Nintendo DSi
The DS with two cameras, an SD slot and its own download shop, which Nintendo closed in 2017 and took DSiWare with it
The Nintendo DSi was the third version of the Nintendo DS, announced on 2 October 2008 and released in Japan on 1 November 2008 and in Europe and North America in April 2009. It added two cameras, an SD card slot, a music player and the DSi Shop for downloadable DSiWare games, and lost the Game Boy Advance slot; the larger DSi XL followed in 2009. Nintendo closed the DSi Shop on 31 March 2017. About 41 million DSi and DSi XL units were sold.
Timeline [edit]
- 2008
-
2 October 2008
other
DSi announced in Tokyo
Cameras, SD slot, DSi Shop; no GBA slot.
-
1 November 2008
Launch
Launch in Japan
18,900 yen.
- 2009
-
5 April 2009
Launch
Launch in North America
$169.99; Europe two days earlier.
-
21 November 2009
Version
Nintendo DSi XL
4.2-inch screens; the West gets it in March 2010.
- 2011
-
26 February 2011
other
Nintendo 3DS launches
The successor, with DSiWare transfer.
- 2016
-
31 March 2016
Shutdown announced
DSi Shop closure announced
Points end 30 September 2016, purchases 31 March 2017.
- 2017
-
31 March 2017
Shutdown
DSi Shop closes
DSiWare can no longer be bought on a DSi.
How it looked [edit]
The site through time
Browse nintendo.com as it was, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine:
Ownership [edit]
Key figures [edit]
| Metric | Value | As of | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downloads ▲ | 41.3 million | 31 March 2014 | Reported Lifetime DSi and DSi XL hardware sales reported by Nintendo |
Confirmed official figures · Reported media, cites a source · Estimated analyst or our estimate
Why it shut down [edit]
Official line: Nintendo announced at the end of March 2016 that the Nintendo DSi Shop would close: DSi Points could not be bought or redeemed after 30 September 2016 and no software could be bought after 31 March 2017. Redownloads continued for a while but the shop was the only way to get DSiWare onto a DSi, and the 3DS eShop, which carried some DSiWare, closed in March 2023. The hardware had been superseded by the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.
Our analysis: The DSi was a mid-life refresh with a shop bolted on: Nintendo's first handheld with downloadable games, and the one that taught it how DSiWare, points cards and system transfers worked before the 3DS. It sold 41 million, which for most companies would be a triumph, and its death was routine, a store for a superseded console shut when the numbers no longer justified it. What went with it was a catalogue of small, odd DSiWare games that mostly exist nowhere else.
History [edit]
Cameras and a shop
Nintendo announced the DSi at its autumn press conference in Tokyo on 2 October 2008 and released it in Japan on 1 November 2008 at 18,900 yen; Europe followed on 3 April 2009 and North America on 5 April at $169.99. It was slimmer than the DS Lite with slightly larger 3.25-inch screens, two 0.3-megapixel cameras (one facing the player), an SD card slot, a sound player that could pitch-shift AAC files, and a browser. The Game Boy Advance cartridge slot was gone, and with it Guitar Hero: On Tour and the Rumble Pak. The DSi XL, with 4.2-inch screens, came to Japan on 21 November 2009 and the West in March 2010.
The point of it, for Nintendo, was the DSi Shop. Bought with DSi Points from a card or a credit card, DSiWare games cost 200, 500 or 800 points and included Shantae: Risky's Revenge, Art Style, Dark Void Zero, WarioWare: Snapped!, Flipnote Studio and dozens of tiny experiments; a free Opera browser and Facebook photo upload were there too. Downloads lived on the console's internal memory and could not be moved to another DSi, a limitation that surprised people who had assumed accounts existed.
Closing the shop
The Nintendo 3DS replaced the DSi in February 2011 and could play its cartridges and transfer its DSiWare. Nintendo said at the end of March 2016 that the DSi Shop would wind down: no more points after 30 September 2016, no purchases after 31 March 2017. Redownloads of bought titles continued for a while, then that ended too. When the 3DS eShop closed on 27 March 2023 the last legal route to most DSiWare disappeared. About 41 million DSi and DSi XL units were sold; production had ended quietly a few years before the shop.
The domain today
nintendo.com keeps a support page explaining the DSi Shop discontinuation.
Similar projects
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Sources [edit]
- Nintendo introduces DSi Nintendo UK 2 October 2008 [archived]
- Nintendo reveals the Nintendo DSi Nintendo World Report 2 October 2008 [archived]
- Nintendo DSi Eurogamer 6 March 2009 [archived]
- Review: Nintendo DSi offers evolutionary, not revolutionary, upgrade over DS Lite Los Angeles Times 5 April 2009 [archived]
- Service discontinuation: Nintendo DSi Shop Nintendo Support 31 March 2016 [archived]
- PSA: Nintendo closing DSi Shop this week Polygon 28 March 2017 [archived]
- Nintendo's DSi Shop is somehow still open, but not for much longer Engadget 28 March 2017
- Better spend your points: Nintendo DSi Shop closes at the end of March Digital Trends 28 March 2017 [archived]
Last verified: 16 August 2026. Spotted an error? Suggest an edit (corrections with sources are reviewed and applied).