For those of you who have a hard time finding a Wii this Christmas (and believe us when we say you will have a hard time finding a Wii this Christmas, better not to delude yourself) Nintendo’s handheld has been a strong favourite all year long.

This Christmas the DS’s practical arsenal of “must-own” games has been bolstered by the addition of a new Legend of Zelda game, bringing one of Nintendo’s biggest game series to the dual screened handheld with pleasantly surprising results. The use of the touch-screen is delectable, and the under-used built-in microphone performs admirable… even if all it really does is make players go, “Awww” at the fact that they’re blowing into a gameboy. Beyond that, the DS already boasts a library full of games friendly to the casual gaming crowd (that means girlfriends and little sisters in abundance).

While it may lack the pure graphical ability of a powerhouse like Sony’s PSP, the DS’s touch screen comfortably manages to introduce intuitive gameplay at every opportunity, and the fact that it’s well stocked with the usual first party titles means there’s something to suit most people’s tastes. The online multiplayer for games like Mariokart, Animal Crossing DS, Metroid Prime Hunters and Tetris DS alone are worth the asking price… and that’s before you get into games like Hotel Dusk that really push the boat out in terms of how you approach handheld gaming.

From a purely physical point of view, it looks nice and cute, boasting a combination of comfortably portable size and miniscule load times that make it ideal for use on the way to work. On top of all this, the clamshell design means you can just toss the DS in a rucksack before heading out and be perfectly confident in the fact that it’ll be intact (and relatively scratchless) when you eventually dig it out (I’ve often lost my DS in high-pressure environments… it seems alright).

If you take the official line from Nintendo, the DS isn’t the new Gameboy, it’s something entirely different. Of course, reality always differs a little from what big business likes to think, and judging from the sheer popularity of the DS… it’s pretty safe to say that it’s the new Gameboy and at €150, it’s a steal.