The battery on my Nintendo DS died last night at the strip club, but that’s another story for another web site. Consequently, I visited the Nintendo booth at GDC in search of a charger. I was greeted by Debra, a friendly booth babe who I had taken a picture of yesterday. I was then greeted with the Nintendo DSi, set for release on April 5.

The primary difference between the Nintendo DS Lite and the Nintendo DSi is perhaps two built-in cameras that carry features reminiscent of Apple’s PhotoBooth—seemingly an encouragement to take pictures of yourself at newfound MySpace angles. Additionally, the DSi holds an SD card slot that familiarizes itself with a digital camera. Is this perhaps an attempt to bridge a narrowing gap between gaming and social networking?

The handheld console is slightly lite-r than the DS Lite and will be available in black and powder blue. It carries no backwards compatibility in terms of both hardware and non-DS software; this was frustrating for me, seeing as how I was desperately searching for a DS Lite charger.

Anyhow, I was fortunate to demo three games, only one of which being worth a mention.  WarioWare: Snapped! was as innovatively interactive as WarioLand: Shake It!, but perhaps at a more “picturesque” level. The DSi camera tracks your movements and the player is prompted to move accordingly. For example, coins will appear on the screen and you will be instructed to physically “grab” the coins with your real hands as the camera films you. This is virtual reality, man.

And the camera seriously records you. You’ll see what I mean when you play the game.

Here’s an excerpt from the official Nintendo press release.  Also, yes, I did mention to snag a DS Lite charger:

“Some features that will be built into the system and ready to enjoy upon purchase include the Nintendo DSi Camera, Nintendo DSi Sound and Nintendo DSi Shop. The most noticeable feature of the slim Nintendo DSi system is its two cameras – one camera is on the external body, and the second one points at the user when the device is flipped open. As the first truly interactive digital camera in a video game system with 10 different interactive “lenses” that can manipulate your photos, the Nintendo DSi Camera offers an easy way to take and share your photos with family and friends. The cameras also present people with unprecedented ways to interact with their games while giving developers a new tool to devise creative games and experiences. If the touch screen gave Nintendo DS a sense of feel and the microphone allowed it to hear, the two cameras give Nintendo DSi the sense of sight.”

Tags: gdc, nintendo