Name: Nintendo DSi
Category: portable game console
Price: JPY18,900
Release date in Japan: November 1, 2008

The Nintendo DS, the clamshell game machine with two 3-inch screens, has sold over 80 million units worldwide, making it an unqualified hit for Japan's premier game company. Following the first DS in 2004 and the redesigned DS Lite in 2006, the third generation of the gadget, dubbed the DSi, hits Japan in November. The DSi builds two cameras into the DS Lite and adds a slot for SD memory cards, while improving the speakers and growing the screens' size to 3.25 inches. Yet it manages to shave a few grams off of its body, and loses a few millimeters of bulk in one dimension (while adding a few in the other two).

The DSi places a 3-megapixel camera on the exterior, and a 0.3-megapixel one on the inside of the hinge, facing the user. As with previous models, only the bottom screen is a touch screen. Pick "DSi Camera" from the menu, and start snapping away with either cam. From there, play with software to add goofy effects, twist and combine faces, and even let the DSi assign a rating to how similar two side-by-side faces are. You can save images to an SD card or wirelessly exchange them with other DSi users.

"DSi Sound" is another menu item, letting you play music (AAC format only) from the SD card, add effects, remove vocals, sample sounds, and so on. Then there's "DSi Shop", which looks to be a take on the iPhone's App Store. Download browsers, games, and more; some are free, some will cost Nintendo Points.

The device will take older Nintendo DS software as well as DSi-only software. One feature goes missing, though: the DSi removes the slot for Game Boy Advance cartridges. And in another demerit that you won't see Nintendo playing up, battery life appears to drop significantly: up to 14 hours at lowest screen brightness and 4 hours at highest, compared with 19 hours and 8 hours for the DS Lite.  

The DSi will reach gamers in Japan on November 1, but won't cross to foreign shores until some time in 2009. (Nintendo of America reports that DS Lite sales are still strong in the US, and will remain the branch's focus for a while longer.) Body color choices are white and black.

More info (Japanese):
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/

Name: Bandai Tamagotchi + Color
Category: digital toy
Price: JPY5040
Release date in Japan: November 22, 2008

Remember the Tamagotchi? Billions of digital Tamagotchi "pets" may have lived and died since Bandai released the toy in late 1996, but after all these years the gadget lives on. And now it's going color.

Everyone recalls the Tamagotchi as a mega-hit fad. It's sold tens of millions of units in over 30 countries. It's been seen on TV's "ER" medical drama, banned by school administrators as an in-class distraction, blamed by psychologists for creating "pet loss syndrome", and awarded an Ig Nobel Prize early in its career for "diverting millions of person-hours of work into the husbandry of virtual pets". But the initial explosive popularity caught Bandai off-guard and unprepared to fill demand; the boom ended just as the company ramped up production, and in FY1998 Bandai had to restructure as it sat on tons of unsold Tamagotchis.

While the Tamagotchi didn't keep the world's attention for too long, Bandai has been nurturing it since into a staple product line. There have been countless Tamagotchi versions, spin-off products, video games, cartoons, and so on, while the core toy's virtual world keeps growing in complexity. A key step forward came in 2004: the Tamagotchi Connection added infrared connectivity, letting owners' virtual pets "meet" each other, play games, exchange gifts, and even make tama-babies. The upgrade sparked a modest resurgence for the toy that lasted until another slump in 2007.

Evolution continues on November 22 when Bandai releases the "Tamagotchi + Color", the first toy in the line with a color LCD display. That makes the pets' little world not just prettier, but more informative too: visual indicators of time, season, and weather are much easier to show in color than in black and white, says Bandai, as are richer character expressions. (Weather and season matter, as the pets are scheduled to take outdoor walks to the park and stores in their virtual world.) Owners can also change colors and designs in the pets' rooms. The toy's case will be available in 7 colors.

Not surprisingly, the color version will be a little bigger than earlier models (6.5 cm tall, verses 5.3 for the original), and more power-hungry too: the + Color ditches button batteries for two AAAs. It's also a lot pricier: JPY5040, vs JPY1980 back in 1996.

Will Tamagotchi + Color spark a new generation of schoolkids ignoring teacher to feed a Kuchibatchi? Or spur the original Tamagotchi generation to check up on Memetchi during a boring sales meeting? Stay tuned from late November.

More info (Japanese):
http://tamagotch.channel.or.jp/toy/tama_color/index.html

Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation Portable 3000 was revealed earlier, with price and shipping date unannounced. SEC has now filled in those missing details: the PSP 3000 ships on October 16 in Japan for JPY19,800. There'll also be a Value Pack that adds a 4GB MemoryStick ProDuo card, pouch, handstrap, and cleaning cloth, for JPY24,800.
Press release (Japanese):
http://www.jp.playstation.com/info/release/nr_20080902_psp3000.html
PSP 3000 details (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/08/sce_psp_3000

Name: SONY PSP-3000
Category: portable game machine
Price: Not yet announced
Release date in Japan: October, 2008

Here's one for the gamers: Sony Computer Entertainment's announcement of its latest PlayStation Portable game machine, the PSP-3000. First, a really short background on the PSP:

The PlayStation Portable hit shops in Japan at the end of 2004, and North America in March 2005. It's sold over 40 million units worldwide since. The PSP is a slab-shaped game machine with optical drive, a good-sized screen, WiFi, Internet and multimedia capabilities, and the ability to connect with other PSPs and the PlayStation 3 console. It received a "Slim and Light" redesign (PSP-2000) about a year ago, shedding weight and bulk while gaining USB charging, composite TV output, a brighter screen, and 64MB of onboard memory (up from 32MB).

What's new in the PSP-3000? Two things, mainly: a better screen and a microphone.

The new screen offers "the highest-level contrast ratio, response time, and wider color gamut possible on a portable LCD screen", says SCE, as well as anti-glare coating to improve outdoor viewing. The unit's video-out port also receives an uprade, with the ability to output gameplay in interlace format for non-progressive TV screens.

While that all sounds nice, the microphone is what will enable new types of gameplay and usage. Expect to see upcoming games gain voice-based controls and network play chat capabilities. SCE is already promoting Skype capability as a selling point, making the PSP-3000 into an Internet phone.

That still makes for a pretty modest refresh; other than the screen and microphone upgrades, the PSP-3000 is little changed from the current model. Available colors will be Piano Black, Mystic Silver, and Pearl White. SCE promises a worldwide launch in October 2008.

More info: http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/080821ae.html