N-Philes

Definitely. Sure, the jump to the DS Lite may not be the leap that the Game Boy Advance SP was from the original GBA, but with two screens stacked right on top of each other, Nintendo certainly doesn't have as much room to redesign as they might've liked. There's only so much Nintendo can do, and fortunately they focused on the major weak points of the DS and set out to correct them.

The new model is smaller, lighter, features brighter screens, and is just more attractive overall. More importantly, however, the DS Lite seems to sport far more comfortable button layout, and it was accomplished simply by moving the face buttons up and the Start/Select buttons down below. The thought of playing Mario Kart DS without crippling your fingers is enough to make a redesign worth it.

Are these features going to automatically make current DS owners want to toss theirs out the window? Probably not, but that's also what's great about it. The sleeker-looking DS Lite acts as a better, more comfortable showcase model for new consumers while not featuring anything so drastically different as to leave already-satisfied DS owners behind.


But that's the whole point Jordan. The GBA:SP was created to give you something different, something better. Whether that be a better screen, a better feel, a sleeker case, better technology, newer form factor or an all around better product. The DS Lite does NOT do these things. It is a premature move by Nintendo to assume that we even needed this, and in fact, if they're coming out with a redesign this quick, perhaps it even shows that they felt they did something wrong with the original DS. This is the third iteration the DS has gone through, and I highly doubt it will be the last. The future holds better technology, so why not wait for it? The SP did, and it was a huge success. This is a moderate advancement at best, and it shows nothing but weakness on Nintendo's part.

You don't redesign a console without giving the end user a reason to buy it. Nintendo is supposed to know this, they started the whole "console redesign" concept. The GBA is in its third iteration, and each one has been better then the last. As new technology comes about, Nintendo has taken advantage of it by giving the end user a reason to get it. Slicker design, rechargeable battery, stronger case and yes, even a head-phone jack (SP < Micro) shows that Nintendo wants the user to get something new out of their redesigns. This is not happening with the DS Lite, and it only shows us that Nintendo is not satisfied with their own product.

Continued on page 2 

1 | 2 | 3