Digital Trends

Everyone's trying to slim down in time for summer — Nintendo included. Witness the newly debuted DS Lite ($129.99), a smaller, sleeker and generally better designed model of the popular DS handheld, which improves upon its predecessor in almost every conceivable way.

From tangible weight and size reductions to a new button layout, sharper visual performance and repositioned stylus holder, it's a welcome addition to the Japanese giant's celebrated family of portable consoles. So if you haven't gotten hip to the dual-screened diversion's charms — i.e. touch-sensitive titles experienced through top- and bottom-mounted visual displays using a stylus or d-pad- and button-based front-end — now's the perfect chance.

On the downside, the machine's enhancements are more cosmetic than anything else, simply offering gamers a less cumbersome, more stylish way of getting their New Super Mario Bros. or Magnetica on. But when that's the harshest criticism current admirers can level at the unit, which will surely continue to spark sales of the deservedly acclaimed DS platform (17 million of the devices have already been snapped up worldwide), hey... Be thankful. It's not like we're looking at another N-Gage QD.