A new addition to the family!

Hello all! It has indeed been a very long time since my last post, for many reasons. School... and other things. But yeah. I has returned! With a new friend, too!

You see, something came out in the last few days. And I decided I needed it. So I now have it.

Behold! The DSi! The new and awesome iteration of the best-selling handheld video gaming super device! It has (almost) everything the DS Lite had, but now with a billion* new features! The only thing it left out is the GBA slot (which I don't care about since I have a GB Micro).

You'll notice that the main screen is significantly different than the DS and DS Lite. This is to accomodate all the new features. First, there is the DSi camera, which lets you take pictures of yourself, or other people (since there are two cameras; one on the inside hinge, and one of the outside shell). And it's no normal camera. You can distort faces, use mirror effects, add stickers, and all kinds of other fun things.

Next, there is DSi Sound. This lets you play music, or you can record sound bites which can then be distorted in funny ways. You can speed it up, slow it down, make the voice deeper or higher... even make it sound like a trumpet. Sounds bizarre, and it is, but it's great fun.

Some of the new features are physical, such as the screens, which are about .25 inches larger. Doesn't sound like much, but it does make a difference. Also, the volume is controlled by buttons (now located on the left side) instead of a slider. Likewise, the screen brightness is changeable by holding SELECT and hitting the volume buttons. This lets you change the brightness at any time, without having to quit first (which is extremely convenient). Another great new feature is the ability to soft reset. If you hit the power button (now located under the D-pad), it returns you to the DSi menu. If you hold it, it turns the system off. Also great is the ability to 'hot-swap' cartridges. That means you can change games on the DSi menu without turning the system off. Also extremely convenient.

These are all very cool and very nice features, but we haven't even got to the best part yet. But before we get to the best part, let's talk about some of the really good new parts. Like the built-in web browser. You can surf the web. On your DS. Without a separate cartridge. AWESOME!!! Yeah, it's not gonna load web pages real fast, but it is nice to be able to check your e-mail or bank statement without finding a computer. Very cool. Also, the DSi comes with an SD card slot, so you can store music, photos, or whatever on it.

And now, for the best part. The DSi Shop. It's essentially the Wii Shop Channel, but for the DSi. And it's awesome. Like the Wii Shop Channel, you can download new and original games and store them on your system (which has about 256 MB of memory) or on an SD card. Plus, there are rumors that Game Boy games may soon come to the DSi just like NES and other games can be played on the Wii. AMAZING!! Also, if you buy a DSi and logon to the DSi Shop between now and October 5th (6 months), you get 1,000 points free! That's $10 worth. I bought WarioWare Snapped! (which uses the camera for insane mini-games) and Bird & Beans (a couple of puzzle games based on Pyoro, a mini-game included in the original WarioWare). And I still have 300 points left. Very, very, very cool.

So, that's about it, really. People who say the DSi offers nothing new have obviously never used one. It's great fun, and it adds small, but entertaining things to the already insanely fun DS Lite. I would recommend buying one right now. I traded in my old old white DS Lite (I still have my Blue DS Lite) and got $70 off the DSi. So it was $100. Heck of a deal, my friends. Heck of a deal.

GO BUY IT NOW!!

-benjamines

Currently Playing: WarioWare Snapped!, Bird & Beans, other DSi toys

* Technically, since you can get new games via the DSi Shop, a billion new features could potentially be true. If the DSi stays on the market for like a thousand years. And considering sales, I wouldn't be surprised.