For some reason the DS didn't take off at all in the area I grew up (neither did the original Pokémon games despite seemingly being massive everywhere and the cartoon being a big hit in my school).
it was only like ten years later when I got to realise how great those download play titles must have been for some kids. PSP games would have been way too large to pull off similar stuff, DS games were often only a few megabytes
Maybe it's just because it was high school and not elementary school, but I remember basically everyone who was into games even a bit having a DS, but nobody used them as a daily carry portable. It was something you'd just notice in people's rooms when you went over.
it was only like ten years later when I got to realise how great those download play titles must have been for some kids. PSP games would have been way too large to pull off similar stuff, DS games were often only a few megabytes