A new game for the Nintendo DS called Metro-Wardive, uses the built-in Wi-Fi to detect hotspot activity around you as usual, but in this case it uses it to generate a unique gaming environment. Wardive captures the wlans in the immediate area like a wardive-tool and creates a game, by reading the names of the hotspots in your immediate area and turning them into enemies which try to take over your wardive-cristal. You fend them off with your touch pen, put your shields up and don’t just stay in one spot for very long.

The idea is to take metro-wardive for a walk through town and see how many enemies are hiding in the area you are in or pass through. Each time you play it captures different data and creates a new level for you.

The M3 DS Real is a dream come true for Nintendo DS fans. It will allow you to do all kinds of nifty things with your DS. It should definitely help to cut down on the number of devices you have to carry with you, by giving you a calculator, web browser, PDA, MP3 and video player, e-book reader and will even add some rumble vibration to your games.

The firmware us upgradable too. The DS just got even more fun if that’s possible. If you ever wanted some help playing homebrew games, this is your ticket. DS Real fits in slot-1 like an original DS cartridge. It uses Micro SD and SDHC memory for storage and holds up to 8 GB.

Time magazine has released its list of the top ten videogames of the year. Can you take a guess at what made their number one spot? If you guessed “Halo 3″ you don’t win a prize. “Like a pebble that has been rounded over the centuries by the gentle splashing of the ocean waves, ‘Halo 3′ has become the perfect hardcore first-person combat simulator,” said Time in their idol worship of the Xbox 360 killer app. “By dint of painstaking labor on the part of its developer, Bungie, it has been refined over three installments to the point where it delivers only pure, unadulterated gaming bliss.” Who knew that the editors at Time were down with playing some Master Chief deathmatches?

Of the titles that made Time’s best of 2007 list six are exclusive to one videogame system, of which three are for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and one each for Sony’s PlayStation 2, Nintendo’s DS and Wii console systems. Why didn’t at least one PlayStation 3 exclusive title make it on Time’s list? And no “Guitar Hero III” (or is that game now redundant that “Rock Band” is out and lets you play drums as well as guitar?)

Let me start off by saying: Did I fall asleep and miss everyone striking oil in their backyard? Well, apparently so. And it seems that we need still more jewel-encrusted devices(This is worse then the Bedazzler making Jean jacket wearers into Rhinestone Cowboys in the 80’s.), since Crystal Icing wants to embellish your DS Lite with images of Mario and a flying Koopa for $350.

If that doesn’t satisfy your attraction to shiny objects, how about a custom Wii console covered with thousands of Swarovski crystals? One Wii pimped out in a Zelda theme was detailed with over 7500 24-Karat gold-dipped crystals. If you are interested in the price, you’ll have to follow the link. I’m too scared to look.

I don’t know about you, but I have been meaning to hack my Nintendo DS so it can play more then just DS and GBA games. I just hate the idea of cracking it open and messing up big time. Thanks to this DS Famicom Adapter, I won’t have to worry.

It will let you play old Famicom (NES) games right on your DS. An adapter may be needed to play American NES games using it, it’s too early to know for sure, but who cares. You will be playing the classics on your Nintendo DS in no time. So what if those cartridges were huge and clunky. When you combine 2 systems in one device, the results are always cool. It hooks directly into your DS Lite’s GBA adapter slot.

2 great new bundles from Nintendo. Looks like they are taking the boy/girl route here. For the boys, the Gold model comes with Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and sports a special Triforce logo on the DS. For the girls(presumably), the Metallic Rose model gives you Nintendogs and adds a paw print in place of the Zelda logo.

Other then the colors and logos being new, you’ll get the same old DS Lite you know and love. If you are a fan of repackaged Nintendo handhelds that have had a repaint, you can pick one up for about $130.

It sure is looking that way. Rumor is that the Shiny golden DS Lite you see in the lower left of the picture may be headed for retail store shelves soon. That shouldn’t be a big surprise since we are entering into the holiday season. Plus, Nintendo marketing knows that we like shiny objects. Shiny gold objects, especially. Seriously, we aren’t that hard to please.

The above photograph is believed to have been taken at the Nintendo World Store when “Phantom Hourglass” launched. To make things even more interesting, Engadget is claiming that a certain individual is saying that his company has received orders from Nintendo to design graphics for a “BOX, SYST GOLD W/ZELDA: HOUR USG.” Who knows if this is all true. And if it is true, it could just be a limited run for a contest. But since Santa is coming soon, I’m betting an official announcement from Nintendo will proceed him.

Nintendo is launching a new interactive system with the Nintendo DS Lite and Mariners baseball games, called the Nintendo Fan Network. Making its debut at Safeco field in Seattle, the system allows interaction between owners of the Nintendo DS Lite portable gaming system and the live baseball game at the stadium.

Owners of the DS Lite that are attending the game can stop by a kiosk and upload software to their game console for a $5 fee at each game or $30 for 10 games. The software will allow them to watch a live feed of the game, access stats, play trivia and even order food and drinks if the vendors aren’t coming to your area. (A little gratuity is also added to your order).

For now the system is only available at Safeco field with the Mariners, but if it catches on …

It looks as if Nintendo will soon be coming out with an add-on camera that fits on the Nintendo DS, along with a little stand that holds the DS upright sideways.

Along with the DS Camera, Nintendo is also releasing an associated game that makes use of the it, called Face Training. The face training game shows example pictures and instructions of different “faces” to make, which you are to mimic and see yourself in the second screen by use of the DS camera on the handheld game. While people like Jim Carey have made quite a lucrative living by perfecting odd facial expressions, the idea of this Face Training game is to make the skin more elastic and possibly to strengthen muscles to make it prettier, according to “facening” experts like Fumiko …

Pikachu, one of the most popular Pokemon characters, will be gracing the cover of some select Nintendo DS Lite’s along with spreading its bright Yellow color on the whole system, even the stylus.

This Pikachu Nintendo DS Lite is going to available in limited numbers in Japan, but even the Japanese will have some trouble getting their hands on one. Potential recipients will need to bring themselves to the Pokemon Center in Japan and enter their name in for a lottery drawing. The lucky winners then don’t exactly win a Pikachu DS, but they do win the opportunity to buy one for 16,800 yen ($138). That seems like a little much, but I guess its no worse than people standing in line for hours to get a Wii.

IGN via Engadget