I always find it amusing when people attempt to make an analysis of a product with no real understanding of the product. It's especially funny when people apply the wrong values to it, which happens a lot around Nintendo products lately (resulting in amusing sales predictions that far undershoot the actual success of said products).
The DS was always a Blue Ocean product. Meaning its goal was not to target the typical consumer of handhelds, but rather, the consumers whom typical handhelds did not reach. First was the soon-to-be customer/non-customer, the people who were about to stop playing video games or were considering playing video games but did not. These customers were drawn in by the touchscreen and dual screen "gimmicks" of the DS.
Next up were the customers who openly refused video games and the DS in particular. The DS Lite addressed their concerns by becoming slimmer, more efficient, with better backlights, and with a slew of titles to get them into gaming that resembled tools more than games (such as Brain Age and Nintendogs). The meat of the DS' success came from the DS Lite.
Now we have the DSi, targeting distant customers: ones who are unaware of or do not care about video games. And so the DS takes on a form more akin to a modern PDA, but with some twists. The cameras and music playback features both are more intended for tinkering with images and music than just flat-out taking pictures and listening to music. As with the dual screens and touchscreen, the "gimmick" factor is meant to draw distant users in.
As each of these tiers is targeted, the previous tiers become a little more alienated. The DS Lite alienated buyers of the original DS with its far sleeker design and left more than a few feeling like they'd bought the inferior product. The DSi will further upset many DS Lite owners because of the slew of features it has over the DS Lite, and of course the dedicated gamers who went into the DS era with a love of games already will take offense at the lack of a GBA port. But the new customers won't care about those things; they never have owned or even been interested in owning a DS. The goal is to change that.
In short, the DSi is not targeting the same userbase as the DS Lite or the DS original model. It won't be a big hit with long-time gamers at first, but it won't have to be.
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
