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[Spiegel]

That would be selling to roughly half of the 3DS' current audience (granted, the 3DS will of course sell more over the xmas season)

I wouldn't really call it that conservative.

1.2M shipped at the end of March 2012 is an extremely low prediction for the next portable MH.

FFXIII sold 1.9M with an userbase of 4M.
3DS should be higher than that by April 2012

 

[Cygnus X-1]

First days reports.

Type-0 opened strong but how strong is unknown, the general impression is it had a good start.

Kirby the same, maybe stronger than expected, retailers are confident it will show the usual Kirby legs at holidays.

Kirby as franchise is impressive both by its low profile and its steady good sales.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

but by looking at the increase after the markdown of the Nintendo 3DS, we can see that the sales pace is now even better than that of the Nintendo DS in the corresponding period, so I think we can imagine large growth for the Nintendo 3DS in the year-end sales season.

Sales-Ager at heart.

What would Nintendo do without franchises?

 

[Chris1964]

1.2M shipped at the end of March 2012 is an extremely low prediction for the next portable MH.

FFXIII sold 1.9M with an userbase of 4M.
3DS should be higher than that by April 2012

Content-wise 3G is a small upgrade from 3rd. Some expectations for that game are very high.

 

[Mpl90]

I'm feeling MH3G can sell more than 1.2 millions at the end of March.
But so many things can change till 10th December, we'll see.

Anyone expecting now even 200k+ more from Kirby?

 

[walking fiend]

1.2M shipped at the end of March 2012 is an extremely low prediction for the next portable MH.

FFXIII sold 1.9M with an userbase of 4M.
3DS should be higher than that by April 2012

It wasn't released on Wii, was it?
Also what chris said...

Wii Sports

But where's 3DS's Wii Sports?

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

1.2M shipped at the end of March 2012 is an extremely low prediction for the next portable MH.

FFXIII sold 1.9M with an userbase of 4M.
3DS should be higher than that by April 2012

Hmm, maybe it is a bit low then.

But where's 3DS's Wii Sports?

Those original IPs aimed at the expanded audience are coming next financial year according to Iwata (See, newest Investor Relations Financial Results Briefing). They purposely only announced sequels at the September conference.

 

[frankie_baby]

I'd be surprised if 3g isn't over 1.2m by the end of December

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I'd be surprised if 3g isn't over 1.2m by the end of December

With those expectations, the supply might not make that possible even if demand is there.

EDIT: I was curious what PSP's userbase was when MHP2 hit 1.2 million. Right at the middle of 2007, about 5.6 million.

But where's 3DS's Wii Sports?

 

[frankie_baby]

With those expectations, the supply might not make that possible even if demand is there.

Supply is probably the only potential fly in the ointment, I don't know what the manufacturing times for 3ds games are but I would imagine they've still got a few weeks to get a final order into nintendo before release so maybe could be higher

 

[Gianni Merryman]

EDIT: I was curious what PSP's userbase was when MHP2 hit 1.2 million. Right at the middle of 2007, about 5.6 million.

If you have all the figures handy, what about PSP userbase when MHP2G hit the shelves?

 

[gogogow]

If you have all the figures handy, what about PSP userbase when MHP2G hit the shelves?

8.7m

 

[Road]

Dengeki Sales, Oct 17 - Oct 23, 2011 (Week 43)

01. (__) [PS3] Gekijouban Macross F: Sayonara no Tsubasa - Hybrid Pack (Bandai Namco) - 142,805 / 142,805 [ST: ~75% => 190,000]
02. (__) [PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact (Bandai Namco) - 49,059 / 49,059 [ST: ~50% => 98,000]
03. (02) [WII] Just Dance Wii (Nintendo) - 47,063 / 136,830 (-48%)
04. (__) [WII] Go Vacation (Bandai Namco) - 46,381 / 46,381
05. (__) [PS3] Dead Island (Spike) - 38,182 / 38,182
06. (03) [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (Konami) - 28,535 / 374,856 (-55%)
07. (01) [PS3] Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Bandai Namco) - 26,569 / 164,157 (-81%)
08. (__) [PS3] FIFA 12 (Electronic Arts) - 23,813 / 23,813
09. (04) [PSP] AKB1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara... (Bandai Namco) - 14,524 / 289,895 (-60%)
10. (09) [WII] Rhythm Heaven Fever (Nintendo) - 12,900 / 534,509 (-5%)
11. (10) [WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo) - 12,238 / 2,645,642 (-4%)
12. (__) [360] Dead Island (Spike) - 11,947 / 11,947
13. (__) [PS3] Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix) - 10,431 / 10,431
14. (11) [WII] Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary: Famicom & Super Famicom Dragon Quest I-II-III (Square Enix) - 7,879 / 371,865 (-36%)
15. (15) [NDS] Kirby Mass Attack (Nintendo) - 7,689 / 274,718 (-13%)
16. (17) [3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo) - 7,476 / 426,195 (-4%)
17. (14) [PSP] Monster Hunter Freedom 3 [PSP the Best] (Capcom) - 6,925 / 54,369 (-23%)
18. (__) [PS3] Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (SCE) - 6,640 / 6,640
19. (16) [PSP] Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6 (Konami) - 6,328 / 98,218 (-25%)
20. (__) [3DS] Tetris Axis (Bandai Namco) - 6,303 / 6,303

*ST: Sell-through => estimated copies shipped.


Other software (first week / LTD):
2010-10-07 [PS3] Gekijouban Macross F: Itsuwari no Utahime - Hybrid Pack (Bandai Namco) - 151,000 / 203,000
2009-12-10 [PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 (Bandai Namco) - 80,000 / 203,000


3DS hardware, up 44.7% to 77,000 units.

http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/420/420464/
http://megalodon.jp/2011-1028-2203-31/news.dengeki.com/soft/ranking/ranking.html

Week 42: 10-10~10-16

 

[Chris1964]

Dengeki Sales, Oct 17 - Oct 23, 2011 (Week 43)

01. (__) [PS3] Gekijouban Macross F: Sayonara no Tsubasa - Hybrid Pack (Bandai Namco) - 142,805 / 142,805 [ST: ~75% => 190,000]
02. (__) [PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact (Bandai Namco) - 49,059 / 49,059 [ST: ~50% => 98,000]

Macross recovered at weekend but it looks Naruto will have problen to sell the initial shipment.

 

[Gianni Merryman]

8.7m

Thank you, these records actually give us some valid elements for a wider evaluation of the possible scenario.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Bullish predictions from Capcom. Nothing new here.

They all look pretty realistic and reasonable I think. If this were 2009 I could see their predictions being 50-100% higher on everything basically.

RE might disappoint, but I think the rest are probably going to hit (or hit close to) those targets.

 

[Chris1964]

Capcom and spot-on forecast don't go together. They usually underestimate or overestimate a title, hitting the target is the exception. Some really off I remember

Lost Planet 2: 3.7 million
MHP3rd: 3.6 million
Dead Rising 2: 3 million

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

Prediction League (October 31 - November 6)
- Any entry missing MC Top20 will be taken out of the predictions.
- Deadline is Wednesday 2nd when Famitsu Top10 is posted for the October 24-30 week.
- * DQH:RS3, Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3 are released on Wednesday (2nd), a day earlier than usual.
- ** 3DS new color "Ice White" is released on Thursday (3rd), thus 4 days counted.

[3DS] ** 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) -
[3DS] * Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) -
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) -
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) -
[PS3] * Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) -
[PS3] * Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) -

 

[Chris1964]

Predictions

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 210.987
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 34.567
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 345.678
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 21.098
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 56.789 89.012
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 78.901

 

[Mpl90]

Aaaaaaand it's time for predictions

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 190.246
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 34.659
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 371.344
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 50.235
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 60.347
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 77.198

 

[Jokeropia]

Famitsu's CY starts one week earlier from Media Create

Ah, I thought we were going by the ISO standard week number or something.

 

[BKK]

Ah, I thought we were going by the ISO standard week number or something.

Everybody does except Famitsu

 

[LOCK]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 250.000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 45.000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 400.000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 50.000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 60.000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 75.000

Yeah these numbers probably won't happen, but thats what makes predictions fun.

 

[donny2112]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 100K
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 33K
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 200K
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 30K
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 35K
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 70K

 

[thestopsign]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 135k
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 51k
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 310k
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 40k
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 50k
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 60k

 

[WhyMe6]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 102,000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 28,000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 197,000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 95,000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 39,000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 65,000

Just for fun, I'm also throwing in:

[360] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 14,000 (This is being released too, right?)

I'm predicting that Japanese PS3 owners will pick and choose between U3 and BF3, spreading potential sales across both titles. However, Week 1 numbers-wise, I feel U3 will still beat U2 and BF3 will beat Bad Company 2.

 

[Orgen]

Predictions

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 176.000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 64.000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 283.000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 45.000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 51.000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 69.000

 

[Yeshua]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 250.000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 40.000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 450.000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 30.000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 60.000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 70.000

 

[Chris1964]

Software Value (Millions Yen)

Famitsu 2011 H1-FY {2011.03.28 - 2011.09.25}

01. [ALL] (Bandai Namco Games) - 17.796 <18,04%>
02. [ALL] (Nintendo) - 14.948 <15,15%>
03. [ALL] (Konami) - 7.834 <7,94%>
04. [ALL] (Capcom) - 6.606 <6,70%>
05. [ALL] (Square Enix) - 5.691 <5,77%>
06. [ALL] (Sega) - 5.397 <5,47%>
07. [ALL] (Level 5) - 3.847 <3,90%>
08. [ALL] (Koei Tecmo) - 3.579 <3,63%>
09. [ALL] (Sony Computer Entertainment) - 3.420 <3,47%>
10. [ALL] (Pokemon Co.) - 2.519 <2,55%>
11. [ALL] (Spike) - 2.149 <2,18%>
12. [ALL] (From Software) - 1.615 <1,64%>
13. [ALL] (Image Epoch) - 1.545 <1,57%>
14. [ALL] (Marvelous Entertainment) - 1.436 <1,46%>
15. [ALL] (D3 Publisher) - 1.286 <1,30%>
16. [ALL] (Electronic Arts) - 1.233 <1,25%>
17. [ALL] (Idea Factory) - 1.231 <1,25%>
18. [ALL] (Gust) - 1.044 <1,06%>
19. [ALL] (Spike) - 1.031 <1,04%>
20. [ALL] (Kadokawa Shoten) - 999 <1,01%>

01. [360] (5pb.) <21,60%>
02. [360] (Microsoft Game Studios) <19,40%>
03. [360] (Capcom) <9,20%>
04. [360] (Electronic Arts) <7,90%>
05. [360] (D3 Publisher) <4,20%>
00. [360] (Other) <37,70%>

01. [3DS] (Nintendo) <33,30%>
02. [3DS] (Bandai Namco Games) <22,20%>
03. [3DS] (Pokemon Co.) <7,90%>
04. [3DS] (Capcom) <7,40%>
05. [3DS] (Konami) <5,10%>
00. [3DS] (Other) <24,10%>

01. [NDS] (Square Enix) <18,90%>
02. [NDS] (Nintendo) <18,30%>
03. [NDS] (Bandai Namco Games) <16,30%>
04. [NDS] (Pokemon Co.) <12,60%>
05. [NDS] (Konami) <6,70%>
00. [NDS] (Other) <27,20%>

01. [PS3] (Bandai Namco Games) <17,70%>
02. [PS3] (Sega) <11,70%>
03. [PS3] (Konami) <10,70%>
04. [PS3] (Capcom) <10,00%>
05. [PS3] (Sony Computer Entertainment) <9,20%>
00. [PS3] (Other) <40,70%>

01. [PSP] (Bandai Namco Games) <24,60%>
02. [PSP] (Konami) <10,40%>
03. [PSP] (Capcom) <7,60%>
04. [PSP] (Level 5) <5,70%>
05. [PSP] (Image Epoch) <5,30%>
00. [PSP] (Other) <46,40%>

01. [WII] (Nintendo) <65,00%>
02. [WII] (Square Enix) <9,60%>
03. [WII] (Bandai Namco Games) <7,40%>
04. [WII] (Level 5) <7,30%>
05. [WII] (Hudson) <2,50%>
00. [WII] (Other) <8,20%>


same publishers last year for reference

Famitsu 2010 H1-FY {2010.03.29 - 2010.09.26}

01. [ALL] (Nintendo) - 21.508 <17,15%>
02. [ALL] (Pokemon Co.) - 16.763 <13,37%>
03. [ALL] (Konami) - 15.706 <12,52%>
04. [ALL] (Bandai Namco Games) - 11.842 <9,44%>
05. [ALL] (Capcom) - 10.137 <8,08%>
06. [ALL] (Square Enix) - 11.629 <9,27%>
07. [ALL] (Sega) - 4.911 <3,92%>
08. [ALL] (Level 5) - 4.194 <3,34%>
09. [ALL] (Sony Computer Entertainment) - 3.523 <2,81%>
10. [ALL] (Koei Tecmo) - 2.852 <2,27%>
11. [ALL] (Marvelous Entertainment) - 1.954 <1,56%>
13. [ALL] (Idea Factory) - 1.475 <1,18%>
14. [ALL] (Spike) - 1.414 <1,13%>
16. [ALL] (D3 Publisher) - 909 <0,72%>
17. [ALL] (Gust) - 846 <0,67%>
18. [ALL] (Electronic Arts) - 819 <0,65%>
23. [ALL] (Spike) - 587 <0,47%>
39. [ALL] (Kadokawa Shoten) - 235 <0,19%>
61. [ALL] (From Software) - 59 <0,05%>
00. [ALL] (Image Epoch) - 0 <0,00%>

 

[Cygnus X-1]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 200.000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 35.000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 350.000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 41.000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 37.000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 58.000

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Predictions

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 195,000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 43,000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 390,000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 32,000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 43,000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 82,000

 

[Chris1964]

2 anniversaries in Japan

Mega Drive {1988.10.29}

NeoGeo Pocket {1998.10.28}

Edit: Any idea what's the deal with amazon.jp and the 24% discounts?

 

[BurntPork]

Might as well make a guess before my week long leave.

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 175,000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 75,000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 250,000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 50,000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 40,000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 50,000

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 155,555
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 55,555
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 222,222
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 33,333
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 33,333
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 44,444

 

[Rolf NB]

Poor bushy-eyebrow Ratchet.

 

[Chris1964]

2 anniversaries in Japan

NeoGeo Pocket {1998.10.28}

Mega Drive {1988.10.29}

Anniversary No. 3

PC Engine {1987.10.30}

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Late, but
Game Boy Color (1998-10-21).

If revisions count,
DSi (2008-11-01)
PSPgo (2009-11-01)

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Late, but
Game Boy Color (1998-10-21).

If revisions count,
DSi (2008-11-01)
PSPgo (2009-11-01)

FWIW, Nintendo themselves consider Game Boy Color a revision.

 

[Kenka]

Come on !
[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 161'111
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 51'111
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 391'111
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 81'111
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 51'111
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 61'111

 

[test_account]

FWIW, Nintendo themselves consider Game Boy Color a revision.

I wonder why, concidering that the Gameboy Color has so many exclusive games.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

I wonder why, concidering that the Gameboy Color has so many exclusive games.

So does the DSi. DSi has more than GBC even iirc.

 

[Mariah Carey]

Investor Relations Financial Results Briefing

I thought this was the name of a game for a second.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

I wonder why, concidering that the Gameboy Color has so many exclusive games.

Because it's an overclocked Gameboy (2X CPU) with 4x the RAM (and some minor upgrades to the 2D graphics engine)

Just like the DSi (exactly the same upgrade. 2X ARM 9 CPU, 4X RAM)

It's not new hardware, hence not a new console (insert Wii joke here)

 

[Man God]

DSi has more exclusive games, GBC has bigger exclusives (Mario Deluxe, Pokémon Crystal)

 

[Sadist]

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 196.300
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 41.500
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 290.900
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 28.400
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 53.200
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 70.700

 

[iifu]

Predictions

[3DS] 3DS Hardware (Nintendo) - 190,000
[3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 (Square Enix) - 45,000
[3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) - 290,000
[PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - 20,000
[PS3] Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) - 35,000
[PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (SCE) - 55,000

 

[test_account]

So does the DSi. DSi has more than GBC even iirc.

Arent most (if not all) of those exclusive DSi games downloadble only? That makes more sense at least. But with GBC there are a lot of retail games. It was kinda pointless to buy the GBC back in the day to only play Gameboy game. But with the DSi, it is mainly a device that plays DS games. The extra stuff like camera and DSi games is more as a bonus. At least that is the way i see it.

Because it's an overclocked Gameboy (2X CPU) with 4x the RAM (and some minor upgrades to the 2D graphics engine)

Just like the DSi (exactly the same upgrade. 2X ARM 9 CPU, 4X RAM)

It's not new hardware, hence not a new console (insert Wii joke here)

It is still a new system though, that have a lot of retail games that only works on the system (not counting backward compability on GBA/DS). Wii joke works there indeed hehe Oh well, i still concider it a own system even if Nintendo doesnt.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Arent most (if not all) of those exclusive DSi games downloadble only? That makes more sense at least. But with GBC there are a lot of retail games. It was kinda pointless to buy the GBC back in the day to only play Gameboy game.



It is still a new system though, that have a lot of retail games that only works on the system (not counting backward compability on GBA/DS). Wii joke works there indeed hehe Oh well, i still concider it a own system even if Nintendo doesnt.

Physical or digital doesn't really matter imo, both had a ton of games you couldn't play on the previous platform. I'd consider both GBC and DSi to be basically the same thing.

With a GBC you could at least play old GB games in color. I don't see what advantage a DSi really gives old DS games, unless you shelled out for the later XL.

 

[qq more]

Physical or digital doesn't really matter imo, both had a ton of games you couldn't play on the previous platform. I'd consider both GBC and DSi to be basically the same thing.

With a GBC you could at least play old GB games in color. I don't see what advantage a DSi really gives old DS games, unless you shelled out for the later XL.

Agreed. GBC is definitely no different from DSi.

Also, few GB games can be played in full color on GBC and I do believe there's also a few DS games that can be played on the DSi with enhanced features? Don't remember.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Physical or digital doesn't really matter imo, both had a ton of games you couldn't play on the previous platform. I'd consider both GBC and DSi to be basically the same thing.

With a GBC you could at least play old GB games in color. I don't see what advantage a DSi really gives old DS games, unless you shelled out for the later XL.

Bigger screen (remember that the DSi also has a bigger screen than the DS/DSLite, not just the XL)

A few GB games can be played in full color on GBC.

Only hybrid games could do that (and they were limited to 36 colours IIRC) Some original GB games had full colour via SGB though (maybe that's what you're thinking of?)