The ever-nearing US release of the DSi has been a mixture of Good News and Bad News to those who pay close attention to Nintendo hardware.

The Good News is that they will still be able to play their old DS games, since the DSi isn't really an upgrade in that fashion. They will also have a whole new library of games with DSiWare to look forward to, as well as a host of multi-media functions.

The Bad News is that, with the GBA slot gone, they will be losing a very well-loved library entirely, as well as losing features on DS games that give special bonuses when interacting with specific games in the GBA slot. (Pokemon fans in particular may be miffed by this, since they won't be able to bring their older Pokemon with them to the new games).

Of course, they could always hold onto their DS Lites for as long as possible, but if something happens where the systems break down and/or get lost, there is the fear of not being able to get a replacement.

For the moment, the DS Lite isn't going anywhere but there is the very real possibility of it being phased out once the DSi really gets going. When asked about the potential for the DS Lite being phased out in time, Nintendo rep David Yarton would only say:

We'll let the market decide. We expect some people will upgrade, but we also anticipate that we'll win over people who were still undecided on DS — the extra features will help convince them. There's an extra incentive.

Will the camera, DSiWare and multi-media functions really convince enough people to "upgrade" away from some of their older, beloved games, as well as convince Pokemon fans they don't really need their Emerald Pokemon in Saphire?

What do you think?

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DANELSON666

The DS lite will stay, it is like the ps2 and the ps3, there are still people bying the ps2 instead of the ps3. The reasons are that it is cheaper has its library of games and can play the classic ps1 games. The DS lite is no different, obviously there thousand of pokemon fans that are disappointed with the fact that the DSI will not have the Gba slot. There even more people who would like to play their old Gba games but can't if they by the Dsi. They will have to decide if they want the a New system that supports internet, has the Dsi store and has a camera and can has a Sd slot over a Gba slot that will be sorrily missed. Bottom line, the Ds lite will still be bought by people, months or even years after the Dsi is released, it's slot is missed too much.

Lynxara

The fact that the Guitar Hero portable games use the GBA slot pretty much ensures that the system is going to at least stay alive in the US for a good long time. Activision is planning on releasing more portable Guitar Heroes after the DSi launch, anyway.

KenTheGreat1

I'm not too worried. Nintendo's always had an issue with backwards compatibility, so I've held on to both my GBA SP (which was really just a GBA with a freakin' headphone jack) and my DS Lite. Nintendo's bound to cut off the handheld users at some point, but it's probably not going to happen until the next Nintendo DS model/successor comes out.

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