The Nintendo DSi

[Spyder12587]

Inflation aside, has anyone thought about the rising production costs for games? The video game industry has surpassed movies as the leading entertainment industry. Games now are costing as much as blockbuster movies to make and as someone stated, with no sales prior to retail launch (unlike movies, which get theatrical releases) the cost is transferred to the consumer. I've been playing games for a long time and the price hasn't changed much. I remember my brother buying Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES for $70 when it came out. The prices pretty much have stayed in a $20-30 range but for the entertainment I get out of them, I don't think this is too steep of a price.

[DJ711]

It's gonna be 170 dollars, so is it worth it?

[eagle5953]

It's gonna be 170 dollars, so is it worth it?

Might be worth it for someone who doesn't have one, or has one die on them. If you have one that works, especially a slim, there is no real need to upgrade.

If the DS App Store or whatever they call it turns out to be a big hit, it might make sense, but you can always buy one later - no need to gamble on that.

[Bibin]

I'm sick of these stupid piece of crap DS lite hinges breaking all the time, as well as the DS lite having terrible screen ghosting issues and oversaturated colors, like on the PSP 1000. I'm trading in one of my DS lites for 70 credit towards the DSi anyway, so I think it's worth it. I really, really hate the DS lite petty hard.

[eurddrue]

Yes, that is true. The DS lite is cheap. It's not built quality like the first ds. The DSi Comes out today! Are you gonna get it bibin?

[grossaffe]

Inflation aside, has anyone thought about the rising production costs for games? The video game industry has surpassed movies as the leading entertainment industry. Games now are costing as much as blockbuster movies to make and as someone stated, with no sales prior to retail launch (unlike movies, which get theatrical releases) the cost is transferred to the consumer. I've been playing games for a long time and the price hasn't changed much. I remember my brother buying Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES for $70 when it came out. The prices pretty much have stayed in a $20-30 range but for the entertainment I get out of them, I don't think this is too steep of a price.

I would argue that there is a greater market for video games now than before therefore easier to sell more copies (especially if they were more reasonably priced)

[Bibin]

Well, I just got my DSi. Ask me anything about it!

[jjhammerstein]

How is it? XD

[XCVG]

I'm not buying a DSi. It has a faster proceesor and more ram but none of the upcoming titles use it so far. The DS app store is pointless- I'll download homebrew from GBAtemp thank you very much. And the camera is useless. No GBA slot so I can't play GBA games or use a Guitar Grip. And kind of expensive.

[Basement_Modder]

I'll do what I always do: wait 2 weeks, buy a broken one from some retard for 50 bucks, replace the offending part, and laugh at them through feedback. *laughs maniacally, lightning flashes, suddenly its dark out, etc.*

[Bibin]

I'm not buying a DSi. It has a faster proceesor and more ram but none of the upcoming titles use it so far. The DS app store is pointless- I'll download homebrew from GBAtemp thank you very much. And the camera is useless. No GBA slot so I can't play GBA games or use a Guitar Grip. And kind of expensive.

Hurray, the DS homebrew sucks so much it hurts! Name five fun, proper, full games. WarioWare, which I just got for free from the DSi store, is excellent.

Mind you, the current run DS lites have very low quality screens with severe ghosting, almost like the PSP-1000. The DSi fixes this, much to my delight. The speakers are so much better. The D-pad works with diagonals again! The L and R buttons aren't semi unresponsive like before. The camera filters are surprisingly fun. The WiFi is 802.11g, instead of the old b. It supports WPA. The also free web browser, which DOES take advantage of the RAM and processor speed, is very very usable, notably faster than the one on my Wii. Guitar Hero is a bit of a joke in the first place. The matte finish resembles a thinkpad. I like.

So basically, I kind of hate the DS lite now? I want all three of them sold out of my house now.

[XCVG]

I disagree. There is a lot of great homebrew. OpenTyrian is a lot of fun. And Animanatee beats the heck out of Pictochat flipbooks. My DS doesn't seem to ghost, maybe I'm just used to crappy LCDs. I've never had a problem with the L/R buttons and doing diagonals with a cross pad is really hard anyway.

On the other hand I think the wireless is better, the hardware is more powerful (slightly) and the web browser is useful.

I'll buy one when:
1. It's cheaper.
2. I can get a reliable flashcart that can boot into DSi mode.
3. There's a way to run GBA games.

[thewise1]

So far there's only acecard for a flash cart.

I guess with the new ram, and not having a gba slot, someones probably going to put a gba emulator into there flashcart. I wonder what m3 will come out with.

[sgtpepper]

Well, I just got my DSi. Ask me anything about it!

I've got a couple questions (assuming you have a DS Lite to compare to?):

Have you compared the batteries, and could you take photos of the two?

What's the battery life actually like? I don't like to believe the "official" estimates...

Are the brightnesses the same, with an additional higher setting? Or is it just the same overall brightness range with five points instead of four?

Thanks!

[XCVG]

All the games I've seen so far are either ones that don't actually have to be exclusive to DSi, the publishers are just jerks, or use the gimmicky camera. I haven't seen ANYTHING that takes advantage of the extra power and ram.