Battery Life

This one is the worst offender. All of the new features and doohickeys add up to a seriously decreased battery life. One of the best things about the DS Lite was that it was an energy camel. Not so with the DSi. Granted, there are many factors that come into play such as screen brightness, how much you're using Wi-Fi, how much you're using the cameras and how much you're accessing the SD card to name a few. My personal experience has shown that at the medium brightness setting, with mostly just playing games, a DSi which was fully charged on Sunday lasted until Thursday before it needed a charge. Now, that's "needed a charge" and not "fully tapped out", but figure about nine hours before the red light shows up. That's a far cry from the 15 or so hours that the DS Lite could go before needing some juice.

Cold Hard Cash

The DSi clocks in at $170, forty dollars more than the price of the DS Lite. Sure, you get ten of it back as points for the DSi Shop Channel, but if you don't plan on downloading any thing then that money is pretty much useless to you. As handhelds go, $170 is pretty much middle of the line. It isn’t the cheapest handheld ever put out, but it's not the most expensive.

To Upgrade or Not?

So now we get to the meat of the matter, should you put down the money for the new hardware? Well, that's a tricky question with no easy answer so I'll highlight what I would consider to be some common Nintendo gamers and go from there.

The Nintendophile

Honestly, if you're one of these people, and I consider myself one, you already have a DSi. For the people who love Nintendo products like, or more than, their own children (again, that's me), the DSi doesn't disappoint. It's a very sleek piece of tech, the form factor and system menu changes make it hard to go back to the DS Lite and it is rife with possibilities. And, as any good Nintendo fan will tell you, possibilities are our bread and butter. I mean, we're still waiting on that awesome sword fighting game for the Wii. If Nintendo can loosen up some of the restrictions on the DSi in terms of SD card access there is a lot of potential there, on top of what already exists for games to interact with the new hardware. Enjoy your new toy NOAers.

The New Upgrader

If you're new to the DS scene, coming off of a long proud history rocking the GBA, then you're probably best served by the DS Lite. There are simply too many excellent GBA games for you to turn your back on by purchasing a DSi. A Link to the Past, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, Advance Wars 1 and 2, the list goes on. Come back once you've played your last GBA cart.

New to the DS Scene

This one could go either way. Are you picking up the DS because you heard about Brain Age and Cooking Trainer or because you want to play more hardcore games? Is the DS going to be an occasional "when I have to stand in line at DMV" device or an "it shuts off when I do" situation? If the DS is going to be used for more casual gaming, stick with the DS Lite as the nifty new features won't add much to your experience. If you're looking for this to be more of a long term commitment, go with the DSi as the future proof-ness of the system means that you won't have to spend more money to upgrade in the future.

Whatever you choose, you're getting a fantastic console. The DS Lite is still a great gaming machine and this writer's personal winner of the "Best Console Ever" award. The DSi has a bunch of interesting new additions that hopefully Nintendo can exploit for our collective gaming enjoyment. Whether you come into the future, or spend more time playing around in the past, you're bound to have some fun.

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