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10/5 - Nintendo unveils DSi: Will it be worth the wait?
Nintendo unveils DSi: Will it be worth the wait?

Earlier this week, Nintendo unveiled the portable DSi, a machine that improves on the original in some ways, but won't be out in the U.S. until late next year.

What's in the DSi? Glad you asked.

The DSi's biggest change is the inclusion of two digital cameras, one on the outside and one on the inside.

The exterior camera is pretty meager at a mere 640x480 resolution, or 0.3 megapixels, really only useful for digital snapshots and nowhere close to the resolution of the mediocre cameras found on most modern cellphones.

There's also an interior camera that likely will be used for showing your face during a game against another DSi owner.

So the camera is kind of a gimmick, offering nothing that will make you want to toss your stand-alone digital camera, but it could make for some interesting gameplay possibilities.

The DSi will also include a music player and the ability to play back songs over SD memory cards – an SD memory card slot is one of the other new features.

The DSi also has slightly larger screens than those on the regular DS.

So Nintendo is taking some timid steps in the multimedia world.

Remember, this is a company so reluctant to dabble in digital media other than gaming that the Wii doesn't even play back DVD movies even though the games are stored on DVD discs.

The DSi will be out in Japan before the holidays for about $180, but won't be out in the U.S. until late next year, possibly Christmas 2009.

So, should you wait for the DSi if you were planning to get a DS or DS Lite?

Probably.

There are drawbacks to waiting, though.

First, the DSi does not have a slot for older Game Boy Advance games.So if you're still playing some of your GBA titles, the DSi might not be for you.

Second, according to Nintendo, the DSi will have less battery life than the DS and DS Lite. One of my favorite aspects of the DS Lite is that I can leave it in my bag for weeks, and it will still have several hours of battery life when I flip it open.

Finally, a year is a long time to wait, assuming Nintendo is eyeing a holiday 2009 launch in the U.S.

But, if it were me, I'd wait.

The DSi will likely become the standard platform for developers before long, and while I am disappointed in the crummy specs on the cameras, I'm still curious to see how they'll be used in games.

So you might want to tell Santa that you'll take a rain check.

10/2 - Just Some games To Expect This Coming Year of '09

10/2 - Whos fretting the most over Nintendos DSi?
Nintendo today unveiled the second update to its massively successful DS video game system. Whats new this time around? Bigger screens. Slimmer build. Two cameras (one inside and one outside its clamshell design). A memory-card slot. Music player. Web browser. Wi-Fi download store for games, videos, and applications. And, of course, it still plays past and upcoming DS games, such as the very popular Mario and Pokemon series.

Even before this product reboot (which will hit Japan in November and elsewhere next year), the portable gaming device had been an international hit. Nintendo has already sold 77.5 million DS systems worldwide ahead of Sonys PSP, which has sold 41 million. One out of every six people in Japan own a DS. And it was the No. 1 selling video game system in the US this August, even beating out Nintendos other cash cow, the Wii.

Now that the new system called the DSi is even more impressive, a lot of analysts are pondering: Who should be afraid of this updated handheld?

10/2 - Nintendo Announces Wii Speak Channel
While we will have to wait until next year for the new Nintendo DSi handheld, Nintendo announced today a wide range of new features, services, and games for North America that will launch in time for the coming holidays. A new online chat system will arrive for the Nintendo Wii on November 16th. “Wii Speak” will be a special microphone designed to sit on top of your television set. It will be sold for $30 and will include a special code that will allow owners to download and install the Wii Speak Channel (internet connection required) that will allow Wii owners to voice chat with up to four other Wii owners online. To agree to a chat connection, users will have to exchange friend codes first, then their Miis act as on-screen avatars and act out the chat discussion. With Wii Speak you can leave audio messages for your friends and family as well as narrate captions for your photos in the Wii Photo Channel.

10/1 - Nintendo May Introduce New DS Player, Wii Accessories (Update1)
Nintendo Co. may add accessories to its top-selling Wii game console and upgrade the handheld DS player to maintain its lead over Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. without having to match their price cuts.

President Satoru Iwata will probably unveil the changes when he briefs the media and investors at a conference tomorrow in Japan, said Pelham Smithers, an analyst at Pali International Ltd. in Singapore. Nintendo is preparing to introduce a new DS that's equipped with a camera and music player, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sept. 28. The Kyoto-based company declined to comment.

Iwata has kept the price of the Wii unchanged at $250 since its debut in 2006 by adding products to complement the flagship console, while Sony and Microsoft cut prices. Nintendo's Wii will probably widen its lead by outselling Sony's PlayStation 3 by 2- to-1 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 by 4-to-1 this fiscal year, Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd. said today.

''Nintendo has no need to cut the Wii's price,'' said Takashi Oka, a senior analyst at CSK Institute for Sustainability, a Tokyo-based research firm. ``If Nintendo cuts prices now, people who already bought the Wii will feel they've lost money. Nintendo won't do such a thing.''

Nintendo will probably sell 26.5 million Wii consoles in the year ending March 31, compared with 7 million Xbox 360 machines, Daiwa said in a report today. Tokyo-based Sony forecasts it will sell 10 million PS3 consoles. Last year, Nintendo's Wii outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360 by two to one, according to Daiwa.

10/1 - Strong Signs That Nintendo Plans HD Wii for 2011
What They Play posted a well-considered article today speculating that Nintendo intends to unleash an HD successor to the Wii by 2011. Citing game developer and publisher sources, the story specifically calls the new hardware said to be in development "next generation" and a "true successor to the Wii." Those sources declined to detail any specifications but did describe the capabilities as including high definition video output, emphasis on digitally distributed content -- with the storage solution to make that viable -- and continued backward compatibility.

Along with the anonymous sources, What They Play examined recent Nintendo financial reports. From these they found the company to have dramatically accelerated its research and development (R&D) spending in the past few years. Putting more pieces of the puzzle together, the story further notes that the joint development agreement between IBM and AMD that in part resulted in the Wii hardware internals expires at the end of 2011. If backward compatibility is a priority that could provide a good bit of incentive to get the next machine together.

At the same time, the current hot rumor is that Nintendo intends to unveil a new DS handheld at any moment. With hinted at specification like a camera and music player taking it ever closer to that of the iPhone, you have to start wondering whether slowly but surely Nintendo is positioning itself to make a play for more than just your gaming dollar. Considering the high aspirations the company once held for connectivity between the GBA and GameCube, it's not that difficult to imagine the new DS as first link of a new tandem.

Regardless, for anyone who enjoys conspiracy theory-like speculation, it's worth popping over for a full read.