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)

Well, at least it'll make the touch-screens more precise.
Pretty daft and unnecessary though, no way I'll get one with my current DSi.

Umm...why?

Seems like a waste compared to the amount of gamers over 50; I just see it selling along the same amount as the original as it is made for a specific crowd.

Nintendo, just give us your next handheld. No, not this one. The real next one.

((From a marketing standpoint, however, this new DSi is damn good work.))

I upgraded my Phat to a Lite, and that's that. I wont be upgrading again.

I've upgraded my phat to... nothing. So, this might be a good upgrade.

I hope they put some decent cameras in it this time.

@Fernando: I'd still rather pick up Metroid Fusion, Advance Wars, etc... (I don't know any others off the top of my head right now)...

FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING REPLY SYSTEM SOMEONE FIX THIS SHIT

Well, of couse... those games are full retail games (hard to get now... stores don't care GBA anymore), and DSiWare is obviously a service for smaller games, kinda like the PSP Minis.

But if you don't have currently a GBA system (GBA, SP, Micro) then a DS Lite will be better for you. I have an original GBA and a GBA Micro (very pretty, I have the Aniversary Edition), so, I really don't care for a GBA port on my DS systems, but it's great for people who doesn't have a GBA.

And I recommned you Metroid: Zero Mission over Fusion. Metroid is actually my favorite series ever, and I think Zero Mission is an excellent game... it's definitely on my Metroid top 3 (Metroid Prime 1, Super Metroid and Zero Mission, with no particular order).

I sense great anger in you...

I sense Tourettes.

The lack of a GBA slot is my only problem with the DSi. I have Doom II, Metroid Fusion, and Pokemon LeafGreen for the GBA, and they're awesome. Even though the DSi is better than the lite in every other way, if I were to buy one right now it would have to be the lite.

4" screen? TWO 4"" screens?

That's pretty vast.

With neither nintendo or sony showing any signs of legitimately pushing forward the handheld market instead of dragging out the same platform year after year, I wish microsoft would enter the handheld market. Even if they ended up having hardware failures and a lack of a good portable catalog, I feel like if they shook up the market with some actual progress in any way it would help nintendo and sony to actually make some improvements. A 4" screen, but still with a horrible resolution and sub-par graphics? The DS is loads of fun but I feel like Nintendo is not living in the year 2009.

I wish Sega would enter the portable market again. This time, with advances in battery technology, they'd be sure to have success.

Right?

Damn, I wish I had a Sega Nomad. What an awesome achievement to have a portable console that just plays games from home consoles. Off to craigslist I go.

Good luck. I've got one and it's awesome, but the thing sucks batteries like no other. Make sure you get one with the battery pack, otherwise it's useless. You actually need an add-on AA battery pack, then there's the rechargable battery pack (which are usually dead, as the cells have decayed) which is optional.

Buh, only two on my local craigslist and neither of them have battery packs. One of them doesn't even come with an AC adapter! I guess I'll be fine with my regular genesis for now.

Seriously? This is a company that repackaged a slightly more powerful Gamecube and paraded it around as next-gen in 2006 and you're worried Nintendo isn't living in 2009.

Nintendo isn't even living in 2003. They're probably stuck in some alternate reality where a N64 has two screens and is portable. Oh, and prints money.

But dammit if I'm not a Nintendo fanboy (I'm still playing Wind Waker forever).

What about the battery life? If the new DSi will use the same battery as the current one, the battery life will be cut shorter even further due to the bigger screen. The current DSi has a shorter battery life than the DSL due to the same factor :(

The DSi's battery is smaller then the DS phat battery which is smaller then the DS lite battery

only fools would fall for this one. i almost got a ds lite, so then i waited and here comes DSi, now another DSi.. The history of nintendo has made me backed down. The king of peripherals and ridiculous upgrades.

If this is true, that is the stupidest shit...they will completely fuck everyone who actually bought a DSi and downloaded any DSiWare. At the moment all DSiWare is tied to the one system only and cannot be moved. If your system breaks, you have to send it to them and they will credit you the points to rebuy your stuff. I have a ton of shit on mine thanks to the great Pepsi Rockband where I got basically every DSiWare game for about $10 bucks (thanks ebay and pepsi) haha. Hopefully if it is true, they will work out some kind of transfer program (maybe with their club nintendo account linking or something?).

How does it completely fuck you over? Your DSi games still work on your DS, and there aren't any new features in the larger screened version that stop new games from being just as good on your DSi. The only difference is that new purchasers will get the added benefit of a bigger screen. Are you really willing to drop $170 on a new handheld that doesn't do anything new? If so, it's kind of petty to complain about not keeping your $10 worth of downloads. It doesnt affect you at all, so stop saying it fucks you over.

It is hard to Microsoft to share the market with all these company. Now even apple wants a piece of the handheld gaming market, so there is very little chance for Microsoft to enter the market and make the profits. Further more, Majority of the Microsoft gaming profit is from the North America, and the North America market is generally not as interested in handheld gaming as the people in Asian; therefore, it is quite a risk for Microsoft to enter the handheld market, and it is smarter to think twice.

I've been considering buying a DSi - I guess I'll have to wait to see how this pans out before I convince myself again that it is pointless to upgrade when I've already bought a total of 4 DS systems so far.

Still waiting for the new DS with Tegra that will hopefully come in the near future.

Hence why I stopped buying Nintendo products.

Why? Because they are offering a bigger screen for the same price?

No, because year after year they rehash a product with minor improvements, and being the nintendo fanboys that they are, people buy them, which gives Ninty the incentive to keep doing it. It's a vicious cycle. Apple does the same damn thing.

Really?

Lets see... this gen, Sony has done this:

- Phat PS3 with BC.
- Phat PS3 without BC.
- PS3 Slim.
- PS3 systems with different colors (silver, red, metal, white).

- PSP-1000
- PSP-2000
- PSP-3000
- PSP Go (more expensive than the other revisions).

And Nintendo:

- A single Wii version.
- They just released a black Wii, after 3 years.

- DS
- DS Lite
- DSi
- And soon, this new rumored DSi with bigger screens (for the same price as the regular DSi).

OH and while you're at it don't forget
-Game Boy
-Game Boy Pocket
-Game Boy Color
-Game Boy Advance
-Game Boy Advance SP
-Game Boy Micro
I mean why not go all the way with it

You realize the Game Boy basically had a 10 year lifespan, though, right?

Come on, if it was just another fucking color, you wouldn't bitch about it. It's not a replacement.

Oh, well played, Nintendo. Well played INDEED.

Every time I start to even THINK about a DS, you come out with a new model, but never have I been SO close, and here you go again.

You almost had me, you magnificent bastards!

To be honest, I'm not sure that such an upgrade would really be so hot- there is already a noticeable quality difference/pixelation in the upscale to 3.25in. It's not bad, or all that ugly, but on 4in, it might be.

FUCK YOU NINTENDO.

I don't understand all the backlash this is getting. It's not like the move from the DS to the DSi where some games and features aren't available on the DSlite, it's just a bigger screen, so if you already have one it doesn't affect you at all, if you don't, it's just one more reason to buy. They're improving their product without locking old customers out, and you guys complain? Personally, I'd like them to cut the bullshit and make a DS 2, but I don't understand how this minor change is getting so much negativity around it.

Maybe because people are tired of the "Same console, yet ever-so-slightly different"-approach and want an actually new console for once?

Technology keeps advancing and what do they add? bigger screens, i can hardly contain my excitement, is that all the innovators at Nintendo can come up with?

"Technology keeps advancing and what do they add? bigger screens, i can hardly contain my excitement, is that all the innovators at Nintendo can come up with?"

It's not supposed to be an innovation. You treat it like one, because it was featured on Joystiq. But it's the same thing as introducing a new color: now we'll have a white DSi, a black DSi, a pink DSi (I think), a red DSi (in China lolol) and a DSi with slightly bigger screens. What seems to be the problem? Nintendo is working on DS2 (with fucking TEGRA HOW COOL IS THAT) independently.

It's not even a full inch bigger.

I don't see why this is a big deal. I doubt the new screen adds any benefits, besides being slightly larger, which will stretch the software to fit the new screen. It's not even a new price or anything, just a hardware tweak.

I mean, really, I don't see what you're missing if you already have a DSi (unless you really can't see what you're playing). The complaints seem trivial for this particular upgrade. Nothing else core to the experience is changed. No new processing power, no new functionality, no upgrades to anything to make the games different. Nope, just more adaptable to some people.

I still think I should pick up a DSi. I have a GBA, GBASP, and a DSphat; playing GBA games is no problem.

"It's not even a full inch bigger."

That's what she said...

Sorry, I had to.

Christ on the crapper.
quit being a moron - this is not being released for people who already own one - it's just an extra incentive for someone to buy one that has not yet.

While I didn't seem to convey it correctly, I was saying that this isn't a big deal to MISS OUT ON if you already own a DSi, not that it's an intentional way to get people to buy a new one with nothing really new, thus ripping them off.

Not buying.

Why the hell are people pissed about Nintendo implementing a larger screen with the same price tag?
"Would you really rather have Nintendo release a whole new game boy model that takes different cartridges or even none at all?
Good news to me, I was about to get a DSi - now I can just wait a little longer and have a larger screen.

Meh.just bigger screens,same price.
I would be pissed if the new dsi with larger screens had advanced things like flash and shit. they gonna reveal had more features.But there is another future dsi nintendo will reveal that will have something similar to zune.x.x

Random Nintendo Spam Mail: We can make your DSi up to 4" bigger!.

Previous 50 Comments

Report: Nintendo updating DSi with bigger screens this year

Reader Comments (98)

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