“You’re assuming we haven’t already shown it to US developers,” Reggie Fils-Aime chuckles. I corned the president of Nintendo of America after spending all day being told that “no, I couldn’t have an interview with anyone from Nintendo about the DSi because nobody knew anything about the DSi.” I thought Reggie might be the man to ask, since he’s the only one who had one at the whole event. And for all I knew, it was a hollow DS light with decals stuck on it to look like camera lenses. “Wait and see,” says Reggie. He pats the pocket of his coat where the DSi is kept from sight. “When the time is right… you’ll see.” Rumor has it EA already has seen, getting their hands on the DSi as early as two weeks ago and is already hard at work on ideas for the platform.And this is what we already know about the DSi: It’s a “third” Nintendo platform – not a “new” DS. If someone can explain to me how this works, please do so in the comments. It’s got two cameras, one on the back of the top side and one on the inside, sorta where the mic is. It’s got onboard software that can edit the pics you take. You can save pics to SD cards and have a “daily personal diary,” though only God knows who in the US cares about that… You can put AAC music on your SD card and play it on your DSi. There’s yet more built-in software you can use to screw with said music, and with your own voice, should you record it. The screens are bigger. The whole system is smaller/lighter than the DS. And that’s pretty much it. They didn’t reinvent the wheel; they’re not trying the challenge the iPhone. And there still isn’t an analog stick. And no word on any sort of sticker printing, but if it did, I’m in. I poked around the floor at the Summit and talked to a few DS-centric developers, to get their take on the DSi. The Nintendo kind wouldn’t go on the record (jobs have been lost over less), but overall, people seemed intrigued and hopeful that it could produce some pretty good games. Damn you, Tokyo, and you’re being 12 hours ahead! You rob me of the chance to break good news (hell, any news) to the tired masses. You also make me suffer with the knowledge that no matter who I ask, or how much I nag, I won’t be getting any answers. Maybe today will be better, I’m told they will be kicking off the second day of game play by announcing a “new “ WiiWare game.
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