A couple of questions:

New Super Mario Bros (DS): Is the DS version as hard as the Wii version? I'm having a tough time with the Wii NSMB. I don't think my son would have the patience or skill for the DS version if it's just as difficult.

Pokemon: Which one is worth checking out first? I'm totally new to the Pokemon craze (except for Pokemon Snap, or whatever it was called, that came out for the N64 years ago). Which one is best, and should that be the first one my son should play?

Thanks!

Wow! Thanks so much for all the replies! I definitely saw several titles mentioned over and over. I'll have to check some of those out. Now how do I narrow the list? :)

@rubber-chicken: Good advice on video game addiction. Unfortunately, I'm afraid my son has the same "disease" that I do. I was hoping Gamespot was the "spot" to provide counseling on how to overcome thisproblem.:)

@hydralisk86: One of my son's friends actually got a DS when he was 3!! I thought that was really young and the kid would have to be told to be careful about dropping it all the time. I guess we'll see. The DS models seem fairly sturdy, but I'm definitely not buying him a new one if it breaks! :)

I bought a DSi for my son for Xmas, and he'll be almost 5 by the time the holidays roll around. I'm totally new to the DS myself having shunned portable gaming systems all these years for the "bigger brother" systems.

What are the best games for his age group - games that are the best overall, with suitable content (he won't be playing "GTA: China Wars" - but I might ;), and most importantly will be easy enough to play at his skill level?

Just from a quick search: definitely Mario Kart (he loves the Wii version) -what about Yoshi's Island?, Nintendogs?, Scribblenauts looks promising?,Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks?(I love the Zelda series but I don't know if he'll be able to get into it). Though I dread it, the Pokemon series seems pretty popular. Is it something I should look into for him?

Any educational games for his age group?

I got a DSi for the same price as the DS Lite, and I wanted that model because of the ability to download games online. Any downloadable games worth looking into for him?

Thanks for any helpful replies!

(PS: Is there a way to turn on reply notification, such that if someone replies to my post I'll get an e-mail letting me know? Thanks.)