The question: Is the Nintendo DSi Worth it? [Is it worth the $150.00?]
The Nintendo DSi is the third in the Nintendo DS lineup. First released in 2008 in Japan, the Nintendo DSi features two .3 megapixel cameras. The inner camera is used for taking a picture of yourself. The outside camera is used for taking pictures of everything else, the outside camera also has a face tracking device for the Camera App's "Face Merge" feature. The Main Difference the DSi has gaming wise is down-loadable software via the DSi Shop. [If your Nintendo DSi System is kept up-to-date in terms of system firmware]You can purchase "Nintendo Points" to buy and download "Nintendo DSi Ware" which range from small game tittles to apps like Super Mario Clock/Calculator. There are currently two free items on the DSi Shop, The DSi Web Browser(Powered by Opera) and Flipnote Studio(Online services provided by Hineta.)
Flipnote Studio allows you to create a sketch or a sequence of sketches and add sound, then share them with the world on Hineta.
The DSi Browser allows you to browse the internet.(However this browser is very limited as flash is not compatible as well as any other media besides pictures. Sites like GBATemp take about 1~2minutes to finish loading a single page!)
I don't download DSi Ware so I can't give any good insights on great DSi Ware tittles.
The DSi's Cameras are crap when compared to the earliest cell phones that have cameras .(Even the Nextel i780 kicks the DSi Camera's butts!)
One Nice feature is the ability to switch FIVE brightness settings, that is one more than the DS LITE, you can also change the brightness setting ANYTIME by pressing and holding SELECT and the pressing VOL + for more brightness or VOL - for less brightness. This is a major improvement.
The use of sliders for VOLUME control and Power are gone too! Both the volume and power are handled by buttons! No more broken sliders!
This DSi is built in a similar fashion to the DS LITE so it suffers from the same loos/broken henge problems as the DS LITE and with the 3DS about a year away it does seem short lived.
There is only one DSi Exclusive game, Photo Showdown, which I think is a Pokemon-Like RPG where you get monsters by taking pictures of stuff or something, it doesn't work with my Acekard so I can't give it a proper review.
Speaking of Acekard...If you have and R4DS, Acekard, EZ Flash, N7, Etc you will find that they are incompatible with the DSi.
In order to load ROMs on a DSi you will need flashcards like the Acekard2i or TTDSi or iPlayer or EZ Flash iV (The answer is in the "i") that are built specifically for use on a DSi. BE WARNED THOUGH, THERE ARE FAKE ACEKARD 2i'S OUT THERE AND AKAIO (THE FIRMWARE YOU SHOULD BE USING) WILL NOT WORK ON FAKES/CLONES.
The other downer is update able firmware, as it is update able...Nintendo can update the firmware to block your flashcards/hacks...always double check to see if it is okay to upgrade the firmware of your DSi on GBATemp BEFORE updating your DSi...or you could wind up like the poor suckers that updated to 1.4U first.
The system also DOES NOT HAVE A GBA SLOT which means ANY GAMES THAT NEED AN ACCESSORY IN THE GBA SLOT WILL NOT WORK WITH THE DSi. (Pokemon will still work fine, but you will just not be able to import monsters via pal park unless you use an application like POKESAV to modify the SAVE FILE but that is a different story.)
Overall, the DSi is not a bad system, but there is just not a lot different about it in a gaming prospective.
It is a DS LITE with upgradeable firmware that can block flashcards, it has cameras, down-loadable software, and no GBA Slot.
I give the system a 8/10 because of the loss of GBA Support and gay firmware updates that block Acekard2is!
