NVIDIA is making the best of its purchase of Ageia several years ago and is aggressively rolling out its PhysX platform for computers and game consoles. The first physics effects added to early video games were not that cool, but more recent games like Mirrors Edge were fantastic when PhysX enabled.

NVIDIA has announced that it has been approved by Nintendo, as a third party solutions provider for the Wii console and the PhysX SDK is now available to registered Wii developers. NVIDIA says that the SDK includes a full-featured set of APIs along with a robust physics engine that gives game designers control over the character and its physical interactions.

When you have a popular product all sorts of things, both good and bad, come along with that. You have to deal with copycat products and lawsuits form companies trying to get in on the action. The Nintendo Wii is the most popular game console around and as a result, Nintendo has had to fight several patent infringement suits over the innovative console.

A judge in Tyler, Texas has tossed out a patent infringement lawsuit brought by a company called Fenner Investments against Nintendo. The suit alleged that the Wii console along with its controllers and the GameCube infringed upon patents held by Fenner.

Why be bored at work, when you can build your own version of Mario Kart? Made using bits and pieces that you have around your desk already. Donald Kenny created this awesome little Mario sculpture. It’s right up there with the Starship Enterprise built from office supplies.

It’s made using coins, binder clips, wire, and other found office supplies. Have your buddies build some others, like Bowser, Koopa and Toad. Plus create some small turtle shells and bananas and soon you will be racing in the break room.

When it comes to pure portable gaming consoles there are two choices — the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS. You can play games on other devices on the go, like the iPhone and iPod touch, but the DS and PSP are the only dedicated portable gaming systems.

Nintendo has announced that it has now shipped 100 million Nintendo DS consoles since the systems were introduced. The original DS launched in 2004 and offered dual screens and voice recognition, something not offered on other portable consoles.

Looking for a neat place to hide those game codes as well as your various tiny trinkets and doodads? Well, here it is. A trinket box in the form of an original classic NES controller.

It’s from Etsy seller GeekGear. All of the buttons are glued into place, making look just as it did before it was modified. Great for keys, spare change, a thin usb stick may even fit inside. It’s storage is a little limited since the inside plastic has not been sanded down, but we love the simplicity of it.

Nintendo has the most popular and best selling game console on the market thanks to its Nintendo Wii. The system is still hard to find in many areas. The Nintendo DS is also the most popular portable game console and the latest version the DS is set to continue that tradition.

We mentioned last week that the DSi was available for pre-order at both Amazon.com and GameStop. This week Walmart.com announced that it too was offering a preorder system for gamers looking to get a DSi console.

Someone has taken an old NES controller and modded it into The Compwnent USB Nintendo Controller mouse by adding a new chip and USB cable. It will work with any OS. We’re not sure how comfortable it would be to use, but it’s not like it will injure your wrist over time. Why not?

It will show up as “Compwnent USB NES Controller” on your device list and boasts a Mouse Mode. Hit A, B, Start & Select simultaneously and you can use the D-pad and A/B buttons to control mouse movement and left/right click! The NES Controller will cost you $35.

Now here’s an entertaining 8 minute video that will have you thanking god you didn’t work for the big N in 1991. I can’t imagine being made to actually watch this stuff because it was my job. It’s a customer service training video that shows employees how to handle all kinds of customers who want to return merchandise and also happen to be stereotypes.

You’ll see a bald dude try to get his money back for an NES that’s encrusted all over with some sort of mega-funk that makes it stick to the employee’s hands, a nerd that can’t work a gameboy and some nice lady who learns how to plug the controller into port 1 and likes to bake pies as thank you currency.

The Famicom Box is a rare piece of Nintendo history. It’s an old school Nintendo system with 15 games built in. Sort of like Nintendo’s Greatest Hits. The games include Duck Hunt, Mega Man and Super Mario Brothers. It comes with two controllers and a light gun. Believe it or not it was designed for hotels and arcades.

It’s a rare nerd artifact, highly sought after and it’s available now on Yahoo Auctions at a starting price of $110. How high it will go is anyone’s guess. So, if you want an expensive NES alternative, the Famicombox may be for you. Your friends will be envious should you win.

In my home, we have a Wii, Xbox, and PS3 so most of my son’s friends end up over here playing video games after school. The one console that all of them were hoping for last Christmas was the Wii. It seems they weren’t alone in their dreams of a Wii.

Nintendo is talking up the numbers just released by the NPD Group that talk about the gaming market in 2008. According to NPD, the Nintendo Wii and DS game systems were the most popular systems, by a long way, during 2008.

If you believe the guys over at IGN, it seems that Nintendo’s DSi will be dropping much sooner than anyone had thought. There’s also a rumored price for the new DSi. IGN’s sources put the DSi’s release somewhere around April 4. The price is apparently going to be $179.99. It’s much higher than the DS Lite at $129.99 due to the DS Lite’s popularity. So, they want to squeeze some extra Mario coins out of ya.

Nintendo wants buyers to see the DS Lite as the system for casual gamers and the DSi to be seen as the system for serious gamers. Looks like the info is dead on, but until Nintendo makes an official announcement, it’s still speculation.

That’s right. New York City’s Toys “R” Us Time Square gets its very own Nintendo department. The Nintendo department, located on Level One of the Toys “R” Us international flagship store, is almost 1,000 square feet and is easily visible from the store’s windows overlooking Broadway. It includes more Nintendo products then you can shake a Wiimote at, and should make hardcore nerd fanboys wet their pants.

The department store will include a Wii wall so fans can slam a Wiimote into a TV that they don’t own, and eight Nintendo DS systems for customers to play with and try out new games. There’s also a Nintendo gallery with images from Nintendo’s history in video games.

My son is one of the proudest kids in the neighborhood when it comes to video games since we have a Wii, PS3, and an Xbox (all for work naturally). The thing most of the kids want to play is the Wii and many of his friends are asking Santa for a Wii this Christmas.

The catch is that the Wii is still notoriously hard to find, despite the fact that Nintendo is making more of the consoles this holiday season than it did last year. Nintendo has announced that it has set US sales records with its Wii and DS game systems.

Anyone who plays with their Wii a lot knows that the batteries go dead way faster than you want them too. Plus, it’s not all that nice looking to have four Wii remotes lying in a pile on your entertainment center or coffee table. MeWe has a new device that not only keeps the remotes powered up, but also gives a neat place to store them.

The device is called the MeWe World Quad Charger and as you can guess from its name, the gadget charges four Wii Remotes at one time. The system includes the charger base and four fast charging Ni-MH battery packs that are good for up to 13 hours of play per remote.

Last year one of the most difficult to find gifts was the Nintendo Wii. In fact, the Wii is to this day still very difficult to find in stores and remains one of the most sought after consoles available. Nintendo has announced some of its holiday line up for the Wii and says it hopes to fix the Wii shortage.

One of the most important announcements is that Nintendo says supplies of the Wii in America will be significantly increased in October to December of 2008 compared to 2007. Nintendo also said that its Wii Speak Channel and the required Wii Speak accessory will be available in November. The accessory will retail for $29.99.