Still smitten with the classic Nintendo characters, I am currently playing The New Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo DS.  Released in 2006, the game combines the map and adventure from the NES title Super Mario 3, with the game play of the original game.  The nostalgia hasn’t worn off yet, and the updated graphics and features make the game a pleasure to play.  The game is a perfect fit for the graphic capabilites of the DS. The system’s more immersive titles that try to be like the big boys – XBOX and PS3 – are always watered down and grainy.  This title shines. Its fun to rip through each side scrolling level as only holes in the ground stand in my way.  The game is also more fun than the original thanks to a generous amount of extra lives I can easily attatin as well as a checkpoint and saving function.  When I was 10, falling down a hole was devistating.  Now, I have 20 lives left and I can go at it again.  Its also nice to have the affordance of better hand-eye corrdination that age has given me.  I can play for about 30 minutes before becoming bored.   This is very different from an immersive game like The Legend of Zelda Twiglight Princess – my other gaming endevor that I can play for hours; but its one of the few video games in the system’s title library that isn’t a puzzle game or targeted to an eight-year-old girl.