10/06 Update: Since we no longer write for the Edmond Sun, this section is temporarily housing our podcast links for our iTunes feed. All of the columns are in the archives menu if you feel like exploring.

These columns (as well as the 'releases') come from weekly content that we write for the Edmond Sun, out of Edmond, OK (though we live in Chicago). This page contains the archives for said column, many of which are in their pre-published, unedited state. Some titles and editing by Brendan Sinclair.

Column Archives:

DS Lite
Friday, January 27, 2006

Hot off of the presses, from Nintendo's mouths to our ears to your eyes. Rumors have been flying for weeks, and after denying it earlier this month, the ever-secretive company up and announced the DS Lite this Thursday morning, the first redesign for the already obscenely successful handheld. If anything, it's a redesign of convenience - the entirety of Japan is regularly sold out of them, so why not make a few tweaks while they're gradually catching up to the demand alongside the old model? While all of the changes are purely cosmetic, they're relatively significant:

Old Size: 149mm x 85mm x 29mm, 275g
New Size: 133mm x 74mm x 22mm, 218g

Alongside the size change are brighter screens (with four adjustable levels of brightness), repositioning of the microphone, speakers, power button and power/wifi lights, a sexy new white sheen (it will also be available in black and a third mystery color), and slight resizing and repositioning of the D-Pad and face buttons. Really, it's exactly what the DS needed.

True, I haven't held the system to judge for myself (though neither has anyone else, yet - hot off the presses means hot off the presses), but for all it's innovative, fantastic-software goodness, it couldn't be any LESS comfortable to cradle. The new design seems a lot more ergonomic, where your hands can more easily hug the system from the top and underneath, rebalancing the weight distribution so that your other fingers don't wither from exhaustion quite as easily. Most importantly - this is definitely a good portion speculation - the D-Pad and face buttons look quite a bit better, and assumable are; the current models' were far too plasticky and not nearly reflexive enough, while the Lite's look downright comfortable. Even the GBA cartridge slot is receiving some attention, with a new "plug" to fill the space when a game isn't inserted (which should help add to the flush design, and, again, balance the weight a bit more).

My very short laundry list of future additions I'd enjoy? Add a little slot to pop a second DS game into when you're not playing it, so you can have at least two at your disposal while out and about. That's about it. The games so far have been almost exclusively sublime, and this new design should bring the hardware significantly closer to perfection. It launches March 2nd in Japan, and sometime here after that. While Nintendo has said something to the effect of "after Spring" in the US, a March 20th release date next to Tetris DS and Metroid Prime Hunters would just make far too much sense to pass up. I'm psyched.

- Nick