Awesome Nintendo

With countless carpal tunnel and Nintendinitis casualties, Supermandolini’s Console Wars Veterans medals give credit to our valiant fallen digital Nintendo and PlayStation warriors.

Just in time for Black Friday, Nintendo is dropping two DS Lite bundles for those of you yet to join the dual-screened masses: a red New Super Mario Bros. and a blue Brain Age, both for $150.

25 years after the original Run-D.M.C., the Reverend shows he’s still got it; this time, he’s beatboxing to Beethoven with his two sons on Wii Music: “Follow the note and rock it out!”

GamePack is an Arduino-powered Game Boy that is as open source as it gets: there’s nary a case to be seen, with all the internals laid bare. It’s sold as a DIY assembly kit.

The Nunchuck as a Lightsaber is as natural as bees on honey, but this Lightsaber Duels ad is packed with so much nerd repartee that you’ll either LOL or throw your Wii Remote at the TV.

We’re man enough to confess our man crushes, but this Guitar Hero: World Tour ad is almost too much; it’s got Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps, A-Rod and Kobe doing Risky Business in their skivvies.

Add Big Bang Mini to your “play while drunk” list: it’s a crazed version of Galaga, with 100 levels of clowns, monkeys and superheroes that explode like a mega July 4th/New Year’s party.

Metroid: Confrontation is a tech demo for AM2R, a Metroid II fan remake by DoctorM64; while the full version is still in the works, the demo is plenty playable and available for download.

Tom Clancy’s EndWar is available for nearly every platform under the sun, but we actually like the simplified DS and PSP versions most; they’re turn-based with 20 units per faction.

Although it’s not scheduled for release stateside, this Dragon Quest IX trailer really wowed us with the DS’ graphic abilities; the game features co-op multiplayer and turn-based combat.

Although official plans for a US release are murky, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days should please Nintendo DS fans. It focuses on Roxas between Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II.

January ’09 can’t come soon enough: this trailer for Retro Game Challenge demos a gaggle of 80s-ish games; although subtly renamed by we know R.C. Pro Am when we see it!

The Nintendo DSi is a slimmer version of the DS; it axes the GBA slot but gets a larger 3 1/4″ screen, a 3 MP camera, built-in browser and SD slot. It’ll launch 11/1 in black and white.

This latest “Combat Chain” trailer for Tom Clancy’s WW3 RTS, End War, briefs players on various unit classes. Not much gameplay, but you won’t have to wait long: it’s coming 11/4.

Korg’s DS-10 transforms your Nintendo DS into a virtual MS-10 synthesizer, with a six track / 16-step sequencer, as well as note entry via touch screen, keyboard or matrix screen.

This is not your standard YouTube video: this ad for Wario Land: Shake It is pure genius. We’ll leave out the details for you, but let’s just say your GUI elements don’t stand a chance.

This is a free flash port of Lock’s Quest; defend your base against increasingly difficult waves of Clockwork baddies, all the while upgrading and repairing to stay alive. Thanks, Blake!

In an age of multimillion-dollar budgets, Bob’s Game stands out: this DS game was solely created by Robert Pelloni over the course of five years, pouring over 15,000 hours into it.

We’ve seen Justin Buonvino’s 3D Super Mario Bros. scene before, but we had no idea he’d created more. He’s got over a dozen here, including scenes from Duck Hunt and Excitebike.

Mad World has a bloody comic book style that reminds us of Frank Miller’s Sin City; what amazes us is that this gritty game is for the Wii, created by Japanese devs for a U.S. audience.

Our biggest complaint with the Wii’s white plastic controllers is how dirty they get over time; Joe D’s Vintage Wii Mod concept addresses this with a swank woodgrain on black color scheme.