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Need some opinions: Nintendo DSi, worth buying?
Sparrow
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Not so long ago I used to have a DS, however after an unfortunate incident involving a car, a cinder block, and a chihuahua the thing ended up in enough pieces for the repair cost to be more expensive than just buying a new one. Hence I'm faced with a problem, I would like to drop some more money and purchase the newer model DSi however I'm unsure if its currently worth the price, hence I'm hoping some penny arcade readers might be able to share their thoughts/experiences with the thing.
Keep in mind I do not own any GBA games, so the lack of a GBA slot does not affect me
-Does the web browser run smoothly? Or is it just slapped on there for show.
-The camera idea is kind of cool, but do any games really make use of it?
-Does the DSi store carry any games worth purchasing?
and so on and so forth...
Keep in mind I do not own any GBA games, so the lack of a GBA slot does not affect me
-Does the web browser run smoothly? Or is it just slapped on there for show.
-The camera idea is kind of cool, but do any games really make use of it?
-Does the DSi store carry any games worth purchasing?
and so on and so forth...
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1. Web browser is serviceable, but I'd rather use a nearby PC.
2. A couple (one?) of the DSWare games use it.
3. There are a few standouts, but the DSi Store certainly isn't as fleshed out as I had hoped it would be. I'm still hoping that a future version of the store will implement VC titles for the DSi. Like Gameboy and GBC stuff. Sadly, they have not yet.
I enjoy my DSi. Its got a nice design, the screens are nice and bright (coming from a DS Fattie), and there is future potential for DSi specific features in games and an expanded library or DSWare titles.
They were worth upgrading from a Phat DS right there.
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The browser is decent at best; it's more usable than the PSP browser, but not as fleshed out as the iPhone's. And I wouldn't expect any major developments from the camera usage. In terms of raw gameplay, though, the slightly larger screens are nice, plus the ability to adjust brightness on the fly is a fantastic addition.
The cameras are pretty cool but they've been very underutilized thus far. It's basically good for snapshots like with cell phones. This isn't my thing but it's worth mentioning that at E3 they announced an app to upload photos from your DSi directly to Facebook, it's not out yet though as far as I know.
There are a lot of great games on the DSi store depending on your preference in games. It's veeeerrry puzzle heavy right now, but in my opinion that's the best kind of game to have always available at your fingertips. Dr. Mario is a must have. The Art Style games are all good stuff. I have Aquia and Pictobits and I'm satisfied with both of them, the price points are pretty good as well. Others here have said they've enjoyed other games I haven't DL'd yet, like...Boxlife, I think it's called. In my opinion, yes the DSi has a decent library. Stay away from the Warioware game though, it does take advantage of the cameras but it's severely lacking in content.
Personally if you do not have another DS or have only a regular DS (non-Lite), I recommend a DSi. If you have a DSLite it may not be worth it to you.
The biggest deal breaker is the lack of a GBA slot which in your case isn't a factor. The slightly bigger screens, better speakers, increased memory, WPA support, SD card slot and future applications are worth the extra $40 in my opinion.
The DSi is a tad smaller (more portable), and it has bigger, better screens and much better speakers, and it supports DSiWare. Those are good positives. The negative is that it has a slightly shorter battery life; the way to mitigate that negative is to run it on some midlevel brightness (as opposed to the brightest) setting, and also to disable wifi when you're not using it. Do those things and the battery life issue is fairly moot, especially given the other advantages.
If you already had a DSLite I'd recommend holding onto it, but since you have neither, you might as well get the latest one. Unless $40 extra is just a huge amount...
edit: it also does photos and music, but you can safely ignore those if you like. The music has to be AAC format, and the photos are VGA. So blah on that. Also it does webbrowsing but it's not something you want to spend a long time surfing the web with.
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So overall I'd say go for a DSi.