DSi gouging: New handheld out April 2 for AU $299

DSi gouging: New handheld out April 2 for AUえーゆー $299

by JC Fletcher { Feb 19th 2009 at 10:20AM }

Nintendo of Australia has announced the details of its launch of the Nintendo DSi. The good news is that Australia gets the white model that North America doesn't, and that both the white and black versions will be available April 2, three days before it shows up here. The bad news: no blue DSi. The worse news: Nintendo is selling the system for AUえーゆー $299 (US $190.85), which is $100 more than the price of a DS Lite.

Actually, the price bump is a lot less odious than we expected, and the early availability ("early" meaning "not a year late") is a very pleasant surprise. The browser will even be available for download at launch.

Gallery: Nintendo DSi

Don't worry if you haven't been following the DSi for the last few months -- your crazy friends at Joystiq Nintendo have been all over it. Check out our unboxing of a Japanese system for a hands-on rundown of features, and have a look at the awesome DSiWare downloads that have come to Japan. Then torture yourself with the limited-edition FFCC: Echoes of Time DSi that probably won't make it here!

Tags: australia, dsi, nintendo-dsi

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 19th 2009 10:46AM

Wow.

Hate to sound like a broken record, but it must be shit having to be a gamer living in Austraila.

John Z @ Feb 19th 2009 11:10AM

Yeah. News like this really should make folks in North America grateful for how good we really do have it.

Brodo @ Feb 19th 2009 5:19PM

Those poor Aussies, eh mate?

Sol @ Feb 19th 2009 11:10PM

Speaking as a DS Lite owner, for that money I would rather buy the 8GB iPod Touch. I am not saying it is a better games system but it is new and significantly different to the DS Lite; the DSi is not.

esposch @ Feb 20th 2009 12:35AM

Well actually, games aren't that much more expensive over here. You're looking at $100 retail ($65 US) but usually they'll be on sale for $70 or $80. Plus over here you can get a Wii for about $400 retail ($250 US), but because the shops have so many in stock they will take $50 off, or throw in a free game (usually Big Beach Sports, Carnival Games, Game Party or De Blob). Best deal I saw was $380 with Brawl. And I myself got Brawl on launch day 25% off no problem. Then again, launch day was June 26th...

nintendo_pro @ Feb 20th 2009 1:44AM

It's not that bad...

usually Nintendo tells us the price and release early or around Christmas so gathering the money to buy it isn't too hard. But I don't know if i'll have enough for this on launch.

Plus what's with American's not getting white? Isn't white the main color of the dsi? why don't they get what we get?

esposch @ Feb 20th 2009 4:21PM

It's their punishment for bastardsing the English language.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.