Finally, the sleek and sexy handheld gaming machine is now available for eager gamers to purchase in the USA.
Nintendo officially launched the system on Sunday to major applause, the company then threw the mandatory launch party at its Nintendo world store in the Rockefeller Centre, which is based in New York.
Those who hadn't purchased the machine early were treated to huge queues full of prospective and current Ds owners. From the photo's that appeared, it looks like some extreme members of the public took to fancy dress to show off their love for Nintendo. It has been widely reported that the first hundred gamers who survived the ordeal and made it to the front of the store received a free copy of Nintendo's brain training simulator Brain Age for their troubles. The machine totaled to a very reasonable $129.99 which possibly left gamers with spare change to spend on new games for their Ds lite collection.
At present no official figures have emerged to tell of how well the Ds Lite launch went for Nintendo, but expect these to crop up fairly soon. Before the launch of the sleeker re-designed machine, the console according to retailers was neck and neck with Sony's PSP console which has been very popular despite a lack of big name franchises for the system, and a rather dry release schedule. Reports are currently circulating that the machine had a fairly steady launch rather than a huge rampage, mainly due to this just being a cosmetic re-design rather than a new console launch, which I imagine was to be expected.
Sadly though it appears that American Nintendo fan's weren't quite as lucky as us European's, as only one colour was available during the launch, and that was the default 'apple white' version of the machine. This is the first time in a long while that us gamers from over the pond have had a one up on our American cousins. This is something we are all bound to savour come the release of both the black and the white Ds lite's over here, Friday June 23rd.
¿==–^•~)pceet