Split-Screen :: The Game-Geek’s Daily Read

by Ravi Sinha

If you’ve been following the latest news or simply stood next to a Nintendo PR far longer than you may have liked, you’ve doubtless heard of the DSi, the newest and overall second redesign of Nintendo’s dual-screen console after the Lite (that bears a scary resemblance to the Pokedex from the first Pokemon games). All throughout the week, we’ve been witnessing the media converse about the differences between the Lite and DSi, how much the latter will function as a PDA, and more. Cynical criticism against a new development in gaming is expected sooner or later, but it’s safe to say the DSi is not exactly the Next Big Thing we expected on hearing rumours of a new DS.

Firstly, about the cameras — they are of the 0.3 megapixel type. Most camera phones have higher megapixels. If you’ll recall, the Game Boy Camera was also released by Nintendo, and that went down, down, down. Either the company feels a grand re-experiment will be safer this time around or there’s actually a market for users who want their DS to take pictures (more on this in just a moment).

Secondly, the ability to play MP3s off of SD cards and adjust the pitch and playback — most people are aware of the SD software that’s been giving Nintendo it’s fair share of headaches. Take R4, for example. It not only allows you to play games and load multiple titles on an SD card, but offers facilities for MP3 playback and even viewing movies. The major question isn’t whether people should plunk down cash and witlessly invest in a hand-held with these features when they can get the same through DS firmware. Rather, when you already devices that can do what the DSi does, and do it better, and which people already possess, why include them in the first place?

Why make your hand-held look like an all-in-one media solution when it holds only a fraction of the features you’d find in the latest phones, Blueberries or even PSPs? How many people do you know who have MP3 players and cameras that do what the DSi does but better? It may not necessarily sell the rough equivalent of the Japanese price, but the necessity of such features is called into question whenever you ask consumers to plunk down a $100 or more for an iteration of a console they already have.

Honestly speaking, only the most anally retentive consumers seem to actually be concerned if the new DSi is 2 mm thinner or 2 pounds lighter. When the first DS was initially unveiled, the world was stunned by its laundry list of features: Touchscreen gameplay, two screens, a microphone, Wi-fi, Pictochat, a Sleep mode feature, a slot for GBA games, etc. Apparently, Nintendo thinks that consumers should be as captivated by details about the length, breadth, weight and screen size (especially as compared to the Lite if you look at the official Japanese announcement on their site) of their console.

Oh, and no new games were announced for this startling “new” DS. It was not announced how these new features would improve your gaming experience. If anything, a whole library of games has been barred from your gaming pleasure with the exclusion of the GBA slot. And if you’re eagerly awaiting Guitar Hero: On Tour, by-pass this console altogether, for the new-fangled guitar controller can’t be attached to it.

I’m not so much concerned over the ethical practices of Nintendo when it comes to shafting their consumers. These are the same people who made me get a GBA without a back-lit screen and then a GBA-SP without a headphone jack. They can shuffle features around endlessly and they know a dedicated bunch of followers, especially the ones in Japan, will lap them up. But with the DS, at least Nintendo showed signs of purpose with their new hardware.

As for the DSi, I’d like to conclude by stating that I no longer feel the PSP-3000 to be a gimmick but rather one of the now two handbooks to hand-held gaming where the word “renovate” comes before “innovate”, which itself comes much after the words, “mercilessly” and “milk”. Nothing quite one-ups the PSP like the DS after all.