Isn't that always the case? It's a psychological thing, you can't have it - there for it's better. I'd be surprised if none were made. However they will just be empty cases.
i wonder if these buttons were supposed to be similiar to the ipods in functionality? if so, they probably proved too unresponsive for gaming. i believe sony changed them for a reason, you know.
I also liked the E3 DS much more then the released version. the only chance to get such an unit is to get a devunit :smt009
The old DS as I remember it seemed to have that white plastic Apple iPod thing going on, which I don't mind.