Every year it's something. In today's WSJ:
Nintendo's DS Player emerges as Tickle Me Elmo of 2004
For two weeks, Kate Murray has been on a desperate hunt for a Nintendo DS hand-held videogame player. Actually, she needs two. She has visited a half-dozen stores near her Canton, Mass., home, checked with online retailers and even called relatives in other states to ask for help. "My kids want it so bad I'll just die if I can't find one," says Ms. Murray, whose children are 8 and 11.
Better buy a burial plot, Ms. Murray.
I'll admit that long term I'd like to buy a DS or perhaps even two if they come up with a "kill app" game that leverages their wireless in a multiplayer role. A pair of handheld DS's playing MarioKart would be an example. For now, though, there just aren't that many games available for this new platform yet (unless you count all the backward compatible games). It's more of a case of "look at me, I've got the new DS" gloating. We bemoan the materialism of the Christmas season, but then get caught up in the "must have" toy. Heaven forbid children might learn the realities that sometimes items are out of stock. Israel waited millennia for its Savior whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. Kids can wait a month or two for the "must have" toy. I guess it just frustrates me when Christmas gets perverted into this. Tamagotchis, Tickle Me Elmos, etc. Argh!