Nintendo DSi - A Waste of Money or a Unique Console?

I recently got a Nintendo DSi. I have been wanting to review one for a while, and now that I can, I shall. This review will determine: is it a worthy replacement for the DS? Or is it a waste of money? Or is it even a console of it's own right?

Brightness:
Darn, this thing can go bright. It's lowest level is quite dark, but it's highest is wow. Ok, not really, but it's not dim either. Easily the best of any DS system.

Score: Unique Console 1-Waste 0

Old options:
Straight away, the flaw of the DSi appears. If you take a look at it, it has no Game Boy Advance slot. This is a problem for me, because I still play my GBA.

Score: Unique Console 1-Waste 1

But wait, that is incorrect! This makes the DSi NOT be a DS, and makes it more like it's own unique console. So score one for the unique console side.

Score: 2-1

New options:
Now, this is what makes the DSi different. The DSi has many new options: including a camera, a sound test thing (sadly, I do not recall it's proper name), and a DSi shop.

The Camera:
The camera is REALLY fun. While they could of tweaked it a bit, it is good.

Score: 3-1

The Sound Test:
This is fun to mess about with while it lasts. Sadly, I do not have an SD card, so I couldn't play music. Unfortunately, this is not worth the cash.

Score: 3-2

The Shop:
The shop is good. The few game it's got are good (especially Pyoro, also known as Bird&Beans and Paper Plane, also known as Paper Plane Chase) and the browser is ok. The reason I like the shop so much is because there might be a DSi Virtual Console. Now that really makes me happy. Come on Nintendo, do it!

Score: 4-2

The Price:
Finally, the most important thing of any console. The price. The DSi is about £160 or so, so it's almost as expensive as the Wii when it launched! When a handheld is almost as expensive as a home console, you know there's a problem.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, at a score of 4-3, the DSi is it's own console. It is NOT a replacement for the DS or the Lite, as they have Game Boy Advance cartridges. It is though, a good console, so I personally believe it is it's own console. You should buy it if you have the cash.

The author of this article has chosen to make this article available with free reprint rights.
Click here to copy this article.

►Reprint Rights◄

Comments on this article:

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (147 days 10 hours ago.)

Great article. Well done.

 

I like how you set it out with the score system and the analysis in small blocks.

 

However I would like to advise you not to use the conclusion as a subheading for the conclusion as it should be obvious that the last paragraph is the conclusion.

Respond to this comment

Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.

» left by Cameron Home ⁽²⁸⁴⁾
Cameron Home (146 days 10 hours ago.)

Yes, but some people might get confused and think the conclusion was under the cost.

 

Thanks for the comment.

Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.

» left by Sandra E. Graham ^(8,072)
Sandra E. Graham (146 days 1 hour ago.)

Thanks, Cameron, for the info. Although, I wouldn't be looking for myself, I do shop around for electronics for my grandkids and the DS is something I might be interested in. My older granddaughters both have DS's and I've been thinking about something for my grandson--but that might not be for awhile, so who knows what will be around by then.

 

Welcome to Searchwarp.

 

Sandra

Respond to this comment

Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.

» left by Cameron Home ⁽²⁸⁴⁾
Cameron Home (143 days ago.)

Well, thanks for the welcome, but I'm actually Mr. Home. I asked Bruce for a name change.

 

Maybe I should've announced that, heh. Understandable mistake.

 

Well, thanks for the comment!

Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.

» left by Bruce Horst ⁽¹³⁸⁾
Bruce Horst (105 days 2 hours ago.)

Thanks, Cameron. I don't know if it's available to you, but here in the states Nintendo had a generous upgrade offer for those of us who had a DS to trade in for a new DSi. My 9 year old wanted a DSi so we did it.

 

I have to admit it was a little disappointing. There are some cool things it does, like take pictures, but the web browser is a big step backwards from any of the other current hand-held web browsers I own. As for playing actual games, it doesn't stand out a lot from the DS and as you pointed out, without a GBA slot, it is somewhat limited.  It is cool to be able to download Game Boy games, though.

 

I know it's a minor point, but the colors that the DSi come in are flat and dull which results in the our 1 month old DSi looking like something left over from the 1990's. Not a major deal, but definitely not cool.

Respond to this comment

Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.

» left by Cameron Home ⁽²⁸⁴⁾
Cameron Home (104 days 4 hours ago.)

Yeah, I agree.

 

Sadly, they do not have such deals here, or at least to my knowledge.

 

After having my DSi for a while, I have discovered that the material it's made of is rubbish, and that it stains easily. But the brightness settings are quite good, and make it almost playable outside, unlike the other DSes.

 

Thanks for the comment!

Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.