A reason we decided to buy a DSi instead of one of the other game systems we say was because of the digital camera built right into the game console.  A camera is one of the handiest things you can have when you spend us much time on the road as we do.  The kids can take pictures of anything they see that they think is interesting, and they both have travel scrapbooks that they are working on.  After we get back from one of our trips, we stop by the store and use the little SD memory cards to get the pictures printed up so they can put them into the scrapbooks.  They really like the ongoing project.  My daughter has already pre- made pages of her scrapbook, she’s got one page for every state.  She’s excited about filling it up.  My younger one, he just kind of does a page for every trip that we take.  I really didn’t see a device like the Nintendo DSi being that big of a help on a project like that, but we’re glad it worked out that way.  The kids like it too.

The Nintendo DSi system also has a music player in it, which my daughter uses a lot more often than my son.  I guess my daughter is old enough to not want to listen to the music my wife and I listen to on the car stereo.  It’s been real handy for her to be able to bring her own music in the car- sometimes she’ll do that instead of playing games.  My son doesn’t though.  He loves his Mario Kart game for road trips because he gets to drive while Mom or Dad is driving.  With everything put together, we are very glad we decided to buy Nintendo DSi for the kids.  That particular purchase bought us a lot of quiet hours in the car that might otherwise have been spent bickering and asking if we were there yet.

Mike in Memphis, TN

We love the new system almost as much as our daughters do.  We bought them each a DSi and they are crazy about them.  One of them is seven years old, one of them is ten, and the oldest girl is thirteen.  We got them the game systems for Christmas after reading some really convincing Nintendo DSi reviews.  People were just raving about the new system and they kept talking about the new features, the camera, the external memory, the music player, and online store and the internet features.  It sounded like it actually might be too good to be true, and boy did we save those receipts just in case.  After spending that much money to buy three of them, we were very careful to cover our bases just in case they didn’t work out and we needed to return them.  We didn’t though, because they are great.  Honestly, we were torn at first as to whether we should buy DSi for three girls, after all, video games tend to be more of a boy thing.  But the games aren’t all necessarily geared toward boys.  Some of the old favorites, like any of the Mario themed games, are a big hit with the girls, and that’s great.  Our seven year old is crazy about Hannah Montana, and of course there is a Hannah Montana game for the DS that she plays all the time.  The oldest girl is kind of a tomboy, and she likes some of the sports themed games that you can get in DS format.  All the girls have the exact same game system, even the same color, but they all got to pick out their favorite kinds of games.  That is the really neat thing about the Nintendo DSi and all the other game systems they have come up with.  There is a great game for everybody, no matter what their interests.

Another great  part was that as soon as we found out where to buy Nintendo DSi, we also knew where to buy the games.  But if there is ever a game that one of them wants that we can’t find in the stores, we are hoping that we’ll be able to get it online through the DSi shop, where you can buy Nintendo DSi games (and even download some for free).  Although I know there is an online feature with the DSi, they girls don’t use it much.  They are pretty happy just to sit there and play games on their own.  If we had though to buy a DSi when it first came out, then they would maybe have a better handle on all the features- but it didn’t take long at all for them to figure out how to use the basic functions that they need for playing games.  We were pretty glad to find out that the system is so user friendly, because we have very little experience with video games and would probably have been useless trying to show them how to work the games.  We’re just glad they like them.

Stacy - Baton Rouge, LA

When I told my husband that I was planning to buy Nintendo DSi for the daycare I’ve owned and operated for fifteen years, he said that I was crazy.  He told me that it was an “amazingly bad idea” to buy something that pricey for use in a setting where there will be so many kids using it all day long.  I took his advice to heart, and bought six instead of one.  I looked for where to buy Nintendo DSi at a bulk discount, but I couldn’t find a place.  That’s ok, because every penny I spend on toys for the daycare is tax deductible.  I did have to come up with a system though, to make sure that none of them are damaged, none of them disappear, and the games don’t get lost (man, are those games tiny!), but it wasn’t hard to figure out a system.

First, I set up a special area of the big room in the back of the day care just for gaming.  I’ve got a computer back there, and two TVs, one with a Wii system and one with a vMotion system.  The game room is in its own corner, so it’s pretty easy to keep track of the kids coming and going from the room.  When I added the Nintendo DSi to the room, I also added a locking cabinet outside the room.  The staff member in charge for the day holds onto the key, so she can get into the cabinet when someone wants to play with the Nintendo DSi system or one of the games.  All of the game systems and the games are locked up in the cabinet, and we have a check out system so that the kids can check out games on a first come first served basis.  It’s usually the middle school boys who get to them first, but we have an hour limit on play time to make it fair to everyone.  I made sure to buy Nintendo DSi games enough for everyone to have a big selection.

I think the very best thing about this setup is that it actually prevents a lot of trouble for me at the day care.  We have a few kids, boys, who are in middle school, and they’re a little spirited to say the least.  Before the game room, those boys were usually picking on the younger ones and having the occasional rumble over a basketball or something.  Now, the after school period is quieter, since the hour play time tends to coincide pretty closely with the amount of time before the rowdy boys’ parents pick them up.  I think that the increased quiet at the daycare is there because I decided to buy Nintendo DSi.  I’m not used to raving about products, and this is actually the first review I’ve done on anything besides regular old word of mouth.  But it has been such a wise investment for me, that I felt I had to do a Nintendo DSi review.

Kristie - Richmond, VA

The Camera

My daughter’s favorite thing about the DSi, so far, is the camera. She and her friend have taken pictures of each other for hours and have used the internal software to change up the pictures. I love knowing that it takes a few steps to get the pictures online (ie you have to put them on the SD card and then download them on the computer), unlike how it works with a cell phone. I feel like it will take a lot more for her to be irresponsible with the Nintendo DSi system’s camera than it would for her to be irresponsible with a camera cell phone.

What I have found that I really like is that she can take pictures during her day and can make notes on the pictures. Before the DSi, it was like pulling teeth to get her to tell me what happened during her day. Now, however, she’ll take pictures during the day, write on them with the stylus, and tell us a story over dinner about what happened at school. I know now who is dating who and which teacher is extremely annoying.
When you buy Nintendo DSi you are informed that it can go online from the owner’s manual, and I was a bit worried about that, until I realized that the internet is extremely slow on the DSi, and that it would be quite difficult for her to go onto any unsafe sites.

After I saw her friend’s DSi, and got to try it, you can imagine that I went online to figure out where to get one, because it just makes sense for a kid her age. She has spent hours playing with it and with some of the intelligent software, has actually learned things, which is great. The reviews are all true when they say that it’s a great machine for a family to won, and I’m really glad that her friend brought over the DSi for us to try.

Sandra P. – Anchorage, Alaska

I figured out where to buy Nintendo DSi shortly after it was released and only bought it because my wife wanted to have it. Once she got it, though, I was the one who was addicted. I began playing the game that she had for it often, and then used the wireless router to connect to the internet and to access more games and stuff from the store. I liked that I could transfer points from the Wii to the DS, and so far I’ve gathered more points on the DS to transfer to the Wii than vice versa, but it’s made it easier for me to buy some of the classic games that I love to play.

The thing that intrigued me the most about the system is that it is so much smaller and lighter than the Lite, and the screen is a lot brighter. It is really easy to see in the dark, and you can control the brightness so that it doesn’t bother your eyes too much. I also love that the stylus seems a big smaller and easier to use on the DSi than it did on the DS.

I think my favorite thing, and the reason that most adults should buy Nintendo DSi, is the many different things that you can do with it. Unlike the DS, which just allowed you to play games, when you get one you’re getting a number of different technological gadgets, including a camera, a music player, and a game system. You can download and listen to podcasts and can save your information onto an SD card really easily.

The Nintendo DSi reviews are right: this is one system that any gamer simply has to have. It’s not only a great way to play games on the go, it’s a great way to combine a bunch of things, including a portable digital notepad. My wife now wants to get the pedometer to use with the DSi, and I’m sure when we get it I’ll be more addicted to it than she will. This is truly one game that’s great for not only kids but for adults as well, especially adults who like to play video games occasionally.

Dean C. – Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania

The Games

What I really love about the Nintendo DSi is that there are tons of adult games that you can play on it. The games aren’t just designed for kids. I love playing the Brain Age game that I was given with it, and I’ve been looking quite a bit at a few of the other brain type games that you can play on it. I even managed to get onto the online site and to play some brain games against other people, which was really fun – a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

The System

It is actually really easy to use the system – easier than I thought it would be. Once it got charged I was able to figure out how to use it really easy, and I love that I don’t have to worry about changing the batteries because you just charge it in the case. I also love that it is a camera, simply because I’ve gotten a lot of fun candid shots with the DSi system because people didn’t know there was a camera on it! I then was able to take the pictures and to play with them using the system, changing them a bit and making them really fun looking.

I have actually really enjoyed playing with the animated notepad and have done some fun drawings with it. It’s a good way to while away some time when you’re waiting for a meeting to start. I would probably never buy DSi for myself, but I’m really glad one was given to me. Now that I’ve become addicted to it, I’m starting to look at other gaming systems to see what I can get out of them and what I could play with them.

So far none of the Nintendo DSi reviews I’ve read have been negative, and I can agree with the assessments these other people made. The Nintendo DSi is a great system. From top to bottom. It’s as much for adults as it is for kids and I hope that those people who don’t enjoy gaming will give it a shot, because they will really be surprised at the different things that you can do with it as well as with the different types of games that you can buy for the system. And I am really grateful that my friend gave me the system, because I can’t remember what it as like to live without it!

Dolores C., - Burlington, Vermont

Now, though, I’ve been reading the Nintendo DSi reviews and am think that I should wait to buy a Nintendo DSi rather than a DS. There are so many things that I’m looking forward to with the DSi.

• The easy to use features – the DSi looks so easy to use, and from what I’ve read in the reviews, it is easy for everyone, including children, to use.

• Family friendly games – the games that go with the DS are almost all family friendly, so I know that the games that will go with the DSi are going to be family friendly as well. The titles that are out already are all family friendly and look amazing, even for a seven year old.

• The adult games – it sounds a bit bad, but I’m looking forward to the adult games as much as I’m looking forward to the kid games! I know that I’ll be able to use the games when she’s not using the Nintendo DSi.

• The charge-ability – the last handheld game we got needed batteries, and I had to spend a fortune on batteries, as the rechargables didn’t work well in it at all. When you buy Nintendo DSi, you get to charge it up instead of having to continually buy batteries, which sounds good to me!

• The accessories – I want to buy one first, but I’m already looking at the different accessories that you can get to go with the DSi! There are tons of  them, including a cool pedometer that looks great.

• The price – it’s so much less expensive than I thought it would be, and it’s nice to know that I can afford the system without having to sell off tons of stuff.

My daughter’s birthday is going to be soon after the DSi comes out, I believe, so I will be trying to find where to buy Nintendo DSi for her. If it’s anything like the sales in Japan have been, it’s going to take a bit of searching on my part in order to find the system! But I know that the look on her face will make it all worth it, especially as she’s been begging for a DS for so long. I know that waiting for the DSi, though, will be the best idea.

Cynthia D., Honolulu, Hawaii

My brother and I both have seven year old boys, and we decided to buy Nintendo DSi for them as Christmas gifts. They each got their own, of course, or there would have been a great deal of fighting over it. And we have watched in total amazement as they have sat, totally quiet, for hours playing the games. They still play with their other toys sometimes, but mostly they sit around playing the DSi system. We like to buy them new games as rewards when they have been really good or when they’ve been trying really hard in school. It has worked out to be a very good reward system for both our families. The boys have figured out that when we don’t have to tell them things like “clean up your room” or “get your homework done”, that we go out and buy Nintendo DSi games for them as rewards. Ok, maybe it’s bribery, but it works.

The kids also like the internet feature- I had read about that in Nintendo DSi reviews, but I hadn’t thought that the boys would be very interested in it. But they like to go into the online store, and look through all the stuff they can download. Some of it is free, and I thought that the free stuff would be kind of cheesy, but they actually like it. It’s nice when kids like free stuff. That way we don’t have to, you know, buy it. I never thought for a second when I went to buy DSi for my son that he would like the free games. Weird.

When I found out where to buy Nintendo DSi, I went there and bought the system and several games as well, just to get him started. While I was reading the box, I also saw that it had a memory card slot, so I bought one of those too. I didn’t realize that it could save so many different things. It can save all the pictures that the kids can take with the Nintendo DSi built in digital camera feature- which is mostly the kids taking pictures of the dogs. It can save music that we download from the computer, and of course it can save the games that they download and all the saves that they do while they are playing games- that’s so they can go right back to the same spot where they stopped last time in a certain game. That particular feature is extremely handy at bedtime. If I tell my son to go to bed, he can just save and go right back to that spot next time. That way, he can’t tell me that he ‘has to beat this level’ before he can go to bed or he’ll have to start all over. He actually did that a couple of times before I got wise to it. Anyway, I would have to say that the DSi system has been a great buy and I have no regrets.

When the Wii came out, we immediately got it. It seemed like a great way for both the eight year old and the five year old to be able to play together, and to have a console that both of them could learn how to use. I was glad that I bought it about five minutes after it got set up. While the two occasionally squabble about whose turn it is to pick a game, the majority of the time they can play together harmoniously (which is much rarer than quietly in my house) for quite some time. I’ve seen them spend a whole lazy Sunday going from one game to the next.

Then I read a few DSi reviews and learned that it would be coming out soon. I was stoked. We don’t have any hand-held gaming devices, as of yet, and I knew that the DSi would be a good one for us to buy. It is a lot like the DS, which we don’t have but which I’ve played before, so I knew that both kids would be able to play it and to work the consoles with little problems. I knew that they would both be able to figure out the buttons, and the stylus, without me having to get too involved, which is always good if you’re trying to use it when you’re driving, or, rather, when you’re driving and the kids are in the backseat. You get the idea, right?

Anyway, when you buy one you get a gaming system that is not only fun to play, but is rechargeable! How about that! No having to spend tons of money on batteries! I definitely like that. You also get a gaming system that has tons of family friendly games, which is great for both of the kids, and yet the games become challenging enough to keep them entertained when they get older as well, which is also great in my eyes.

If you plan to buy a DSi, like I do, then plan to buy one per child, because while it’s easy to share a game on the Wii, when both of them can get remotes, sharing a Nintendo DSi system is going to be a lot more difficult, especially if you’ve got two children who love to play and who want to take their turns “NOW”!

Jason M., Charlotte, North Carolina