DSi XL supersizes NA March 28

Nintendo's DSi XL has been lighting up Japanese retail sales since its November 2009 debut, having sold 700,000 units last year. Last night, the publisher signaled that Western release dates were en route for its supersized version of the DSi, announcing that the system would arrive in Australia on March 15. As part of Nintendo's Q1 Media Summit today, the publisher provided another Western release date, saying the DSi XL would hit North America on March 28 for $189.99.

The handheld is the fourth version of DS hardware in as many years, following the original DS, the DS Lite, and the DSi. Through the end of 2009, the DS has combined to sell 125.13 million units. Of those, 29.2 million were sold in Japan, 44.99 million in the Americas, and 50.23 million in Europe and other territories.

The DSi XL sports 4.2 inch dual screens, up from the DSi's 3.25 inch screens. Nintendo claims that the XL's battery life clocks in at four to five hours on maximum brightness and 13 to 17 hours on lowest brightness, on par with the DS Lite.

Nintendo's latest hardware update to the best-selling DS will also come preinstalled with several games and applications. The publisher did not explicitly lay out which software would be packed in with the system when it launches next month, however. Notably, DSiWare games are not transferable to another handheld, meaning they would have to be repurchased on the new DSi XL.