Nintendo DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, and 3DS
Vital Statistics
Introduced
21 Nov 2004 (DS), Jun 2006 (DS Lite), Sep 2008 (DSi), 21st Nov 2009 (DSi XL), 27th March 2011 (3DS) |
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What's it like today?
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DS
The Nintendo DS (or "Dual Screen"), was first released in Japan in November 2004, with releases in Europe and other nations in Feb/March 2005. Designed to fit in between the Nintendo Game Cube and the Game Boy Advance, and directly competing against the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), the DS was the first handheld console since the Game & Watch systems of the early 80s to feature two seperate displays, the lower of which was touch-sensitive. It also featured 802.11 Wi-Fi support, virtual stereo surround sound, and 3D hardware graphics capability.
Two ARM processors are used. The main CPU is an ARM946E-S, while an ARM7TDMI is used as a coprocessor. The 3D graphics abilities of the DS are on a par with the Nintendo 64 console, being able to render approximately 120,000 polygons a second at 60fps.
Games are sold on proprietory ROM cartridges (or "game cards"), supporting capacities up to 256Mb. These cards also have a writeable area for saving game progress.
With built-in wireless support, DS users can communicate with up to 16 other DS users or browse the Internet using a version of the Opera web browser on game card. The range is between 30-100 feet, and communicates using a proprietory Nintendo wireless protocol.
DS Lite
In June 2006, Nintendo released the DS Lite. Physically smaller but with the same internals (and hence the same capabilities) as the DS, the DS Lite is approximately 42% smaller than the DS it replaced. The LCD screens have the same dimensions, but are brighter and more durable. The D-pad control buttons are smaller. Battery life was improved due to the larger 1000mAh battery over the DS's 850mAh unit, but the Accessories slot, although still able to run Game Boy Advance games, now doesn't support Game Boy Advance accessories due to the removal of the external extension port.
The DSi was released in Japan on November 1, 2008, in matte black and matte white; these same colors were available for its April 2, 2009 launch in Australia and New Zealand. It was released in Europe on April 3 in the same colors, with a list price of £149.99,
DSi
In late 2008 Nintendo launched their third incarnation of the DS: DSi. Although very similar in physical design - it's 12% shorter but slightly wider - , this new model featured two interactive VGA 0.3MP digital cameras (one forward-facing when the unit is open, and the other facing towards the user), and standardised 802.11b/g wireless support. To further make use of these cameras, the unit also came with an SD card slot for storing and playback of music and pictures. Built-in software in the ROM was also extended from the earlier models' Pictochat to also including a music player and access to the new DSi Shop, where users can purchase and download software from the web. Despite being fully backward-compatible with the DS and DS Lite for games, the GBA (Game Boy Advance) "Game Paks" has been removed - this also means that any accessories that used this slot are no longer usable on a DSi, e.g. the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak.
Nintendo however, have planned for the future with the DSi architecture. The primary CPU, ARM9, is twice the speed of the DS Lite's, clocking in at 133 MHz, and RAM has been increased fourfold to 16 Mb. Other enhancements of the DSi are slightly larger screens (+0.25" diagonal), improved audio quality and volume, more screen brightness settings.
DSi XL
To further ride on the success of the popular DS-series, Nintendo launched the DSi XL (also called the DSi LL in some countries) in Japan on 21st November 2009, and in Europe on 5th March 2010. Measuring almost 1.5x the physical dimensions of the DSi, this new console was pitched at customers who wanted DS games on a larger screen. Development of a larger-screen version of the DS Lite had been planned during the DS Lite's development (before the DSi), and prototypes were produced with two 3.8" screens. At the time, these were to be branded "DS Lite XL". But due to unprecedented high volumes of DS Lite sales and the prohibitive manufacturing costs of larger LCD screens with wider viewing angles, Nintendo chose to put the project on hold. In 2007 when development work on the DSi began, Nintendo again considered producing a large-screen DS as well as a standard size DS for production and launch at the same time, but it was deemed almost impossible so once more the project was held back. In 2009 however, the project was restarted as by now sales of the DS Lite had fallen, as had the cost of larger LCD screens. The 4" diagonal screens provided in the DSi XL have no noticeable degradation of image quality over the DSi, despite having the same pixel count.
3DS
In September 2010, Nintendo announced that they were going to take the DS family into the realm of 3D, with the launch in early 2011 of the Nintendo 3DS. The upper screen allows the viewing of real 3D without the need for special glasses. Originally it was planned for launch in Japan in 2010 in time for Christmas, but was pushed back to 26th February 2011, for a retail price of approx $300 (25,000 Yen). Technically, it became the first of the DS family to have different-sized screens top and bottom, with the upper screen supporting a much larger resolution and 3D capability using an internal camera. It also comes with a new "slide pad" that allows 360-degree analogue input in addition to the regular D-pad. For the new 3D element, a 3D depth slider allows the user to adjust the level of 3D effect, scaling it back or turn it off completely depending on preference of the user. It can play original DS games, downloaded games for the DSi/DSi XL from Nintendo Virtual Console, and new 3DS games (via the same socket as the DS cartridge port). The 3DS hardware is also capable of exchanging data with other 3DS systems or receive data via the Internet while in sleep mode.
Here's a quick comparison chart of the DS family:
| DS | DS Lite | DSi | DSi XL | 3DS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical | |||||
| Width | 148.7mm | 133mm | 137mm | 161mm | 134mm |
| Depth | 84.7mm | 73.9mm | 74.9mm | 91.4mm | 74mm |
| Height | 28.9 mm | 21.5mm | 18.9mm | 21.2mm | 21mm |
| Weight | 261g | 218g | 214g | 314g | 230g |
| Available Colours | |||||
| At launch | Matte Black, Polar White, Crystal White | Wine Red, Brown, White | Aqua Blue, Cosmo Black | ||
| Post-launch | Noble Pink, Jet Black (Onyx), Metallic Rose, Gloss Silver, Crimson/Black, Cobalt/Black, Turquoise, Red, and Lime Green | Pink, Lime Green, Metallic Blue | |||
| Screen | |||||
| Screen Type | 256x192 LCD | Transmissive TFT colour LCD (brighter than DS) 256x192 resolution |
Transmissive TFT colour LCD with wide viewing angle. 256x192 resolution. | 800x240 LCD top screen (400 pixels wide for each eye), and 320x240 LCD bottom screen | |
| Size | 3.0" | 3.0" | 3.25" | 4.2" | 3.53" (top), 3.02" (bottom) |
| Displayable Colours | 260,000 colours |
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| Number of Brightness Settings | ? | 3 | 4 | 4 | ? |
| Ports | |||||
| Headphone | 3.5mm mini-out jack (stereo) |
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| Microphone | |||||
| Speakers | 2 stereo speakers housed in top panel behind oval grille |
As DS but larger speaker boxes for improved volume | ? | ||
| DS cartridge slot | Yes |
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| GBA cartridge slot | Yes |
- | |||
| SD card slot | - |
Yes |
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| Communication | |||||
| Wireless | Proprietary Nintendo |
802.11b/g |
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| Cameras | - |
2 x 0.3 Megapixel (640x480) cameras |
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| Hardware Specs | |||||
| CPUs | ARM7 TDMI coprocessor (33 MHz), ARM9 (ARM946E-S) main CPU (67 MHz) | ARM7, ARM9 (much lower power drain than DS but same clock speeds) | ARM7, ARM9 (133 MHz) |
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| RAM | 4 MB (expandable via GBA slot) |
16 MB |
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| Flash Memory | Max. 256 MB | Max. 2 GB | |||
| Input Methods | |||||
| Stylus (internal) | 87.5mm stylus | 92mm stylus | 96mm stylus | Telescoping 4" stylus | |
| Touch Pen | - | - | - | 129.3mm pen | - |
| Motion sensor/gyro sensor | - | - | - | - | Yes |
| Battery / Power | |||||
| Battery Type | 850mAh | 1000mAh | |||
| Charge Time | 3 hours | 3 hours | 2.5 hours | 3 hours | |
| Lowest brightness | 10-15 hours | 15-19 hours | 9-14 hours | 13-17 hours | |
| Low brightness | 10-15 hours | 8-12 hours | 11-14 hours | ||
| High brightness | 7-11 hours | 4-6 hours | 6-8 hours | ||
| Highest brightness | 5-8 hours | 3-4 hours | 4-5 hours | ||
| Supported Software | |||||
| Game Boy Advance Game Pak | Yes |
- |
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| DS Cartridge | Yes |
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| DSi-specific Cartridge | - |
Yes |
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| DSi Ware | - |
Yes |
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| Built-in Software | |||||
| Pictochat interactive notebook | Yes |
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| DSi Browser | - |
Yes |
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| DSi Shop | - |
Yes |
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| What's in the Box ? | |||||
| DS console DS adapter DS stylus Instruction Manual |
DS Lite console |
DSi console DSi AC adapter DSi stylus x 2 Easy Start guide Instruction manual Book support |
DSi XL console DSi AC adapter DSi XL-specific stylus DSi XL large stylus (touch pen) East Start guide Manuals Mr. Kawashima's Little Bit of Brain Training, Dictionary 6-1 Flipnote Studio |
3DS console Charger Stand AC adapter 3DS stylus 2GB SD card 6 augmented reality (AR) cards - when viewed through the 3DS' cameras, the cards produce AR effects |
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Original Launch Titles Asphalt: Urban GT - Nintendo DS, USA
Asphalt 3D - Nintendo 3DS, USA |
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This page was last updated on 15th January 2017.