If you’re like me, you’ve got 1,001 things to do on the weekends; free time just isn’t free. You’ve got to go out and shop for groceries, take kids places and wait for them to be done, go visit friends or relatives, etc.

Now, I'm one of those men who likes my wife to do most of the driving, which gives me a lot of passenger seat downtime in between weekend engagements, and  I don’t always want to read while traveling. But I like to do something while in the car, which is why I keep my svelte ebony Nintendo DS Lite handy. Slim and packing pretty good graphic resolution, it’s a great little device. But I needed something to put it and my games into for easy access and equal protection.  That’s why I was happy to find the Nintendo DS Lite Street Case from Pacific Design.

The Street Case comes in several designs; girl gamers have their choice of a floral pink or pink camouflage and can transport their Street Case with matching nylon canvas wrist straps.  For the guys, a carabiner clip easily attaches the green camouflage or grayish/black skull-and-crossbones case to a backpack or belt-loop.  

My pick was the green cammy case and have been very pleased with its functionality. In addition to the convenience of the clip, its offers a protective velvet lining with easy-open/quick-close Velcro tab, and a rear drop-pocket for game storage. 

I like this case; it’s small, sleek and not too bulky (much like the DS itself); the green camouflage looks good (even though I'm not a cammy fan); the carabiner clip is a useful accessory; and the Velcro flap is a smart choice. Most of the DS users I’ve seen are either children or young adults and Velcro is easier to deal with on-the-fly than, say, a zipper, which can rip at the seams. I also like that the inside padding is soft and easy on the outside of the DS, but tough enough to protect my investment. I’ve dropped the case on a couple of occasions and the contents were fine.

That being said, there are a few areas that could use some improvement. For one, I'd like to see more color options; straight-up solids, like black, would be nice. Some unisex colors would also be a nice addition, as the pink-for-girls, green-camouflage-for-boys can appear to be a bit too gender specific.  

Also, the drop pocket is designed to only hold two Nintendo DS games. However, the DS is also GameBoy Advance-compatible (in fact most of my games currently are GBA). The pocket as-is leaves you with little room to transport the much larger GBA cartridges and DS games together. A little bigger would be a useful addition.  

I do like what Pacific Design has done and would recommend their Street Case to anyone who wants a strong, sturdy case for their DS.