Nintendo announce UK release date of DSi

News is flooding onto the web today of the latest refinement of the DS console from Nintendo. This is regarding the release date, price, and features of the new Nintendo DSi. The latest word pins a April 3rd release date, with a price of £149.99.

The DSi is the second refinement to the Nintendo DS that we have seen since it’s initial UK release in March 2005, and the UK launch of the Nintendo DS Lite in June 2006. The i after the name brings with it a lot of new features and changes, including:

• A 12% reduction in thickness
• The addition of two cameras (one inside, and one outside). The DSi boasts a 0.3 megapixel digital camera for 640 x 480 pixel pictures, and a camera in the hinge that acts as a webcam. You can even edit pictures on the DSi touch screens!
• A built in web bowser. That’s right, you can surf the internet straight out of the box on the DSi, no more needing to buy a DS/DS Lite browser game pack.
• Download and play games onto the console. The DSi features DSWare, a new online store that uses the current Wii Points system to allow you to buy games over the internet.
• SD Memory Card capabilities. The DSi loses the GBA slot and replaces it with an SD card slot, allowing you to download all the games you want.
• Longer Stylus. When it comes to Styli size does count, and this new one is 4.5mm longer than previous generations.
• Improved aduio features, and speakers. Means you get more advanced pitch and playback options, as well as better quality sound.

The DSi also sees an improvement in hardware, with 16MB of RAM (4x that seen in the DS and DS Lite) and 265MB of internal flash storage (1024 times more than the original DS!!!!, and only half of what the Wii has). But limitations also have been implemented, and these include the hardware prohibition of homebrew software, as well as region locking some software (due to internet services customised ot each region).

Overall this seems to be a huge leap forward in the DS range, and could give a clue to what Nintendo are likely to release in the future, adding even more functionality to their consoles.