The DSi Is Here

The rumors were true and as reported yesterday Nintendo held a press conference in which the unveiling of a new DS, named the DSi took center stage.

Thinner, sleeker and featuring both rumored additions of a built in .3 Megapixel camera and music playback. The DSi also boasts bigger screens than its older sibling but isn’t without its compromises. The DSi is completely doing away with the GBA cartridge slot in favour of its smaller size and other improvements. All this potentially means DS games that make use of the slot like ‘Guitar Hero On Tour’ just will not work for the new console.

The big news that nobody knew about before this mornings press conference is the addition of an SD memory card slot allowing you to take pictures with the DSi and then view them on your Wii. But that’s not all. The DSi will include it’s own browser that will have access to it’s own version of the Wii’s Shopping Channel, featuring downloadable DSiWare. Pricing for such downloadable content appears to take the form of points with prices ranging from Free, 200 points, 500 points and “Premium” or 800 points. The DSi will come ready with 1000 free points to spend at the DSi Shop that are valid until March 2010.

The DSi will be released in Japan on November 1st for 18900 Yen, or £180 (Roughly £90… but expect to see that price doubled). There is no news on a release for any other territories yet other than a rather ambiguous “next year”.

Check out the pictures below thanks to Kotaku