Many gamers hoping to pre-order a Nintendo DS Lite online will be in for a rude surprise. Video game retailers like EB Games are no longer listing “core systems” on their web sites. In a move that could be interpreted as taking advantage of the DS Lite’s hype, EB Games has made only higher-priced DS Lite bundles available for ordering. Lucifer, the adversary himself, would applaud this method of treachery.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that brick and mortar locations will be extending this practice, GBA Temp forumer TheSpade says that’s exactly the case with several EB Games stores already. What’s even more unsettling is that other sites are following suit:

They went to our local EB (where I already have mine preordered and 1/3 paid), and they were told all pre-orders require a deposit on a bundle pack as with the site as of today. I’m not sure if every location is following suit here, as I remember reading EBs have a habit of doing their own thing at times.

After checking [the online site for] GameStop, as well as Wal-Mart, Target and so forth, all have gone the way of the bundle. So, if you haven’t already pre-ordered, you may be forced to take a few things you don’t want with you. Unfortunately, just about all bundles include accessory packs that any real gamer wouldn’t be caught dead with.

EB Games’ site currently lists two bundles, one of which is packed with a New Super Mario Bros. game and selling for a villainous $195. Testing the limits of what people will pay, the $205 “Brain Bundle” is a DS Lite clumped with Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, and a “Brainteaser Skin,” the last of which being an affront to not only the handheld’s beauty, but the aesthetic tastes of every civilized human.

Both bundles will include a third party DS Lite Starter Kit, its contents valued at $24.99. The Starter Kit is set to include the following: a system carry case, screen protectors, a case for your DS and GBA games, 3 stylus pens, 4 game cases, headphones, and a sense of shame that haunts you for the remainder of your life.

If you already pre-ordered a DS Lite for the June 11 launch, you won’t have much to worry about — your early puchase will most likely not be affected. Should local video game shops opt for bundle-only sales, department stores like Kmart and Sears will still presumably have core systems available. Those insisting on acquiring their goods online, frontiersmen determined to live the futuristic life, can still pre-order unbundled systems at Best Buy’s site… For now.

I plan to spend my lunch break at a nearby EB Games confronting a manager with these allegations. People walking by the mall store will be left confused, seeing a well-dressed man arguing with the shop’s supervisor, suddenly pulling down a magazine rack in a fit of frustration. As the manager and other witnesses stand shocked by the issues of Game Informer and PSM now sprawled all over the floor, the man runs out of the store, the tip of his tie flapping over his shoulder, a single tear evident on his cheek.

EBGames.com’s Nintendo DS Lite Bundles

Pre-order a Nintendo DS Lite at Best Buy

source: GBA Temp Forums (registration required)