push me over the edge, I guess.

    Curse you, you Japanese Money-Hoovers.

  • covfan #11 3 years ago

    0.3 megapixel?

    The original Game Boy Camera was probably more than that!

  • X201 #12 3 years ago

    Any news on WPA support?

  • Cadence #13 3 years ago

    Does anyone here have a clue what they're talking about?

  • moggsy #14 3 years ago

    Is this another nail in the coffin for the high street game shop? To be fair, they've had it coming with them selling second hand games with gay abandon like they do.
    Edited by 1 at 02/10/08 @ 09:42

  • Limbo #15 3 years ago

    I'd let it slip as a typo on Eurogamers behalf, but both their source (Kotaku) and their source (Famitsu) Say .3 megapixel camera. Kotaku even clarify with the exact resolution of 640x480.

    And besides, SD card transfers not withstanding, 3 megapixels wouldn't do you much good on a DS-screen.
    Edited by 1 at 02/10/08 @ 09:50

  • moggsy #16 3 years ago

    @ Limbo

    My 2 year old mobi has a 3MP camera - not much use on the phones screen but great for viewing on a computer/TV. A 0.3 MP camera in this day an age is extremely under specified.

  • Suasexed #17 3 years ago

    It's made from matte plastic!* I shall be buying one of these for sure! Finally.

    * Well the black one is.

    DSiWare please include old Game Boy games to download!

    ...Oh it doesn't have a GBA slot? :-(

  • Suasexed #18 3 years ago

    Also if you check out the photos you'll see the DSi has TWO cameras. One next to the mic and the other on the lid... maybe the external camera is 3MP and the internal is 0.3MP.

  • Rpt81 #19 3 years ago

    No GBA slot means that things like Guitar Hero OT won't be backwards compatible. Unless there's a cunningly disguised "expansion" port in place of it. Of course, that's assuming that any original DS stuff is backwards compatible.

  • Nookyalar #20 3 years ago

    "Some titles will be free, while others will cost.]..[ it's not clear yet what the terms are, or whether the deal will be available in Europe."

    Just to confirm, the details for Europe are as follows: Dear European scum. Any titles that we eventually see fit to release to you will cost twice the Japanese price. UK-scum add another 15 percent, because we know enough of you mugs will still go for that.

  • Limbo #21 3 years ago

    @ Moggsy
    My thoughts exactly, actually. 640x480 is ridiculously outdated if you want to use the pictures anywhere else than the DS-screen. However, I Babelfish-translated the Famitsu-article on the DSi, and it clearly says 300,000 pixel camera. No more. :(

    @ Suasexed
    I suppse we can always hope. Though to be honest, if i want to take pictures in a decent resolution that are worth showing people, I'll stick with a real camera. I've never been one for all these multimedia devices that try to do everything. The poor state of the image sensors in most mobile phone cameras is the prime example of why it just doesn't work when it has to be mass marketed at a reasonable price.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #22 3 years ago

    On a Firefox tab, this page is titled "Comments - Nintendo unveils bra"

    Snurk!

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #23 3 years ago

    Worrying stats about severely curtailed battery life here:

    [link url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs .php?topic_id=26616527
    ]http://uk .gamespot.com/pages/forums/show...[/link]

    The quoted numbers are around a whopping 40% down on the Lite, and since the quoted figures for the Lite on that page are wildly optimistic, that suggests a troublingly low battery life for the DSi, maybe 3-4 hours if you're lucky at middling brightness.

  • Kropotkin #24 3 years ago

    I bet Activision are a bit peeved over this seeing as Guitar Hero: On Tour requires the GBA slot to work. Also what about the rumble pack? As for the god-awful camera that seems to have come from the original GB-Color I just don't know what Nintendo are thinking with this thing. Especially when you consider my newly bought Nokia N96 has a 5 MP camera with auto-focus and flash. This is one SKU I won't be touching with a 10 ft barge pole.

  • bitesize #25 3 years ago



    looks great - might be finally time to upgrade from my original fat edition (never bothered with a lite one).

    what sells it for me is the promise of downloadable games. hopefully we might get the ability to transfer VC stuff we've already downloaded on the wii onto the DS, via SD card. please nintendo, let me run super metroid on it!

  • LazyDan #26 3 years ago

    Methinks people are taking this a little bit too seriously. It's a gaming device, not a Digital-SLR. 0.3 megapixel is perfect for video chatting/webcamming on a portable device - taking pictures is just a throwaway extra that they had to include otherwise everyone would've flipped the tits bitching about that, and the only people who will use it are little Japanese girls taking pictures of their chihuahuas.

    If they ever decide to get fancy and have the DSi able to be used by Wii games as a webcam for the Wii over WiFi (like a wireless Xbox Live Vision camera) then 1.2mp would've been nice, but again, not essential by any means. I can tell my mate is mooning me just as well in 640x480 as in 1280 x 960 (1.2mp)

    I'm interested in whether the integrated browser will have flash support - if so then if Nintendo provide access to the mic and cam via Flash then we could see internet voice and video chat on the DS. Even better would be if they added that functionality themselves, but you know it's going to be gimped with friend codes if it's even allowed in.

    Battery life's a concern too. We'll see.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #27 3 years ago

    Until some clever sausage cracks it and we can run emulators from the SD slot or something

    Nintendo have decided to eradicate the market for DS hacking tools by just building in the SD card reader themselves!

  • FWB #28 3 years ago

    All seems like a total waste of time and money to me. The Lite is perfect. An upgrade should really be a new system.

  • Sycopat #29 3 years ago

    I'm tempted as I never upgraded from the original silver brick, and it is getting on a bit. However I think I may wait for the almost-inevitable-at-this-point DSphone (I'm actually suprised this doesn't seem to be able to function as a mobile. Although with an inbuilt browser and microphone...)

  • secombe #30 3 years ago

    Not much comment on DSiWare, could be awesome imo. DS has got to be reasonably easy/cheap to develop for, could become a great platform for games outside the publisher system.

  • MARKIV #31 3 years ago

    Regarding the camera, yes it is 0.3 mega pixels which is 640x480. All is explained here Megapixels explained !

    Does this DS have a CPU upgrade, as some of the graphics in the video don't look capable on the current DS. Nintendo don't obviously want to trump on about cross compatibilty on the DSi's first day. But I doubt the original DS can run any of the DSi's software.

    Updated:

    • Software Source
    Nintendo DSi: Software for Nintendo DS, Software for Nintendo DSi.
    Nintendo DS Lite: Software for Nintendo DS, Software for Game Boy Advance

    So their not cross compatible both ways. So how fast is the CPU, the DS was akin to a Nintendo 64, will this be akin to a GameCube? Will we see Luigi's Mansion, Wave Racer and Pikmin etc on the DSi, if so maybe I'm sold..

    Finally what with the camera being such low res, I can assume it's main reason is for a video chat system to be announced sometime soon.
    Edited by 2 at 02/10/08 @ 16:02

  • daz_john_smith #32 3 years ago

    I miss the GBA slot

  • aine #33 3 years ago

    i do too :( all i've used it for in about a year is kuru kuru kururin and memory for the browser, but still.

  • Vin #34 3 years ago

    0.3 megapixel?

    Are you fucking kidding me?

  • CallousB #35 3 years ago

    I doubt I'll bother with this update (unless there is some must have bit of software that uses the camera..which is doubtful).
    The camera doesn't really interest me, neither does the web browser. I was hoping the next update would be 3D screens.

    Edited by 1 at 02/10/08 @ 17:18

  • NonnyMouse #36 3 years ago

    A prediction for you - the camera is not for taking pictures, it's for motion detection - i.e. it is yet another whacky input device. You can wave at your games! Games can do face detection, smile detection! Your face or your home can be pasted into games! You guys counting pixels are fighting the wrong war. Nintendo don't do media, they do games... fewer pixels = reasonable chance of real-time processing.

  • Mr_Brown #37 3 years ago

    Even though I have a DS Original and upgraded to DS lite, I will definatly be upgrading again. It looks fantastic. Everything I want in a DS.

  • Cloudane #38 3 years ago

    I may be late to this piece of news but the DS'i' is pretty rubbish really; I expected a slim design DS without the GBA slot sitting at the bottom - instead we get a laughable 0.3 mega pixels camera built-in and a slightly bolder screen.

    The new PSP looks more appealing to me and I'm not even interested in that either.

  • InternetRed #39 3 years ago

    Regarding the camera, it could be like phones with two cams, one for pictures, one for video. I'm hoping anyway. I know it's not meant to be a digital camera, but it would be nice to know that if I forgot my camera, and my phone's charge is very low, I have something to take a picture with.

    The DSware stuff sounds good though.

  • Crowman #40 3 years ago

    Sod the camera, we've got 3 ds's in our house and the hinge has broken on all 3, lets hope they managed to beef it up a bit, especially when nintendo want 55 quid to repair it.

  • J.C #41 3 years ago

    a 0.3-megapixel camera. :/
    Nintendo really like flogging us old tech dont they.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #42 3 years ago

    P A N D O R A

  • elysrum #43 3 years ago

    Any idea whether Nintendo have updated the wireless networking to support 802.11g and WPA rather than WEP?

  • Brimmy6 #44 3 years ago

    TBH im not bothered about the camera as that is just something that they put in to please peeps that wud otherwise have bitched about it...

    what i wanna no is wheter it will have WPA support... if it does then i am getting it 4 sure cos i cant use my current ds online cos ov virgin medias stupid coding

    built in browser is pretty useful

    ne1 got ne idea 4 a Uk release date?

  • furrycheeky #45 3 years ago

    Not as good as I hoped. Lots of old school technology(small cameras, old wifi protocols etc) and not much immediate Nintendo brilliance and wow factor new ideas.

  • clouiseh #46 3 years ago

    Hurray for not being able to play Guitar Hero: On Tour or the upcoming decades games.
    Or being able to get Pokémon from Pal Park on Diamond & Pearl (and eventually Platinum).

  • miiiguel #47 3 years ago

    I want this. I was about to buy a DS as I'll be doing a lot of traveling in the upcoming months due to the configuration of our disaster recovery site in a remote city where there's not much to do (besides watching the milky cows...), and I do get unconfortable by using missus pink one. Too bad this will take foreve to reach west.

  • CallousB #48 3 years ago

    0.3 megapixels does sound rubbish from a photo printing point of view...but on the flipside it's also about the same resolution that the Wii outputs.....so I'd hazard a guess that Nintendo's intention is to encourage people to take pics with the DS and then view them on the Wii. It's probably a drive for greater integration of the platforms.
    Edited by 1 at 03/10/08 @ 13:33

  • iago71 #49 3 years ago

    Never know - They might eventually make it into a phone and PDA! LOL Nintentofone DS!

  • secombe #50 3 years ago

    Loving the negative megapixel comments, I wonder if people realise how susceptible to marketing they actually are.

    I assume they think their 6mp camera phone will be the same as my 6mp Nikon D50, as well.
    Edited by 1 at 04/10/08 @ 12:09

  • spookyzombie #51 3 years ago

    Eh, no. We just know that 0.3 megapixels is shit for something that's going to be released in 2008.

  • bonker #52 3 years ago

    0.3megapixels is plenty - what counts is the quality of the 'lens' etc and the compression used.

    Most 0.3MP cameras etc were bollocks back in the day due to poor quality lens and rubbish compression etc. You would hope that if the rest of the supporting h/w is up to snuff then it should be fine.

  • dredd97 #53 3 years ago

    So turning the DS from a portable games console, into a jack of all trades master of none device, is just continuing the new nintendo philosophy of 'dumbing down' the games market. Their effectively turning the DS into the ultimate casual gamers device, not designed for one specific market, but a aiming their scatter gun at as many different markets as possible, hoping one will stick..

    removing the GBA slot basically rules out rumble packs, and guitar hero, so what are nintendo saying here? the DS is going to loose it's gaming crown, but will no doubt be a big seller, all they need to do now, is add the phone.

  • SuperBas #54 3 years ago

    They'll have probably worked on breaking compatibility with the R4 et all. If so, not interested.