Nintendo DSi dated for Europe

Nintendo has revealed that the DSi will be released in Europe on 3rd April, two days ahead of its launch in the USA, announced yesterday.

There's no word in Nintendo's press release on how much European gamers will have to pay for the redesigned two-screen handheld, which is set to cost USD 169 across the water.

However, a report on The Times website claims it will cost "around GBP 149". We're double-checking with Nintendo.

While the US will be able to choose from blue and black versions of the machine, we'll be given the same option the Japanese had at launch late last year of black or white models.

The DSi is thinner and slightly longer than the ubiquitous DS Lite, and boasts slightly bigger and brighter screens, as well as an SD card slot, motion-detecting cameras and built-in flash memory.

Software-wise, it includes a dashboard-style touch interface that features a sound recorder, a photo-fiddling application and a direct-download DSi Shop for accessing new games and applications, in addition to existing packages like PictoChat.

However, it's also the first DS handheld not to play Game Boy games through a second slot, and Nintendo has said that DSi-specific titles will be region-locked due to embedded communication functionality.

We've had a DSi since the Japanese launch (we have no patience), and you can see what we've made of it in our extensive Nintendo DSi hands-on preview elsewhere on the site.

UPDATE: Nintendo has said that retailers will set the price for the DSi directly. Eurogamer has confirmed that it will cost GBP 149.