I feel really guilty. I feel as if I have used and casually cast aside a loved one. What's worse, I've done it once before already, yet this loved one welcomed me back into her open arms when I realised the error of my ways. This time though, it's for real, and it's gonna hurt. I'm talking, of course, about my beautiful silver Nintendo DS. We've had good times, we've had bad times, we've had action highs and strategy lows, innovative peaks and bog-standard troughs. However, even when I cast aside my DS for the perky thrills of the younger and more dynamic PSP, I still came back to her knowing that I'd still have all the love, addictive gameplay and innovation that this good-looking newcomer lacked. My DS welcomed me back each time.

This time, I'm casting her aside for another DS. A family member, a younger, more beautiful sister. This time I won't be coming back. Yes folks, I've gotten my grubby paws on a Nintendo DS Lite and I'm ashamed. I fall for it, like I fall for it every time, like millions of others before me; I fell for it with the Game Boy and Game Boy Colour; I fell for it with the Game Boy Advance and the Game Boy Advance SP. Nintendo know there are suckers like me who cry out to have smaller, sleeker, prettier and brighter versions of what I already have. I'm marketing cannon fodder - I know it, and I love it.

The reason I love it? The reason I'm so forgiving at having my whims and wants twisted in Nintendo's hands like silly putty? It's because Nintendo have never ever disappointed me, not even with the Gamecube, and the DS Lite is no exception. Now, before I begin the description, and give you the pros and cons of this new version, I would like to tell you now that you will be reading of some modifications I'm not pleased about. I'll get that off my chest now, just so you don't think I'm part of the Mario Club and another Nintendo propaganda tool.

The obvious place to start is in the look of the thing, compared to the original. It is smaller, though at first not markedly so, until you hold it next to the old DS (bless her) and see a good centimetre trimmed off the length and width. Also, it doesn't resemble a clam anymore, but more of a sophisticated gentleman's cigar holder. Mine is a navy blue number, while the one I got my hands on for my partner is pearly white. Mine looks sleeker then hers, purely because dark colours make anything look slimmer, even my beer gut (hence my almost completely black wardrobe). Unlike both my wardrobe and my belly, it weighs very little.

An external examination before flipping the lid shows a power button, similar to the PSP's, on the right hand side, which you slide up to activate. That's a good move, as the number of times I've hit the power button on my old DS just by the awkward ways I've had to hold it while playing, well, I've lost count. What I will tell you is that Mr. Resetti is not happy with me and it's largely the fault of the old DS design! The volume slide is in the same place, as are the GBA card and DS card slots. There's a dedicated power socket and a dedicated earphone socket, so now you can play while charging on full volume without disturbing anyone.

Appearances are deceptive though, and something is badly amiss that you do not notice until you slot a GBA cartridge in. Half of it sticks out! Aaaargh!!! Gone are the days when you can casually fully slot in a GBA cart and forget it's there, coming to it when you've exhausted the DS game that's in and you need something to entertain you on the way home. If you want to play GBA carts, it's best to pull them out and keep them separately in your pocket, or face damaging both the cart and console if you fling it into your bag with the cart sticking out.

Okay, that was it. That was the only darn gripe I have with this machine, because the rest just seems like perfection! We have a new stylus, longer and thicker, which sits nicely in your hand, chunkier and more substantial. No more hand cramps when working your magic with it; you can play for hours on end and never get tired. It is conveniently slotted into the right hand side of the DS too, which is easier to whip in and out as and when needed.

When you open the cigar box you're struck with the simplicity of the look. The screens sit there, dominating the upper and lower insides, with two small start and select buttons bottom right, and the rest of the controls are somehow downsized but even more accessible than before. There is no logo at all on the inside, and no fancy looking frame for the screens. The microphone, green power and red power indicators are placed with incredible subtlety on the hinge joint. The speakers are in the middle left and right top, on either side of the screen, and are also quite unassuming. Yet for all its minimalism it screams "PLAY ME!" right in your face.

So play it I did. Over and over and over again. I played it so long with such a slack jaw that I can't shut it now. It's even more beautiful when it's all lit up. The first difference you're going to notice is the option to change the brightness. There are four settings and the last is so clear, sharp and bright that it's painful to look at, but probably ideal for those situations when the DS is competing with strong sunlight. The first setting is best used when you play in pitch black and don't want to disturb your sleeping partner; mine is very happy with this setting!

They must have changed the technology of the screens in some fundamental way, because despite the brightness, everything is so incredibly clear. Every pixel is absolutely pinpoint clear and colours are incredibly fresh, vivid and alive looking. This is a dramatic change when compared with the original DS, in such a manner that I've found some already great DS games seem even better. One good example is Metroid Prime: Hunters, which on my old DS struggled in less well lit areas. In places, if I was sitting under a strong light, I sometimes struggled to follow the landscape on the top screen. On the DS Lite this simply isn't an issue, as even in the most difficult of light conditions and almost regardless of the angle, I held the machine I could see exactly what was going on with crystal clarity.

This clarity extends to the sound too, most bizarrely, especially given that the speakers seem to be at least half the size of those on the original model. I was even able to distinguish the signature musical quirks of Metroid Prime over the noise of whatever channel the kids were watching The Wiggles on, which is quite remarkable. The sound also helps gives older DS games an added lease of life, as you're suddenly more aware of the effort put into the soundtracks and special effects, noticing great new sounds where before you thought there were none.

The Nintendo DS Lite is much, much better than the original, my GBA cart niggle aside. I'm going to go through my back catalogue of DS games just to see what improvements the graphical and audio clarity makes to them, and I look forward to many a leisurely day with my new navy lady, DS Lite. I have several options with regards to my old DS, such as giving it to my eldest daughter, a mate of mine who wouldn't normally spend money on such things, or even a colleague in work who has talked of getting one but never gotten round to it. However, in all those scenarios the chances are high that I'll be confronted with the silvery sheen of my DS again, so have to face the pain, guilt and angst of leaving her for good this time. I guess I'd better just put her on eBay before the new DS Lite hits our shores...

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).