DS Nip and Tuck
March release in Japan for DS Lite
So, after all the web too-ing and fro-ing, and even after Nintendo Europe boss David Yarnton was reported as saying yesterday, “We haven't got any [redesign] plans at the moment... Nothing I know of,” Nintendo (Japan) has unveiled its slimline DS Mk2.
Called DS Lite and boasting an all-white colour scheme, it retains all the functions of the current DS - the screensize remains the same and you can still play GBA games - but the overall size of the package has shrunk.
As can be seen from the comparison between the two, it’s slightly shorter in every dimension - 10 percent down in length and width and 25 percent thinner. Overall the result is 20 percent lighter, too.
Slight design changes include the repositioning of the Start and Select buttons so the four action buttons can be placed closer to the right shoulder button. This should reduce the pain from overly bent thumbs. The power button has been moved, too, although from the images Nintendo has supplied it’s hard to see where it’s ended up.
The microphone has also been repositioned just under the top screen, while the unwieldly hinge has been streamlined so the top screen can rotate fully and lie flat.
Other improvements include the addition of brighter LCD screens, which have 4 levels of brightness so you can tweak them for whatever situation you’re in. We also expect the battery will have been improved too, so overall play time is at least comparable, even on the brightest setting, to the original DS.
We also hope the crude volume control will have been replaced, but again it’s impossible to see from the image supplied.
Due for launch in Japan on 2nd March, there have been no announcements about when DS Lite will be available in the UK. Nor has Nintendo said whether the original DS will continued to be made or whether the DS Lite will replace it.
