So this package came in the mail yesterday, and I’ve been messing around with the contents since. Joey should be swinging by in a few days to give ‘er a whirl, and then we’ll ship her off to Matt. Eventually, we’ll do a whole review/podcast/videocast sharing our thoughts on this little gizmo later this month, but for now, you can read some tidbits and check out some pics after the break!

The first thing I noticed upon opening the DSi box was the matte finish on the casing. No more glossy DS Lite shine, and no more DS Phat paint chipping. It’s clean, smooth, and if you’re like me and like keeping your systems spotless, you’ll like the fact that your fingerprints won’t show on this baby - as long as your hands are clean.

Once I got past admiring the new handheld, I couldn’t help but notice the box, all six paper/booklet inserts, and the DSi menus all being in Japanese. Makes sense, this thing came to us from Nintendo’s home country. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find a language option for the menus, and I’m starting to think one doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, I can’t read Japanese. Until I can get a friend around who can, I’m going through menus aimlessly, mapping what I can for when I hand the DSi over to Joey and Matt, and trying to understand everything I’m doing.

There were a few cool things I’ve found. My absolute favorite “little thing” that’s been added is the external brightness control. It works just like the Game Boy micro: You simply hold down a button (it’s Select on the DSi, not L as on the micro), and then adjust the volume. The volume is controlled by a switch similar to that of the Game Boy micro - it’s a switch button that rocks back and forth, rather than a slide you might find on previous DS models. You can adjust the brightness on the fly in the middle of playing a game, and won’t have to turn off the system to do so ever again.

Also, since the power switch is now a button, you now have to hold it down (as in the DS Phat’s power button) to turn it off. If you simply press it, however, you can quit out of a game and go back to the DSi’s main menu. Sweet!

I’ll post full impressions in a few days, and maybe a few more pictures from the DSi menus and the photos I take and edit using the camera and various photo tools on the system.

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