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Conventional game consoles are giving way to modern gadgets with multiple options for entertainment. The latest example is Nintendo DSi.
Nintendo unveiled the latest version of its DS portable game machine Thursday. Nintendo's new DSi is featured with a dual-digital camera and music playback feature.
With this new gadget, Nintendo, already a market leader in game consoles and software, is trying to grab a much bigger share of the game console market.
The new game device allows players to take photos, scribble on them, mix images and transfer them to flash drives. It also has a recorder that can distort voices and other sounds for fun.
Satoru Iwata, president and CEO, Nintendo, said, “I believe there is more scope for the Nintendo DS to spread. I hope we can create a trend of every family member having a unit, instead of one unit for the whole household.”
The new console is provided with a bigger display. DSi has a 3.25-inch screen, as compared to the 3-inch version of the older DS models. The 18.9-mm DS machine is also thinner than the current 21.5-mm version. However, DSi weighs 4g less than the previous model.
Nintendo said it would launch the machine first in Japan on Nov. 1 for a retail price of ¥18,900. It will be available in either black or white. The company plans to sell the machine overseas in 2009. According to officials, the new device will appear in European markets in the coming spring, but they do not intend to launch the same in the U.S. until “well into 2009.”
Market experts say that there is no reason for the company to delay the launch of the new DS in foreign markets, because the current DS model is still selling well outside Japan, while their sales in Japan are flagging.
In the April to June quarter, only 580,000 units of DS were sold in Japan, compared to the 2 million units the company sold in the same period a year earlier. In contrast, overseas sales in the same period totaled 6.36 million units, up from 4.89 million units in the year-earlier period.
The first Nintendo DS was launched in December 2004. Since then, the company has sold more than 23 million DS game consoles in Japan.
Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Eve Sullivan
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