Nintendo DSi

My boyfriend got me the Black Version bundle and he got the White Version bundle.

If you're a collector, forget about keeping the box. It's a cool looking box too, but it's sealed with some kind of super dark matter Arnold Schwarzenegger glue from space. It's impossible to get it open without mauling it.



The consoles look great. They're slim, have appreciably bigger screens than the original DS and DS Lite, and the Pokemon designs on them are cool.

The matte finish can wear off if your hands sweat at all, but it's to be expected.

The consoles don't seem as sturdy as the original DS. The hinge it opens with doesn't feel as tight.

The pre installed software is great. The animation program is actually decent and does things that expensive computer programs do. The only downside is the screen is small to draw on.

The two cameras and photo manipulation software is very fun for point-and-shoot photos.

The carrying case has a compartment for the DSi and also for games, it has 6 elastic holders for games but you could probably fit 2 in each holder if you wanted. The case looks nice, although they come out of the box with minute scratches in the surface, probably from production. The zippers are plastic so they don't scratch the DSi, but the zipper-pullers are steel and have the Nintendo DS logo. The case is also nicely padded so if you drop it the DSi won't break.

The game:
Pokemon Black/White is a standard Pokemon installment. There are new pokemon, exclusive pokemon, new legendaries, and basically the same story that's been in all the other games. This is what makes the series timeless and easy to understand, play, and enjoy. The ease of the game is balanced with the traditional RPG challenges of leveling/training your characters, catching new pokemon, moving through the long main quest, doing sidequests, and filling the Pokedex.

As with every installment, it uses the same predictable gameplay and formula, but they do add a few new features that add to the game. The graphics are better (and mostly 3D), and now, the pokemon move as they battle instead of looking like paper cutouts.

In this game there is also the C-Gear which is a device you obtain early in the game that allows you to play the game with friends, or take your pokemon into the "Dream World" which is an online world. There are three different ways it connects: Infrared, which is for battling or trading with a friend who is close to you (in the same room). Wireless, which also only works close-range, but it takes you to an island in the middle of Unova, where you can walk into your friend's world and help them with their adventure. The third one is Online, where you can make one of your pokemons go to sleep and adventure in the dream world, and I am pretty sure you can meet up with friends there (regardless of where they are). You can only be in the dream world for one hour a day though.

I think the C-Gear is confusing and takes awhile to get used to. The controls on it look strange and illogical, and are also customizable which I thought was sort of pointless.

In addition to the cooperative options with the C-Gear, There are also Online and Wireless options in each Pokecenter. It's like the rooms they've always had in Pokecenters in previous games, except now, you don't need a cord to connect, and there are now extra features. The Pokemon Union Club Room is for Wireless (playing with people physically in the same room as you). It has some features that don't seem necessary, such as picture chat. The Wi-Fi Club is for battling and trading online, so it doesn't matter if someone is far from you. Oddly, this room doesn't have picture chat, but it does have voice chat and a camera chat (this doesn't seem to work very well, but the voice chat works great). If you use the room to trade pokemon, the voice chat feature is on so you can talk to whoever you're trading with.

These new connectivity features in the Pokecenter, in addition to the new C-Gear, is very confusing at first, but you can't mess anything up by messing around with these things, so you get used to what they all do if you use them.

It is a standard pokemon game with everything you expect to be there, and with some new things added. If you're a longtime fan you should have no problems with it. If you've never played before it's as good as any other game to start with.