Hands-On DSi XL Unboxing

Today we received a rather oversized parcel containing a fancy new Nintendo DSi XL. But before we tore into the packaging to try out Nintendo’s latest handheld for ourselves, we thought we’d grab a camera and document the process for our readers. Prepare yourself for the biggest unboxing news post ever.

We begin with the actual box. As you can see, the DSi XL comes with three pre-installed titles: Brain Age Express: Math, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, and Photo Clock. If you’ve ever played Brain Age, you’ll know what to expect from these titles: Math focuses on various number games that highlight your inability to make simple calculations, while Arts & Letters focuses on word and picture games. Both titles are enjoyable and should appeal to a broad audience. Photo Clock on the other hand is just an app that displays photos while telling you what time it is…not very exciting.

Here is a picture of the Operations Manual and Quick-Start Guide. The manual contains over 100 pages of information that you won’t read because using the DSi is foolproof. The rest of the 300+ page manual is the same instructions in other languages, but if you can’t read English than you don’t understand this sentence, so let’s move on.

Here’s a picture of the inside of the box. Nintendo has managed to do a good job of cramming everything into such a small space. In the compartment below the DSi XL is the new stylus, which is shaped like a real pen. There’s also a normal DS stylus inside the handheld.

Here’s a photo of the outside of the DSi XL. It’s about the size of the lady’s pocketbook your grandpa tries to convince you is actually a wallet. We managed to keep it free of fingerprints just long enough to take this picture.

Here is a shot of the DSi XL splayed open in all its glory. The cover of the box said the screen is 93% larger than the original DSi. That’s about the size difference between a Ping-Pong table and a football field. Actually I have no idea what the size actually translates to, so I took this comparison shot instead:

The augmented screen size is definitely noticeable when playing games, and will make going back to a regular-sized DS difficult. As an owner of a DS Lite, I never made the upgrade to the DSi – the new features were nice, but not enough to justify the higher price tag. The bigger screens make a new purchase that much more tempting, especially considering it's only $20 more expensive than a regular DSi.

So, anyone else feel like they're going to be out of $189 soon?