There are more fun facts from this talk (translated from Japanese; the English transcript is not up yet.) Evidently Nintendo had been working on a DS Lite with 3.8 inch screens (the LL's are 4.2 inches, the Lite's are 3 inches, DSi is 3.2). It backed off because of manufacturing cost and the success of the regular flavor DS Lite. It sounds like they also wanted to do a simultaneous release of the DSi and DSi LL but it never came together.

Andriasang has more (in English) about the discussion.

The Other DSi LL Names [Andriasang via VG247]

Below is a list of the handhelds released this generation and their weights:

158g - PSPgo
189g - PSP-2000
189g - PSP-3000
214g - DSi
218g - DS Lite
275g - Nintendo DS
280g - PSP-1000
314g - DSi LL

When Nintendo dubbed the new DSi, it wasn't kidding! In Japanese clothing sizes, "LL" is extra large.

[Pic]

Screen Size
• DSi LL: 4.2 inches
• DSi: 3.2 inches
• DS Lite: 3 inches

Hardware Size
• DSi LL (across): 161mm
• DSi (across): 137mm
• DS Lite (across): 133mm

• DSi LL (front to back): 94.4mm
• DSi (front to back): 74.9mm
• DS Lite (front to back): 73.9mm

• DSi LL (thickness): 21.2mm
• DSi (thickness): 18.9mm
• DS Lite: 21.5mm

Touch Pen Size
• DSi LL (short pen): 96mm
DSi LL (long pen): 129.3mm
• DSi: 92mm
• DS Lite: 87.5mm

Weight
• DSi LL (including Battery Pack, short Touch Pen): 314g
• DSi (including Battery Pack, Touch Pen): 214g
• DS Lite (including Battery Pack, Touch Pen, GBA Cover): 218g

Charging Time
• DSi LL: 3 hours
• DSi: 2 hours 30 mins.
• DS Lite: 3 hours

Battery Life
• DSi LL (Lowest Brightness): 13~17 hours
• DSi (Lowest Brightness): 9~14 hours
• DS Lite (Lowest Brightness): 15~19 hours

• DSi LL (Second Lowest Brightness): 11~14 hours
• DSi (Second Lowest Brightness): 8~12 hours
• DS Lite (Second Lowest Brightness): 10~15 hours

• DSi LL (Middle Brightness): 9~11 hours
• DSi (Middle Brightness): 6~9 hours
• DS Lite (Middle Brightness): Not setting such exists on DS Lite

• DSi LL (Second Highest Brightness): 6~8 hours
• DSi (Second Highest Brightness): 4~6 hours
• DS Lite (Second Highest Brightness): 7~11 hours

• DSi LL (Highest Brightness): 4~5 hours
• DSi (Highest Brightness): 3~5 hours
• DS Lite (Highest Brightness): 5~8 hours

Supported Software
• DSi LL: Nintendo DS, DSi, DSiWare
• DSi: Nintendo DS, DSi, DSiWare
• DS Lite: Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance

Input Outport Slots
• DSi LL: DS Card Slot, SD Memory Card Slot, AC Adaptor, Headphones, Mic
• DSi: DS Card Slot, SD Memory Card Slot, AC Adaptor, Headphones, Mic
• DS Lite: DS Card Slot, Game Boy Advance Slot, AC Adaptor, Headphones, Mic

Back in November of last year, it seemed as though R4 cartridges would not work in the then new DSi units. However, by May of this year, dedicated DSi piracy devices had hit the streets. Multiple R4-type DSi-dedicated devices began appearing as well, making it possible to load downloaded games on to the DSi.

This latest DSi update seems to have once again nixed piracy devices for the DSi. According to one Japanese site, the update makes it impossible to use the following cartridges: DSTTi, Hyper R4i, ak2i, R4 Ui, R4i Gold, EZ Vi.

Last year, Nintendo and 53 other companies took action against the makers of the R4 cart, a device which allows, among other things, the pirating of games on a DS.

DSi　FW 1.4J　人柱 マジコン対策 [NET ゲーム裏技徹底解説]

What we were able to learn after digging through Nintendo's official quarterly and annual reports is that the DSi launched a bit more slowly in the Americas than the DS Lite. But first some background.

The DS Lite and the DSi both had staggered launches around the world: The DS Lite first hit Japan, landing there on March 2, 2006, and then Australia on June 1, North America on June 11 and Europe on June 23. The DSi also hit Japan first, launching there on Nov. 1, 2008, and then hitting Australia on April 2, 2009, Europe on April 3 and North American on April 5.

Because of Nintendo's reporting period it's impossible to use their numbers to look at the first three months of each platform for the world. It's easier to do that if you narrow the focus to just North and South America, but you do end up with an extra two weeks of sales for the DS Lite.

Here's how those number work out:

Sales in the "Americas" for the DS Lite from the day it hit here on June 11, 2006 to the end of September were 2.23 million units. While Sales in the "Americas" for the DSi from the day it hit on April 5, 2009 to the end of June were 1.56 million units.

That means the DS Lite sold on average about 20,000 units a day at $130 a pop during the 112 days of that reporting period, while the DSi sold on average about 18,000 units a day at $170 a pop during the 87 days of it's reporting period.

So is a 2,000-a-day gap during the launch window here a sign of weaker interest, a more daunting price, or are other factors at play?

In doing so, it became the fastest console in the country to ever reach the mark. That figure includes combined sales of the DS, DS Lite and DSi. And when you consider that there are only 21 million people in the country, that puts DS ownership at just under 1 in 10 people.

Live in a country where the DS does not reign supreme? We'd love to hear from you.

Speaking after Nintendo's recent fiscal year report briefing, Iwata sounds like the constant comparisons between the two devices have got to him, as he remarks:

I do not imagine that iPhone will dominate the Nintendo DS market at once. My impression as the person who has used iPhone is, it is very attractive but, frankly, I did not feel that it was designed to be appreciated by a wide variety of people like how Nintendo has been designing its products.

I don't know. I appreciate how the iPhone can make phone calls. My DS can't. Then again, I don't appreciate how there's still no decent Advance Wars clone on Apple's device.

Guess I'll have to keep appreciating both devices, then!

Financial Results Briefing Q&A [Nintendo]

This unofficial Chinese...dongle, I guess we'll call it, brings a full suite of global positioning capabilities to the handheld, featuring Google Maps support in both 2D and 3D.

While this fancy new tech seems best-suited for the fancy new DSi, ironically it will only work on the older models of the DS, as it requires the use of the GBA cartridge slot.

nintendo ds lite gets gps navigation with google maps [technabob]

Visitors can download the "Ikspiari Nintendo DS Guide" to their DS, DS Lite or DSi platforms. The download contains a guidebook for the whole Ikspiari complex, games (a quiz, locate the fairy game, etc), information about Ikspiari and a message board for people to draw pictures of rabbits. We guess.

To prevent that, there this: the Health Control Game Timer. The ¥3,990 (US$40) doohickey has a timer with settings for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes and 120 minutes. If a player goes over the allotted time, the DS switches off automatically.

There's also a sensor that can gauge how close the player. If the player gets too close, an LED light illuminates, the DS Lite vibrates and makes a beeping noise.

The Health Control Game Timer fits directly in the DS Lite's Game Boy Advance slot. Shame the DSi doesn't have a GBA slot.

Game Timer [Datel Japan via Game Watch Impress]

According to Core Gaming, which handles Nintendo's South African distribution, the console seems to be doing well for the region. "The DS Lite launched in South Africa with much fanfare in February 2008," says Core Gaming's Matthew Grose. "Since then, Nintendo has sold 20 000 DS Lites into the South African market, sales largely driven by games like Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training and Nintendogs, reflecting the appeal of the system to a new and untapped gaming demographic including women and even seniors."

New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS are also popular in South Africa. The region will be three new colors this month as well: turquoise, green and red. Currently, the DS Lite is available in black, white, pink and silver.

20 000 DS Lites sold since launch in SA [EL33T ONLINE via GoNintendo]

According to a "trusted source within the retail industry" (ie a British retailer), Go Nintendo are reporting that thanks to shrinking profit margins on Nintendo hardware the DS is about to go bundle-only. As in, you won't be able to buy just a DS, you'll need to buy one with a game included, at a slightly higher price.

It's close, but no cigar. Ninendo have told GI.biz "We will be increasing the availability of DS Lite bundles with software in the UK, however solus will still continue to be listed". That's the good news! The bad news? The classiest of the console's colour schemes - silver & white - are being phased out.

Nintendo not phasing out solus DS Lite units [GI.biz]

The DS will achieve 100 million in lifetime worldwide sales. As of December 31, 2008, the official global DS sales tally was 96.22 million.

The Nintendo DS was first launched in North American on November 21 with the Japanese launch in the following month. To date, it has gone through three hardware iterations: DS, DS Lite and DSi.

This April, the already-out-in-Japan DSi goes on sale in Australia, Europe and North America.

任天堂、ＤＳ世界販売１億台突破へ３月にも [First Brain]

When game site MCVUK ask Nintendo's David Yarnton if the company was planing on phasing out the DS Lite, he replied:

We'll let the market decide. We expect some people will upgrade, but we also anticipate that we'll win over people who were still undecided on DS — the extra features will help convince them. There's an extra incentive.

A more expensive upgrade leaves us wondering whom this is exactly an extra incentive for? Customers or Nintendo?

Nintendo discusses DS Lite phase-out [MCVUK] [Pic]

So Wall - who believe that they have "suffered monetary damages that are compensable ... by no less than a reasonable royalty" as a result of companies using "their" technology - are taking Nintendo, Sony and Nokia to court.

At the heart of their complaints lies U.S. patent 6,640,086, which Wall were granted in 2003, and has the catchy title "Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet."

What does that mean, exactly? The patent explains that it "pertains ... to methods and systems that allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile telephones."

Named in the suit are the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Nokia's N81, N82, N93 and N95 phones and the games Mario Kart, WipeOut Pulse and Reset Generation, all handheld games that feature wireless multiplayer.

Wall Wireless, we'll tell you what we tell every no-name company that crawls out of the woodwork to try and pinch a dollar or two from more legitimate, successful companies: best of luck.

Sony, Nintendo, Nokia Sued Over Wireless [Edge]

DS Lite Onyx hardware systems have been discontinued and stores will no longer be replenished on this product. Once your store sells through its current stock of this item, please remove any empty DS Onyx display boxes (onyx color only) from the sales floor and discard. Please continue to display the other colors of the DS Lite system display boxes on the sales floor (eye level and above perimeter of DS software section, above the DS accessory section, etc).

This isn't unusual. The White DS Lite was apparently discontinued and replaced by the Silver DS Lite. If this is true, could it mean the Onyx DS Lite has been discontinued to make way for the black DSi?

In a recently released Q&A from Nintendo's Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing in Tokyo, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said this about DSi pricing: "This time, considering the current foreign currency exchange rates, there is no possibility of selling DSi overseas with the same price as DS Lite at all. There will have to be a difference in price. With this price difference, I think that the DS Lite and DSi will be sold side by side in the Americas and in Europe, but I will not be able to comment on their ratio today as we have not announced the prices and we will have to see how people react to the announcement."

In Japan, the DSi is ¥2,100 (US$23) more expensive than the DS Lite. Nintendo stated it won't yet comment on the DSi/DS Lite pricing differences for North America and Europe, but hopefully it will be roughly the same as what Japanese consumers are paying.

Previously, we've had two conflicting statements. NoA boss Reggie Fils-Aime first said in October that the handheld wouldn't be out until the end of 2009, so as to allow current stocks of the DS Lite to sell through.

A few weeks later, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata told Reuters "an autumn or year-end launch [in the US] would probably be too late". Having come later and from the top man himself, we're taking the latter as the more definitive statement.

Now, we've got IGN's end-of-year review for the DS, in which they first said Nintendo of America had confirmed a March 2009 launch, before later correcting the story to state NoA "will wait until at least March of 2009 before giving the system the US push it deserves".

So, those feeling the need to upgrade their DS hardware, you'll get your shot sometime between March and August.

Nintendo DS Year in Review 2008 [IGN]

イーちゃんとDS [Rola SMILY Diary via Livedoor News]