Nintendo DS overload

I went shopping yesterday with a Nintendo DS on the list of things to buy. Little did I know the Pandora's box I was opening. Walmart (yes, I was there again but don't criticize me until you've lived in a town where this is your only retail option without driving sixty miles) was sold out of them so I had to go on-line to buy it.

First I had to figure out what a "Lite" version was. Instead of meaning a simpler watered down version with less features as I intuitively guessed, I find that it has MORE features and that "lite" refers to its reduced weight. OK. I'm getting the "Lite."

Now I have to pick the color. My choices are gold (limited edition), crimson & black, coral pink, onyx black, metallic rose (also limited and my favorite) and polar white. Why does it matter what color it is when what you're looking it at is on the LCD?! Do kids really care? Is my nine year old going to say, "I need my metallic rose Nintendo today to match the pink iridescent lip gloss that I'm wearing." This one I was buying was not for her but for a boy so I went with the black onyx. Very macho looking...

Of course you have to get a game with it or what use will it be? There are about a gazillion of those which I have neither time or space to list here. You wouldn't believe all the advice I' got from adults on which ones are good, user-friendly, or so complicated that an adult can't figure it out. Am I the only one on the planet that hasn't played with a Nintendo DS?! Luckily the boy who is getting this one listed two specific games so I could tune out all the other options.

Scott has purchased one of these evil gadgets for our children as well this Christmas. I now live in dread of Christmas morning when my kids will turn into video game junkies who stare hypnotically at a tiny screen all day and lose all social skills.