RSS Feeds: Nintendo DS vs DSi: Either way, Nintendo wins!
Your Christmas Choice: Nintendo DS or DSi?
The Nintendo DSi is the follow on model to the massively popular Nintendo DS games console. The DSi, which launched in April 2009, with its range of new features was expected to surge past its older brother in sales stakes as eager buyers rushed out to upgrade to the very latest Nintendo handheld console. Unfortunately, Nintendo was wrong!
There's no arguing that the DSi has some pretty cool features (webcam, built in audio player, DSi shop, etc) but sales of the previous version, the Nintendo DS, has proved pretty resilient. But this is good news for owners of the DS and Nintendo alike; it would be fair to say that any games console maker wants to get us all onto the very latest version of their consoles. The reason? Profit. Companies like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft etc. spend a lot of money developing new software and hardware in order to keep up with the demands of gamers, but these products sell at a premium price which brings the makers big profit margins. As time goes on, and technologies become 'so yesterday', the retailers need to drop prices. Now you can understand the huge advertising campaigns on the television and internet when a new console or game launches.
So which version of the DS will be the big winner this Christmas? The DSi has certainly racked up some impressive figures since it was launched just over 6 months ago: about 7 million units sold. Then again, when you look at the number of DS's sold to date you'll see it's hit over 107 million consoles sold! Now that is an impressive figure. In fact, the number of DS consoles sold outstrips the combined figures for the Wii, XBox and PS… combined.
Also, don't forget the popularity stakes. The DSi may have some great new features but the DS has been around for some time now and the sheer number of games makes it hard to beat. There's also another factor: confusion. To be fair, most parents have heard their children saying they want a DSi for Christmas. Or was that a DS? Ask your local retailer. "There are two versions?" Which one do you take? Which one has the most games available? Which is the cheapest? See what I mean?
There's no doubt we'll see a strong demand for all things Nintendo related this Christmas (models such as the Nintendo pink DS are still very big sellers) but it's not very likely that the DSi will outperform the DS… not yet, at least.
Similar Articles: