Nintendo Confirms Larger-Screen DS for Japan

[John Funk]

Nintendo Confirms Larger-Screen DS for Japan

Nintendo has confirmed rumors that it will be releasing a new version of the DSi with a bigger screen in Japan.

Earlier this week, we reported on rumors [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95742-Rumor-Nintendo-to-Release-Bigger-DSi] that Nintendo was planning on releasing a DSi with a larger screen (4" compared to the current 3.25") in Japan in response to concerns from older gamers. Though the videogame giant initially brushed off the reports as "just speculation," it turns out that - surprise! - they weren't speculation at all.

Nintendo officially announced its latest DSi iteration - called the DSi LL - at a Japanese press conference, reports MTV Multiplayer [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/10/29/nintendo-confirms-new-dsi-with-larger-screen-coming-to-japan/]. The DSi LL will actually feature a 4.2" screen for a considerable increase in size, but will keep the same resolution as the current screen. There will also be a special DSi LL stylus, which is larger and shaped more like a pen (seen here to the right).

At the moment, the company has no plans to release the LL outside of Japan, where it will launch on November 21 at a price of ¥20,000 ($220.34, €149.60, £133.85) - which is slightly more than the current price of the original DSi at ¥18900 ($205.25, €138.54, £125.28). So unfortunately, while this might be nice to get as a gift for your aging parents to help them in their brain training, you'd have to import (and they probably don't speak Japanese).

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[sunami88]

There will inevitably be a shitstorm over this, but I think it's a good idea. This'll be great for people who have bad eyesight (or at least those who don't care about portability, and just want their games on a bigger screen).

I have to say though, this is awfully soon after their last release.

 

[Eri]

Not outside Japan? That's stupid.
Not increasing the resolution? That's stupid.

 

[Sevre]

Seems like a crap idea to me, just for Japan, no resolution change, no new features?

 

[Cowabungaa]

1: Why release this just in Japan? Does that make any sense?

2: Why would you even want this if the resolution doesn't change? All this does it make your games look even more pixelated.

Seriously Nintendo, you're not making any sense here.

 

[John Funk]

1: Why release this just in Japan? Does that make any sense?

2: Why would you even want this if the resolution doesn't change? All this does it make your games look even more pixelated.

Seriously Nintendo, you're not making any sense here.

For older gamers whose eyesight isn't as good as those young whippersnappers.

 

[vshade]

Not increasing the resolution also means they are not fragementing more the market, it is just bigger version of the same machine, which means a developer don't have to make more tha one version of his software.

 

[Cowabungaa]

For older gamers whose eyesight isn't as good as those young whippersnappers.

Come to think of it...yes, yes that's an excellent point, and it makes a lot of sense now, seeing as older gamers are one of Ninty's new target groups. The bigger stylus fits that theory perfectly as well. Still leaves point 1 though, it's not like Japan is the only country with wrinklesaurs, my mother could use this as well.

 

[Pendragon9]

Finally. I hated the small screens.

 

[Fraught]

But old people aren't strong enough to hold such a huge and weighty chunk of plastic in their hands...

I can't see this being a very good purchase for anyone except the old, who really have that bad eyesight. Generally, though, I see things better on a DS screen than I do on a computer screen, since the latter is far more away from my eyes anyway.

 

[slopeslider]

the reason Zune was awesome is that it had a huge screen, even though the res. was the same as the ipod. It didn't look super blurry either. And if this is the case, I guess no one should EVER buy a 55in. 1080p hdtv, because it's twice as big as a 27in. but the same resolution. So it should look super blurry right?

Use your brains people, according to your logic, your computer screens should only be about the size of 4 iphone screens. Any bigger and you blur it, right?

 

[coldfrog]

the reason Zune was awesome is that it had a huge screen, even though the res. was the same as the ipod. It didn't look super blurry either. And if this is the case, I guess no one should EVER buy a 55in. 1080p hdtv, because it's twice as big as a 27in. but the same resolution. So it should look super blurry right?

Use your brains people, according to your logic, your computer screens should only be about the size of 4 iphone screens. Any bigger and you blur it, right?

No one said blurry. While I understand the older gamer issue, I personally would never buy a larger screen DS because, lets face it, it really doesn't have the highest quality graphics. A larger screen, for those of us with good enough vision, will look much more pixellated and could be a turn off. In things like televisions and computers you're not holding the device right up to your face (I hope) and so from a distance it will have a good enough resolution that it's not an issue.

Also, a 55 inch is actually 4 times the size of a 27 inch television. The Escapist may have its grammar nazis, but I'm more of a calculation Machiavellian.

 

[AceDiamond]

Ok on the one hand I think this is a good idea in the fact that a bigger screen would be better in some aspects. Not that I have any trouble with the current DS screen size, mind you.

on the other hand they should've done that in the first place. This is behavior I'd expect out of Sony moreso than Nintendo. But ah well, it's only in Japan right now so it's not exactly affecting me personally.

 

[Seriin]

I think that this is a really good move on Nintendo's part. It has a good chance to bring in a crowd who were off put by the DS's small screen/stylus/overall size, and gives those who have a perfectly good DS Lite a better reason to consider a DSi other than 'OMG Cameras'.

 

[Abedeus]

Bigger screen+same resolution= Worse image quality?

Yep. Guess why Diablo 2 in full screen looks a LOT worse than it looked back in 2001, even with the upgraded resolution.

Or hell, just lower your desktop's resolution by a half.

 

[scotth266]

Does it still not have a slot for Gameboy cartridges? Color me unimpressed.

 

[Snotnarok]

Bored of Nintendo remaking the same handhelds 5 times.

GB, PGB, PGB(backlight), GBC, GBA,GBASP, GBAMicro, GBASP(brighter), DS, DSLite, DSi, DSiLL

I'm set in mind from now on not to buy their handhelds when they come out but instead to wait for the second, or perhaps now their THIRD iteration. I nearly bought the ugly DS but instead I waited for a while then the DSLite came out and I happily bought it and enjoy it. It was much nicer looking and had better screens. I'm aware it's up to me to buy what I want but I find it obnoxious that they do this over and over.

 

[slopeslider]

the reason Zune was awesome is that it had a huge screen, even though the res. was the same as the ipod. It didn't look super blurry either. And if this is the case, I guess no one should EVER buy a 55in. 1080p hdtv, because it's twice as big as a 27in. but the same resolution. So it should look super blurry right?

Use your brains people, according to your logic, your computer screens should only be about the size of 4 iphone screens. Any bigger and you blur it, right?

No one said blurry. While I understand the older gamer issue, I personally would never buy a larger screen DS because, lets face it, it really doesn't have the highest quality graphics. A larger screen, for those of us with good enough vision, will look much more pixellated and could be a turn off. In things like televisions and computers you're not holding the device right up to your face (I hope) and so from a distance it will have a good enough resolution that it's not an issue.

Also, a 55 inch is actually 4 times the size of a 27 inch television. The Escapist may have its grammar nazis, but I'm more of a calculation Machiavellian.

Math sucks, you double the borders and the area quadruples? Now how, does that, make sense?
Yeah I see, two tv's fit vertically and two fit horizontally. Didn't think it thru that much, just thought about the borders.

 

[In Limbo]

Still leaves point 1 though, it's not like Japan is the only country with wrinklesaurs, my mother could use this as well.

True, but Japan has the oldest population in the world, on average.