DS or BS?

I was out at the local bowling emporium at the weekend and for some reason they had a Nintendo DS display stand with 8 or so consoles to play on. First impressions. Yuk! The buttons and controller felt well flat and cheap compared to my Gameboy Advance and the size of the thing puts me off completely! Its huge! It has 2 LCD screens - the lower of which is touch sensitive. Click here for a Nintendo DS Overview. When you switch it on you tap the lower screen to start and it brings up a screen with a clock and calendar at the top and a list of available apps at the bottom including any games you have inserted. There were 2 other apps listed - a network chat client called Pictochat (the DS has built in wifi) with text and freehand writing modes. See here and here for screens. The other app is the ability to download a game from another wirelessly connected DS to play multiplayer. The old Nintendo Gameboys used to allow you to play some games in a limited mode if the other Gameboy connected (via a cable) supported it. I tried it a few times - but it never worked. I played a demo of Metroid Prime Hunters - a 3D shooter which makes you control the game by moving your man with your left hand on the console, but then use the included stylus to "look" around the screen. To shoot, you tap the screen with the stylus. Very odd indeed. Not impressed with that either. Another DS had Tiger Woods Golf on - but some bloke was trying to play it whilst holding a screwdriver in his other hand so i did'nt manage to have a go. Also odd. This wifi game sharing appears to be the best thing i can find about the new handheld console. But with rumors of another Gameboy out before xmas and a possible release for the DS that will turn it more into a PDA that plays games than a Gameboy - the future is unknown! The DS is still on my Amazon Wishlist for my birthday. So we will see what happens between now and then (July). Maybe the console will be superseeded with another version of the Gameboy Advance or maybe the DS will mutate into something totally different and also be attractive too. Divx and MP3 playback have been rumored!