This I can agree with.

I must admit that at first I was not happy with the announcement. The reduced battery life really kills it for me, as i believe that this could have been prevented, or at least such a drastic reduction could be prevented.

I however really do like the standard inclusion of a browser, but most importantly the fact that the DS supports WPA, which means i may finally start using the internet function more often.

The camera does nothing for me, but i think Nintendo are smart to position the camera not as an additional functionality to the DS, but as a new tool for developing innovative games. Hopefully we will get more interesting games that Face Training though.

Taking away the GBA slot will not impact sales too much either i my opinion. Most consumers (especially kids and parents) won't even be aware that this GBA slot exists. Also, i think most GBA games may become downloadable one day, possibly increasing the availability of GBA games to the consumer.

A ten to fifteen percent price rise may even be realistic for the extras, but i somehow have a feeling that the new version is going to come along with an even higher price rise in UA but especially Europe.

So after a few days of contemplating, i may get a DSi sometime after it comes out. But i might have to buy a new DSL first, especially for long distance travel.

As far as sales are concerned, I do believe the DSi is going to sell very well. The DSi will definitely see a boost is sales in Japan. Having seen how well the updated PSP sold in Japan, i think the DSi will be a huge success in Japan, and will undoubtebly be sold out for the first few months.

Europe and US are still very DS hungry so any version of the DS will sell in those regions by default. Though the DSL might be sold as an alternative for slightly longer than the original DS was.

One thing I'm waiting for, to see how it turns out: what Ninty does with friend codes & comms on the DS - the *only* point of having an internal is for video chat (or similar, but built into games).

Will a Wii / DS have compatible friend codes? Is this the start of "converging" the two devices into 2 platforms, that can play the same games/software?

Could I use WiiSpeak on the Wii, to talk to someone remotely using a DS? Both platforms are on the same network infrastructure - you wouldn't think it would be that hard to setup?

...

The DSi is by no means "required", and that is a good thing - people have a choice. But for a lot of DS owners, looking for an upgrade - its a no brainer. The DS itself is still close to "sell-out" status - I would estimate that if Ninty could dump 30m (!) DSi devices onto the market worldwide, they would be sold out within a month. Of course this is impossible - but the point is, the device is CHEAP for what it is (an enhanced DS) - I would probably pay a 50% premium on the DS price for one of these.

You will NOT be able to walk into a store, and easily buy a DSi for a good 6-12 months after its launch - it will be like the Wii all over again.

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.

As a PSP and GBA owner considering a DS purchase the DSi is a exactly what I don't want. A greater expense for a handheld with redundant features, reduced battery life and no GBA slot. It's a good thing that Nintendo will continue to sell the DSLite.

Many well informed post were made since I made my uninformed post yesterday. I have only one thing to say:

SCREW YOU, DS LITE!!! DSi ALL THE WAY!! And some nachos.....with salsa. Salsa rocks!

I'm not to cancerned as I play my GBA games on a GBA micro (how retro am I?)

The point is, if GBa games are so important to you then buy a GBA. My major concern with the GBA slot is that I wont be able to take advantage of the RAm upgrades, but hopefully ninty have thought about this.

Some initial reports did have that wrong. Check Nintendo's site. Both cameras are VGA quality, i.e. < 1MP. They are both 0.3MP cameras. Which is just as good as quite a lot of phone's. More than likely you have or have had a few phones that have this quality. You just have to remember that this is a secondary function not a primary one. Nintendo did not intendo to make a digital camera, they intended to add functionality that could easily be used in future games.

LOL.

As a GBA owner, wouldn't a GBA slot be redundant?

@superchunk: All right, thank you. I'd go to check myself, but I can't read Japanese.