DSi XL releasing March 28 for $190 in North America

Cammie Dunaway's head is so big it's got its own postcode.

I have no frame of reference btw, not knowing who Cammie is, other than that picture and the article. But she works for nintendo, ofc it will be.


Damn, I'm crazy.

I sold my original handhelds of the DS and PSP... On March 28th I'm gonna buy the DSi XL and a PSP go.

"This is the DSi XL. **** you."

Hmm...For that price, I could practically buy a PSP bundle pack...

Pass. Stop messing around and bring out the DS2 already.

To get this, or to wait for DS2? I wish they would just tell us that DS2 wasn't coming out for X years/months so I could just make up my mind!

Nintendo's the only company that I know that can shrink an original device (Original DS) make it smaller, (2nd Gen DS) then make it big again (DS XL) and not see a dip in sales through each iteration...

I know she is holding up her index finger but for some reason it feels that she is holding up her middle finger. It's like "Here's the DSi XL, I know we just recently released the DSi, but f@ck you if you don't buy this new one."

$10 less than the Wii? Thats bullshit.

had the DS Phat (sold it), had a DS Lite (broke it trying to replace the case and touchscreen), currently have a DSi. Sorry Nintendo I wont be buying this 4th version, time to announce DS2.

A crummy product? I wouldn't say so... but if you already own a DS of any kind (unless you want to upgrade from a phat) i wouldn't see upgrading a necessity.

This is targeted for home use and for people who would rather have a bigger screen to see things easier. It's not a "must-own" new iteration of the hardware.

And i believe the graphics are stretched to fit the screen, yes.

$190...
I've got other things on the list of things i want to buy, that that $190 would make a nice dent in.

Well, to be fair, it lost GBA compatibility some time ago. That's why I'm keeping my DSlite.

Cammie looks like she has demon eyes in that picture :P

I, for one, am glad to see that Nintendo, after creating the best-selling system of all time, is consistantly able to figure out ways to buck technology trends by making their DS systems more and more expensive while only adding moderate (and questionable) levels of increased functionality each time. Business!



Personally, I'll be sticking with my original white DS Lite until they can come up with some legitimately compelling reason for me to replace it.

Huh? I could have sworn this thing was out already... Havent heard a peep about it for a couple of weeks...

uuuuuuuuuuuugh....even the price is fat.

Still rocking an electric blue original DS. Been playing games since release, and is still in great condition besides a few dead pixels and some wear and tear. My brother, on the other hand, has gone through two DS Lites.

I'd be interested in this if it wasn't so god damned expensive. Seriously, this hardware has been out for 6 years. It's time to make with the cheapness.

The DSi XL probably looks bizarre to people that are not familar with Nintendo's business strategy as of late, but here is the situation in a nutshell:

Nintendo's business strategy is to expand gaming; to make new gamers. So, their efforts and the DS reflect this by trying different contexts of playing games. Also bear in mind that in Japan, the console market is stagnant while the portable market is thriving.

So, the first DS was proof of concept. The DS Lite was a refinement of that. And now we must ask ourselves what niche the DS XL fills in? If we view it through the prism of Nintendo's business strategy, then it becomes much easier to understand.

There are people that might have a hard time holding the small DS Lite, or handling the smaller stylus. Most certainly there are people that have less than ideal eyesight and have trouble seeing stuff on the small screens of the DS. All these things are barriers to people that have interest in the DS but might turn them off to it.

So naturally, the DSi XL tries to eliminate these barriers, and as such, the DS becomes much more attractive and accessible to people that might not have been able to get use out of it. I have a hard time handling the normal DS Lite due to its size, so it and the larger screens are definitely attractive to me, and it's definitely attractive to a lot of people in Japan otherwise it wouldn't have sold.

Remember, Nintendo is trying to sell to people that normally don't play games, or quit gaming because they lost interest in it. The fact that this thing is selling should be a no-brainer to anybody that has seriously analyzed Nintendo's business strategy in the last five years.