Review: Nintendo DSi XL is great for anyone who’s tired of squinting

Review: Nintendo DSi XL is easy on the eyes

Over the last few years, Nintendo has discovered a whole new market for video games: seniors. Not a demographic that’s known for welcoming new technology, the senior-citizen crowd has nonetheless embraced the Wii console, with its intuitive controls and easy-to-understand interface.

Nintendo’s new portable system, the DSi XL, could find a place on the coffee table next to grandma’s Wii remote. Think of it as the electronic equivalent of a large-print novel: You get the same content you would on a DSi, but everything’s bigger and easier to read.

The XL isn’t just for seniors, though. As a game reviewer, I often spend hours gazing at the DSi. (Don’t try this at home.) The 3.25-inch diagonal screens on the previous model have led to lots of squinting — and some fierce headaches. The 4.2-inch screens on the XL let me relax my eyeballs a little more.

It’s been wonderful for software like Atlus’ “Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey,” one of the most demanding role-playing adventures on the system. There’s a lot of text in this game, and while it’s designed to be readable on the 3.25-inch screen, I’ve felt considerably less eyestrain after playing it on the XL. The resolution isn’t quite as sharp, but the trade-off is worth it.

Another new release that benefits from the larger screens is Nintendo’s “America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking.” This interactive cookbook is designed to sit on your kitchen counter while you follow its instructions, and the larger text makes whipping up that pasta primavera even easier.

I also found Nintendo’s new “WarioWare D.I.Y.” more playable on the beefier XL. The new “WarioWare” includes a tool that lets you create “microgames,” combining your own art and music into brief challenges. Again, while it’s designed to be playable on the DSi classic, having more space helps when you’re trying to draw, say, the perfect robot. The XL also comes with a thicker, more penlike stylus, a more comfortable alternative to the slender pointer of previous models (which is also included).

At $189.99, the XL is $20 more expensive than the year-old DSi. If you already own one of those, you probably don’t need to upgrade — unless the eyestrain has gotten unbearable. And the larger size will be a drawback to some people: While the whole package still fits into a jeans pocket, it’s naturally a bit clunkier. Except for the larger screens, there are no other new must-have features.

There’s another reason you may want to hold off. A week before releasing the XL, Nintendo announced it was developing a new DS model — this time with 3-D technology. We haven’t seen any details of how the technology will work, but Nintendo plans to introduce it at June’s E3 trade show and release it next year.

If you don’t own a Nintendo portable, though, and don’t want to wait, the XL is worth the money. You get the features of the DSi — the dual cameras, the downloadable games and Nintendo’s huge library of cartridge-based software — in a more comfortable, eye-friendly package.

On the Net:

www.nintendodsi.com/