You're looking at the gift. See, XSEED's CEO is Jun Iwasaki, who used to run Square Enix before he left to found his current company. The head honcho over at Square Enix now, Tetsuya Nomura, decided to hook him up with the custom It's a Wonderful World (The World Ends With You) handheld in what we can only hope is an example to others in the future. We have to break down these barriers!

We want to see a Coca Cola truck driver letting a Pepsi truck driver merge during heavy traffic. We want to see DS and PSP enthusiasts swapping consoles, sharing great experiences with each other. It's ... it's just such a feel good moment.

While we all think it would be totally rad if Nintendo issued either another redesigned DS model or a whole new handheld unit altogether, certain things must be considered first. Like, will it make Nintendo some money? Also, is there a demand? And, finally, is the DS as it is now outdated and no longer a viable option for the consumer?

Let's look at the facts, folks:

• The original Game Boy released in 1989 and saw several revisions, including a color change in 1995, a smaller system in the Game Boy Pocket in 1996, the Game Boy Light in 1997 and the Game Boy Color in 1998
  
• The Game Boy Advance released in 2001 and saw 2 revisions before it was officially retired, with the Game Boy Advance SP releasing in 2003 and the Game Boy Advance Micro releasing in 2005
  
• The original DS was released in 2004 and since has received one revision, in the DS Lite, which released in 2006
  

But, this is not all that needs be considered. For one, the DS Lite is still selling incredibly well, and Nintendo might think to adopt the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" plan of attack on this one, choosing to sit back and let the thing sell as long as it possibly can. However, due to the lowering manufacturing costs and Nintendo's profit on each unit sold, a revision with newer features might be manufactured for the same, or a very similar, price. This would allow Nintendo to sell the new unit at a higher price than the DS Lite and make even more money on each handheld sold. There goes the answer to the first question.

What about demand? Well, the demand for the existing DS Lite is there, but we'll be the first to tell you that, while we love the handheld , it's not perfect. Alterations in the best interest of the handheld may still be made, including generic improvements such as improving battery life and the like.If the people still love the DS Lite, we find little reason for them not to upgrade and froth at the mouth for something like a DS Liter.

What about its use to the consumer? Does it still remain a great choice for the general consumer? Sure, but in technology years, the thing is like a Brontosauras with Jesus resting comfortably on top of it. What we're saying is, the thing is old. While its appeal may never go away thanks to the easy control scheme and mountains of amazing titles available for it, one cannot ignore the competition. As new features are released everyday for Sony's PSP system, the DS Lite is increasingly dwarfed by the technological wizardry capable with Sony's handheld. If Nintendo went with a new version of the DS, we'd like to see them implement some of the more standard technological features that exist in other handheld devices on the market.

So will Nintendo release a revision to the DS? Sure, whether it's a new handheld entirely or a new DS, Nintendo would be crazy not to build on what they have with the DS Lite. Will we see it at E3 this year? This blogger thinks so, because, to be honest, what other megatons could they possibly drop on us?

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	Back	Not so fast there!

Ah, fanboy debate. Nothing quite motivates those lurking in the darkest corners of the internet to pounce from their hiding places like some really intense debate over which handheld is the best. And, now IGN has just sounded the equivalent to a dinner bell, asking one and all to come and help them decide which is the better, the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP.

How do they decide this? Well, through the games.

Japan's long-running love affair with the DS is well-documented, with the handheld comfortably outselling all other gaming hardware in the region since its December 2004 launch. The PSP, despite making more inroads into the handheld market than any previous challenger to Nintendo's throne, lies a distant second.

Which is why a new survey, conducted by Cross Marketing Inc. and presented to us in the form of pretty pie charts, comes as something of a surprise. When asked which portable games machine they most craved, 23% of Japanese consumers revealed they fancied the DS Lite, while 22% opted for the PSP. Even taking into account the 7% who would choose the original DS, that's not a big lead for Ninty in the popularity stakes.

We can't really fault how the poll was carried out, either. Of the 300 individuals who completed Cross Marketing Inc.'s questionnaire, there was a 50:50 male and female split, while 20% of the respondents were in their teens, 20% in their twenties, 20% in their thirties, 20% in their forties, and 20% in their fifties.

In fact, the only beef we have with the survey is that the number of individuals polled is a tad low. 300 is a small enough figure, but when almost half of those express no interest whatsoever in gaming on the go, it suddenly makes the entire exercise a heck of a lot less representative.

Neil Thompson, Microsot's senior regional director for the UK and Ireland at Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, sat down with GamesIndustry.biz to discuss all things Microsoft. While we could care less about that, he does offer some insight as to why Microsoft didn't enter the handheld gaming space and some of the challenges that Sony faced in trying to be competitive with Nintendo.

Thomspon says "The DS has been a great success for, and I think the interesting thing that case writers looking back at Nintendo in the last two or three years will look at, is the simplicity somewhat of the technology. They may argue it's a complex technology, but in a lot of ways it's actually quite a simple technology." While that's a good thought, isn't Thomspon overlooking the fact that a system is only so good as its games?