They were... improved I can say, b/c I have an old one and I tried the new one in the store. The buttons instead of being flat and a hard click (like a mouse click) but instead are pop-outed buttons like on a joystick or something.
Does it have a wide repertoire of strategy-type games? Or is there a central place to check? I wouldn't even think of getting a console if it didn't have games that suit me. Not that I want a DS lite or anything
Strategy games... one I can think of right now, which I highly recommend be played by all of you, is Advanced Wars. It rocks a ton, 2 of them are for GBA, and the newest one is for DS (the DS plays DS games and GBA games). The Fire Emblem games are also very good strategy games, both for the GBA. I'll see what other ones I can find out.
Mario Kart is always a good choice....
I'm pretty sure you can go to Gamespot.com or Gamefaqs.com, and go to their DS and GBA games sections and check out the titles they have.