New Nintendo DSi adds two cameras, Web browsing to portable gaming system
Everyone knows Nintendo is a global gaming juggernaut, but you might not think of them as a player in the digital camera game. Well, think again: The new Nintendo DSi hand-held has two 640×480 cameras and comes pre-loaded with basic facial-recognition software that calculates how similar two people look.
Nintendo announced the nifty new device, which is thinner and lighter than the already-popular Nintendo DS, at a press conference Oct. 2 in Japan. Nintendo representatives said the DSi would be available in Japan by Nov. 1 and would be released in other countries sometime in 2009.
Nintendo hopes the addition of the cameras and the tiny console’s bigger screen (3.25 inches, to the Nintendo DS’s 3-inch screen), built-in WiFi and pre-installed Web browser will make it a must-have device.
Reporters allowed to play with the Nintendo DSi all said the photos taken with either camera – one faces the user inside the console, while the other sits outside – came out looking quite crisp for their size.
While the built-in cameras represent a major technological step forward in the area of personal gaming, multi-purpose, hand-held devices like this have been long anticipated by media analysts. It’s not hard to cook up a short list of items with many of the the same basic capabilities as the Nintendo DSi—the majority of them can be used to place phone calls, too.
Nintendo Europe’s Web page has some information about the DSi, but early news reports offer a more comprehensive first look. We’d recommend these articles published by the Telegraph (in the U.K.) and PC World.
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