Can I admit something? I’m thinking about buying a DS.

I know. I know.

On one hand I want to say that I don’t need one. And that’s true, I don’t. I bought two versions of the GBA (traded one in, though) and while I got more than my money’s worth out of it, most of that time was spent on only a handful of games: Advance Wars 2, Metroid Fusion, Mario Kart Advance and then of course there was the 200+ hours I sunk into Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Did I mention I still haven’t beaten that stupid game?

Anyway, the need for another gaming system is slim at best. Yet I’ve always maintained that it’s not about the system but rather the games for said system and at this point I’m comfortable saying that the DS has enough games I’m interested in to start thinking about a purchase. Mario Kart with wireless? Check. Resident Evil? Check. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow? Check. Metroid Prime: Hunters? Check. But I could resist all that. I mean, I’ve played two Metroid prime games already, I’ve beaten Resident Evil several times and played Mario Kart on assorted platforms until I was silly in the head. So yeah, it’s an attractive proposition but not one I absolutely must succumb to.

Until today.

See, there’s this conference today and they announced something that sealed my fate.

Wind Waker-style Zelda for the DS. Game over. I’m a total sucker for Zelda and I loved Wind Waker (yes, yes, I’m excited about Twilight Princess too… why can’t I like both cell shading and realistic graphics?) so it might as well be a done deal.

But just in case I had an ounce of resolve left, Nintendo also announces that they’re releasing a redesigned DS called the DS Lite. Smaller, sleeker, brighter screens? Yes, yes and—oh yeah—yes.

Sigh. My wallet hates me.