The DS-why?

Satoru Iwata, the head honcho over at Nintendo, is an undeniably greedy bastard. Either that, or a master businessman. Maybe both? Who knows. Either way, I'm left scratching my head at the DS-i.

Does anyone really want a camera or an mp3 player on their DS? I mean, really? When virtually every portable electronic device these days can play music, browse the web, do your laundry and walk the dog, it seems somewhat irrelevant to slap some superfluous features on a current-gen unit and call it a new product. Not for Nintendo, though; Their ability to turn even the most pointless upgrades into money-printing licenses is absolutely absurd, and the DS-i is by far the most devious product they've come up with in very a long time.

The GBA SP presented itself as a viable alternative to the standard GBA because it looked sleeker and had its own backlight. The Lite took over the mantle of the original DS because - you guessed it - it looks sleeker and has a better backlight. In both cases, nobody was alienated; Owners of the standard GBA/DS were not to miss out on anything, because despite the different shapes and features, the capabilities of each console were identical.

The DS-i does many of the same things, such as backwards/forwards compatibility, with the newer model justifying its own existence with a few new features. Most standard and Lite owners won't feel alienated, because DS-i exclusive games don't appear to be Nintendo's main focus. But at the same time, that exclusive DSWare Channel and future games potentially only working on a DS-i are certainly things that will have many current DS owners pondering yet another purchase.

And that's the key difference between the i and the Lite, or the SP and Micro before that. The Lite and SP provided a more refined version of the product, but were still the same product. You'd upgrade if you could, but it wasn't mandatory. The DS-i is, for all intents and purposes, the same console (which prevents the alienation of people who aren't going to upgrade), but at the same time offers things gamers will actually want that can't be done on the older version of the hardware. Nintendo have essentially split this generation in two - the "old" DS and the "new" DS - and expect you to pay for the same system twice. Should you choose not to, you'll be in the same boat you'd be in if you didn't upgrade from a PS2 to a PS3, or from a Gamecube to a Wii.

The mp3 and camera functionality are simply included to placate gamers, to give them some way to justify the purchase of their new DS-i console. "But, it also has a camera, and plays music! I'm not just buying it because it has it's own Shop that is theoretically not impossible to implement via firmware upgrades to the console I already own!"

The DS-i is easily my least-anticipated event of next year. No doubt it will sell like hot cakes, but does it deserve it? Does Nintendo deserve it? I really don't think so.