Report: Nintendo DSi on its way April 4

Nintendo's third incarnation of its popular DS touchscreen handheld game system went on sale in Japan on November 1 with no announcement of worldwide availability. Various reports have pegged US launch for early November.

IGN says "multiple sources close to Nintendo," have pegged the DSi's release in the United States in early April, likely on the fourth.

The DSi takes the design of the DS Lite, drops the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot, adds two 640 x 480 cameras, a side-mounted SD slot, slightly increases the screen size, and features the DSi Shop, an online store for downloadable DSi content. It will retail for $179 in the United States, approximately the same as it does in Japan currently.

Japanese site Media Create keeps a weekly sales chart, and the Nintendo DSi has repeatedly topped the list since its November release. Sales from December 31 to January 6, for example, hit 182,518. By contrast, Sony's PlayStation Portable moved 157,088, making it the second highest selling video game system in Japan.