DSi wasn't designed in reaction to iPhone or PSP

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has spoken about the business strategy behind the DSi, explaining in an interview with Nikkei Net (picked up byEdge) that its goal with the new handheld isn't to reach parity with competitors like Sony's PSP and Apple's iPhone, but to make its hardware more essential to users.

"We wanted users to have the device on them at all times," he says. "By downloading subway maps and other things, for instance, the DSi can be useful for applications other than playing games. We wanted to create an offering that would fit naturally into people's everyday lives."

Iwata also spoke about the DSi's improved online functions, saying these will better allow users to customise their DS experience.

And he also said - a bit worryingly - that the DSi will "probably" launch in the US and Europe in 2009. We just hope he's talking in fiscal financial years, which tends to confuse dates and years (and us) quite a bit. If we find out he genuinely meant it may not come out here until 2010, we might have to have a little cry.