Iwata Asks, DSi Team Responds

February 21st, 2009, 00:14 Posted By: wraggster

The latest episode of "Iwata Asks," Nintendo's series of conversations between company president Satoru Iwata and members of a specific project, hit the web this week, revealing some meaty information about the creation and development of the upcoming Nintendo DSi system.

In the dialogue, Iwata converses with Masato Kuwahara, head of the DSi project; Yui Ehara, designer of the DSi's shell; and Kentaro Mita, the member responsible for relaying ideas from the company to the team. A lot of great information surfaced in this conversation, pulling back the curtain a bit from the creation of the new system.

Development on the DSi began at the end of 2006 and had a relatively short schedule -- so short, in fact that the team wasn't sure if it was possible to do. What was most restricting was the fact that it had to be a supplement to the existing DS market and not a brand new system.

The idea of the cameras were there from the start: the system already had "ears" with the microphone, so it made sense to the designers that Nintendo give the next system "eyes." Two cameras, one on the inside and one on the outside, were put into the system after it was decided that one "swivel" camera would increase the system's cost and make it much more prone to damage. The idea of limiting the pixel count to 640x480 -- .3 megapixels -- was because the idea of the camera was for more than just taking pictures. Increasing the pixel count would add to the load on the processor and limit its application.

The inclusion of the SD card slot was something that was pressured in by Shigeru Miyamoto. For now, it's only used for saving photos and pulling in music, but Miyamoto did insist on it being added to the Nintendo DSi hardware, and and informed the team that he will definitely make use of it in the future.

It was also revealed that, by near completion in October 2007, the original DSi design was not well-received by the company, due to unnecessary bulk: the original system was to have two Nintendo DS slots stacked on top of each other, which made the system significantly bigger and bulkier. After a short redesign that involved moving the internal components to reduce the size of the external case, it was more widely accepted and liked within the company.

The DSi system's improved sound capabilities is through a new and improved audio codec. The reason for the DSi speakers being single holes instead of a series of them is simply due to aesthetics; the shell designer felt that it was important to have the system look as sleek and simple as possible.

The matte surface was, obviously, used to eliminate fingerprints.

Internal memory was added to the DSi design in order to give users the ability to make their system their own. The designers called it "My DS." It also gives users the ability to download software that wouldn't necessarily be available at retail. Examples include a Zelda calculator or an Animal Crossing clock that could be purchased at a very low cost.

The team is also proud of the fact that you can now put cartridges in and take them out without powering off the unit.

http://uk.ds.ign.com/articles/955/955787p1.html

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