Well I just got back from vacation at the beach and I must report something odd I found with the DS.  In my previous visits to the beach, I was only equipped with a first generation GBA.  Of course this model was not back-lit so the screen was hard to see at times.  The exception to this was if you were playing outside in the bright sun.  Then the screen burst to life and everything could be viewed easily.

I received quite a shock this year when I plopped down by the pool and fired up NSMB.  I could hardly see a thing!  I fiddled with the screen angle, rebooted, tried other games and the problem persisted.  It seems that the improved back-lit screen of the DS actually hinders it when playing in ultra-bright conditions.  I know the GBA:SP had a feature to turn the light on and off.  Alas, I could find no such option on the DS.

I managed to improvise and play holding my DS at an odd angle underneath a t-shirt but I didn't expect to have to go to such lengths. And of course it looked great indoors and especially spectacular at night out on the balcony. But overall, this is my first major complaint about the DS after owning it for over a year.  Still, I played the heck out of NSMB and fell in love with Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones all over again.  It never fails, every year on vacaction I wind up putting in a GBA game I haven't touched in ages and usually end up playing it more than the brand new game I purchased specifically for the trip.  This year it was FE:SS.  Last year it was WarioWare.  Year before that Mario Golf Advanced.  Before that Advanced Wars. And so on and so forth.

But anyway just a word of caution to those of you taking your DS to the beach (or other ultra-bright location).  It may be more difficult to see the action than you think.  I'd love to hear some comments from you people out there who have field-tested the new DS Lite to see if it has the same problem.

Off-Topic:  The NES Classic GBA Reissue of the Legend of Zelda is freakin' impossible to find new or used.  But if you were looking for Xevious, Ice Climbers or Pac-Man you are in luck! :roll:

And I remember when our Target had it on clearance for $10.  Oh the remorse of the non-buyer! :cry: