Subject: DSi: First Impressions Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:26 am
Nintendo's latest in a long line of attempts to squeeze money out of pastimes of casual gamers and weirdos alike, this time they're going for the fact that people love taking pictures of themselves and making them look halfway decent.
Okay, so it's actually pretty good, but since I already did my first impressions for it over on GameSpot, I'm just going to copy my post from over there, just keep in mind I wrote it only an hour after I had gotten the console.
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To start with, the appearance, more specifically, the material. The matte surface on the outside of the DSi feels a lot nicer to me than the glossy DS Lite outer shell ever did, liking the look of it already.
After the standard console setup routine, which also included taking a picture, I got to the DSi menu, which felt really intuitive as well, and I like that I get a random picture on the top screen every time I go there. Once I had set up my internet connection (and getting a much better connection than the other two consoles did) I quickly went to the DSi Shop, surprise surprise, as a welcome bonus, I got a free 1000 points to spend! How awesome is that?!
While an obvious choice to test out the DSi camera, I gave a pass on the WarioWare game available for 500 points, instead I got the DSi browser for free and a fun little paper airplane game for 200 points. Well apart from the "Premium" section, since I don't know how much they'll cost, the point values seem a lot more reasonable for the handheld console.
Next up, the sound editing/playback. At this point, I haven't bothered to put my SD card in, so I was stuck with recording and editing, same for pictures, but I still love how much you can get out of so little features, it's helpful when the budgie that appears in the editing menu gives helpful hints on making the most out of the different features when you tap him each time. So far, my favorite effect is the tunnel, "Helloooooo...... Is anybody out thereeeee.........?"
As for the DSi Camera mode, it's very impressive, the 11 "lenses" work really well, in that you can apply them before or after you've taken a photo, plus any alterations made to existing photos aren't saved over the original, which hits close to home for me, so I'm grateful for that. The coolest thing so far, I think, is that you can take a picture of something and use it as a frame for your picture: You take a picture of, say, a laptop (this is what I did to try it out) and then are given an eraser and fill tool in three different sizes. You use the eraser to take the parts of the picture you want the photo that you'll take to be visible through. I'll show in the next few hours what I mean, if it's kinda hard to get.
Pictochat still hasn't changed, unfortunate, but at the same time irrelevant, since that would never be useful in the real world, if you're close enough to use it, you might as well just talk to the person.
Buttons: The shoulder buttons have a much more spongey feel to them, so it doesn't feel like you're pushing as hard and having to curl your finger as much, also in the DSi main menu the shoulder buttons bring up the camera for a quick picture without having to launch the application.
As for the D-Pad/A/B/X/Y, they are sort of a combination between the DS and DS Lite: They are still rounded and smooth like the DS Lite, but built closer to the console, so they are less spongey in fact, which actually feels a lot nicer as well.
The only buttons that feel odd are the power and volume control buttons. The volume control only feels weird because of it replacing the slider I had grown accustomed to, so I guess I just have to get into the feel for it, but the power button just seems to require a lot more force to press it down than it seems.
Overall though, they feel nice and ergonomic like they always do, this time they've just been streamlined and improved for user comfort.
Quick Tip: To avoid anyone having to consult the outrageously big manual, if you want to change the brightness, hold down select and use the volume control buttons, one press of the power button at any time will return you to the DSi menu, even if you're on WFC, and the holding of the power button still works like normal.
Overall, the DSi is awesome at a first glance and will only get better as developers make use of the new features and the new DSiWare service, it's a lot more than just adding in a couple of cameras and I look forward to the first batch of DSi exclusive games. I really think this year will be good for Nintendo, just as long as they don't completely screw E3 up the wall again.
Very nice review! Even though this was done an hour after you messed around with it, I still feel that this is a good review. I hope your opinion didn't change. In all honesty, I didn't think much about the new handheld when it was first announced but after picking it up for my lil sis, I may just consider buying one for myself. I messed around with it while adjusting and setting it up for my sis and found the device to be rather intriguing. The browser it has is amazing as are the lenses its equiped with. I recommend it for those who don't own a DS or simply want an upgrade.
Its a much better improved but sadly lacks a good long battery...
StarRoadWarrior Administrator
Number of posts : 3628 Age : 34
Subject: Re: DSi: First Impressions Sat May 23, 2009 5:26 pm
i like how the DSi is almost set up to a network like the PSN or Live and what i meant by that is if you have a nintendo club account you can link your dsi to your nintendo club profile and ever game that you get via dsi ware it appears up on that profile now if only the games that you play on the dsi worked that way
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