Report: Nintendo updating DSi with bigger screens this year

by JC Fletcher on Oct 26th 2009 6:41PM

The Japanese Nikkei newspaper is reporting that, later this year, Nintendo will introduce a new version of the DSi that replaces the system's 3.25" screens with luxurious 4" screens. The new system will replace the current DSi and will retain the ¥18,900 ($205.50) price tag. According to GameLife's summary of the article, the screen size has been increased with older gamers in mind. The Nikkei article states that it'll be out in Japan sometime this year, but that plans for other countries have yet to be made.

We're inclined to believe Nikkei when it makes predictions like these. It's previously made shocking claims like the announcement of a DS system with a camera and music playback functions, and a Nintendo/Dentsu video service.

Update: Nikkei has now put the article online.

[Via NeoGAF]

Source

Tags: DS, dsi, nikkei, Nintendo, nintendo-dsi, rumor

Reader Comments (98)

I call bullshit. Why not just make the DS2? Obviously, to milk more money out of our collective money teat. If you has a DS Lite or DSi, DO NOT GET. IS NOT COOL.

Is it worth updating a DS phat to a DSi? Are the downloadable games any good?

I got neither, but if I happen to get one (probably soon), I would much rather get a Lite seeing as how there's a whole catalog of Advance games, and from what I hear, the downloadable games aren't worth getting the DSi.

I think it's worth updating a phat to a DSi. Then again, I never play GBA games and I think that the DSiWare has potential. Also, the hand cramps aren't as bad for me on the DSi as the phat.

From the Phat to the DSi, yes, it is worth it.

DSiWare has very nice games an apps, like the Flipnote app or the Art Academy app, and games like the Art Style series, March of the Minis, Dragon Quest Wars, Mighty Flip Champs... and soon, Shantae!

Dr. Scientist-

I was very happy that I upgraded my ph4t. The other day I was using one for Pearl and one for Platinum (Pokemon trading!) and I didn't know how I survived/loved such a bulky and ungainly handheld.

The difference was night and day for me.

@WREturns:

Is the "potential" a big enough incentive to give up a whole hoard of already-proven games?

Well, I just don't play GBA games. I'm not trying to start a fight, that's just my preference. I also don't care about the PS1 capabilities of my PS3.

Oh, and the Phat has a shitty screen compared to the Lite/DSi.
Not only is it smaller, the colour is duller too.

@Dr. Scientist:
If you like your phat and like to play GBA games, then buying a DSi for the software is, arguably, a bad idea.

Unless, of course, you think you'd enjoy using your DSi to download clocks and calculators. Oh, and card games you used to play on your Ti-83.

Karmaghost

You know... just because there are some clocks at the store, it doesn't mean that he has to buy the clocks, and it doesn't mean that clocks are the only apps available. There are only 3 clocks and calculators for purchase, and he can skip them to buy games:

Art Style: AQUITE
Mighty Flip Champs!
Pop Plus: Solo
Art Style: PiCTOBiTS
Flipnote Studio
Art Style: INTERSECT
Paper Plane
Pyoro
Art Style: CODE
Dr. Mario Express
Real Football 2009
Art Style: NEMREM
Asphalt 4: Elite Racing
Dragon Quest Wars
Sudoku 150! For Challengers
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
Art Style: KUBOS
Art Style: BOXLIFE
Sujin Taisen Number Battles
Thorium Wars

When you recommend Live Arcade or PSN games, do you said to people: "Why bother with Live Arcade or PSN... Live Arcade only has Yaris" Of couse not, you skip the bad games... you should the same with any other service.

Those games I mentioned has an average score of 8 and up.

Fernando's post looks almost exactly like the spammer posts. A little intro, then a big long list. Sometimes they are both even whited out the same.

Yeah I have zero interest in ever playing a GBA game on my DS. 4" screens sound droolingly awesome. My DS Lite is fine, but who knows, maybe down the road I'd upgrade to a 4".

this spammer has a sense of humor.

Dude, upgrading from a Phat to the DSi is AWESOME!!! The screens are SOOOO much brighter and clearer, and the size difference, while small on paper, is really noticeable. And the added music and camera features are nice, as is the DSi Store, but I don't really use any of these all that often. I never really got into any GBA games (just used my GBA SP for Gameboy games :P) so losing the slot is not an issue for me. I'll admit, I still use my Phat when out and about (that thing really is a TANK, and is a bit more ergonomic) but when I'm just chillin', I use the DSi all the time!

Those are some low standards if that list is all 8's and better. Some aren't even games.

"Yeah I have zero interest in ever playing a GBA game on my DS. 4" screens sound droolingly awesome. My DS Lite is fine, but who knows, maybe down the road I'd upgrade to a 4"."

What

For fuck's sake, the DS needs SMALLER screens. You can already count pixels on the Lite.

No more fucking refreshes, I want to hear news about the successors to the DS and PSP now!

Agreed. It's time to see a new device and not another rehash with small improvements to get people to hand over their money like sheep.

In before DSi+

2009: DSi
2010: DSi+
2011: DSi+!
2012: DSi+!:FTW
2013: No more DS'es, seeing as how the world won't exist.

2009: DSi
2010: DSi+
2010.5: WiiSi
2011: WiiSi+
2011.5: WiiSi+i
2011.75: WiiSi+i+camera
2012: WiiSi+i+camera (now available in pink)

Damn it guys, your revealing all of Nintendo's future plans!!

AND IT WILL BE DIGITAL ONLY!!!!

No, then it would be a smaller screen.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!
Jesus Christ, even as a joke, that was terrifying.

Well, I really don't see a reason to complain... it will be just a DSi with bigger screens, but the most important thing: same price.

It's great for people who still hasn't bought a DS system, and it's not a big deal for people who already has one.

My guess is that by now, producing a 4" screen is way cheaper than producing a 3.25" screen. Just like how the 20GB HDD on the original 360 was more expensive to produce than the new 60Gb HDD.

What about the res? Is it STILL 256 x 192? Cause on a screen almost as big as the PSPs..... That's VERY bad and will look like crap. Needs 800*600, okay okay, I know Nintendo will never do that, but how about 320 x 240 AT-LEAST or 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 for maximum pwnage. But w/e, if it not at-least 320*240 then I truly believe it will be a piece of shit.

If it makes the system overall bigger, that's bad. If it's the same size then I agree, that's great, no problem, etc - oh, as long as it doesn't further reduce battery life.

It would be nice to see doubled resolution but that would be DS2, not a no-extra-cost 'update'.

Before anyone gets on their high-horse, this update is to accommodate elderly folks who also want to get a DS system but are unable to read small text. This is not a "LET'S MAKE MORE MONEY" type of refresh, it is simply to help those who have difficulty reading small text, and you don't HAVE to buy it.

It's going to be priced the same too, so stop your bitching.

Are you for real? So the one with bigger speakers due out next year is just to accommodate folks that are hard of hearing? I mean, I'm a pretty big Nintendo fanboy but that's some pretty amazing spin, man.

Can't wait for DSiBraille and DSi-- --- .-. ... .

PS That's Morse for "Morse".

Oh man, how shitty is it gonna be when Nintendo becomes so casual that you don't even have to see the game to play it? When that happens, I'm quitting Nintendo.

@WREturns

It's not as crazy as you might think. Every time I show my mom something on my DS, she complains about not being able to see it, being farsighted and all. Yet I know there are at least a few games she would want to try on it, if she could see it. And noting how the DS's demographic went way up after Brain Age ect. ect...

@T-Patch:

Ah, thank you, finally, someone with a sensible brain!

The majority of you just don't see the point of this because you actually can LITERALLY see just fine. There are those folks, albeit elderly, who don't have vision as good as yours.

Doesn't even have to be Elderly gamers. I'm 25 and my eyesight is CRAP. Moving up from the DS Lite to the DSi was a marked improvement for me, I can only imagine how much better it would be with even larger screens.

(Yes I wear contacts/glasses, yes I still have trouble with my eyesight)

Excellent thinking man. Eventually I'd imagine the smaller screen sku would be phased out.

Have you people all forgotten that the GBA and GameBoy Colour both had smaller screens than the DS and NOBODY COMPLAINED?!

I expect these sort of rapid fire hardware updates from Apple, not Nintendo.

=|

-looks at my japanese DSI-oh you...i'll never trade you 8D

C'mon guys. What did you expect? Nintendo doesn't have a new doo-hickey for the Wii coming out this holiday so what's the next best thing?

A new, proverbial, "it prints money" DSi of course!

How will they fit the screen into the dsi?

That was exactly my immediate reaction to the rumor. The screens on the DSi are already really close to the edges of the casing. How would bigger screens even fit? Are they really willing to sacrifice some of the portability aspect for bigger screens? And, of course, there is the fact that the pixels would just be huge.

Is it going to be the DS iLite? So they can get the Apple crowd to convert?

DSi Heavy, rather. This move defies conventional logic, and whenever Nintendo does that, they seem to make quite a bit of money off it.

This is bullshit, I just bought a DSi.

Yeah, me too, meh. Well, even if one did come out this year (really? There's what, two months left in the year?) in Japan, it would probably be another year before it got to the US and it's not like it adds faster/more hardware like the DSi did. I mean, I'd be pissed if this were true but I think the DSi's screens are already big enough.

Someone will always have just bought a DSi.

Still have my DS Phat... and I'm happy.
Can't really play it in the sunlight and my stylus is lost and gone forever, but I still love her.

This will teach you - next time just hold out as long as possible.

Ditto here. And I'd love some larger screens.

Actually, design-wise, I still have some gripes about the DSi. I still don't think any of the subsequent revisions have as good a D-pad as the Phat. But the screens are (obviously) nice. But Nintendo really does need to stop with the hardware revisions.

That being said, at least it's not a PSP Go.

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Report: Nintendo updating DSi with bigger screens this year

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