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DS Lite's designers speak

Nintendo engineers reveal how they shrunk and improved the DS

DS Lite's designers speak
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DS

Despite what you might learn from mad-scientist Hollywood films like Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, it's not easy to make big things little. So kudos to Nintendo's engineers who redesigned the Nintendo DS into DS Lite.

Details of their work were released in an interview carried out on Nintendo's official Japanese website and translated by US site Gamespot.

One big issue for the new DS Lite (which still doesn't have an official UK release date, even though it's out now in Japan) was the design of the top screen. Engineer Tomoyuki Sakiyama said Nintendo decided to use a stronger and slimmer screen for DS Lite (the touchscreen remains the same in both DS and DS Lite).

This new screen used more power however because it was brighter, so Nintendo had to redesign the DS' internal circuits to make them more power efficient. The new battery holds 20 per cent more charge as well; the end result is the DS Lite's overall battery life is roughly the same as DS, although you'll be able to choose from four brightness levels to save even more juice.

Other changes included new speakers, a longer and wider stylus, and updated buttons and D-pad controls. Also – though you won't notice it unless you happen to carelessly drop your DS – the DS Lite has been redesigned to be tougher as well.

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.