Michael Pachter Claims The DSi Needs Waggle

Michael Pachter, games analyst for Wedbush Morgan, has spoken about his opinions on the DSi. For the most part he agrees with the majority, that the DSi is a bit disappointing. But his choice in what he was disappointed with is rather odd. It wasn’t the lack of a GBA slot, but more a lack of waggle.

I expected [the DSi to feature] an accelerometer to help compete against the iPhone. I’m not sure why they didn’t include it, and it would have been a bit more of a differentiator from the current DS Lite, so I think it would have helped consumers justify an upgrade.

So, according to Patcher, Nintendo missed a trick by not adding motion sensing to the DS? He finalised his disappointment by adding that he is “not sure that the DSi will revolutionize gameplay, and ultimately, that is the feature that will address a broader demographic”.

The DSi does not need waggle to sell its games. I agree that consumers wont want to upgrade their DS Lites, at least not now. But I also think that it’s not Nintendo’s aim to get all the people who currently own DS’ to buy the DSi. If they wanted to do that, they would have made it an entirely new platform (think GB to GBA or GBA to DS), not just, as he rightly puts it, an upgrade. (I know DSi games wont work on the DS, but you can hardly call it a new platform)

His comment about needing it to compete with the iPhone is also odd. As he told CVG “I think that the core of the user base is between 6 and 18 (probably 75% of active users)”. Are those the same people buying iPhones?

His latter comment about not “revolutionize gameplay” and how that wont attract a wider audience out-right stumps me. Is he saying the only real way to appeal to the “casual” market is through motion sensors? Has he not seen the slew of casual games currently out for the DS? The ones which use “revolutionary” gameplay to reach the new audience? Touch screen, sound control, two displays, all of these are revolutionary, and have reached a new audience.

While I agree with the sentiment that the DSi isn’t a giant leap away from the DS, I find it very hard to justify the details of what Pachter said. Waggle? Seriously?