Cleverly designed logo and packaging can go a long way, especially if you’re trying to mimic one of the most successful game consoles ever made. The Wee, Wu, and Vii are sold anywhere from New York’s Chinatown to Akihabara in Japan. Some even find their way to Amazon.

These fakes, or clones as they’re usually called, have surely fooled many untrained eyes. They do, however, have their own following among gamers as they are relatively cheaper, although often of questionably quality. You’re not always sure they’ll work as advertised, either, so unless you know what you’re getting into, better stick to the original.

Have you ever bought any of these? How was your experience with the product?

Nintendo sure knows how to treat moms all over the world. Just in time for Mother’s Day, Nintendo will be releasing a lime green DS Lite bundle. The special edition bundle comes with a uniquely designed case and the Personal Trainer: Cooking game. If you’re thinking of buying this one, you still have a week before its May 3 release. Your mom will really appreciate this rare gift. just remember to add some DS Lite R4 games in the mix.

The DSi sold a good number of units since it was released in Japan. With its impending release in the North American market next month, the portable console would most likely be eating up the sales of the iPhone. Though the two might not be the same, there are some features in which the two hot gadgets share.

Just like the iPhone, the DSi can play music and one ups the iPhone by featuring two cameras. The DSi might not be as sleek as the iPhone but people not wanting to spend extra money for a music player and portable gaming console might be getting the DSi. You can also play games with the iPhone but there’s no substitute for the best selling gaming console, which is the DSi. One thing the iPhone has over the DSi is its accelerometer. This feature is one thing that future portable consoles should have as well.

The DSi might not be a phone just yet but we’ll never know what Nintendo has in store in the future. Would you buy an iPhone or a DSi?

Homebrew has a bad reputation in the gaming industry. Companies view it as something that promotes piracy because of the exploits made to the console in order to play homebrew games. But in reality, it gives independent publishers and enthusiasts a way to showcase their games. Most of these individuals share their work to the gaming public for free. The gaming companies must not in any way hinder these publishers a chance to develop games but instead foster these indie game designers.

Nintendo gamers are blessed to be able to play homebrew games in the Wii and DS. You just need to know how to do it and where to find the games. Sites such as WiiBrew can be a good place to look for homebrew Wii games.

Without any hacks, the Wii is already a haven for emulators through its Virtual Console feature. Gamers looking wanting to satisfy their nostalgia can download games for the NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, MegaDrive, NeoGeo, and even Commodore 64. But for those wanting to play homebrew games then they have the option to exploit the Twilight Hack. I would not explain any further about this hack as it can brick the console and I don’t want to be blamed for that. But the Wii Homebrew scene is by far the most thriving one among next gen consoles. There are new games released every day. Nintendo knows about this and they try to eliminate it by releasing updates every now and then.

The DS might be the best selling portable console today but the Homebrew scene for it is not that active. There might be hundreds of Nintendo homebrew sports games for especially for it, plus the hundreds more for the GBA that you can play with the DS as well. As of this writing, I’ve haven’t tested homebrew on the DSi yet. I’ll keep you inform on this one as soon as possible.

Nintendo has reasons to celebrate the coming of 2009 because its Wii Sports has officially surpassed Super Mario Bros in terms of total sales. To date, Wii Sports has sold over 40 million units and it includes special bundles of the game.

Nintendo is optimistic that Wii Sports will reach 50 million mark in years to come. Wii Sports has sold 40.52 million copies. Coming in second place is Super Mario Bros for the SNES, which has sold 40.42 million copies. Pokemon Red/Green/Blue for the Gameboy is third at 31.38 million units sold.

Most games in the top selling list are for Nintendo consoles, such as the Wii, SNES, DS, and the Gameboy. This goes to show that Nintendo is truly the leader when it comes to gaming consoles. Only GTA: San Andres is included in the list at number 15. Hopefully 2009 will be a good year for Nintendo and gamers as well.

Benheck forums user SifuF has made a N64 portable that he calls Nintendo Sixtyfree Lite-R. It features Dual 3D sticks, D-Pad, L Button, expansion pack and a headphone socket. SifuF has trimmed the original N64 console into half its size and has made it portable with its own LCD monitor. This is probably the best N64 mod I’ve seen so far.

Source: Benheck

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2008 was a good year for Wii gamers, well if you were a casual gamer that is. Nintendo successfully converted non-gamers into Wii remote holding zombies. The coming year looks promising for hardcore gamers with a bunch of new releases that they would surely enjoy. Plus, Nintendo announced innovations with regards to the bestselling console.

First off the list is Madworld. I hope that the game is as good as what it’s hyped up to be. Although the game is in black and white with comic-like visuals, it is said to be violent. Well what would you expect with the hero having a chainsaw for a hand? Expect a lot more games of this kind to come to the family oriented Wii when Madworld becomes successful.

Then there’s the sequel Sin and Punishment 2. Because of the great success of the original in Virtual Console, part 2 will be made available worldwide. Treasure promises that the follow up would be much like the first one, fast paced action from start to finish.

Then nostalgia is coming in 2009 with the release of Punch Out! We all played and enjoyed a boxing match in Wii Sports. Here comes the father of all boxing games. The classic gave was revived by Nintendo on the Virtual Console. Hopefully the new Punch Out! would be like the old one that I enjoyed when I as a kid.

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Here are my three wishes for Christmas. I hope it’s not too late for Santa to read my wish list. Oh well, it’s better late than never.

Black Nintendo DSi
This is the latest version of Nintendo’s portable gaming console. It has larger screens but less overall size. It has built-in browser and music playback capabilities as well. Definitely a must have for any gamer.

Phantasy Star Zero (DS)
The gameplay remains the same but the storyline is something new. Phantasy Star Zero is a highly anticipated game for the DS that will be released on Christmas day. I hope I get one underneath the tree.

Rock Band 2 (Wii)
The newest version of Harmonix’s rhythm based games. I can’t afford its hefty pricetag that’s why it is on my wish list. Actually I enjoyed the first Rock Band and critics say that the second one will be better. I would definitely be thrilled to get this one, but it would be released 4 days after Christmas (December 29).

Merry Christmas everyone!

The results are in and it looks like majority of Nintendo gamers don’t get games like Call of Duty: World at War. Actually it looks like hardcore gamers still prefer better graphics than fancy controls. Judging from the sales totals, gamers preferred the Xbox 360 version. It sold around 1.41 million units. Second is the PS3 version at 600 thousand units. As for the PC, DS, Wii and PS2 versions, they combined for 200 thousand units sold.

The sales numbers disappoint Activision. They spent a lot of money advertising Call of Duty: World at War specifically on Wii gamers. Maybe those who complained about the franchise’s fourth game not available for the Wii didn’t even bother getting the latest. To be honest I got the PS3 version for myself. The Wii version lacks the content that the PS3 version has. Maybe that’s the reason why most gamers did prefer the Xbox360 and the PS3 versions. The other versions just seemed like they’re getting a raw deal.

Those of you who already have the Guitar Hero: On Tour would know how awkward and unnatural the feel is to play it with the DS Guitar Grip it comes with. Modder Eric Ruckman has the perfect solution for this. Why not use a regular PS2 guitar controller to play the DS version of the game?

First, he dismantled the guitar controller. He removed the internal parts and then placed the DS in the middle. He included a FM transmitter so that you can use an ordinary radio as speakers. The guitar controller’s start and select buttons act as the frequency selector. If you don’t want to wake up your neighbors, you can plug headphones into it. The controller will use the GBA slot therefore you can still take the DS off if you want to.

Good job Eric!

Watch this video of the Guitar Hero: On Tour guitar controller mod in action.

Source: markvi_fan’s flickr

Photos after the jump.
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