Yeah, another girl I know imported the black DS. I think the "official" name is Granite and that's what color it really is (very, very dark stone gray with black buttons) and boy is it slick looking. My girl imported the pink one after she broke hers on her trip to Japan and it's also very cool looking. The buttons and stylus are white (along with the bottom half of the bottom half of the DS). The US "Electric Blue" model looks like crap.. but Japanese blue model looks great.

I'm hoping for new colors for the holidays.. maybe I'll buy one then.

My wife almost ordered the Candy Pink one from Japan. She changed her mind at the last minute deciding she would rather spend the extra money on a game. I told her to do it since there is probably not much of a chance of the pink one getting released in the US, but she decided to wait.

If there are no better color options for the US this Christmas I will probably get the pink one for her from Japan.

I'm fine with the launch DS I have. It matches my Cube and sort of matches my NES style GBA. I might bite on a special edition DS if it is something cool.

Are there any preferences to where people import from? $169 and free shipping at Lik Sang seems pretty cheap.

I usualy rock with Play Asia for imports.

Candy Pink:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9h-70-k19.html

Turquoise Blue:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9h-70-k18.html

Graphite (sexy):
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9h-70-k16.html

Pure White:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9h-70-k17.html

Red:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9h-70-q0n.html

$149.90.

Hey PixyJunket....are you referring to Smallville Season 4? I am SO WAITING for this release...

Nope, I'm waiting for Marred.. with Children.

bah, and I thought that we actually had something in common.

Al Bundy did teach me morals growing up though....

Add $20 shipping and the price the same as Lik Sang, so I guess $170 is the going price to import a DS.

Whoa, didn't catch that. They ship games from $3 and up so I just expected cheap shipping options for systems too. But from Lik-Sang it looks like you have to buy a game with the system for the free shipping so if you're just shopping for an alternate color, Play-Asia might still be better.

Are those Japanese colors "limited" or will they still be around if I wait until Oct/Nov or so? I'm sure my wife would love a pink one, but she'll think it's a waste (like she thinks my silver one is a waste) until she inevitably gets hooked on Animal Crossing DS...

Not that I know of.. there are two limited Pokémon DS models but the rest should be standard release.

Wow check this little device out.

http://gaming.engadget.com/entry/1234000883053536/

Kind of stinks that I just sunk some money into the GBA player but I will most likely upgrade for this one.

Check your email for a free Animal Crossing PC clock and to let Nintendo do a test of your internet connection. Not sure if they are picking people at random or what, but I got the email just now.

Basically you install an Animal Crossing clock that also does a test of your network connection for Nintendo. You also fill out a quick survey about how you connect and what kind of router you own. They are probably trying to get an idea of how many people already have Wi-Fi and how many will need a wireless adaptor.

The little clock kicks ass by the way and looks just like the one in the game. It has hourly chimes as well.

Can you post the link that was in the e-mail?

http://www.nintendo.com/user_survey/wifi.jsp

You have to be logged in with your Nintendo.com user ID.

thanks

When I was there a few days ago I also took advantage of this deal. I saw on the little screen there that they would have given me $7 trade for the crap that I turned in, turned it into $30 and a new game. Add Advance Wars DS on the same day. What a release day for DS fans.

Nanostray's in today's Fry's ad for 24.99, which implies that they will have it in stock. Just a head's up.

ELECTROPLANKTON RULES!!! has anyone imported jam with the band?

Cheap Ass Gamer is reporting a $20 DS price drop to coincide with the release of Nintendogs:

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/archives/001016.php

Price drop makes sense considering how the hardware sales have been slow in the US the past few months. This follows the same pattern for price drops with the GameCube. First offer a free game for awhile and then drop the price of the hardware to the value of the bundle. Hopefully a price drop and Nintendogs will help, but honestly Nintendo is fighting a pretty difficult battle in the US. Once again Nintendo underestimated just how much other features like watching movies can help sell hardware.

Yes, people watching movies on PSP instead of playing the games

Well there is more to it than that. People in the US also like sports games and FPS games and those are just going to be much better on the PSP. The DS is a fun and unique gaming experience, but I just don't know if the demand for it is strong enough in the US. From what I am seeing from people I know with PSPs the movie feature is a huge hit. It reminds me of how much movies helped the PS2 get through its first rough year software wise. Its a very good move by Sony at least in the US. The movie thing hasn't caught on in Japan for the PSP.

Some DS reviews.

Madden 06 got a 6.0 from IGN the only one that seemed to bother reviewing it. It is a playable game, but again EA uses the touch screen as a gimmick instead of using it to actually make the game play better. I tried this game and there is fun to be had, but completing passes is tough because the receivers are very tiny on the screen and its hard to judge depth on the small DS screen. The touch screen kicking is terrible as well. I liked the Franchise mode and the gameplay in general is decent. http://ds.ign.com/articles/641/641660p1.html

Advance Wars Dual Strike currently has a 91% rating at game rankings so that game looks to be a sure thing for fans of the series. Must buy for me.

Nintendogs also has a pretty good Game Rankings rating of 82%. That is not bad at all for a puppy simulator. The game demo is now available at many stores so that one will be easy to try out for yourself.

Pac 'n Roll currently has a 68% at Game Rankings. This one may be for Marble Madness fans only. I really wish Namco would just put this game and Pac Pix on one cart. That would make the Pac Man DS games worth buying.

Looks like a good month for the DS overall. September also has some potential if Lunar Dragon Song and Spider-Man live up to expectations.

Agreed taht Pac Pix and Pac n Roll should've been on one cart together. That's just Namco trying to get as much money from people as possible...but it's going to backfire on them b/c now people will say 'screw it, i won't get either'.