Nintendo DSi in Qatar

So April 5 it is. Yeah! It’s coming and I’m sure I want to get my hands on the Nintendo DSi. I’ve actually seen it, held it and played with it a couple of months back as a colleague got one from Japan and had it shipped here. Of course, he got it for a hefty price of more than $250 (original price in Japan would roughly be $190) plus shipping. But having tested it, I say it’s quite a nice "upgrade" to the current Nintendo DS. Now, it’ll be priced at $170! That’s about 625 rials plus about 50-75 rials shipping that’ll burn a hole in my pocket.

What actually interests me with the new Nintendo DSi is the ability to record your voice and play with it (alter pitch and speed). Also, the 2 cameras might be fun to use once in a while. In terms of the other upgrades, I’m not too sure that they really were upgrades as the increase on the screen is only .25 inches. Though it is about 12% thinner (2.6 mm), it is longer than the previous DS Lite. A new SD card slot is used for external storage of pictures and downloaded software and to play AAC audio. It is also said to have better speakers.

However, there are 2 things that are not good about this upgrade. For GBA card owners, the Nintendo DSi doesn’t have  a GBA slot so your cards are now useless. For games such as Pokemon Platinum/Pearl/Diamond, where one can import Pokemons from other GBA cartridges, this is now obsolete. Also, the battery life has been made dismal. From the previous 5-8 hours (running at maximum light level), it has gone down to 3-4 hours. This was caused by the new, speedier processor and the battery itself has been diminished in order for it not to be as bulky as before. Trade offs.

I’ll be waiting for it to show up on Amazon! 

Related posts:

1. New Nintendo DSi
2. Cost of Nintendo Wii in Qatar
3. Addicted to the Nintendo DS
4. For Sale: Acekard 2.1 and Acekard DSi