Author: DarkKnightH20
Also be sure to see the following if interested in handheld devices: Sony PSP-3000 VS. the PSP Go. I personally like the Nintendo handhelds better, but that’s just me!

Check Out the Deal On Amazon

The Nintendo 3DS is about to be released and Amazon is celebrating by offering an awesome deal: Order a Nintendo 3DS, Get a $25 3DS Game Credit!

Just a FYI for those who are interested. I plan on getting one ASAP myself and thought others may be interested since you get a game credit 🙂 Amazon delivers fast and you can get both their Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS models with this deal. And such games like The Sims 3 or even an awesome fighting / bralwing game such as the beloved Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition qualify for the game credit. If there is a game out there though that I personally am waiting to play on the 3DS, it’s the new Zelda: Ocarina of Time game port, which features 3D elements among better game graphics.

Back on Topic: I thought I’d make a gaming article about the comparison of features between all the DS handhelds just to clarify any questions people had about them, namely the newest models: the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DSi XL (also called the Nintendo DSi LL). The DSi XL isn’t as different from the normal DSi as people may be thinking. In fact…

The primary difference is … the Size! (that was obvious!)
Who would have guessed that, huh? When it comes to size, we are mostly interested in the LCD screen size in comparison to the standard DSi. In comparison, the LCD screen size for the standard Nintendo DSi is 3.25″, whereas the DSi XL screen size is a whopping 4.2″ on both screens. This means that the DSi XL screens are 93% larger than that of the Nintendo DS Lite’s LCD screens, which are only 3.0″. That is a very substantial increase of a whole 1.25″, making the DSi LL / XL sound like a mammoth in comparison! Makes you wonder if Nintendo will release a Nintendo 3DS XL version.

To make use of the larger screens for this DS that looks as if it’s on steroids, a larger stylus was also created. It is more like a pen than the previous design and feels very nice in your hands. Something worth also noting is that the battery life of the DSi XL is actually considerably longer than that of the normal DSi, which wouldn’t be obvious right away because of the large screen size. The DSi XL uses a 1050 mAh battery while the standard DSi uses a 840 mAh battery. The DS Lite on the other hand uses a 1000 mAh battery and the original DS, the DS Phat, uses a 850 mAh battery.

Excluding the normal apps that come with the DSi regular, the Nintendo DSi XL comes bundled with the following games and applications–

The DSi XL handles WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) instead of just WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) on 802.11 wireless connections. This was a big problem in the previous DS versions, and I’m glad it was fixed. That’s not say that the DSi regular doesn’t have WPA, which it does! (*thanks trumpet-205)

Here’s a very easy-to-read table comparing the different sizes of the Nintendo DS Phat, Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo DSi, and Nintendo DSi XL / LL, as each varies from from a little to a lot in size:

To get a better idea of what the comparison between the DSi and DSi XL actually looks like, take a look at these images:

A Layered Comparison of the DSi and DSi XL / LL and Their Styluses

The above picture gives a great comparison of the DSi and DSi XL. Also, note how different in size the DSi stylus is in comparison to the DSi LL / XL pen.

Comparison of LCD Screens During Gaming

I like the above picture because it really helps you see the difference in how the picture will look on a Nintendo DSi XL in comparison to the smaller screen of a normal Nintendo DSi. You can use Mario for scale — notice how much bigger he is on the DSi XL?

If you’re hungry for yet even more information, here’s one more table comparing additional features across the Nintendo DS (Phat), Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo DSi, and Nintendo DSi LL / XL:

Chart based off of this table but modified accordingly

Hopefully this comparison has been useful to some of you! As you can see, the Nintendo DS has gone a long way. What does the next generation of DS hold for us in the future? We already have 3D now from the 3DS so what’s next?

I really do suggest getting a case to protect your DSi XL, as well as a screen protector. Some pretty well-rated ones can be found on Amazon.com—

However, if you’re still rocking on the Nintendo DSi…
Then I suggest using the Nerf Armor cases which are the best cases ever! They can take a beating and unlike other cases, they seem to actually absorb the impact completely. That’s good to have since you’re probably going to hold on to your money until the Nintendo 3DS comes out. An accessory that is also awesome and available only for the DSi regular, is the attachable sound system speakers. They really increase your volume output, which is cool because some games have good music. I myself like Mega Man music…But that’s a different story.

Just some information on the Screen Resolution. The screen resolution of all the Nintendo DS models (included the DSi and DSi XL) are 256×192 with 260,000 colors. On the DSi XL, the games are resized to fit the screen. While this sounds terrible, it does not destroy the game being played and make it look “blocky” so to speak. The games still look great.

I hope this information helped those who were wondering about the differences between the Nintendo DSi, DSi XL, and DS Lite + Phat. The Nintendo 3DS will be the next hand-held to join the comparison.

Nintendo 3DS Specifications

The spec (specification) sheets were released by Nintendo recently. Now more information is known about the Nintendo 3DS! Currently, these are the specs for it:

On-screen 3D images which can be viewed with no special glasses, just the naked eye
Stereoscopic 3D volumes and also 2D support

Sensors
Input interface pads, motion sensors, gyro sensors, microphone, cameras

Wireless / WiFi
Bidirectional data for wireless gaming
WEP, WPA and WPA2 support
IEEE802.11b / g compatible
Internet Browser (available as built-in software)

Camera
Inside Camera AND Outside Camera resolution: 640 × 480 (0.3 megapixels)
Lens focal length / image sensor: CMOS / Effective pixels: 300,000 pixels

Product Dimensions
Horizontal length 134mm × 74mm × thickness 21mm (when folded)
Weight: 235g / grams (this includes a SD card and stylus + battery)

Top Screen
Wide LCD Autostereoscopic function (16.7 million colors)
3.53″ (76.8mm × side length 46.08mm)
800 dots horizontal × 240 vertical dots (three-dimensional can be assigned for each of 400 x 800 dots)

Bottom Screen
LCD, touch input capabilities (16.7 million colors available)
3.02″ Type (horizontal length 61.44mm × 46.08mm) / 320 dots horizontal × 240 vertical dots

Battery Life
There are a lot of settings that can effect your total battery life for this. Turning the 3D on/off or messing with brightness or WiFi can very much effect how things go.

Minimum: 3 hours 30 minute / 3.5 hours
Average: 5 hours
Maximum: 8 hours

So there was a pretty big hit to battery life with the addition of the 3D technology, but that’s to be expected.

There has also been a change to the actual cards itself. The 3DS cartridges look different than the normal DSi / DS cartridges.