Nintendo DSi’s upcoming title, Ghostwire, uses the embedded microphone and camera to augment reality.

As gaming systems become increasingly integrated with the physicality of the gamer, developers are seizing upon the intricacies of our actual environments for new ways of having fun on-screen. Aspyr’s Treasure World for Nintendo’s DS and DSi handhelds is one such attempt to bridge the gap between the real and the pixelated, launching players on a virtual treasure hunt that requires exploring one’s surroundings for actual wireless networks. Real-life WiFi spots are converted into in-game “treasure,” which can be traded in for items. The game can even be played with the handheld closed—at which point one is literally just wandering [...]

British designer Kyle Bean has created this impressive set of cardboard sculptures as a statement on the environmental impact of constantly upgrading to the newest tech gear.
[ via Design Crave ]

Nintendo Japan is jumping on board the growing wave of internet assisted health care practices with their new Wii “Check-Up” channel. Developed along with Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic and an unnamed health insurance company, the service will offer a communications space where users can get advice from health professionals using the Wii Fit and NEC’s mobile phone platform. Fit users have had success in the past using the system as a method for getting in shape, and now the check-up channel looks like a valuable enhancement.
[via Engadget]

According to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), video game sales in the UK has hit an all time record high of 82.8 million in sales.  Consumers spent over £4 billion in total on video game related items and many are pointing to the incredible success of blockbuster titles like Grand Theft Auto 4 and World of Warcraft.  Another reason for growth is the expansion of the marketplace to casual gamers and the ability for each console appeal to different types of gamers.  The Nintendo Wii, DS, Microsoft Xbox 360 and even the Sony Playstation 3 all reported [...]

Nintendo have announced that it plans to deliver video-on-demand to internet-enabled owners of the Wii gaming concole. The service will commence in Japan in spring but the Telegraph reports that it could be rolled out globally by the end of the year. Almost half of Wii owners have connected their console to the web and this will give the technology company a viewership of over 18 million viewers. The Telegraph reveals some of the details in their report:
Broadcasts will be made exclusively for the Nintendo channel and will include cartoons, cookery programmes, brain-training quizzes and lifestyle shows. Most of the [...]

Parents might need to rethink telling their children to spend less time on their handheld video game consoles: Nintendo has just announced their new partnership with book publisher HarperCollins to develop a package that transforms the DS into a portable e-reader and offers a collection of 100 classic books.  Available titles with the Dec. 26 UK release include works by Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Mark Twain – not necessarily the lightest reading to connect with the youth audience.
We’re inspired by anything that encourages people to read, but we’ll be curious to see if the DS can translate this extra level [...]

We’ve seen a bunch of useful software and hacks come out recently that turn mobile devices into (almost) fully functioning musical instruments. From samplers to guitars, music making is being shrunk and virtualized. In an interesting example of this phenomenon, a YouTube user in Japan has modified the Nintendo Dsi (running Korg DS-10 synthesizer software) into a 70’s rock style talk box. By taping a drinking straw to the microphone he has replicated the classic “talking guitar” sound. Look out roadies, your job is becoming obsolete -it seems bands of the future could be playing off iPhones and tiny gaming [...]