Nintendo DSi to Launch in U.S. on April 5

Nintendo has finally pegged an official release date and price for the DSi handheld in the U.S.

The handheld gaming system that American gamers have drooled over for months while it made the rounds in Japan is finally making its way across the Pacific. Nintendo announced on Wednesday that the DSi handheld will launch in the United States on April 5.

As the third generation of the Nintendo DS, the DSi sports a number of improvements, including a case that’s slimmer than the previous DS Lite, larger screens, better speakers, and two digital cameras: one pointing toward the user and one pointing away. It will also come with Nintendo DSiWare preinstalled, an application that allows gamers to download software directly to their portable devices from an online store, similar to the way the Wii already works.

The only downfalls to these improvements are battery life that has decreased from 19 hours to 14 hours on the screen’s lowest brightness setting, and reverse-compatability with Gameboy Advance games has been eliminated (the slot for the games has been replaced by an SD card slot).

The DSi will initially be available in both black and blue, with an MSRP of $169.99.