DSi outsells standard DS Lite by nearly 4 to 1

The Nintendo DS line of products absolutely crushed the competition this month in the NPD Group sales information released Thursday night. The question is, how many of those 1.04 million units were DS Lites, and how many were the new DSi systems? Nintendo has thankfully shed some light on the issue, offering a breakdown of sales. It turns out that the DSi fueled last month’s sales far more than anyone had assumed.

The numbers are even crazier than we expected: 827,000 of the systems sold were the new, more expensive DSi. 215,000 were DS Lites. That’s not even close, as the DSi units outsold the Lites by nearly four to one. For any piece of hardware, that’s a successful launch. For an updated DS unit that faced strong criticism on pricing, that’s amazing.

Data source: NPD Group; Nintendo

The DSi features a slightly larger screen, a harder, matte-plastic finish, two 0.3 megapixel digital cameras, an SD-card slot for media functions, and the ability to download games directly to the system’s internal memory via the DSiWare software. This gives the system much more versatility than the DS Lite enjoyed, with productivity applications such as calculators and game-themed clocks already released alongside downloadable games. The system also retails for $169.99, quite the bump in price from the $129.99 DS Lites.

Anecdotally, it also seems that that many people aren’t getting rid of the older system when they buy their DSi. Instead, we’re seeing the DS Lite systems being passed down to family members. That’s further expands Nintendo’s reach, and helps to explain why even older games like Mario Kart DS still rule the top ten software sales chart month after month.

The main draw of the system, from both Nintendo and the consumer’s point of view, has to be the DSiWare system. The new feel and digital cameras are nice, but the ability to download games and applications straight from Nintendo’s servers is the real innovation here, although Nintendo’s competitors may be slightly ahead of it in this regard.

The problem? Since launch, the offerings on DSiWare have been slim, with most releases consisting of levels or minigames taken out of retail titles. There has yet to be a single game on DSiWare that is a “must play,” and the system is woefully lacking in exclusive content. That should only get better, but right now the service feels like a wasted opportunity.

With the first month sales numbers being so strong on a hardware refresh however, it’s hard to complain. If Nintendo can drive people’s interest with some great, exclusive content that’s only available on the DSi, the momentum should continue—and even build—as time goes on.