Iwata: DSi not competing with cell phones, iPod

Pointless? PSP 3000 says "Hi".

Yeah, the DSi isn't meant to replace your camera. The cameras on the DSi are only meant to toy around with and for new gameplay opportunities.

I agree that the GB micro is awesome to play on, but I'm not sure if I regret the $100 purchase or not.

Because people on the internet just cant wrap their fucking minds around having 2 products co-exist with each other and if your product doesn't follow Mr. Bleszinski's "3 B's of Product Development" then it can just fuck right off

Yeah, exactly. Did anyone who says otherwise read the article - or any of the DSi feature descriptions? This is obviously a toy - not a me-too multimedia device.

Clearly DSi can't compete as an ordinary camera. It's a camera for playing with - the whole point of it is the filters and silly stuff.

Similarly the music player doesn't really compete with a phone (although at least it has a 3.5mm headphone jack). Unlike the camera, it will probably do that job kind of okay if you want (though I doubt it has great navigation for your 32GB of songs) - but most people wouldn't want that since they don't carry the DSi everywhere with them so, again, the silly extra features are the point of it.

If you think you'll quickly get bored of playing with the camera and music features, you may well be right :) Certainly I think I will, but the system will still be worth getting for downloadable games.

But regardless, this is clearly not competing with a digital camera or music player or phone.

To put it another way - if you want to take pictures of somebody you'll use some other device. This is for if you want to take pictures of somebody and then draw a moustache on them.

@Sam

Most camera phones have the same abilities as the DSi, they allow you to paint on them, apply silly filters, etc. What the DSi's does is nothing new, or even necessary. If it's used in games, then fair enough.. But I find it hard to believe it's something that will ever be used.

The DSi is exactly what you said it's not, it's a pointless hardware revision, a "mee too" device attempting to grab the iPhone/pointless application market. They want people to think, "I don't need an iPhone, my DS can already do most of that stuff".

I'm sure it'd be a decent music player, if it actually supported any reasonable formats, but I'm not going to convert my entire music library to a format that nothing else supports, just because Nintendo don't want to pay to liscence .mP3.

If they were actually to include things like a decent camera, decent music support and I'll say it.. a phone, then it would instantly replace the other products I use for those features. As it is.. I struggle to see the point of this, other to appeal to the stupid.

"I'm not going to convert my entire music library to a format that nothing else supports"

you mean besides the most popular music player (you know, the one Nintendo is trying to replace) and everything made by Sony?

Speaking of Sony, even when you removed graphical capabilities the DS was still way behind the PSP. You couldn't update the firmware, it had no store for downloadable games, you needed a RAM cart to use the web browser, etc. Look at how much the DSi changes those, updatable firmware, DSiWare, added RAM,etc.

The DSiWare store is nowhere close to being the festering pile of crap that is the iPod App Store. Everything published so far has been by Nintendo, there is no SDK available for the general public, etc. And so far it just seems to be more for productivity. Sure, Apple likes to tout "look! It can calculate your tip!", but those apps are the few shining nuggets buried beneath the waves of Fart Pianos and Jelly Cars. Giving users the ability to download micro versions of games for a lot less than they would pay for the full thing at retail (ie Chotto Panel de Pon [AKA Planet Puzzle League] for $5 compared to $30 for the retail when the only difference seems to be the lack of multiplayer) is a good idea because it no longer requires the player to have the cartridge with them at all times.Then you have things like the map of rail lines where you can add your own photos to it (and I believe you can see photos other people have added) which I'm sure helps if you're a Japanese citizen trying to travel around in an unfamiliar city

as for camera games, you already have one in 3 times Nintendo has added things to the DSiWare store

http://ds.ign.com/dor/objects/14295137/wario-ware-dsi-ware-games-1/videos/wario_dsi_b_preview_020209.html

Moptimus

You can say what you like about the iPhone/iTouch and it's available software but I can say with 100% certainty that there is literally an application for anything and everything you can think of. In all honesty it also has some of the best mobile games at the best prices. My issue with most DS & PSP games is the cost of those titles. Not all of them are over $20 but most of the good ones are indeed that high in price. The majority of iPhone/iTouch games are a maximum of $10. Also, this is a new device and we are starting to see more big time game developers support the platform which will only lead to better mobile experiences. Finally, I would like to say it's an Apples to Oranges comparison because the iPhone/iTouch isn't a dedicated gaming device but a phone with gaming capability.

@Snowblind: My cameraphone doesn't let you paint on the image and I don't see it as likely that 'most' cameraphones do - how could they, since most cameraphones don't have touchscreens? Similarly, I'm pretty sure most cameraphones don't have the cat-ears face recognition stuff.

My cameraphone has six tedious filters (negative, b/w, sepia, etc). That's IT. I don't think this is a particularly less-amusing-than-average cameraphone either - just your regular phone from a year or eighteen months back.

I'm sure you can download an iphone app which lets you play with your photos to a similar extent, maybe even the builtin camera does, but the iphone isn't 'most cameraphones' - by far.

@sam: Actually, the average Japanese cell phone (I'm like a broken record on this, I know) comes with all kinds of silly photo filters and crap to play around with, especially since Purikura is such a huge craze there. They LOVE silly pictures of themselves. So I'd say that the DSi is just catering to that already established market interest in most Japanese consumers, not that it is a great innovation.

And, I am sure Nintendo is hoping that the DSi will appeal to a wider demographic in the U.S. with the addition of new features (females). I just wouldn't confuse it for an "amazing step forward" in terms of handheld technology.

"The DSiWare store is nowhere close to being the festering pile of crap that is the iPod App Store." - Moptimus


Dude, please. That's the most biased, inaccurate statement I've seen here. The iPhone AppStore kicks ass in so many ways, Nintendo is going to have a difficult time even coming CLOSE to what the AppStore offers, or what it's achieved. For starters, Nintendo will likely make it more difficult to deal with - right off the bat, the iPhone isn't only WiFi, it can pull apps down on either an edge or 3G network, something the DSi doesn't have, so you can't just grab an app from nearly anywhere - not a bid deal, but a slight difference from the "Oh that's cool, I'll buy that right now" thing that happens when your friend shows you a cool app on the iPhone.

Also, right now the apps for the iPhone work on all versions of the iPhone and Touch (excepting of course, specific apps to the phone features), where as the DSi is a new revision to a family of devices - a hugely popular family, but if you want to use the DSiShop, you need to buy a new DSi, so they're starting from square one in that respect - the huge base of DS devices are not able to take part in the DSiShop.

I'd place a safe bet that Nintendo is going to be limiting what's on there even more than Apple regulates theirs. And I doubt the DSi market is going to be as willing to throw down 1, 2, 5 dollars as often as the iPhone/Touch market does.

I understand your sentiment, you're hung up on fart apps and you've decided there's nothing much more there - but in fact there are immensely powerful and useful apps that are now essential to me on my iPhone. And more and more games every week.

In fact, the smart move here for Nintendo would be to port games like Nintendogs, Mario Cart, Animal Crossing, Brain Age, etc., over to the iPhone platform, get them on the AppStore, and make even MORE money, especially if they feel the hardware isn't really in competition anyway.

I just can't see the stars aligning for the DSi's application store like they did for the iPhone AppStore.

640x480, actually. 600x800 would look silly, anyways (the common PC monitor resolution is 800x600, btw). :P

Personally, a support for multiple formats (MP3, AAC, WMA, and OGG at least) would be great. Its limited file type support certainly suggests it isn't meant to compete with dedicated PMPs.

Nintendo knows how to appeal to the younger kids. It's really what they have always done well and this is just another example of them knowing who their user base really is.

Actually, I see the iPhone as being an amazing feat not because of it's features per say (which, like you said, compared to some cell phones is quite lacking) but because of the App Store and all the games that are available for it on the cheap.

At the end of the day, because of the App Store, I always have a gaming machine in my pocket. And while I love my consoles, and while I'm not a handheld gamer typically, the iPhone definitely gets the most play time. It's kinda like what the NGage and to a lesser extent, the PSP, wanted to be, but couldn't really get there.

@Orion: I wasn't meaning to put down the iPhone. Rather, I wanted to point out how silly it would be to assume the DSi is meant to compete with it or other cell phones.

In terms of Apps, I'd still say the iPhone is lacking for Japanese consumers, especially in the games department. Japanese cell phones have amazing game libraries and I'd say the average Japanese person doesn't care about the cheapness of Apps, since they're quite willing to dish out several hundred dollars equivalent for a phone, then at least over a hundred or so per month for their ridiculous services (TV, internet, e-reading, RPGs).

Anyway, I just think it's silly to assume that the DSi is attempting to compete with any cell phone merely because it has the addition of basic multimedia functionality, since it would take much more than that to replace someone's cell phone or iPhone. It's meant to be a gaming device.

I think they've stated in the past that they subscribe to the "Blue Ocean Strategy"

I agree that it feels like a ripe opportunity to put some more graphical oomph in the machine, but it just doesn't feel like the right time to start dealing with a new console. A lot more could be gotten out of the DS as-is, especially since Nintendo has seemed so lethargic about developing for it lately (though that applies equally to Wii)

Main reason why I'm not dishing out the money for a DSi. I already have all the multimedia functionality I would want on my DS, and I sure as hell don't need a low-powered camera toy.

Nah, they just like to hate on Nintendo because they don't make "mature games for mature gamers like myself."

You go for color over substance? Good game plan...>_>

why isnt there a u in colour?;_;
and not over substance,I just like to match.