I sunk in close to 100 hours on the one for the Gamecube and my wife must have easily put in more than that; there was just something so inherently addictive about the gameplay. Sure, it revolved around shaking trees, catching bugs and fish, digging up fossils, and writing more letters than you could ever imagine but it was pure, simple, and zen-like. Animal Crossing DS could easily compel me to buy two DSes so that we can play head-to-head and maybe troll for other users to trade kitschy umbrella designs with.

Games like Animal Crossing are the reason why I love Nintendo so much; there is this desire on their part to create games that delight and amaze, these are games that reveal your inner-child. Sure Half-Life2 is an amazing looking and does create a sense of joy when played but that joy is reserved to elements of gameplay, like the emergent styles of play afforded by the gravity gun. On the other hand, Nintendo does an amazing job taking joyful styles of play and wrapping them into a cohesive whole whereby the game in of itself provides the the highest enjoyment. Animal Crossing is one such game where the company took the notion of communication as a method of play and built a highly addictive game around it, one that compelled me to keep coming back long after I completed many of the objectives.

Needless to say, Nintendo continues to have my vote of confidence as the market moves into the next round of consoles.

Sure, I’m holding out for a DS, and yes, I already one a GBA SP that fits nicely into my fat-ass pants pocket but my wife would love a cutesy game device like this. Anyway, Joystick has a great write up about the latest GBA including some hands-on pictures. For what appears to be a tiny screen this picks make it look very legible and usable.