The brand new Nintendo DSi has lots of new features that are above and beyond the DS Lite, the previous version DS game system. We love the internet feature, we love the music player and the improved speakers and backlighting. But most of all, we love the built in digital camera feature, which we are simply calling the Nintendo DSi camera. We think this is a really great addition, and one that makes it a combination device- we love those. You carry one device and it functions as several different devices all in one.
There are actually two cameras integrated into the new Nintendo DSi. One lens faces the user, so that the face can be seen and it can be used sort of like a webcam. The other camera is actually a camera, and users can point and click a picture. This picture is then saved on either the 256 MB of internal memory or the external SD memory card. The Nintendo DSi camera does not come equipped with a memory card, so it has to be purchased separately.
We love the fact that kids can not only play any DS game they want on the DSi system, but they can also tuck it into a pocket and carry it around with them so that when they see something they want to take a picture of, they can just take out their DSi and snap a picture. Then they can take the DSi and hook it up to a computer and email the pictures to family and friends if they want to. We might normally have a few reservations about a kids’ camera, but the DS game systems are quite durable. They are clearly built to last, which it a great thing in a time when toys tend to break easily or wear out quickly.
We were actually surprised at the picture quality of the pictures taken with the Nintendo DSi camera. Honestly, with the camera being an auxiliary feature, we didn’t expect the picture quality to be that good. But after snapping a few pictures and viewing them on both the DSi and the computer and then getting them printed out at a picture kiosk, we realized that the picture quality is nearly as good as some of the advanced digital camera pictures that you can take with a regular digital cameras. There are even features in the camera that can let you edit pictures in fun ways- although perhaps not in ways that you’d want to use for a family portrait. Just fun features.
We were already sold on the Nintendo DSi just for the screens and the game play quality, as well as the internet feature. We were sold before we played with the camera feature. But now we are convinced that this is the best portable Nintendo game system yet. We can’t imagine how Nintendo would ever be able to come up with an improvement on this system. We feel that the digital camera feature alone makes up for the slight hike in price of the DSi over the DS Lite.
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