It was a sad day when the right hinge on my DSLite finally cracked. I picked up the white DSLite in its first year when it was still impossible to find in Japan. Playing a DS phat on the train to work was just not an option, and when I found a used DSLite for sale in Osaka's famous a-Too in Den Den Town, the deal was a foregone conclusion. In my mind, it was already mine.

That's what made it that much more heartbreaking when, just before Christmas, I discovered the horrific fracture. Not to be outdone, the damage was far worse than what I had seen on friends' units. It had completely unfurled its grasp around the upper lid of the DS, making the opening and closing of the unit only a few steps short of downright detachment. I vowed to my friends that this would finally give me a reason to pick up a DSi, but most, including the XABY Radio crew, told me it was not worth it. After finally finding one, picking it up and cracking it open, I can safely say that the money that changed hands will not be missed. The DSi is downright awesome.

At first glance, the DSi seems like nothing more than a mere cosmetic retouch of the DSLite with a camera added in for good measure. The two cameras are fun, and the DSi comes with a fun little photo suite where users can easily edit photos and make them into something funny, creepy, or a bizarre concoction of both. That really isn't the main reason to buy the system, though. The finish of the DSi is decidedly different from the DSLite. Doing away with the shiny plastic layer, the plastic has a rough finish, making it look more like a heavy duty piece of electronics than something Apple would churn out. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I rather like it, though Josh does not seem to. It doesn't seem to scratch easily, feels solid, and the unit itself adds a little bit of heft that makes the whole thing feel that much more valuable than the DSLite. The DS operating system has also had an overhaul, likely to make room for the DSiWare store. Instead of the familiar four buttons after the Safety Warning screen, users will instead be greeted by a line of buttons and soothing background music akin to the Wii's main menu theme. You can either scroll with the directional pad, or use the scroll bar at the bottom of the touch screen. Scrolling along the entirety of the bar when the system is booted up for the first time, users will be surprised to find that Nintendo has added a recording studio program that's fun and even though it only has four different effects to add to any recorded sound, kept me entertained while bored at work on a tuesday afternoon.

The real highlight of the DSi, though, is easily its download store. Running parallel to the Wii download store, the DSiWare store offers a plethora of programs to download, from fun games to productivity applications. The store also has a tiered pricing system, ranging from free to 1000 points. Being a Club Nintendo member, I was awarded 1000 free points to be used how I wanted on the DSiWare store. Shopping around for a little bit, I finally settled on うつす Made in Wario (Utsusu Made in Wario) and ArtStyle Aquario. ArtStyle Aquario is one of two new ArtStyle games available on the DSiWare store.

For those unfamiliar, ArtStyle is Nintendo's new brand for its arthouse downloadable titles, spiritual successors of Nintendo's bit Generations Gameboy Advance collection. Aquario is a puzzle game that has players mixing blocks in a long column to match colors, much like other puzzle games. Each movement is a musical chime that plays into the game's music, and matching colors moves the player's character (a diver on the right side of the screen) further down into the ocean. On paper the game sounds like a mixture of derivitive gameplay and bizarre arthouse synaethesia, and saying it's much more than just that is a hard sell. For 500 points though, DSi owners would be hard pressed to find a game as unique and addictive as Aquario, especially considering the store's currently limited selection.

The second title I decided to download was うつす Made in Wario (Utsusu Made in Wario). The word utsusu in Japanese roughly translating to projecting an image or casting a shadow, and this simple and short iteration of Made in Wario (or Wario Ware for those in the US) is just that. Using the internal camera on the bridge of the DSi, Made in Wario involves the player in a number of games that forces them to do silly movements like head-bobbing and quick waving to accomplish tasks. If that sounds very simple, it is. Much more a tech demo than a full fledged game, Utsusu Made in Wario is more an illustration of the DSi camera's capabilities. Plus, the reward for finishing any of the four minigames is worth the price of admission.

I bought a DSi because my DSLite was on its last legs, but now that I'm there, the hope is that the DSiWare store continues to grow at a rate comparable to the WiiWare store. We can only hope.