I didn't have to charge my DSi today, but I did anyway since it's been showing two bars on the battery meter for a little while. Did you know that DSi—and DSi-specific software—can actually read your battery status beyond "OK" and "almost dead, bail out"? Brain Age Express: Math and portions of Nintendo DSi Sound will even display a meter for you.
That's the sort of thing I'd like to get into today: little facts about the DSi that you may not know. There is, of course, a ton of info out there about the system. Coverage is through the roof, and a lot of people have been reading our own in-depth, but there's probably still a number of neat things that you might not have known about the system.
(By the way, battery-worriers should take heart; I haven't done scientific tests, but at brightness level 3—I usually played Lite on level 2—and even with a slightly smaller battery, the DSi's battery life feels comparable to the Lite's.)
That's all I've got for you today. I've been playing tons of Aquia, which has pretty solidly become my pick for best launch DSiWare. That said, it should be interesting to see if Nintendo puts up some more DSiWare on April 6, since the first issue of "Nintendo Download" will be coming our way from PR then. In the meantime, some of you might already have your system, and the masses can get their hands on it tomorrow already. Enjoy it!
That's the sort of thing I'd like to get into today: little facts about the DSi that you may not know. There is, of course, a ton of info out there about the system. Coverage is through the roof, and a lot of people have been reading our own in-depth, but there's probably still a number of neat things that you might not have known about the system.
(By the way, battery-worriers should take heart; I haven't done scientific tests, but at brightness level 3—I usually played Lite on level 2—and even with a slightly smaller battery, the DSi's battery life feels comparable to the Lite's.)
- When you close the system to put it to sleep, the now-blue power light pulsates soothingly instead of blinking harsh green like older systems.
- If you tap the pen icon in the DSi's PictoChat a second time, you get a rainbow pen effect. Your delightfully colorful sketches will display on original-model DS's as well.
- If you're playing with your own recorded soundbites in Sound, you can access up to 12 filters by repeatedly tapping the four displayed filters. (This is in the manual, and I covered it, but isn't terribly obvious. I discovered it when watching my daughter play, actually.)
- User-accessible system memory in the DSi is approximately 128 MB, and after buying and trying all the first-week DSiWare and taking a handful of photos, mine's about ⅓ full. (I expect to free up a lot of that when I remove the stuff I don't have any interest in revisiting.)
- Unlike my DS Lite, and much like my GBA SP, my DSi barely rattles when I shake it.
- As should be expected from a system that makes a return to metal-dome switches, diagonals work perfectly on my DSi.
- The included DSi system software requires touch for many actions, unlike the original DS's system software. You can turn it on and select a game without ever touching the touch screen, though.
That's all I've got for you today. I've been playing tons of Aquia, which has pretty solidly become my pick for best launch DSiWare. That said, it should be interesting to see if Nintendo puts up some more DSiWare on April 6, since the first issue of "Nintendo Download" will be coming our way from PR then. In the meantime, some of you might already have your system, and the masses can get their hands on it tomorrow already. Enjoy it!