What can we expect to see for the DSi?

So assuming I'm right on all these fronts, and DSi has the camera, storage options, more power, more RAM, and a faster radio: what tack are developers and publishers going to take when confronting the DSi? I'm pretty sure that at first nobody will be doing much aside from token efforts, Nintendo excepted. There may be some very slight dipping of toes into the DSi Shop waters, but most publishers have just gotten comfortable with DS' huge install base and will continue to make DS software.

I actually expect an awful lot from Nintendo themselves to show up on DSi Shop. Whether much of it fits the traditional definition of "game" remains to be seen, but we can take a look at what's already been announced, what Nintendo's been up to these days, what their goals for DSi are, and make a pretty good guess.

We already know that DSi is going to come with audio and photo apps, both of which take a decidedly toy-like tack with their whimsical visualizations and functionality. There's a download called Moving Notepad that will be available for free via the DSi Shop, alongside the aforementioned web browser, also for free download. Two new games in the Brain Age series are on the way.

Nintendo has gone so far as to announce some key DSi Shop info that should rouse curiosity. DSiWare200 and DSiWare500 are software tiers that will cost 200 and 500 points, respectively; there's also an 800+-point tier currently named Premium, but it given the console hits in less than a month and Nintendo doesn't have a solid name for it yet, it doesn't seem to have been given as much thought. The 200-point tier in particular seems well-suited for more toy-like software much like the audio and photo apps. Not to speculate too much on this front, but it doesn't seem that far off to expect things like video chat apps here, using the DSi's internal camera.

It certainly seems reasonable to expect that Nintendo has a whole host of smaller apps and games, both free and costing little, ready to go for DSi right now—perhaps to test the waters for bigger things. They should probably make good use of at least the DSi's surface features. Further off, bigger games may appear at the price points we're more used to with the Wii Shop Channel; the number and scope of these games may well depend on how popular the DSi is—much like the DS's own strong third-party support was built on its huge install base.

Who is the DSi for?

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata spoke directly to this question at the DSi's introduction last week:

Satoru IwataFor us to further expand the Nintendo DS platform when one out of every 6 Japanese citizens already owns a DS, we should focus not only on the households which do not own a DS yet but also on the households where one DS is shared by multiple members. This will help us create that stream from "one DS per household" to "one DS per person."

Iwata notes that while DS users number 2.8 per household in his home turf of Japan, the actual number of units per household is only 1.8. DSi is intended to try to change this trend, by introducing compelling features that help make it, as his slide said, "my own DS" for every member of every household.

The camera serves a very important function here, making the DS a much more personal unit. DSi owners won't see a device to pass around and play games with; they'll see their photos on it. DSi's creative media toys give the system a definite air of personalization that no previous DS had.


Thus, DSi in Japan seems to shaping up as a market-expander, touching the untouched in households that already have a DS, giving rise to more systems per household. If it picks up a few people who've never had a DS in their household along the way... great.

Overseas, the picture is less clear. NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime made it clear at his own follow-up conference that DSi wasn't competing with cameras or iPods, for example, but he really didn't talk anything up aside from its download store. I suspect that in the lead-up to DSi's launch (expected for spring in Europe, "well into 2009" in the U.S.) we'll hear more positioning from both regional offices.

I would like to direct one note to people who are already playing spec wars with what little information we have (or don't) about the DSi: it's futile to go ahead and try to force it into competition with cameras, phones, or iPods. The hardware was designed with a very specific goal in mind, as I elaborated above. Its features are designed to that goal. Trying to force its square peg into a round hole will only bring you pain.

Do I want a DSi?

I think depends on what shows up in the DSi Shop; I don't put much stock in the possibility that something mindblowing will show up at retail as a DSi exclusive. Our household already has one DS for everyone who's able to read, and I'm not particularly moved by the camera or the audio player—though I would like to try both out sometime.

But I am expecting there to eventually be some must-have piece of software available only as 'Nintendo DSiWare'—taking advantage of some platform feature not available on the traditional DS. Looking at the Wii Shop today, with recent gems such as Art Style: Orbient—great games that would simply have tanked in a traditional retail setting—I think DSiWare has potential. (Of course, that potential may be a little while in coming, because DSiWare needs the DSi platform to become fully established, and that in turn requires lots of DSis to be sold.)

I'll need a DSi to be there, so I suppose I'll be shopping my Lite around to see who wants it. Thankfully, NOA has been so kind as to give me about a half a year to watch what Japan does before I make my decision.

Check out the next page for an update, based on new news this morning.