DS Lite Available in North America on June 11th

Posted on Thursday 4th May 2006 at 14:35 by laszlow

The DS Lite, the first (but possibly not the last) upgrade to the Nintendo DS portable system, will hit North American shores on the 11th of June, priced at $130 US. Earlier rumors of the DS Lite being packaged with a specific game at launch (most guesses involved New Super Mario Brothers) have proven to be false, while there are in fact no high-profile DS games coming out in the US that entire week. Japan has the Lite available in three colors (Crystal White, Enamel Navy, and Ice Blue), but right now we only know that the Crystal White color scheme will be available for the US release.

The DS Lite boasts four brightness settings, all of which are brighter than the normal DS's one brightness setting. It's significantly slimmer and 40% lighter than the original, but is still capable of playing all DS games and GBA games, albeit with GBA games noticeably portruding from their slot more so than on the DS. The screen size is the same as the original and the power, start, and select buttons were repositioned from the original. The DS Lite has seen immense popularity in Japan, with initial shipments selling out in its first day on the shelves.

EDIT: GS was wrong originally, but they fixed their post some hours ago; It's $129.99

Source: Gamespot

Posted in: Gaming Industry News, North America

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laszlow

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Comments

Barrylocke

Comment 1: 2006-05-04 14:51

Hmm, it may be worth the extra bucks to buy one instead of a normal DS. I also hear that it has a slot for holding your stylus when not using it which is good for me and my careless self.

SilverFork

Comment 2: 2006-05-04 15:56

I'm certainly not buying what's essentially the same handheld a second time, but I have to admit I'd be all over this if I didn't already have a DS. The only thing I don't understand is the need for a brighter screen, let alone four brightness settings. My eyes burn just thinking 'bout it...

Quote (Barrylocke)

I also hear that it has a slot for holding your stylus when not using it which is good for me and my careless self.

I'd be far more impressed if the Lite featured a slot for both styluses - assuming it also comes packaged with two of 'em - rather than just one like the first DS. That's right; in fact, I FULLY blame the quick, fumbling loss of my first stylus (within minutes) on the fact that the original lacks two storage slots!

laszlow

Comment 3: 2006-05-04 16:39

OK, evidently Gamespot says that it's going to be $150, while both IGN and Nintendo.com say that it's going to be $130. I made a quick edit to the newspost to mention that, but it appears that we don't have a concrete price yet. Let's hope it's the cheaper one.

Cloud_Strife510

Comment 4: 2006-05-04 21:55

since i still don't own a DS i'm going to buy a DS lite in Enamel Navy, when they release FFIII

MogMaster

Comment 5: 2006-05-05 00:59

I'm excited that the original DS price is probably going to drop!

Elena1999

Comment 6: 2006-05-05 04:25

So going to get one of these. Probably the Crystal white.

Zeromus_X

Comment 7: 2006-05-05 04:42

Nice, a price drop. All the more incentive for me to buy this dream machine, not to mention the tasty games for it. And I guess the small 'improvements' to it.

laszlow

Comment 8: 2006-06-12 15:04

Ok, this is a bump, but I just bought my reserved DS Lite, and I have to say it is quite sexy. I loves my new copy of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and my old copy of Minish Cap has never looked better (or brighter). It's a significant improvement from the DS, but I dunno if DS-owners really need another one. But yeah, the DS is awesome. Case in point: I just called in "sick" today so I could sit on my ass and play Castlevania. I'll be working Saturday instead, but I really could care less at the moment.

karasuman

Comment 9: 2006-06-12 16:48

I almost bought one yesterday. I came *this* close. Then I realized that all of the games I wanted were still at least $30. :-/ I got spoiled by the GBA--I picked it up when the DS had already taken over, so almost everything I wanted was cheaply obtained.

I might get one someday, especially if one of the next-gen systems I'm interested in (Revolution and PS3) turns out to be a bust. But the lack of ability to play it on a larger screen and/or without straining my neck hold me back as well as the expensive games.

ZEROMUS

Comment 10: 2006-06-12 18:22

Quote (Barrylocke @ 4th May 2006 14:51)

I also hear that it has a slot for holding your stylus when not using it which is good for me and my careless self.

does'nt it have that in the normal DS anyway?

Elena1999

Comment 11: 2006-06-13 01:40

I picked up my DS Lite on Sunday and it is really nice. I have 3 games for it, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Zoo Keeper (which I will add is a nice addicting little game similar to bejeweled. The Strongest poing of this game: I got it for $2 new and that's even less than gamestop trade-in credit for it.)

I haven't tried any GBA games on it yet to see if it breathes new bright life in to them yet but I have all evening to fiddle with it now that I am home from work so I will give some of them a go.

Games available now that I want to purchase:

Tetris DS
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney
More that I can't think of off the top of my head.

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