DSi and thoughts on the future

Nintendo have announced a new version of the DS, calling it the DSi. No idea what the i means, a nod at the good work Apple are doing presumably. But what does this mean for Bunjalloo development?

I think it is time to call it a day.

The thing is, this new console includes a web browser and, I assume, it will kitted out with a lot more RAM than the current-gen DS. Pure speculation, but you can't do much with 4 megabytes nowadays. Especially on the ever-expanding internet. While the actual DS can also run a full-blown browser, if you bought Opera, having one by default is the killer. Especially if it is free (not Free, but free "as in beer") and doesn't need a RAM expansion pack. Additionally, the rumour mill is already speculating about the security upgrades on the new DSi, like it'll have a software black list to disallow homebrew carts, upgradable firmware like the PSP and so on. I don't think anyone actually buys DS games anymore. Everyone I've seen IRL with a DS has a flash cartridge thingy of some sort. It just makes economic sense, really. So Nintendo will want to end this rampant piracy with the next gen console, and at the same time make it pretty tricky for normal folk to run homebrew games for a while. At least until a new hack comes out and the cartridge manufacturers take it mainstream. Oh, and region locking a handheld? Grrr...

Anyhow, that doesn't mean I'll give up on Bunjalloo completely, but it will enter Maintainance Mode, where only bug fixes will go in with no new stuff. See? You should have sent me patches to add those cool features, duh! There's a new release out now, 0.7.1, that fixes some of the bugs in 0.7, just to show I'm still hacking around.