The YD-965 Dot Matrix certainly steals its looks from the DS Lite, but on further inspection you’ll notice that it’s really a piece of junk. For starters, you’ll notice the top screen is black and white with big blocky pixels, and the game cartridges themselves feature some decidedly low-tech printed backgrounds that slide behind the LCD screen to provide a colored backdrop.

And that bottom screen – well it’s not even a screen at all – it’s a sticker with a picture on it!. Frankly, the game on the sticker looks much more exciting than the five game cartridges that come with the system: Tank, King Boxing, The Wall, Star War and Risk King.

Speaking of Risk-King, that’s the most appropriate name for a game on this system, as you will definitely be Risk-King $11 dollars of your hard-earned money if you order one of these.

Xploder claims that it’s the first to market a cheat system for the Nintendo DSi. From the product’s description Xploder Cheats isn’t like Game Shark where you enter codes to unlock items, characters, places or abilities. It lets users download saves with the cheats already unlocked, so you can fire up Pokemon and “start the game with a full bag of money and lots of items”.

Users download saves at Xploder’s website and then transfer them to their DS using the bundled software and cable. The Xploder website also allows users to upload and share their own saves to other people. Drooling yet? You can get the Xploder Cheats for DSi at Xploder’s online shop for £15 (about $25 (USD)). Xploder Cheats also works with the DS and the DS Lite.

[via Maxconsole]

Each one is handmade out of felt by crafter Janis13. While they’re designed specifically for the DS Lite and DSi, you might even be able to cram an original Game Boy in there if you wanted (no guarantees that it’ll fit). In addition to to original grey, these whimsical cases are also available in hot pink, lemon yellow, teal blue, lime green, orange orange and candy apple red too.

Each case has a soft inside to protect your precious gaming cargo, and Janis will take special orders for original DS and PSP cases too. They’re  available over on Janis13’s Etsy shop for $14 (USD) each.

The BLAZE 3-in-1 game selector has triple cartridge bays, and a single ribbon connector that plugs into your DS’ cartridge slot. Sure, it adds a little bulk to your once svelte DS Lite, but it sure is nice being able to choose from multiple games without having to carry around an additional case. Once snapped onto the case of your DS Lite, you can flip between games by moving the switch on the top of the case. One of 3 green LEDs lights up to indicate which game is currently active.

It’s not clear if the 3-in-1 selector will work on the DSi too, but it’s definitely says it’s designed for the DS Lite. You can grab one over at SuperUFO for about $13 (USD). Now if only they made one that held 50 games, I’d be set. Of course, my DS Lite would end about as thick as the latest Harry Potter book – in hardcover.

Oshaberi Oumu for the Nintendo DS continues that tradition by putting the fate of a digital bird in your hands. It’s your job to care for and nurture your avian plaything – feeding it, giving it toys to play with, caressing it and so forth.  Developed by Tokyo’s Star Fish games, there are definitely no starfish in the game, just our fine-feathered friends. And as far as I can tell from these game screenshots, there is no evidence of a hungry cat mode either. Damn.

Here’s a little video clip of the game to give you a better idea of what you can expect should you pick up a copy:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Ah, there’s nothing quite like a video game that makes you change the filthy newspapers at the bottom of a bird cage – all while listening to elevator music. Sign me up! Of course, knowing how short my attention span is when it comes to virtual pets, I’d probably end up with something more like this within the first couple of days:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now that’s what I call a dead parrot.

The good news is that you don’t have to make your way to Japan if you want to get your hands on this strange little game. The guys over at Play-Asia are taking worldwide orders for the game now for $48.90 (USD) – newspaper and bird seed not included.

But manufacturer Thrustmaster just may know what they’re doing after all: the product page indicates the DS Silver Pack is targeted at younger gamers. And while we could argue about whether or not young girls should feel like they have to hide their gaming, the point is that some girls just might want to store their DS cartridges in a case that looks like it should hold eyeshadow instead.

For those who like things a little less shiny, Thrustmaster has other goodies, like their urban bag, complete with a few space invaders.

See? And you thought this was going to be all high-handed. Anything that gets most of your gaming gear in one place gets my vote, even if it pink. The full Silver Pack set, with all the makeup-style cases, runs $35, but if you’re only in the market for a shiny bag with the DS logo, that can be had for $16. The brown bag runs about $14 at various online retailers.

[Thrustmaster via Yahoo Tech! via Gamer Grrlz]

The new XCM Hyper Gear case for the DS Lite not only gives your handheld a new look, it turbocharges your games. See that little switch that says “N”, “1.4X” and “1.7X” in the bottom right corner? Just flip it, and your DS Lite will run at 140% or 170% of its normal speed. Presumably, it’s safe to overclock your DS Lite, but it’ll probably end up draining your battery like mad.

Now keep in mind that overclocking a handheld like the DS Lite actually speeds up your games, graphics and audio. To give you an idea of what that might look and sound like, check out this video of another speed-hacked DS Lite:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

XCM expects to release the Hyper Gear case in the next few weeks, and you’ll be able to find it at online modding retailers including Extreme Mods and Total Console.

While you can’t really play any games on these mini versions of today’s popular portable consoles, they do look cool dangling from your keychain, mobile phone, or a backpack. Or, if you’re feeling really whimsical, just hang one right from your PSP or DS.

And just like their fullsize counterparts, the mini PSP doesn’t really do much but sit there and look cool, while the mini DS Lite is actually something you might use – thanks to a couple of little mirrors in place of screens, and a built-in LED flashlight.

The PSP is available in red, white and black versions, while the DS Lite gets all Good and Plenty on your ass with its black, white and pink color scheme.

Brando carries both the DS Lite and PSP versions for $6 bucks a piece. Now if only Sony or Nintendo could figure out a way to make these playable, I might buy one.

Artist janis13 creates these great classic Gameboy and NES Controller pouches which are just the right size for the DS Lite. Each case is made from felt with hand-sewn felt appliqués to give them a nice 3-dimensional texture.

The cases cost $13 a piece, or $21 for the pair. You can check them out over on Janis’ Etsy shop.

I suppose they just wanted to be able to say it could be done. Go figure.

[via Destructoid]

The DS Motion Card plugs into the DS or DS Lite card slot and features a three-axis accelerometer and a one-axis gyroscope to send a player’s movements to the DS.

At this point, there isn’t a way to use the card with off-the-shelf games, so you’ll need to mod your DS to play homebrew titles. There are a couple of game demos available for download on the DS Motion website to get you started.

The card is just $25 bucks, so if you’re into the DS homebrew scene, you might want to pick one up just to play with it.

[via Destructoid]

Ben’s latest endeavor was to take his original Atari VCSp (his first portable 2600,) and update it into a cleaner more modern design. Inspired by the Nintendo DS Lite, the new VCSp Revision 7 is a true thing of beauty. It features a fully-functional Atari 2600 system and a 3.5″ color LCD screen, all running on 4 rechargeable AA batteries.

If you haven’t visited Ben’s website before, it’s well worth a look. The man is a genius.

The $39 WaterField DS Lite bucks the trend by offering a well-constructed, smartly designed case for protection of your DS Lite and a variety of games and accessories. The compact case provides storage for up to six game cartridges, an extra stylus, earbuds and other oversized accessories. It

The SuperCard Lite RUMBLE is a 3rd-party module that adds rumble to games that support the feature as well as providing a MicroSD memory card slot for storage of movies, music, game saves and e-books. The cartridge plugs into the DS Lite’s GBA slot, and runs about $34 (not including a MicroSD card).

Their SHOCK! DS Lite replacement cases lets you swap out the shell and buttons of your system with new colors incluiding yellow, blue, red, black and a translucent case that lets you see all the gory innards of your DS Lite. The replacement cases rund $34.90 each, and should be available in the coming weeks.

They have posted a photo walkthrough of the somewhat involved and delicate installation process here.

[via Digg]