The Nintendo DSi - the next generation of Nintendo's much-admired handheld gaming console - is set to come the US way this Sunday! The new toy from Nintendo has been hyped as a broad-spectrum social and entertainment device, which literally fits the user's pocket and underlines the evolution of entertainment.

The DSi, the third generation of Nintendo's DS franchise, has thus far sold 2 million units after its November launch in Japan. The console, available at a retail price of $170 per unit, hit the European markets this Friday.

The latest offering from Nintendo is an easily-accessible new hand-held DS, quite like the popular Wii console, which improves the "fun" element of the entire gaming process, by making the conventional gaming experience more "personalized."

Hailing the Nintendo DSi, analyst Michael Pachter, of Wedbush Morgan, said: "This thing is to the digital camera what the iPod was to the MP3 player. You take the same form factor and you just add something to it and suddenly you're going to have a lot of people carrying it."

So far as the competition in the game console industry is concerned, the Nintendo DS line competes with Sony's PSP handheld device, and further contends fiercely with the Apple iPhone - which is fast becoming an aggressive video game platform - and iPod touch devices!