Nintendo has plans to launch a new version of the popular Nintendo DS handheld game console by the end of this year, and it sounds like they are doing more than just adding new colors this time. The new model, yet to be named, will feature a camera and music player, putting itself in competition with a larger number of portable devices and opening up a whole mess of new game possibilities.

This news does not come straight from Nintendo, or at least not yet. It does however come from the Sunday edition of The Nikkei Business Daily, which is a well renowned newspaper in Japan. The new DS from Nintendo is expected to cost around $190 in Japan compared to the $158 price tag on the current DS. The DS goes for $129 currently in the United States.

Nintendo may have all kinds of DS Lite colors available, and a metallic silver will be available soon in the U.S., but according to IGN, they have something bigger on the horizon. A third version of the DS. One with dual touchscreen displays, one of them even widescreen. They aren’t sure whether the redesign will be simply another DS iteration or the DS 2. IGN says the rumored release date is April or May 2009, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The above pic is just IGN’s mockup.

We had thought that Nintendo had ran out of color ideas for the DS in North America, but there was at least one we hadn’t thought about. A Metallic Silver DS so you can look at your reflection now and then. Just like the one you own, just shinier and able to blind others on sunny days.

The Metallic Silver variety has been in Japan and Europe for almost a year, so I guess the big N figured it was time we had a crack at it. It should be available in all it’s shining glory on Sept. 7.

While we’re waiting with bated breath for a possible new updated Nintendo DS model that has been rumored, we thought we would take a look at some of our favorite DS mods. Like the Wii, modders love to spice up Nintendo’s boring design and put their own personal touches on the device. Some are weird, some are awesome, some will make you wonder what’s in the modder’s local water supply, but all are creative.

Seems like a whole lot of Wii owners have been waiting for Samba de Amigo on the Wii, which was originally for the Dreamcast. Now Amazon has the first live shots of the maracas attachments for the Wiimote and nunchuck. What other color would you expect, if not a festive hot tamale red, making it just like the originals on the Dreamcast console.

Amazon is pre-selling them for $15 and they’ll be released on Sept. 23. These should make Wiimote shaking a new art form, which makes me wonder if there are any Pinata games in the works, cuz I’d like to beat something virtually with a stick and get some damn candy. If not, there should be.

If there’s one thing you can say about the Wii, it’s that it is and always has been white. Back in the days when it was first called the “revolution” it seemed like we would be getting an assortment of colors, but alas, just plain old Wii white. That’s why it’s kind of shocking to see these.

While this may not be a lime or blood red Wii console, at least Nintendo is taking a baby step in the right direction with these pastel-colored Wiimote straps for Japan. You can get the whole pack for $10 or individually for afew bucks. No word if they’ll be coming our way soon.

The Wii has changed the face of gaming with it’s interactive motion controls. So much so, that every other console has begun work on their own version. Just as the Wii has changed gaming, gamers are constantly changing the Wii console itself, giving it all kinds of personalities. Here’s a look at some of our favorites.

According to the latest NPD Group report for game sales in May, this is the fourth month in a row that Nintendo has come out on top for the number 1 AND number two spot for console sales. The Nintendo Wii and the handheld Nintendo DS were the two top-selling hardware units for May, 2008.

Nintendo sold over 675,000 Wii consoles in May and almost 453,000 Nintendo DS’s, which would probably explain all the new colors and designs they have been coming out with lately for the DS. Sony’s Playstation 3 followed with a little under 209,000 units sold and Microsoft sold 186,600 Xbox 360 units during the same period.

Rock on brotha! Toys ‘R’ Us gave us a first glimpse at the latest way to be a rock god on the go. It’s priced at $179.99 and the limited edition Nintendo DS Guitar Hero Bundle includes the game, Guitar Grip, and a two-toned silver & black DS Lite with Guitar Hero logo. (You know, so that even when your DS is not in use, you’re branded and can spot other wannabes)

It will be available on June 29. Chalk up yet another variation on Nintendo’s handheld. Did someone go a little approval crazy regarding colors and themes this season, or are they themselves too busy rocking out?

If you’re looking to use your DS as a sketchbook or drawing pad, here is a DS paint application that turns your system into one. It’s called colors. All you need are a DS-compatible flash cartridge and a microSD card. It’s a pretty basic program, not even having layers or an undo option yet, but it’s still a pretty impressive app.

More features will be on the way soon, such as DS-to-DS painting that will allow collaboration. You can use a full-size stylus if the DS stylus isn’t doing it for you, and also export projects using Wi-Fi or microSD. Looks like you can create some real masterpieces. Check out a video below.

Remember those new DS colors that we told you about the other day? Looks like the rumors were true. For Europe anyway, which would explain why they showed up on a Spanish site.

Nintendo has begun distributing these advertisements which show some new colors for the European market. Europe needs some more colors too. They haven’t had as many as the U.S. No word on when they might hit here. These will hit stores on June 13th. Look at all those pretty colors. It’s like Easter without the eggs.

Nintendo must have had some great feedback about the Metallic Rose Nintendo DS that came in the Nintendogs bundle, or it just didn’t do well and they have a lot of extras without the paw print. Either way the company is launching metallic rose as another standalone color for the lineup of DS’s, not to be confuse with the standard pink.

Some celebs by the names of America Ferrera and Carrie Underwood are going to also help push the latest DS in some commercials starting May 19. No pricing has been released but we would guess this model would be priced the same as the other standalone DS hardware systems.

For some reason it just seems nicer to me when I have some type of cradle, dock or stand to charge my gadgets with instead of just a cord and naturally we were excited to see this charging stand for the Nintendo DS Lite. Sure the docks take up more room on my desk and are difficult to take along when you travel, but with them each items has their own neat and special place.

This stand looks to take up a little less space then it could, holding the DS upright on its side instead of flat. It comes in colors of black or white to match the black and white DS’s, and is expected to be available from PlayAsia sometime yet this month for just under $17 USD.

Of all the emotions we go through when playing games, frustration is probably the dominant one. Here, we have a psycological profile of the gamecube come to life. In the fall of 2003, Kathryn Elliot was asked to pick up a product, analyze the intricacies of color involved, then redesign it based on a dominant emotion associated with it. She chose Nintendo’s GameCube, so it was naturally going to depict frustration. She named it the Frustration Game Cube. Or Frube. It’s designed to aggravate, portray and possibly even relieve a player’s frustration, with Frube’s many changes.

To highlight an element of frustration in the color scheme of the gaming device, she colored the GameCube purple and yellow, which are aggressive colors. The shape of Frube further irritates as it will no longer sit on a shelf easily. Some other design changes are asymmetrical position of the front plug-in panel and a jagged cut lid, which makes it difficult to figure out which side opens and how.

Having grown up with arcade games, I love playing some of the old school games with arcade sticks. If you’re like me and are looking for a good arcade stick for the Wii, look no further. The Wii version of the Neo Geo Stick 2 is an arcade-style, ball-top controller that was previously available for the PS2 from SNK-Playmore and Sega Logistics.

This new edition looks like it’s still got non-analog L and R buttons hugging the four primary convex buttons like parentheses. It would appear that they’ve decided to keep the classy black color too, which seems odd for the Wii, but it’s a beauty. It’s probably the best arcade stick I’ve seen for the Wii. You can get it right now for $59.90.