DSi XL

Many of you have had a DSI console for up to a year and you’re probably thinking it’s time to move on to something new. Actually you’re probably thinking that at all but Nintendo is. Less than 12 months after the Nintendo DSi was released in the UK, Nintendo are releasing yet another iteration of the DS console.

While the DSi made many small changes, the main focus was on the cameras. A lot of the public however were more excited by the very slightly larger screens. Nintendo have seen what people want and in reaction are soon to release the DSi XL.

In Japan the DSi XL is due for release before Christmas. It’s fairly surprising that a new console would be announced and released within just a few months but then that is what Nintendo did the last one so maybe we shouldn’t be that surprised. Nintendo were probably as surprised as I was with the success of that console since it was essentially an upgrade of the old DS Lite but many people were happy to spend £150 just for the extra features.

They will be hoping to repeat that success with the DSi XL. I expect many people will not be happy that their DSi is already outdated but it is a good opportunity for DS Lite owners to upgrade. Releasing the DSi XL so soon after the DSi console may give consumers a signal that if they buy the DSi XL, it too will be outdated within a year. This could work against Nintendo. On the other hand many consumers expect to replace their mobile telephone every year so Nintendo might not be expecting too much by offering a yearly upgrade to their handhold systems.

While the gap is reducing, the difference between the mobile telephone and games console market is still fairly large. A new phone every year is acceptable to many because they are paying for it as part of their monthly contract rather than in one large sum. In fact a lot of people don’t even realise they are paying hundreds of pounds for their phone. They think they are just paying for their tariff. It seems more acceptable to pay £35 per month for 1000 free minutes per month and get a “free” phone, than it does to pay £200 for a phone and then pay for the individual minutes you run up in your bill, despite the later actually being the cheaper option.

These days Nintendo seem to be more focused on making money through hardware sales than through their games. This can be best seen with the DSi console itself which has sold in record breaking numbers despite their not being any retail games which use the its cameras after a whole year.

For me, releasing yet another console which doesn’t do much new is taking it a step too far and I think the same could be said for many others who follow the games industry. For Nintendo’s target market, casual gamers who don’t read reviews and are happy to base their buying decisions on what Nintendo have paid Ant and Dec to say about the console, it might seem like the latest cool toy to have so the DSi XL will probably be another successful console launch for Nintendo.