Giant Bomb Video Game News

Are you ready for a new DS? How about one that has a camera and can download games?

If you answered "Yes!" then boy is it your lucky day! Look over there to your right.

That just-wrapped-up Nintendo press conference in Japan did in fact reveal the new Nintendo DSi. Say it again, for effect: DEE-ESS-EYE. Kotaku seems as good a place as any for the exhaustive rundown on the event, but here's the quick hits on the DSi.

• Loses the GBA slot, gains thinness. Loses thickness? It's thinner. You know what I mean.
• Screen size increases 17%, to 3.25 in.
• Built-in cameras on the top of the shell (3 megapixels), and between the two screens (0.3 megapixels).
• SD card slot for storing photos and--dun dun dun--downloaded games!
• A DSi Shop where you can buy "DSiWare." Pricing goes: free, $2, $5, $8. You get $10 free credit to start.
• Out on Nov. 1 in Japan for $180. That's soon! Other territories are waiting till next year. Get your import on.

Looks like a DS, no? Maybe a little too much like the Lite for my tastes, actually; I guess I was hoping for a design leap as great as the one between the original DS and the Lite. But then, they just about perfected the design with the Lite, so why reinvent the wheel when you can simply iterate on it and sell another several million units? Here's some video of the thing in action, kinda.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'll buy it, you'll buy it. We both have drawers full of obsolete Nintendo handhelds to prove that.

Some Wii game announcements came out of this thing too, fully 50 percent of which I want to know more about. Those are Punch-Out!! and a new Sin & Punishment sequel. Punch-Out is kind of a no-brainer from the short list of old Nintendo franchises you'd like to see revived, but Sin & Punishment? A sequel to an obscure late-cycle Nintendo 64 shooter that never even made it stateside? Maybe the first game has been selling well on the Virtual Console. There's also a Wii version of the DS adventure Another Code, and a Wii Dynasty Warriors. Ahem. Lastly, some GameCube games will be getting Wii release. Pikmin is the first one. Curious to see if it gets any updates like 16x9 support or motion controls.

Before I go pass out, Joystiq has screens and video of Punch-Out!!, as well as word on some more new DS games, like Mario & Luigi 3.

We'll be dropping in on Nintendo to check out their wares in the near future, so stay tuned for more word and video and whatnot on that.

UPDATE! User HazBazz points out that the DSi has not one but two cameras. The internal camera on the hinge between the two screens is the 0.3 megapixel one, while the larger one on the external top side is 3 megapixels. That sweetens the deal a bit for me.