Am I glad I didn’t cave in to buy a Nintendo DS light during the holidays, EVEN when they’re giving it away for US$85 with an old handheld game console trade-in? I sure am! LOL. I almost did when the daughter gave me a pout, but I held on strong and said… it’s a dying version. AS IF she knew what that meant. She would like the Nintendo DSi better… when it’s finally released here in the US. For now, rumors still feed my cravings.

Multiple sources close to Nintendo tell IGN that the company is gearing up to debut the anticipated successor to its DS Lite handheld during the first half of this year in America. More specifically, the company has allegedly relayed to its partners that DSi will ship stateside in early April, most likely on April 4. Insiders assert that they have been told the system will retail for $179.99 when it launches domestically.- from IGN.

From the picture above, it looks like the old Nintendo DS Light design, except for the rumored dropping of the gameboy slot and the adding of a camera! It seems Nintendo DSi will be much slimmer, lighter, faster, brighter…

DSi released in Japan last November and presently retails in the homeland for 18,900 yen ($211 USD). More than a million gamers purchased the system through December 2008, according to overseas data tracking services. DS Lite, meanwhile, sells in Japan for 16,800 yen ($188), a cost difference of almost $25. If our sources are to be trusted, the price divide between the two systems in America would be much wider, as DS Lite currently retails for $129.99 stateside, approximately $50 cheaper than DSi’s alleged U.S. price point.

Oh boy, I do hope they are within the US$120 range to be acceptable. With the current Nintendo DS Lite at around much in that area.. it has to!

The new Nintendo DSi carries a number of new features, among them a more svelte form factor, a bigger screen that now measures 3.25 inches (compared to 3 inches with the first two DS handhelds), two cameras (one is 3.1 megapixels and the other one is a VGA camera), as well as new capabilities to handle images and play music. It is surprising that the Gameboy Advance slot has now been removed and replaced with an SD memory slot that will be used for storing images, music and downloadable content. And speaking of content, the plan is that Nintendo will develop a DSi shop where users can download games and other applications to the SD card. This is a similar concept to the one being used by the Nintendo Wii.

the DSi will be released in Japan this coming November for $179. There are no firm dates for its release in other countries only that it will be released by 2009.