Don't Forget To Pack Your DSi

The invention of portable, hand held game consoles has changed how families think about travel. No longer to parents have to endure the constant chant of "Are we there yet?" from bored kids in the backseat. No longer to parents have to figure out how to keep their children entertained while they're strapped into a seat. Instead, hand held game consoles can keep children quietly entertained during road trips. And the Nintendo DSi console is the latest and greatest of these hand held game consoles.
nThe Nintendo DSi is the third version of the Nintendo DS. It began to be developed in 2006, around the same time that the Nintendo Wii game system was shipping. The Nintendo DSi console was released in Japan in November 2008, and since then has sold more than one million units.
nThough the Nintendo DSi is very similar to its predecessor, the Nintendo DS Lite. It folds closed with two screens, one of which is a touch screen. The new hand held game system uses Nintendo DS games.
nThere are some changes that have been made to the system, however. In an effort to make it more portable, it is slightly slimmer, has improved speakers, and the larger screens have five brightness levels instead of the four offered with the Nintendo DS Lite. The power switch has been replaced with a power button. The power button can also be used as a "soft reset," allowing you to change games or go to the main menu without shutting down the system.
nTwo cameras have been added to the Nintendo DSi console. While they are simply a fun feature right now, allowing you to take pictures of your friends and turn them into aliens, it's possible that future games will incorporate facial or motion recognition for game play. There is also a hidden SD card slot on the Nintendo DSi. It can be used to play AAC audio, store your pictures, or to store downloaded applications from the DSi Shop. The DSi Shop is similar to the Wii Shop Channel for the Nintendo Wii. It uses Nintendo Points, previously known as Wii Points, to "purchase" applications for either 200, 500, or 800 points.
nOne of the goals of Nintendo in creating the Nintendo DSi console was improving its portability. That's one of the reasons the developers decided to eliminate the Nintendo Game Boy Advance game slot from the final design. It eliminates the backward compatibility of the Nintendo DSi, as well as the use of additions such as the Nintendo DS RumblePak, but allowed the hand held game system to be slightly slimmer and more portable, without sacrificing durability. As Nintendo was developing the system, they considered adding a second Nintendo DS game slot, but it was eliminated from the final design in favor of portability.