PopSci is playing around with the Nintendo DSi. Forget about the games for a moment, we?re more interested in the music right now
Everything seems to play music now days so it?s no surprise that Nintendo has gone down this path with the DSi. But we were looking for that Nintendo twinkle to light up what is an otherwise fairly standard inclusion. It?s that same sort of twinkle that makes Apple products stand out despite the fact that what they have just released is really nothing out of the ordinary (spec wise).
Well, Nintendo certainly added the twinkle, but it wasn?t in the sound quality. That is pretty poor, even with great headphones. And we?re not surprised either. Its compressed music after all and it?s on something that is really a gaming machine first and foremost. But Nintendo has added some cool features that make us want to keep using the DSi as a music player.
Firstly, you can slow down and speed up all of your music. It doesn?t sound like much but it?s a fair bit of fun and really handy for learning languages. There are other cool options too. You can turn your music into 8-bit gaming sounds, echoes and a whole lot more.
Using the left and right buttons you can also become part of the music. The DSi allows you to choose different sound options for the left and right buttons so you can play along with your music. Drum along to U2, clap hands to the Wiggles or even bark (that would be the sound of a dog) along to Cat Empire. Sure, it sounds stupid, but it really is addictive.
For us, the best part of the DSi music player was the top screen that can be used to show visualizations. There are a stack to choose from but the best include a NES style Mario Bros one where Mario chases after a coin tossing Lakitu, or the StarFox style space one.
The DSi plays music off your SD card that is inserted on the right hand side of the console. You can?t store music on the DSi itself.
The DSi will be available next week for $299 in black or white.
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