Nintendo DSi > Reviews (53)

I am a big fan of Nintendo and I like their games consoles. Having owned a Nintendo DS which is bulky, I decided it was time for an upgrade!

It arrives!

So, my Nintendo DSi is delivered to my house. I open the package and I see a very neat box. Yes, even the box is exciting! The container for the Nintendo DSi looks nice with a picture of the console on their with the clear words 'Nintendo DSi'.
I open it up and I see it. The Nintendo DSi! Having read my instruction manual for my old Nintendo DS a while ago, I thought I wouldn't need to. A brief flick-through and it looked very nice and well-printed.
The Nintendo DSi comes with a charger cable too so (in the sad incident) when your console runs out of battery, it can be charged back to full power.
There's also the Nintendo DS stylus so you don't use your grubby fingers to touch the screen.
Right, let's examine this thing.

The look

The DSi looks very nice! My one is black and dirt rarely shows on it which is good, unlike the white one. The console's top and bottom screens are 3.25 wide with the whole console being 5 inches in total.
Between the top and bottom screen you can see a small camera. There is also another camera on the outside in the top-right corner.
The buttons are nice and clear. You have the D-Pad on the left with the power button. The A, B, X, Y on your right with START and SELECT as well.
I think that the design for the Nintendo DSi is very nice.

Loading it up

When you first play, you have to go through an introduction screen where you fill in your name, birthday etc.
After that you can see a very clear menu with blocks.
These blocks are:

• Settings
• Camera
• Sound
• DS Download Play
• Shop
• Pictochat

These I will go through in further detail.
So you can see a picture you've taken at the top screen and your icons at the bottom representing what you have installed on your DSi.

The features

Camera - The Nintendo DSi camera is a fun add-on. With two cameras at the front and inside of the console, you can take funny pictures of yourself and others. You can put moustaches on your friends, make the picture look black and white and other basic photo-editing.
Sound - This is a nice gimmick. You can record voice clips of up to 10 seconds, then alter them so you sound high-pitched, like a robot, like you're in a tunnel etc. You can also mess around with your music by loading them onto an SD card. Unfortunately, the Nintendo DSi only plays AAC files, not the common MP3. So, if you have MP3 files you wish to play on your DSi, you will have to convert them some way.
DS Download Play - On some Nintendo DS games, you can download software and data from other users wirelessly if they're within 25 metres. It's great Nintendo have bought this over from the original DS and DS Lite to the DSi.
DSi Shop - This requires an internet connection. You go online to download products available exclusively for the DSi. You get these using points. You can get a 2000 points card nowadays for any price between £10-£25.
Pictochat - Pictochat is a fun prototype.

Considering it's not available on the Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo's latest console), it's been ditched. You can talk to your friends wirelessly, once again 25 metres. But why don't you just talk to each other? If you're within 25 metres, you may as well just talk normally. This feature might've been better if you could talk to friends through Wi-Fi, not just those in very close range.

Wear & tear

I've had my DSi for a couple of years now and I've dropped it two or three times. It's still in perfect condition! There are some smudge marks but they don't affect the game.

Games

Games are simple to play. Admittedly, there are thousands of Nintendo DS games the DSi can play, but most of them use the simple controls and are fun to play. I can't go into too much detail about certain games, because this is about the console, not the games. However, it is very easy to play them.

Wi-Fi

Like the other two DS consoles, the DSi has Wi-Fi. This is good until you discover a limited number of routers work. Then when you do FINALLY get the console to work online, there's only so much you can do with the free internet browser you download from the DSi Shop.
Playing online is fun and does work on games like Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Platinum and other games, and the Wi-Fi is often smooth.
However, of course, you do need Wi-Fi. In my opinion, a Nintendo console with 3G capability would be great!

Value for money

When the Nintendo DSi launched, the RRP was £149. Over a couple of years, the price has plummeted to £85 in some shops. However, the average price is £109-£120. It is admittedly cheaper, but with the new 3DS out, the price has not dropped enough. However, for a basic console which many of my friends have, has a lot of games, easy to play and family-friendly it's good value for money.

Overall

Overall, the DSi is a great console! With many extra features like the camera, even when you don't have a game in, you can still have fun. Playing most games is simple with the basic controls. Wi-Fi is nice but 3G is something for Nintendo to work on.
If you're looking for a family-friendly console which is easy to use, you've found the Nintendo DSi.