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New Nintendo DS, the DSi: It is 12 percent thinner than the DS Lite, due to the absence of a Game Boy cartridge slot. The two screens are bigger, up to 3.25 inches from 3 inches. There are two 0.3-megapixel cameras and an SD card slot. Downloadable games will be available over Wi-Fi, save them to the SD card. There is upgraded sound and MP3 player capability. This is the normal Nintendo evolution of its handhelds, it will be interesting to see if they have done anything about enhancing DRM now that DS games are so widely pirated. The extra capabilities take the DS further towards the universal portable device because eventually they will have no option but to take on iPhone and Zune.
Wii games to be downloadable from the Shopping Channel onto SD cards. This is possibly just an interim fix until Nintendo get round to making a console with a hard drive. But a 32 Gbyte SD card is not to be sniffed at as a storage device, so maybe Nintendo will stick with solid state backing memory.
Xbox 360 sales triple. In the UK it is now outselling the PS3 two to one. Microsoft’s strategy of using price this year is going to give them a big win over the PS3 and erode the lead of the Wii. The 360 is such an elegant and simple design that it readily lends itself to ever more efficient manufacture. There is no reason why it should not eventually come down to $149 or even $99 if it suits Microsoft’s grand strategy.
UK game publishers club ELSPA to continue to fight for the PEGI rating system even if the government choose BAFTA. This is the continuing fallout from the totally unnecessary Byron review which could saddle the industry with unwanted bureaucratic delays and costs when there isn’t a problem to be fixed.

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