No new DS until late 2009 :(

The cool new Nintendo DS replacement – the Nintendo DSi – won’t get to Australia until 2009.

The cool new Nintendo DS replacement – the Nintendo DSi – won’t get to Australia until 2009.

With a new handheld around the corner that adds better audio playback, two cameras, an SD card slot, and a whole lot more, Australian gamers will have to make their choice whether to buy a DS Lite or move on and hope Nintendo realises what a mistake delaying a release of the DS Lite is.

Sadly, those of us who wanted to buy a new Nintendo DSi from overseas might now be stopped in our tracks with Nintendo confirming that software & hardware for the new DS console will be region locked. Gamers who end up forking over the money for a DSi will thus find their Japanese console unable to play content from any other part of the world. This comes as a shock largely due to the Nintendo DS & DS Lite’s region-free playback, a move that earned Nintendo many fans by the ability to bring in games from all over the world for people to play with ease.