After Hours

Nintendo DSi hand-held gaming device

By // June 1, 2009, 7:29 AM PST // sonjathompson

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  • Let the gaming begin

    There's a lot to like about the Nintendo DSi -- a multi-faceted, touch-screen, hand-held gaming device. The portability factor, accompanied by the long battery life, makes it a really great gift for gamers -- children and adults alike. And while DS games tend to be pricey, the built-in Camera and Sound applications will keep you (and your kids, when you finally take a break) entertained and creative.

    For a full review check out the Geek Gift Guide for 2009.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Front or top of the DSi

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Back or bottom of the DSi

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Side view

    On the back of the DSI, from the left to the right, you can see the Right Control Button (on the far left corner), the Wrist Strap Attachment (appears as two small holes), the DS Game Card Slot (in the very center), the AC Adapter Connector, and the Left Control Button (on the right corner).

    In this photo, you can also see the Volume / Screen Brightness Control on the side of the DSi.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Inside the DSi

    Here you can see the upper and lower LCD screens. On the top half, in the lower left corner, are the indicator LEDs for wireless, charging, and power.

    On the bottom left half is the +Control Pad and Power / Reset Button. On the bottom right half is the A, B, X, and Y Buttons, plus the Start and Select Buttons.

    It's difficult to see in this photo, but on the bottom right edge in front are the Headphone / Microphone Connectors.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Fully opened

    Here is a better view of the lower screen and buttons.

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  • System turned on

    When you first Power on the DSi, a Health and Safety warning displays.

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  • DSi Sound

    The Nintendo DSi Sound application.

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  • Record and edit sounds

    DSi Sound allows you to record and edit audio. In this photo, the dialogue bubbles that have color contain recordings. You can also alter .mp4 or .m4a music files that you've saved to a SD card.

    To hear a sample of the things that you can do with DSi Sound, listen to this mp3 file.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • DSi Camera

    The Nintendo DSi Camera application.

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  • Take or view photos

    You can take and edit photos with the DSi camera or you can modify photos that you've already taken and which are stored in the Album. You can also import or copy images to a SD card, as well as exchange (or send) images to another DSi that's in wireless range.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Game photos

    Some games take a photo for the user profile.

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  • Michief

    There are eleven different lenses to choose from in the Camera application. Here is an example of one of the options in the Mischief lens.

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  • Mirror

    Here's an example of the Mirror lens.

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  • Another Mirror photo

    Here's another example of the Mirror lens.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Resemblance - unrelated

    When two faces have been identified, the Resemblance lens takes a photo and gives a similarity percentage and determination of whether or not the two people are related.

    As you can see in this example, my friend Jack and I are not related, which is true.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Resemblance - also unrelated

    In this example, my friend Jack and my son Andrew are also not related, which is true.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Resemblance - related

    The DSi Resemblance lens did detect that Andrew and I are related. Three out of three isn't bad!

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Emoter - happy

    The Emoter lens makes a face look happy (or really old, in my case).

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Emoter - mad

    The mad Emoter face is equally scary.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Distortion

    If you've seen the previous photos in this gallery, you know that Jack doesn't normally look like this. The Distortion lens is to blame!

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Distortion fun

    Andrew had quite a bit of fun with the Distortion lens.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Distortion surprise

    With one nostril, there would definitely be less to blow.

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  • Distortion alien

    I always knew my child was out of this world, but I didn't know he was from another galaxy!

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Distortion continued

    Even I had to check out the Distortion lens, and I laughed the entire time I was playing with it.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

  • Distortion in the family

    Mother and son -- the Distortion family.

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  • Hours of fun with Distortion

    The cool thing about editing photos is that you can edit as little or as much of the image as you want. This particular photo pretty much portrays a typical day at my house.

    Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

Let the gaming begin

There's a lot to like about the Nintendo DSi -- a multi-faceted, touch-screen, hand-held gaming device. The portability factor, accompanied by the long battery life, makes it a really great gift for gamers -- children and adults alike. And while DS games tend to be pricey, the built-in Camera and Sound applications will keep you (and your kids, when you finally take a break) entertained and creative.

For a full review check out the Geek Gift Guide for 2009.

Images by Sonja Thompson for © TechRepublic.

Related Topics:

After Hours Innovation Hardware Tech & Work

About Sonja Thompson

Sonja Thompson started at TechRepublic in October 1999. She is a former Senior Editor at TechRepublic.