Nintendo DSi Review

DSi Hardware

One of the biggest new features of the DSi is addition of the two cameras. In Figure 6, you can see the outside camera on the front cover. Next to the camera lens is a small indicator light that glows when the camera is in use. On the upper left corner of the front cover, you can also see the indicator lights. Since these are on the hinge of the device, they can also be seen when the device is open, as shown in Figure 6. This indicator lights are from left to right, the wireless in use indicator, charge indicator, and power on/off indicator.

Figure 6: The Front cover.

Figure 7: The DSi controls.

Figure 7 also shows the stereo speakers on either side of the upper screen. The lower screen is a touch-screen. To the left of the screen is a four-way control pad. Under this is a power on/off button, which also acts as a reset button when a game is running. This is a useful button that can take you back to the main menu, but we found it too easy to hit by accident during a game and would prefer to have a dedicated button in a different location for that function.

To the right of the lower screen is a control pad with A, B, X, and Y buttons and a Start and a Select button. On the spine of the device between the two screens, you can see the inner camera and t
he microphone opening.

The back side of the DSi, shown in Figure 8 has Left and Right buttons on both sides. These buttons along with the inside controls and the stylus on the touch screen are used for the various functionalities that are available in each game. In the center of the back side is the game card slot. The DSi will play all of the DS games except for a few like Guitar Hero, that need the use of the old Game Boy Advanced slot.

To the left of the card slot in Figure 8, you can see a place to attach a wrist strap. To the right of the game slot is the AC adapter connector.

Figure 8: Back side of the DSi.

The right side of the DSi, shown in Figure 9, has a lone control for the volume.

Figure 9: Right side of the DSi.

The left side, shown in Figure 10, has a slot for the stylus and a place for the SD card. The SD card slot is new on the DSi, giving it addition storage capabilities.

Figure 10: Left side of the DSi.