Nintendo Not Ready To Ditch The DS Lite

The DS Lite is now two hardware iterations old. It launched back in 2006 and was a major redesign of the original DS from 2004. In 2010, Nintendo says it’s not quite ready to part ways with the Lite.

“Our current plans are to continue manufacturing Nintendo DS Lite globally”, a Nintendo spokesperson told website MCVUK. “The DS Lite has been a highly popular handheld console and has brought fun to an expanded audience of gamers – male and female; young and old – and sales remain strong. That said, it is true that our key focus in the UK for 2010 will be the Nintendo DSi and DSi XL.”

The DS Lite will get support just like the Game Boy Advance did in 2005 or 2006. No, we imagine it will get less support. Why ever would Nintendo continue to support the DS Lite? The console can easily run R4-type devices that can be used to run pirated video games. The newer DSi would not initially run R4 cartridges. It has since been cracked, but the DSi has a layer of protection that just does not exist on the DS Lite. The DS Lite is the wild west, do whatcha like.

So why would Nintendo, a company who is spearheading a lawsuit to take down R4s, want to support hardware that can play R4 devices no problem? Why would Nintendo, a company that has an online store for its DSi, want to support the DS Lite?

None of this is to say the DS Lite is bad hardware – hinge cracks aside, it’s Nintendo quality.

The DS Lite costs US$129.99, while the DSi is priced at $US169.99. The recently launched and considerably larger sized DSi XL is priced at approximately $US220 in Japan.

Nintendo to focus on DSi brand this year [MCVUK via GoNintendo]