This week, Nintendo announced the newest iteration of their ultra-successful handheld, the DSi XL, or as I like to call it, the D6L. And the timing was apt, as we are just a month shy of the fifth anniversary of its launch in North America on November 21st, 2004.

In some ways, it's kind of hard to believe that it has been five years, but it would likely be safe to say that a lot of people have a lot of memories invested in that machine, and it has definitely helped to change the face of Nintendo, as well as the face of gaming itself. Former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi said in February of that year that "if the DS succeeds, we will rise to heaven, but if it fails we will sink to hell."

Looking at Nintendo now, it's hard to dispute that they have indeed risen, and 1UP has taken a look back at the short but successful history of the handheld which managed to finally put the Game Boy, which itself celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, to rest. Check it all out in "Rise to Heaven: Five Years of Nintendo DS."