I’ve spent the last couple of days suffering through some sort of bizarre springtime cold/flu thing which has been not just uncomfortable but put me far behind in terms of work and other things that need to get done. And I’m still not much better than I was yesterday, but I’ve dumped my workload on my co-workers enough this week that guilt alone dragged me out of bed and into rush hour traffic.

Of course it hasn’t been all bad. I played my way through Resident Evil 4 for a second time since after finishing Indigo Prophecy I was disappointed enough with the last 2/3rds of it that I needed to remind myself how video games can be, you know, good. Not that RE4 is flawless, but on a general comparison scale we’re talking about a stack of fifty dollar bills versus a bit of lint culled from one’s bellybutton.

The strange thing about that is I hardly ever play through games twice. Especially if I went all the way to the end the first time ’round. And you know, I wouldn’t be opposed to doing again. Part of the fun is that the game is roughly 6,000 times easier each time through since you keep all your weapons and money from the previous completion which in my case means I have fully upgraded shotguns, sniper rifles and .357 Magnums plus ample cash to burn on rocket launchers pretty much whenever. All of that means that the tough bad guys are, uh, not so much. The comedy of the week came when I wandered into a cave-like area and the game went to a cutscene of a vicious-looking baddie leaping down from a platform weilding a chainsaw that I just knew was going to be aimed at my neck. Normally these guys take several shots from the most powerful of guns, but as he approached me all Texas Massacre-style, I put one lone round into his shoulder and just happened to spin him off the cliff in a pirouette of anticlimax.

Comedy gold. Or, possibly the DayQuil. Take your pick.

Anyway, I didn’t stop by to ramble about games I beat a year ago, I actually came to express my enthusiasm for the announcement regarding the DS Lite. I had heard since the Lite was essentially flying off the shelves in Japan that NOA might take that as a sign that they had sorely underestimated the profit potential of the device and would introduce it to us with a price tag in the $200 neighborhood. That caused some consternation because as much as I’m eager to try some of these games I’m thinking that $200 goes a long way toward an XBox 360 or a Playstation 3. Heck, that’s even a pretty nifty dent in the price of a decent games-playing PC. But Nintendo proves once again that they really understand the handheld market and offer this tasty treat for a mere $129.

I have nothing but rampant speculation to back this up but I’m thinking the original DS will dip to $99 and by Christmas you will be able to snare one for $79 or so. Not sure why you’d want one of those clunkers, but to each his own.

Also, I’d like to point out that this is my favorite picture of Joel to date. Sleepy nephews are awesomely adorable.