History of Nintendo DSi XL

Nintendo DS Lite XL

After the release of the Nintendo DS Lite, the development of another console began, which never saw the light of day. It was the Large Screen Nintendo DS Lite. Moreover, this console was completely ready for release (molds were produced, all design tests were completed, etc.).

However, it was not without problems. According to the developers, this console had issues with the screens: it was not possible to use screens larger than 3.8 inches and screens with wide viewing angles. This was very expensive.

Satoru Iwata made a decisive decision to abandon the release of this console. As he later explained, the main reason for this decision was the inability to meet consumer demand for the Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo Wii consoles. The factories simply could not cope with the production of such a large number of consoles.

Prototype of the enlarged version of Nintendo DS Lite.

Of course, the developers were very upset that their brainchild did not go into production. But it cannot be said that this console was completely useless. After all, it was thanks to this prototype that consoles such as the Nintendo DSi XL, Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 2DS XL appeared, and who knows, maybe something else will appear in the future.

But let's get back to the DSi XL.

Development of Nintendo DSi XL

Even during the start of the development of the Nintendo DSi, Satoru Iwata, trying to soften his decision (to cancel the release of the NDS Lite XL), proposed developing two versions of the Nintendo DSi - a large and a small one.

For obvious reasons, creating two consoles simultaneously is very difficult. That is why the development of the Nintendo DSi XL began after the release of the Nintendo DSi.

The creation of the console began with determining the size of the screen. But since Nintendo is a large international organization, the determination of the screen size was done using neural networks and special engineering programs... the method of sketching on scraps of paper. As Kazu Yoneyama recalled, at the time when he was in China setting up mass production of the Nintendo DSi, he received an email from Kuwahara, which was a scanned copy of a sketch.

The main problem with the screens remained the same as before.

First, LCD displays are manufactured on large sheets of glass, which are then cut into individual panels. When choosing the final screen size, it is necessary to solve a geometry puzzle and cut the sheet into the maximum number of screens so that there are no extra pieces left. It turned out that the best size (considering that the largest possible screen for the console was needed) was 4.2 inches (10.6 cm).

But then another problem arose: if you increase the screen size but do not change its resolution, the image becomes too grainy. After conducting the first test trials with the new screens, it turned out that it was not so bad - the graininess was not very noticeable. Especially if you use the new screens with increased viewing angles. The price of these screens had dropped significantly since the development of the Nintendo DS Lite XL.

At the same time, these paper sketches with screen sizes ended up in the hands of designers. One of these designers was Takaki Fujino. He developed the first prototype of the console, which was essentially just an enlarged form of the Nintendo DSi.

As it seems to me, there is nothing wrong with this approach. But the developers were afraid that ordinary people, evaluating the console, would say that it is just an enlarged version.

One of the strange ideas during the development of the console was the thought that players should store it on the table in the living room. Then Fujino went to a furniture store for inspiration. And he came up with the idea of attaching a polished panel to the top of the console. The furniture store critically influenced the designer's worldview: and the console began to somewhat resemble a cabinet. The front part was polished, and the back resembled ordinary wood texture.

Overall, it was not the worst design, but this panel added a lot of problems in the future.

The first ready-made prototypes appeared in June 2009. Initially, they were handmade in Japan, and then transferred to China for mass production.

The problem appeared where it was least expected. That very polished front panel. Starting from mid-July until the end of September, the developers struggled to make a normal panel.

On the first version, a crack constantly appeared. On the second version, mini-cracks appeared. Then it turned out that the glue did not hold the panel itself, and it fell off. There were many other problems as well.

Despite the fact that the top panel looks like a single piece of plastic, it is not. When printing this panel, 4 layers of plastic were applied, which alternated with paints. And the problem was that the plastic absorbed the paint.

The Nintendo developers consulted with plastic and paint manufacturers, but they could not offer anything useful.

All these problems appeared almost immediately. And after all, the output should be a device that has the properties of durability, shock resistance, and does not break after two weeks of use.

Takaki Fujino was heavily criticized for this panel, who was "thanked" by other developers.

In the end, Nintendo succeeded. They made from 10 to 20 thousand (!) panels until they got the desired result.

After everything was settled, it remained only to decide in which colors to release the console. And everyone was saved by the same Takaki Fujino, who brought from his place of inspiration - the furniture store not only the polished panel, but also fashionable youth colors: natural white, dark brown, and wine red.

In general, the whole logic of selecting these colors was that, according to Fujino, if the console is too bright, then it will not be wanted to be left on the table in the living room. I will leave the assessment of this judgment to Fujino's conscience.

Other Changes

First, the hinges on the Nintendo DSi XL were changed. And now they have 4 positions.

Second, the speaker holes were changed to make them more audible. Although the speakers themselves were not changed, they are exactly the same as in the Nintendo DSi.

Third, a large stylus was added... This time Fujino went to catch his muse in stationery stores where he bought a huge number of pens. This is how the large three-component stylus was developed.

Name

This may seem strange, because the name DSi XL fits the console extremely organically, but Nintendo did not come to this right away.

Initially, the old generation of console developers (for example, Shigeru Miyamoto) wanted to name the console Nintendo DSi Deka (deka translates from Japanese as "huge"). But Satoru Iwata did not like this name.

During the creation of the console, the developers came up with many interesting names, for example: Nintendo DSi Premium, Nintendo DSi Comfort, Nintendo DSi Executive, Nintendo DSi Living, but all these names were not accepted.

Then the final version was invented - Nintendo DSi XL. But here another problem arose: in Japan, the term XL (extra large) is not very common, there they say LL.

That is why it turned out that worldwide this console is called Nintendo DSi XL, and in Japan - Nintendo DSi LL.

Console Release

On November 21, 2009, the Nintendo DSi XL was released for sale in Japan. Huge lines of buyers lined up in stores. In Akihabara, the line formed as early as 9 am, even though the store was supposed to open only at 10.

Some buyers spent the night in front of the store. So the first buyer stood in line at 11:00 pm the previous day.

The starting price of the console was 20 thousand yen.

Journalists noted that the wine-red and dark brown consoles were more popular. There were fewer people interested in the white Nintendo DSi LL.

Epilogue

The development of the Nintendo DSi XL console turned out to be not so simple. Although at first the developers did not think that increasing the size of the console would be such a difficult test.

The result was extremely interesting. On the one hand, this console confirmed the demand for large models, and on the other hand, fewer of them were sold compared to other consoles in the Nintendo DS family. Although perhaps such weak sales were related to the rapid release of the Nintendo 3DS, which followed immediately after the Nintendo DSi XL.