You now have a valid reason to act just like Doraemon, the time-travelling robot cat. The Doraemon Plug and Play TV game allows anyone to wear their very own ‘Take copter’, in order to control Doraemon around “a story mode, a ‘free’ mode and 10 minigames.” Just lean in the direction you want to go and you’re off!

Via Kotaku

The Nintendo DS MP3 player was originally intended to be released shortly after the Game Boy Micro. However, after Micro sales weren’t as high as Nintendo had expected, the release was delayed. No release date has yet been confirmed, but more details have been revealed giving us the impression that the release is imminent. The unit is expected to be 4360 yen ($38/£20), and can be used with the Nintendo DS and Game Boy advance. Appearance-wise it has been compared to Play-Yan, a Japan-only release. SD cards are necessary for music storage; 2 GB cards are supported which gives you 500 songs with optimum sound quality. The rumour for release is 6th October, but don’t start queuing ’til we tell you!

Via DS-X2

This morning in Japan was the launch of the new ‘jet black’ DS lite. Despite pretty much everyone in Japan already owning a DS in some form or another, the demand was still there and people were eager to get their hands on one as soon as possible. The Yodobashi Camera store in Akihabara (above) found shoppers outside its doors at midnight, waiting for the shop to open at 9.30am. With around 150 people there at 7am, and the queue becoming increasingly longer, the decision was made to open half an hour earlier at 9am. At that point in time over at the Ikebukuro branch of Bic Camera (pictured below), 300 customers were still waiting for the store to open. As the first customers were let in, the queue had swelled to 400.

One customer when questioned upon their purchased said that the 16,800 yen ($145/£75) DS lite was for their grandfather. Part of me thinks “oh, that’s nice, great to see the Nintendo reaching such a wide audience”, the other part thinks, “why on earth did you wait in a queue for hours, buying a gift for someone who probably doesn’t care one bit what the colour is, when you could of got him a normal DS for half the price?!” I suppose it depends on how much you like your grandfather.

Source: Famitsu

Looks like Nintendo are continuing to release cosmetic variations of the DS lite. This time it’s the turn of Pokemon to grace the case. Release on the 29th September, the limited edition console will cost 16800 yen ($145/£75).

Source: Famitsu

Following rumours reported earlier this week on Plastic Bamboo, the Sony PSP with GPS and camera peripherals has now been confirmed by Sony. The camera will be available to purchase in Japan on 2nd November, and the GPS receiver on 7th December. The camera is 1.3 Megapixel, has a built-in microphone, and gives you the option of taking still photos or video footage. The camera will be priced 5000 yen ($43/£22) and the GPS receiver is 6000 yen ($51/£27). Both have carrying cases, and should work with several existing PSP games. These items will be on display at the Tokyo Game Show in Tokyo from 22 - 24 September.

Via Engadget.

Here’s this week’s video game chart as it stands in Japan right now:

01 NDS FF3 - 503.051 / NEW
02 NDS NEW SMB - 65.556 / 2.901.264
03 NDS Rune Factory - 42.210 / NEW
04 NDS Brain Age 2 - 41.784 / 3.073.195
05 NDS Cooking Navi - 37.326 / 384.045
06 NDS Tamagotchi 2 - 30.504 /430.933
07 NDS Mario Basketball 3on3 - 30.355
08 NDS Animal Crossing WW - 30.023 / 3.149.131
09 NDS Brain Age - 22.866 / 2.736.150
10 NDS English Training - 17.465

What’s so special about this? Well, look closely. Every single game is for the Nintendo DS. Every single one, on a chart for all consoles. Wowee!

Via Go Nintendo.

This is, without doubt, the best advert I have ever seen on television. That is, if I had seen it on television and not the Internet.

If you like to keep your Nintendo DS/DS Lite safe and cosy while travelling with you, then here is the ultimate in accessories. This is a case in the shape of Mario’s very own headwear. Unfortunately it’s only available to Japanese Club Nintendo members with the appropriate points.

Via Akihabara News

Today sees the launch of Sony’s official Japanese Playstation 3 website. The site currently hosts detailed information on the PS3 hardware, as well as news on expected launch titles. Umm, not much to say than that really. Eh, the PS3 will be really expensive.

The Tokyo Game Show 2006 takes place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba between 22nd and 24th September. It is the show’s 10th anniversary and they are expecting 160,000 attendees, a slight reduction from 2005. Excitingly, 134 companies will be presenting a total of approximately 1702 products. Kyoto based Nintendo, who leads the Japanese hardware sales with the DS Lite, sticks by its tradition by not showing however. Nevertheless, there are many rumours that Sony will be launching PSP GPS and camera peripherals at the show, despite there being no confirmation from Sony yet. Is this Sony trying to take a stab at Nintendo’s leadership in the market? Only time will tell!

Via Engadget.

A remarkable amount of unique users for the Nintendo DS wireless gaming service (Wi-Fi) has just been announced. Apparently, 2 million users have logged on to perform 70 million individual gaming sessions! The news comes only 9 months after this function launched, and nicely coincides with the release of Wi-Fi capable DS game Star Fox Command. This and further upcoming Wi-Fi enabled releases aim to continue Nintendo’s lead in handheld gaming.

Via Gamasutra.

One thing I thought I had over pop stars was my gaming ability. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. At the start of the month there was a Nintendo promo event with Japanese singing superstar Utada Hikaru taking on 30 challengers at a game of Tetris DS. Video of the event has finally been put online where you can marvel at Utada’s skills. Watching this video made me play Tetris online for an hour just to prove I was at least better than some people.

Via DSMeet.