Iwata: DSi Western Launch Before Autumn 2009

Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata has implied that the Nintendo DSi portable will be released in the West before the autumn of next year. The second major revision of the best-selling portable, the DSi was unveiled at a special Japanese press conference in October and includes two 0.3 megapixel cameras, larger screens and is 12 percent thinner. The new model also features a SD card slot instead of a Game Boy Advance port, and is able to download online titles and play music in the AAC format. The DSi will launch in Japan on November 1st, where the existing DS Lite model has experienced a downturn in sales over the last year. With sales still buoyant in the West, though, Nintendo has been vague about its release elsewhere, with a European launch implied to be scheduled for the spring and an American debut not until “well into 2009". However, speaking at a recent press conference, Iwata was quoted by Reuters as saying: “Specific plans will be unveiled by our local subsidiaries, but an autumn or year-end launch would probably be too late." The company has shipped 200,000 units of the DSi for its launch in Japan, and plans to ship an extra 100,000 for the following week.