Trying to get a DS Lite now?

(tags Dual Screen Lite, ECsite, failure)

I was looking for the "Oshare Majo" special Nintendo DS Lite all weekend to preorder:

First off, I visited 3 Sofmaps today and only the software was available for pre-order. No mention at all of the DS Lite bundle. I doubled checked with some other likely shops including a Toys 'R Us and they too did not advertise the existance of it. Either it doesn't exist (but see the official home page) or it's already fully pre-ordered and those shops just don't want to disappoint anybody. But even the official flyers don't explain it. It's vapor hardware!

What is Oshare Majo? (おしゃれ魔女) I don't know. I mean, I know they are an entertainment product, a computer rendered pair of tweens that dance and fashion play and cast spell magic (?), with their own TV show (?) and card-activated arcade game (!). But (this is the honest truth dangit!) I've never watched it. You can compare it to Fushigi Hoshi no Futago Hime (ふしぎ星の☆ふたご姫）in terms of audience targeting and Toys 'R Us merchandise floor space. Seriously, this entertainment product is big.

Okay, another facet of trying to get a DS Lite here: I originally had the plan to buy that Pokemon DS Lite, but I just don't find the time to figure out how to buy it. Last time I checked you could buy it online at a special time. But on Friday I saw it used at the Sofmap Kobe for only 22800 yen (only 40% higher than the stock price for this used item). I let it go because I kept thinking I want a new one. But I decided to go for it on Sunday, but of course it wasn't there any more. I was also going to try to swing a pre-order of the above DS Lite, just in case. 0 for 2.

Finally, DS Lites are still in short supply, with sold out signs everywhere. You can buy used plain ones for like 20000 yen or something higher than retail price. Crazy. Toys 'R Us Kobe actually has a sign announcing the next DS Lites shipment and model breakdown on 11/22. They expect about 30 of each of the 5 color schemes. I'm not going for any of those plain ones, no sir. But wow, DS Lites are still selling like hotcakes.