I can’t be the only person who sneakily tries to look at other people’s DS or PSPs.

As I’m flying up the west coast towards Seattle — direct from seat 17D! — en route to the Penny Arcade Expo, the lady to the left of me is playing her white DS. She’s had headphones on the entire trip, or else I’d ask her what she’s been playing.

A few times, her DS has tilted my way and I’ve almost been able to tell what she’s playing. It looks a little like platformer of some sort. But I can’t really tell.

The only thing visible was a background of lava. She could be playing anything!

I’ve since stopped trying to figure out what my aviation neighbor is playing. I wonder if she’s headed to PAX, too? Maybe I’ll drum up the courage to ask when we land. What I’m more worried about is the prospect of her glancing over at my computer and realizing I’ve been typing my observations of her airborne gaming for a weekly Internet column.

Good thing I decided to turn my brightness way down. Anyway…

I’ve made it an uncomfortable habit to glance the games people are playing when I’m out and about. A few of the observations I’ve made in my travels:

* Children are often playing GBA games on their DS, as evidenced by the cartridge sticking out
* There aren’t many public PSP users (at least on-the-go) in San Francisco; the last one I saw was during a party last weekend at a comic shop
* The same observation for PSP held true for my college experience in southern Illinois — Stephen Totilo has discussed PSP demographics in the past
* Women almost always have something dangling from their DS (the lady on my plane, however, does not!)

What have you noticed in your neck of the woods?

As a reminder, the panel I’m on at PAX — “Game Criticism and Old Game Journalism” — takes place in the Raven Theater from 1:30 to 2:30 P.M. I’ve never been on a panel before, so if you’ve ever wanted to heckle a nervous games writer, now’s your chance!