14 DAY TRIAL // When Nintendo launches a new console, even one that is billed as an “upgrade” and not a “replacement,” like the Nintendo DSi, it does it in style. The new system has sold 600,000 units in just two days in North America and in Europe, with each of the territories accounting for about half of that number. The data coming out of the United Kingdom is suggesting that the DSi sold better at launch than the original Nintendo DS or the DS Lite version.
The 600,000-unit figure was advanced by Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, as he was talking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. He also said that one of the big advantages that Nintendo game consoles were enjoying over Microsoft and Sony was the price point. He stated that, “If products are similar, then people are going to look at which is cheaper. We do not think our video game machines are that kind of product.... it is more effective to work on how to become No. 1 on the wish list.”
It's interesting to see that the Nintendo DSi, which has two cameras and bigger screens than the DS Lite, is not selling at a discounted price and is still seeing a lot of customers. Probably, one of the big draws is the DSi Shop Channel, which is set to allow players to get games via the Internet, most of them built especially for the Nintendo DSi. There's also some talk regarding a Virtual Console-like service for Game Boy video games.
Shigeru Miyamoto has also emphasized another side of the DSi, showing how, in Japan, teachers are set to make the handheld an important teaching aid, using them to give out tests, get maps for field trips complete with audio directions, and get tickets to museums and coupons to various shops.
So, apparently, the DSi will not be getting cheaper, but it will be getting a lot more functionality quite soon.