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.

When most of us are jamming playing Guitar Hero with our regular sized guitars, the last thing you want to be doing is play on a little handheld. But when playing On Tour with a tiny handheld, it might help a whole lot to have a real guitar.

This modder hacked a wireless PS2 guitar to integrate with Guitar Hero: On Tour and now jams extra hardcore. He attached the PS2 guitar directly to the DS controller. He also added an FM transmitter so the music can stream through a home stereo, rather then the DS speakers. Great job! Check out the video below.

Those lucky Japanese have one-upped us again. The DSvision service will let DS owners download and watch Japanese anime series and probably other strange programming on their DS. You do have to buy special hardware to view the downloaded episodes though. The service will go live next Wednesday and each downloaded movie will cost $4.80. They are stored on a microSD memory card. When do we get some of this action? If this keeps up I’m going to immigrate to Japan so I can have some cool stuff too.

From the “I cooked this up in my garage” department comes word of a rather interesting new gaming accessory designed to help you not lose those pesky little Nintendo DS games. It is called a GameChain and prices around $10.

The GameChain idea is rather simple - a keychain like design which keeps your small DS games tethered together so they don’t get lost in your sofa or on the train. The system is described as consisting of “laser-cut tabs, powder-coated metal chain, and aggressive, but non-permanent, adhesive pads.”

C’mon guys. We all love lightsabers, but there are limits to even your dorkiness right? Probably not. I can practically hear you just drooling over these trinkets and mouthing a firm OMG. Basically your DS stylus can now be replaced with Star Wars lightsabers. It will make it look like a tiny Jedi is attacking your touch screen.

They’re officially licensed and everything. And especially appropriate when playing Star Wars games. It should be noted that they are too big to fit in the DS stylus slot. But who cares, you’ll be too busy geeking it up. Get a 3-pack of the standard ones for $7.99, or you can splurge and spend $16.99 on a pair that actually light up with LED blades.

If you’re a fan of the classic arcade game arkanoid, then like me you’ve been waiting for it to hit the Wii. Until it does, you can at least play it on your Nintendo DS. And if you remember playing the classic NES version with the special paddle controller, then you know there’s no other way to play it.

Taito has made a limited number of these plug-in accessories for the DS, so you can up your high score. They’re available in white, black, pink and silver. Unfortunately they aren’t officially available in the US so you’ll have to find an importer. At only $26.90 each it’s well worth it..

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?

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.

Everybody loves Nintendo, whether you’re a Mario fan or just like to paint hobby horses like Yoshi and ride them. But according to Greenpeace, Nintendo does not love the environment. Not that Luigi’s clubbing baby seals or anything. Greenpeace’s latest “Guide to Greener Electronics” which tracks how green technology companies are on a scale from 0-10, ranked Nintendo dead last.

Adding insult to injury, they scored only 0.3 of 10. Philips, their closest competitor scored a full four points higher. This is out of nine different categories that they take into account for the score. Apparently one of the only things Nintendo did well was establish a Green Procurement Standards for Suppliers. Funny thing about that is that they didn’t actually provide the information. They only said that they had it. Their score on Chemicals Management was “Partially Bad” , everything else…”Bad”.

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.