If you live in Wakayama (1 hour south of Okinawa) and you plan on going to Joshin to get your shiny new DS Lite, then you're in for a surprise. Joshin won't sell you one. At least not easily. Before you get the idea that Japan is running low on DS Lites, let me remind you that Nintendo shipped additional 700,000 units to feed the DS Lite-hungry population.

So what is this Japanese shop up to? The notice posted on the shop (in Japanese, of course) said it is holding a competition for the right to buy DS Lites. Entries are accepted between March 30 and April 9. Lucky winners can purchase their DS Lites within four days from April 16. It's not too clear what the competition is all about. It could just very well be an auction of some sort. But something tells me that Joshin is using a tactic to force people into believing that there's not enough DS Lites to go around, when in reality, there will be truckloads of them - and starting April 16, perhaps?