Features// Olsen in Japan: Getting a DSi

Going on my experience of past Japanese hardware launches^* , I’ve learned that you can never be too early here in declaring to retailers your interest in a product. So, this morning I went to Tsutaya to enquire about reserving one of those new-fangled Nintendo DSi thingies, which as we all now know will hit Japan’s fluorescently-lit shops on November 1st.

The helpful shopgirl told me that this branch of Tsutaya wasn’t sure how many DSi machines it would be getting, and that uncertainty meant they were also unsure about whether it would be best to operate a reservation system or just make people queue up on the morning of November 1st (or, more likely, the evening of October 31st) for a chance to buy one of n shiny new handhelds.

In the end, I managed to get my name and number on Tsutaya’s ‘List of people who would like to reserve the right to reserve the right to buy a Nintendo DSi’, which is a bit stupid but still feels like a small achievement and gives me a bit of security. Oddly, I was asked to state my preference of colour – there will be black and white DSi variations available at launch – and my wish has been noted on my reservation-reservation placeholder form.

The next step in this daft procedure is for Tsutaya to call me as soon as they decide whether or not to open reservations. If everything goes to plan, I’ll then be able to get my name transferred to the real reservation list. Only after that will I be certain of getting a twin-camera, AAC-playing, sdCard-running DSi. (And then I’ll have to work out what to do with the thing; I certainly won’t be playing any GBA games on it.)

Considering that Iwata-san revealed the DSi in Japan yesterday, there’s been surprisingly little local media coverage. Famitsu wasn't that bothered, and I haven’t seen anything on the TV news so far…

If you want Wii Music TV ads, though, Japan had plenty of those. Most of them don’t feature any game footage: instead, we get to see a Nintendo girl ‘playing’ an assortment of instruments (one per ad) using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

There are a few versions that are more about Happy Nintendo Families, though, which contain some in-game scenes and seemingly uncontrollable laughter. Wii Music must be really funny. Have a look: here.

^{* Like the time I had to visit 16 different shops across a few wards of Tokyo just to find a PSP at launch, or the time when I had to persuade some friends at a local developer to part with one of the release day DS Lites they’d reserved because I foolishly hadn’t bothered to…}