Deciphering the “i” in DSi

In a recent interview, a Nintendo PR rep answered the burning question of what exactly the “i” in DSi stands for.

Intelligent? Integrated? Irrelevant? At the Los Angeles DSi Launch party, Nintendo Assistant PR manager David Young explained the significance of the mystery character:

“The DSi is really about the “individual” gamers. For instance, the Wii console is really meant to be a shared experience for families and friends, where even while you can share pictures and share the fun with multiplayer on the DSi, it’s really designed to be an individual experience.”

While the DSi’s cameras add very little to the system’s gameplay ability, it’s still more focused on the traditional gamer than the Wii. The idea of individual game play certainly seems closer to that of traditional gaming, much in the way that party/mini games instantly conjure up images of baby’s first shovelware. It also seems odd that Nintendo would stress the single player aspects of a handheld system whose online wi-fi connectivity is as good as, if not better than that of its console cousin.

Young continues: “My DSi is going to be different from your DSi – it’s going to have my pictures, my music and my DSiWare, so it’s going to be very personalized, and that’s sort of the idea of the Nintendo DSi. [It’s] for all of the users to personalize their gaming experience and make it their own.”

While DSiWare games and music are a fair, and profitable, way of individualizing the system, integrating custom Mii avatars seems like a natural way to customize the system and drive home the idea of connectivity with the Wii.

Source: GamePro.com (Via Kotaku)