License to Consume

I have fallen victim to a classic method of predatory marketing: The creation of demand as a result of limited supply.

Two months ago if you had asked me if I was planning to buy a Nintendo DS, I would have said no. And I would have had two reasons: 1) A lack of games that appeal to me and 2) that goofy stylus pen which looks to me like a lame gimmick. But you take that DS, shrink it down to a DS "Lite," and -- oops! -- don't produce enough of them to satisfy initial public demand and suddenly everybody and his grandma just has to have one.

Sure enough, after months of noticing that the DS Lite was constantly out of stock at Bic Camera in Shinjuku, something weird happened in my head when I walked in one day and noticed a line of people buying the DS Lite. Suddenly I felt that, if I didn't get one for myself, I'd somehow be "missing out" until the next shipment came in...and who knows how long that could be? So I found myself wandering up to the cash register like a George A. Romero zombie and saying, in a voice that was not my own, "Yes I'll take the navy blue one yes this will be cash yes and could I also get a copy of Mr. Driller please."

After admonishing myself for getting sucked into Nintendo's manufactured retail hype, I must admit that playing Tetris DS against Girlfriend has been a load of fun. It turns out our Tetris skills are quite a close match for each other.