Deciphering the "i" in DSi

Michael Grimm

New member
Feb 23, 2009
281
0
0
Deciphering the "i" in DSi


In a recent interview, a Nintendo PR rep answered the burning question of what exactly the "i" in DSi stands for.

Intelligent? Integrated? Irrelevant? At the Los Angeles DSi Launch party, Nintendo Assistant PR manager David Young explained the significance of the mystery character:

"The DSi is really about the "individual" gamers. For instance, the Wii console is really meant to be a shared experience for families and friends, where even while you can share pictures and share the fun with multiplayer on the DSi, it's really designed to be an individual experience."

While the DSi's cameras add very little to the system's gameplay ability, it's still more focused on the traditional gamer than the Wii. The idea of individual game play certainly seems closer to that of traditional gaming, much in the way that party/mini games instantly conjure up images of baby's first shovelware. It also seems odd that Nintendo would stress the single player aspects of a handheld system whose online wi-fi connectivity is as good as, if not better than that of its console cousin.

Young continues: "My DSi is going to be different from your DSi - it's going to have my pictures, my music and my DSiWare, so it's going to be very personalized, and that's sort of the idea of the Nintendo DSi. [It's] for all of the users to personalize their gaming experience and make it their own."

While DSiWare games and music are a fair, and profitable, way of individualizing the system, integrating custom Mii avatars seems like a natural way to customize the system and drive home the idea of connectivity with the Wii.

Source: <a href="http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/209600/nintendo-dsi-launch-party-universal-studios/"
target="_blank">GamePro.com (Via Kotaku)


Permalink
 

shadowcode

New member
Dec 7, 2007
21
0
0
Nintendo has been doing this ever since I had my first gameboy.. Sort of gotten used to it.. I still love my Phat DS :)
 

ChocoFace

New member
Nov 19, 2008
1,409
0
0
Kalezian said:
DS: Virtual DS [yes, its a DS system that the whole thing is to have a virtual DS to play games]
brilliant. Or to expand the idea, why not make it a never-ending loop of virtual DSs? like the virtual DS in your DS has a virtual virtual DS and so on.
 

fix-the-spade

New member
Feb 25, 2008
8,639
0
0
Surely the i stood for impressionable, that being the prerequisite to buy one of these over a DSlite.
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
3,245
0
0
stinkychops said:
Pfff, everyone knows its jsut fashionable to put i's all over your product. Ever since freiking i-pods came out everyones in lower case and has to have an i in it.
"Nah, we tried that with lowercase e's back in the late 90s"
"Hey homestar what color i-tem are you gonna get"
 

Darkwolf9

New member
Aug 19, 2008
394
0
0
stinkychops said:
Pfff, everyone knows its jsut fashionable to put i's all over your product. Ever since freiking i-pods came out everyones in lower case and has to have an i in it.
I'm with you. I was thinking that as I read it. The "i" is a selling point, especially to western consumers who are eating up "i" things like hot cakes.
 

Andalusa

Mad Cat Lady
Feb 25, 2008
2,734
0
0
Kalezian said:
[small]didnt they release the DS lite just a year or two ago? whats next in the list? DS: EXTREME EDITION! DS: we got some moar gimmicks left! DS: okay you missed the last one, here try this one![/small] DS: Dead Horse Edition! [small]DS: Virtual DS [yes, its a DS system that the whole thing is to have a virtual DS to play games]......also, if any Nintendo reps are reading this......i copyrighted all of those........ i will sell them to you for a fair price of 80 million Canadian dollars....[/small]
I'll be looking out for that, sounds like funn.
 

USSR

Probably your average communist.
Oct 4, 2008
2,367
0
0
The "i" stands for Image.

..ya know, they kinda put a camera in the DS.
 

Kiutu

New member
Sep 27, 2008
1,787
0
0
shadowcode said:
Nintendo has been doing this ever since I had my first gameboy.. Sort of gotten used to it.. I still love my Phat DS :)
Yeah but before they were more useful. From fat to thin and easy to fit in a pocket, to adding color to being more capable and one of the best additions, a built in light. This one is just adding an advanced Gameboy Camera to the device.
 

Nickflip

New member
Mar 27, 2009
229
0
0
Is this the same micheal grimm formerly of 1up and also formerly of gamesradar?
 

Darkwolf9

New member
Aug 19, 2008
394
0
0
stinkychops said:
ansem1532 said:
The "i" stands for Image.

..ya know, they kinda put a camera in the DS.
Nintendo's a japanese company, they used Wii (instead of We because it is a word that represents multiplayer and incorperates i's), they are not using i for image because in Japan image is not spelt with an 'i'.

Darkwolf9 said:
stinkychops said:
Pfff, everyone knows its jsut fashionable to put i's all over your product. Ever since freiking i-pods came out everyones in lower case and has to have an i in it.
I'm with you. I was thinking that as I read it. The "i" is a selling point, especially to western consumers who are eating up "i" things like hot cakes.
I'm pretty sure Apple could sell any piece of junk they want if its white, has a corcle scroll and has the letter i somewhere...
Have you heard of something else with from Apple i NEED!!!! Seriously though, their doing pretty well for themselves. I think it's funny that Microsoft seems to have created a fan base of people who are anti-Microsoft-competitors. Not that I'm saying you are, I'm just saying that there seems to be the same mentality from xbox owners to PS owners as there is from Zune/other mp3 owners to iPod owners.
 

megapenguinx

New member
Jan 8, 2009
3,865
0
0
Kalezian said:
didnt they release the DS lite just a year or two ago? whats next in the list? DS: EXTREME EDITION! DS: we got some moar gimmicks left! DS: okay you missed the last one, here try this one! DS: Dead Horse Edition! DS: Virtual DS [yes, its a DS system that the whole thing is to have a virtual DS to play games]......also, if any Nintendo reps are reading this......i copyrighted all of those........ i will sell them to you for a fair price of 80 million Canadian dollars....
2006 is when the Lite came out and the original DS came out in 2004.
It happens. They did this with the Gameboy line too. I still don't know why anyone is still surprised by this.
 

randommaster

New member
Sep 10, 2008
1,802
0
0
I think they're messing with us.

I think it stands for lightsaber, because that makes a hell of a lot more sense.