Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Gaming

Joining the nearly endless amount of Nintendo DS hacks already in the wild is TobW‘s DS Sampling Keyboard, which “uses the DS’s microphone and touchscreen” to interface with a software-based sampling keyboard. A close contender to join our Music Thing series, this wonderous hack takes advantage of the wee machine’s excellent X / Y-axis controls as well as its built-in WiFi to beam the MIDI commands wirelessly. The program has been tested with Wifi, GBAMP, and M3, so “it should work on pretty much anything,” and provides a much less expensive alternative to those dedicated offerings. While musical gizmos are always more effective when seen heard rather than just heard about, be sure to click on for a front row seat to the YouTube demonstration.

[Via MusicThing]

Continue reading Nintendo DS doubles as wireless MIDI keyboard / controller

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Nintendo’s set to release an official MP3 player for the Nintendo DS, making it not only a game machine and a web browser, but a music playing device too. The above picture was seen in a brocure from the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany.

We suppose this is close enough to an official announcement, but there will probably be an even more official announcement from Nintendo soon. The specs:

• For Nintendo DS (to be inserted into slot 2) and Game Boy Advance hardware
• To store music you need SD cards. Up to 2 GB cards are supported, this equals to 500 songs (best sound quality)
• Choose between different skins (including one with Mario)
• The interface shows all important information
• The unit itself features another headphone port

The tentative price and release date are 29.99 Euros ($38) and October 8, respectively. – Jason Chen

Official Nintendo DS MP3 Player – Is There a Point? Homebrew Does it BETTER! [MaxConsole]
MP3-Player For The DS? Sounds Interesting… [Carpe DS Blog]

Filed under: Gaming

Just like Microsoft, Nintendo was a tad cramped in the PAX exhibition hall — their full setup could’ve squeezed into a small corner of their Wii extravaganza at E3. But they’re making the best of things with an all DS all the time booth, and quite a few new games on display such as Yoshi’s Island 2 and Final Fantasy III. We can’t deny we’re a bit disappointed by the Wii‘s absence, and the resulting lines would’ve been fun to see as well, but it’s not hard to see why Nintendo opted to keep they’re little mysterious console off the floor. Of course, with no plans by Nintendo to show the Wii at the Tokyo Games Show, we’re starting to wonder if it’ll show up in “public” at all before its still-undefined launch, but we suppose we’ll see it when we see it.

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

If you’ve tossed around the idea of modding your DS, but never bit the bullet due to the ridiculous amount of loopholes you had to jump through to get your homebrew game on, DS-Xtreme has got you covered. While the precise details of how this thing works its magic are a bit scarce, we do know that the company claims this wonder-working cart will allow you to not only run your favorite homebrew applications on your DS without any software / hardware hacks or workarounds whatsoever, but it also rocks a built-in GUI that interfaces with Windows XP via USB 2.0 for some remarkably easy drag ‘n drop action. All this sounds mighty impressive, especially compared to the PassMe alternative that required a old fashion GBA flash card, linker, and a DS game just to get you up and running; the DS-shaped cartridge features 512MB (4Gb) of built-in storage space, USB 2.0 connectivity, a full sized onboard EEprom “complete with some serious custom engineering,” and a snazzy GUI that apparently makes managing your apps a breeze. If you’ve been fantisizing over an easier way to get homebrew material on your Nintendo DS or DS Lite, the DS-X flash cart appears to a dream come true, but considering there’s no specific release date nor price, we’re forced to play the “wait and see” game on this one.

[Via MaxConsole]

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Filed under: Gaming

We suppose it’s a bit of a stretch to call Nintendo’s DS Lite hinge problem — which according to Nintendo affects 0.02 percent of shipped units — much of a defect, but the big N has heard the cries of its users, and will now fix the problem for free. Multiple Lite-o-holics have reported a small crack on the left side of the hinge that holds the two screens together, and even our pals over at Joystiq have encountered the problem. Up until now Nintendo was charging $50 to repair the incidental damage, as it was considered outside of warranty, but now they’re changing their tune with free repairs for all. This keeps up with their track record of consumer love, which they established with the “single dead pixel” policy on the original DS. Thanks Nintendo, we love you too.

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

If you’ve gotten just a little too good at your Nintendo DS games and are looking for more of a challenge — and also looking to void your warranty — now there’s a way to hack your console for making everything run almost twice as fast. A Japanese modder has just posted step-by-step directions (in Japanese, unfortunately) for re-wiring a DS Lite to perform at a claimed 1.7x speed, complete with a toggle switch in case you decide that turbo mode isn’t appropriate for all occasions. It looks like you have to be pretty handy with a soldering iron to tackle this particular project, so if you’ve got the skillz and about four hours to waste on tinkering around with your DS’s sensitive circuitry, then accelerated performance — and funny-sounding audio — will be your reward.

[Via Maxconsole]

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

If you’ve been waiting around for an easy way to play homebrew swag on your Nintendo DS or DS Lite, then prepare yourself for the stealthily-named Ninjapass. Like a handful of other solutions already on the market, this device lets you load up your games and play them directly from the DS cartridge slot — no flash cart required. There’s only 64MB of onboard memory, but you do get passcard functionality to boot content from the GameBoy Advance slot, along with a multi-game menu, convenient system for saving games, and bundled USB 2.0 adapter for hassle-free file transfer. The Ninjapass is currently available to pre-order — it will ship when “stock arrives” at an unspecified date — for $52, or a little less if you order in bulk.

[Via DS Fanboy]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming

We're all aware that a digital camera/webcam for the Sony PSP is right around the corner, but how many of you knew that you could also snap photos with your Nintendo DS? Don't feel bad; we didn't know it was possible either until we spotted modder Kako's handiwork on YouTube -- apparently he's taken a Treva CMOS chipset, done a bit of rewiring, and written software that allows the unit to output images directly to his DS Lite. We can't vouch for the picture quality, and the frame rates are positively sluggish, but at least this mod gives Nintendo fanboys one less missing feature to defend when the PSP crowd goes into one of those regular, tiresome diatribes listing the many reasons why their product totally "pwns" the little dual screen console -- in fact, you'll probably catch a few examples of said diatribes right here in the comments section of this very post.

[Via DS Fanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

We’re not sure what you’d do with as many as 18,000 Nintendo DS  units that you swiped alongside a stockpile of games in a container in Hong Kong, but it looks like nearly any number of black DS Lites and games were stolen in a $2.3 million dollar heist en route to Europe for launch later this month. A reward of $1 million HKD (about $129,000 US) was posted by Hong Kong police, but something tells us that the perps and their associates behind this — easily one of the largest gadget hustles we’ve yet heard of — won’t be quick to give up some names. Then again, we imagine that tasty reward might be a bit tempting, so be a little cautious when bidding for your next DS on eBay; you know, make sure the quantity isn’t listed in the thousands, ok?

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Networking

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

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