Nintendo DSi XL

The 4rd generation of nintendo’s duel screen handheld console brings us the DSi XL. Evolving slightly from its other models Nintendo decided not to change too much.

Design

Not much at all has change from the DSi other than the fact the DSi XL has been supersized. The screens are now 3.60 inches instead of just 3.25 inch which is 93% larger than the DS lite. Back is the glossy-finer-print-magnet finish a lot of us hated, which is said to make it look more sophisticated. Weighing in at 315g the DSi XL is about 100 grams heavier than both the DSi and DS lite which might mean it can take a bit more abuse than the other two. The screen resolution is still unchanged but the viewing angle has been improved which makes it easier for people to tell you how to play the game while sitting next to you.

Interface

Nothing has changed here from the DSi. The top screen displays your selected background from the photos you’ve taken and often change when you close and reopen the DSi XL. The bottom shows the new menu system which Wii users might see something a little familiar. An icon based menu allows you slide through and see any applications you’ve got installed, game you’ve got inserted and of course the menu. The menu isn’t too customisable however you can rearrange the icons to whatever order you want them to sit in. Icons can of course be selected by swiping the stylus, or a finger across the display.

Features

Compared to the DSi, nothing is new, compared to the DS lite there are two new cameras which allow you to take photos while you’re out and about or at home or wherever. You can then edit these photos to change their colour, distort or add new things to the photo such as cat ears or a pig nose; which is quite smart as it finds your features, such as your eyes, without you needing to guide it. Editing photos is fun at first but soon becomes a one trick pony as it is pretty much all you can do with the cameras, there are currently no games on the market which makes use of them, which is disappointing as it would have been a good feature to expand on. What’s more disappointing is that the cameras are still VGA and have not been changed at all. Nothing new with the music player and still does what you expect from a music player… it plays music, however it doesn’t play MP3 files, instead it plays ACC files. I found this a little confusing as MP3 files are most common and you really only get ACC files from iTunes. You can either spend hours converting your songs over to ACC or you can just use the DSi XL as a games console. The good news is that the batter life has been increased compared to the DSi, it has now gone up to 3-17 compared to just 9 - 14 hours. The bad news is that its still not as high as the 15-19 hours you can get from the DS lite. Games are still the same no matter what DS you have so nothing has changed there apart from the lack of the GBA slot on the DSi XL. This of course means you can no longer play your old GBA games or even newer games that make use of the GBA slot such as guitar hero. Again I have no idea why Nintendo would want to do this but hey…

Connectivity

New to the DS is WiFi which now allows you to play games online as well as browse the internet, which I must say is worse than WAP internet on old mobile phones. Webpages take forever to load and when they do load some features can’t be viewed on the DSi XL. There is no flash so don’t expect to go on YouTube or any other video hosting sites. You can however upload photos you’ve taken and edited on Facebook once you’ve set up your account.

So overall the DSi XL has a few changes compared to the DS Lite but very litel compared to the DSi. I wouldn’t say these changes are enough to make you go and sell your old DS lite or DSi for this one. If this is your first time buying a DS then maybe but for the price I would say go for a DS lite, you won’t be missing out on much at all.