nintendo to launch ipod-challenging ds

Set to premiere in Japan on November 1st, Nintendo's newest handheld DS (I believe called the DSi) will feature photo-taking and music storage/playing. This is a clear move to get the DS competing with iPods and camera phones and whatnot. The new DS will be 12% slimmer than its predecessor while featuring 17% more screen display space (photo compares DSi on left with DS lite). Part of reducing the size means removing the Game Boy Advance game slot so the DS will no longer play GBA games.

"We are finding ourselves in an unprecedented stage where one of every six people (in Japan) has the DS," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told a news conference on Thursday.

"We will strive not only to appeal to those households without the DS, but to promote a shift to 'one DS per person' from 'one DS per household'."

The DS has in the past been outsold in Japan by Sony's PSP but that hasn't stopped Nintendo from cementing itself as the fifth most valuable Japanese company. And I have to say, I've seen more DS being played on my last few public transportation ventures than I have PSP. I have not played much DS although I did just snag my sister's abandoned DS recently. All we have for it is Mario Kart which is pretty sweet.

Nintendo to Launch Camera, Music-Ready DS in Japan
PC World - Hands on With Nintendo's DSi