Nintendo officially released a new version of its DS portable game console system in the U.S. Add $20 to the DSi and you get a substantially larger screen, pre-installed games and a full-size stylus seem to make the device, from a purely economical view, a good deal for the consumer. And Nintendo says the larger screens make the DSi XL a much more social gaming device. So, which one would you buy? The larger, more expensive DSi XL or the regular DSi?

The new DSi XL seems to be a natural refresh of the DS series that upgrades the device in line with technology trends. The DS is now more than five years old and such slight updates keep products in the news and interesting for the consumer. The DSi XL builds on the DSi and now features a 4.2” screen, compared to the 3.25” screen of the DSi and the 3” screen of the DS Lite. The price of $190 includes three games, Brain Age Express: Math and Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, as well as Photo Clock, which lets users customize the pictures on the background of their clock.

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The DSi XL is available in both Burgundy and Bronze, with a glossy top and a matte-finish bottom for, according to Nintendo, a better grip.

Aside the bigger screens, which now are close in size to the single screen of the Sony PSP (4.7”), there isn’t much new. It still has the same 256 MB internal memory of the DSi and support for SDHC memory cards (up to 32 GB). The bigger screens, of course, add also the size and weight of the device: A 93% larger screen size compared to the DS Lite adds 44% in weight (314g vs. 218g). The footprint grows by almost 50% (133mm x 73.9mm vs. 161mm x 91.4mm). There is also a slightly stronger battery which, according to Nintendo, will keep the DSi XL running for up to 17 hours at the lowest brightness setting. Japanese reviews of the device indicate that the battery time decreases to about four hours on the highest brightness setting.

It seems that Nintendo was not confident that the larger screen size alone would convince buyers to shell out extra money for the device and may have added three games for just that reason, providing some guidance that Nintendo in fact positions the XL as a volume model and not a niche version. Over time, I would expect the XL to replace the regular DSi. However, the DSi may get an entirely different problem.

The DSi XL uses the same screen resolution as the DS, which is 256×192 pixels per screen. The result, on a screen that is 93% larger in area size, is a substantially blockier graphics display. In comparison, the 4.7” screen of the PSP runs at 480×272 pixels. As games get more sophisticated and consumers get used to more lifelike graphics, especially on new entertainment and gaming devices such as the iPod/iPhone or iPad, Nintendo will have to upgrade the graphics capability as well. It is rather questionable, if 256×192 pixels is still enough.

For now, the larger screen has to sell the DS, which, by the way, is still the overall best-selling game console out there. According to NPD, it sold more than 613,000 units in February 2010, which is more than it sold in February 2009 (588,000). Sony’s PSP sold 133,000 units in February 2010.

Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing, was quoted in a press release saying “For some people, good things come in big packages”, which is easily the most awkward corporate quote on a new product I have seen in recent years. It just turns the DSi XL into what it very well may be – a quick shot that needs forced PR justification to get it up to sales volume.

I have quickly checked the Google search result count on “good things come in big packages”, which stood at 99,600 at the time of this writing. But then, “good things come in small packages” came in at 132,000, which reflects my conclusion. Bigger isn’t necessarily what most people are looking for. Even if  I admit that such a generalization is a bit of a stretch here, I’d expect that most consumers will save $20, go with the smaller screens, buy the game they want and enjoy crisper graphics.

Add your opinion below. What do you think? Does the DSi need a larger screen?

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