Nintendo announces the Nintendo DSi

Confirming earlier rumors, Nintendo has come out and revealed a new version of their incredibly successful Nintendo DS handheld, known as the DSi. This new unit will be thinner, feature an SD memory card slot, a pair of 0.3 megapixel cameras, enlarged screens and a built-in browser.

On top of that, the Nintendo DSi also gets full music playback functionality and access to a new Nintendo DS Store, where users will be able to purchase downloadable content on a points system. One caveat, though, is that Nintendo has dropped the GBA cartridge slot that made previous versions of the DS backwards-compatible with GameBoy Advance games.

The new DSi will go on sale in Japan early next month for ¥18,900, or about $180, with a worldwide launch planned for “sometime” in 2009.