The release date and price point of Nintendo's DSi XL was revealed earlier this week at the Nintendo Summit. Hitting North America on March 28 and retailing for $190, the XL will feature a larger screen and stylus. Industry analyst Michael Pachter has weighed in on the discussion surrounding the over-sized DS, saying the device "won't be a success."

"I think that the price point of all DS products are too high, and think that a price increase for the DSi XL is not going to sit well with consumers," Pachter explained to IndustryGamers. The difference in price between the DS Lite and the XL is $60, and I'm not sure that bigger screens provide the value that Nintendo thinks.  The difference between the DSi and the XL makes sense, but all three models are due for a cut, the DS to around $99, the DSi to $129, and the XL would then make more sense at $149. I don't think it will be a success at launch, since it costs only $10 less than a Wii."

Aside from the larger screen and stylus, the DSi XL does not feature any real improvements. It still has the same screen resolution and processor. Taking that into account, I think Michael is right on this one. The XL doesn't provide enough value for the increase in price.

A typical console's life cycle usually winds down at the five year mark and rumors of the next console usually start to crop up at around the four year mark. Since the Wii was released in 2006 this would be the time that rumors surrounding the next system would really start to surface correct? Nintendo of America Executive Camie Dunaway says, "I don't think it'll be any time soon"

When interviewed by Gamespot after Nintendo's media summit Camie Dunaway went ahead and shut down the idea that news of a new console would be coming anytime soon saying that the Wii "...has a lot of room to grow." She went on to mention that just because there is no news now, doesn't mean that Nintendo isn't preparing for the future:

"That said, part of Nintendo's heritage is to always be looking at innovation, and to always start working on the next hardware every time we launch a platform, so we'll have it ready when the time is right."

Analyst Michael Pachter once said that there wouldn't be any new consoles released till 2013. This theory may be well suited for Microsoft and Sony, but considering the Wii is already underpowered and lacks HD capability lets hope that we won't have to wait much longer for a successor.

[via Gamespot]

Nintendo of America's Cammie Dunaway has announced at Nintendo's media summit that the super sized DSi XL will be coming state side on March 28 for $190. The oversized DSi comes with a larger screen (sans resolution bump) and a larger stylus.

Originally pitched towards the elderly in Japan as the DSi LL Nintendo has been steadily releasing the oversized system to different countries over the last few months. Dunaway also announced that a 100 electronic books will be available to kick off the launch, saying that readers will hold the device sideways as if your, well, reading a book.

Other than a larger screen and stylus the DSi XL doesn't include any kind of spec bump over its regular sized predecessor.

At the Nintendo summit this morning, Nintendo of America's Cammie Dunaway announced that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be releasing May 23 in North America. The company also showed a demo of the game which is playable at the summit.

Nintendo let slip earlier this morning that Metroid Other M is also being slated for a mid-year release rather than a holiday one.

More information to come as the Nintendo Summit continues this afternoon.

A new patent submitted by Nintendo details an interesting concept: feedback through the stylus. In effect the stylus would provide rumble feedback of various degrees based on actions taking place on screen. Since rumors have been surfacing that Nintendo is getting ready to unveil the next iteration of the Nintendo DS there could actually be some truth to this. The picture below should give you an idea of how the system would work.

[via BrokeMyController]

Adding on to his criticism of Microsoft, SCEA senior VP of publisher relations Rob Dyer took a shot at Nintendo, saying that third parties are leaving the Wii and DS.

"What publishers have said is they're not going to spend the resources on Wii," the Sony exec told Industry Gamers. "In my job, we compete against Microsoft and Nintendo, and we're competing for resources.

"So when I walk into a publisher, I ask, 'Where are you guys pushing your resources?' In the past, it was 'look how hot the Wii is,' or 'Look how hot the DS is,' and 'we should put resources there.' They did that and realised, 'You know what, third-party products just doesn't sell on that platform.'"

Dyer says publishers are instead shifting their resources towards the PlayStation 3 as a result of Nintendo's weak third-party platform. "Now they're taking those resources, coming back to us and saying, 'Sony, we're going to be able to provide you with that exclusive content,' or 'We're going to put more engineers on it and figure out to maximize the Blu-ray and get more out of PS3.' That's what we're seeing now.

"And I don't even have to fight for their hearts and minds," he claimed, "I just show them the TRST data with regards to how many top 10 titles are third-party titles on the Wii, or how many top 10 titles are third-party titles on the DS. Not many.

"It's not a hard story to sell, and they get that. Unless they've got a particular franchise that's worked well on the Wii, you don't see a lot of innovative new IP coming out on that platform."

[via CVG]

With the release of both Microsoft's Natal and Sony's Arc, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey believes Nintendo needs another price cut on its Wii for the system to stay competitive.

"Importantly, Nintendo built the majority of their casual mass market oriented installed base from a $250 price point," the analyst said while talking to Industry Gamers. "We believe Nintendo needs to cut the price of their console from $200 to $150 immediately, as they should establish as meaningful of an installed base as possible before the Natal and Arc are introduced.

"We believe they also need to generate strong hardware sales momentum into their competitors release or face the draconian consumer perception of the Wii having a dramatically reduced entertainment value proposition over a faded technology innovation; Rock Band anyone?"

According to French gaming site gamekult.com, Nintendo has started sending out DS-2 development kits to several studios, and we might even get our hands on the new portable system before the end of 2010.  Too good to be true?  Probably.  Being mere rumors, the best thing to do at this point is to wait until GDC, which arrives next month, or more likely E3.

Here's something that sounds awfully familiar. The Wii is in short supply, again, even despite Nintendo's efforts to "ramp up" production in order to meet demand. Nintendo sold over 3.81 million Wiis in December, and apparently it hasn't been able to keep up with demand.

Nintendo of America confirmed this week that it is in fact having difficulties with supply. "In the short term, replenishing Wii inventories will be a challenge," Senior Director of Corporate Communications Charlie Scibetta told Joystiq, "but we are doing everything we can to satisfy consumers looking to purchase a Wii system."

Ironically, Nintendo reduced production for the system in early December, which, in hindsight, was a pretty poor decision.

An Australian citizen has been ordered to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in damages after illegally uploading New Super Mario Bros. Wii. to the internet.

"Nintendo has been working to combat piracy for approximately 20 years," the company said in a statement. "Piracy is a significant threat to Nintendo’s business, as well as over 1,400 game development companies working to provide unique and innovative games for the Nintendo platform.

"Fewer sales of Nintendo's hardware and software systems means fewer resources that Nintendo, its licensees, developers and publishers have to create and market new video game products which is ultimately to the detriment of video game enthusiasts. When there is a decrease in game development, there is also a decrease in the number of jobs in the industry. The existence of piracy jeopardises the strength of the video game industry overall."

[via Edge]