Confidentially, I discussed the DSi with our Nintendo Rep earlier last month. Basically what she knows is this, for now it's more of an experimental model for the Japanese people. Mainly because right now, what's all the rage over there is cell phone cameras and digital media. And if you recall, the Big 'N' brought out two laughable add-ons for their Game Boy systems, the GB Camera and the never-released here, GBA camera. Although good ideas on paper, what killed these add-ons was the lack of pass-through slots where one could play their games as well as use the camera itself. Same reason why the GBA E-Reader failed to impress. There have also been rumours the DSi cameras will also possess digital scan capabilities as well, allowing one to input barcode information. But nothing has been noted, nor as the GameSpot crew as observed, confirming this. Naturally--for now--battery life is sorely lacking due to bigger screens and camera usage, meaning, I suspect the Big 'N' has delayed the system's US release until this issue's resolved. Especially since most of us know right now, the DS Lite sales are still climbing off the charts and Third Parties are still producing games for the current handheld. We've yet to see in Japan, if any companies out there will utilize the DSi functions warranting the use of these upgrades. Then you have to consider the fact the DSi Channel Network will have to be up and running, let alone offering choice GBA/GB Titles, prompting one in purchasing the system itself. So for now, I'm currently going to stick with the DS Lite, even if the DSi first comes to our shores--hopefully with much needed improvements on the original design--because I'm going to wait and observe on how the experiment pans out on both shores before investing my cash on the next upgrade.

This will be one of the more interesting series in the World of Pokemon, and finally a DS Pokemon game that's not puzzle or action based. I heard you can link up the DS and GBA counterparts within your own DS, in order to unlock new dungeon and items in the game. I'm also glad you can do more moves in the game, like linking them together in order to do combo attacks, the only beef I have is the limitations you still have in the games themselves, but then again considering the vastness of the game itself, you can't have everything.