Adding a bit of a twist to the usual tab design is the Vinci by Rullingnet. Meant for little kids, this touchscreen tab has a kid-friendly handle around the entire tab. Built with PBA-free silicon, the handle helps a child to grab the tab (instead of the slippery sides) and offers a bit of shock resistance in case it is dropped…

Capturing the same energy of a console game on the DS is a rather tricky matter. The resolution drops the graphics down a significant amount and environments are a little more limited but, even if those aren’t an issue, glitches and poor camera or mapping (or both) can really drag down a game.

Think this dungeon-crawling, role-playing comic book-based game can hold up?

Nintendo has ruled the handheld market for quit a while, producing two of the best-selling systems ever. With the DSi, the GameBoy is entirely forgotten, at least in physical form, as the GBA cart slot is removed and has been replaced with a much more modern (and potentially useful) SD/SD-HC memory card slot.

Slap a couple digital cameras on it, build in a couple extra apps and add a lowercase “i’ to the end of the name and, yeah, you can make an even better game system.

With the release of the new DS system, it’s not always clear exactly what has changed. As a super simplistic comparison, here’s a side-by-side physical and observational breakdown of the similarities and differences between Nintendo’s DS Lite and the DSi handheld game systems.

Also check out the Photo Gallery of comparison shots of the two systems next to each other as well the several of just the DSi.

Rumors first broke about the iPhone/iPod Touch game earlier this morning (December 17, 2008), when someone noticed that Famitsu” title=”Famitsu’s” target=”external”>Famitsu’s upcoming issue contains scans” title=”scans”>scans of a game dubbed Metal Gear Touch.

I was linking to the official Kojima Productions website, when the teaser disappeared and unveiled confirmation that indeed, the next Metal Gear game is: Metal Gear Touch….

System: iPod TouchPrice: $229 (8GB), $299 (16GB) and $399 (32GB)Release Date: September 2008 (2nd generation)Publisher (Developer): ApplePros: Incredible audio support and very accurate touchscreen and accelerometer (motion) controls. Lots of games to choose from including standard casual, card and puzzle games, as well as several system-only and online games. External speakers.Cons: No manual game buttons and a naked iPod is a bit slippery to hold. Home button slip exits the game without pause. No external media slot.Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 88; B+; * * * 1/2 out of five.

Apple has been promoting the crud out of the iPod Touch as being “the funnest iPod ever” with commercials that show a bunch of motion-controlled games.

While certainly not a Nintendo DS killer, the iPod Touch does offer some rather decent motion and touchscreen controls as well as all the iPhone’s main features sans the phone and microphone. There are a few small concerns for touch-only games but, otherwise, it performs well above most phones as a gaming device…

Click through for the full review!

As if responding to Sony’s redesigned PSP, rumors are circulating that Nintendo is working on a redesign of the DS. Sales of Nintendo’s handheld system continue to show remarkable market stability in the US and Japan and Nintendo obviously wants to keep that trend going by giving the DS a face lift. IGN got its hands on leaked information that suggest more than just another small and lighter design.

Between April and May 2009, Nintendo will allegedly introduce a new DS that incorporates widescreen technology into one of the screens. At the same time, both screens are rumored to become be touch-enabled…

Jube808, a Pspzproject member, has created a PSP modification that is a step closer to some sort of strange DS-PSP hybrid. The user created a touchscreen PSP. Jube808, an electronic engineer by trade, has decided that his PSP was nice, but could be nicer. So he has set out to make it into the gaming device he knows it can be.

Jube808 has uploaded videos to YouTube to show the touchscreen PSP’s concept keyboard in action. He also hopes to see homebrew PSP games that make use of the touchscreen feature. Click through to watch Jube808′s development and a concept keyboard videos…

My wife was getting an oil change the other day and my baby gamer wandered into the dealership’s Videogame Room. Kudos to them for providing such a room. Sadly, it only has a slimline PS2 and four games (I think I saw Madden NFL 2002 in there).

But, there was a countertop pamphlet display with good ‘ol Mario on it. The pamphlets are for Visteon’s “Dockable Entertainment featuring Game Boy Advance.” It’s essentially a portable DVD player intended for your car with a GBA built right in…

Title: Kung Fu PandaPrice: $29.99System(s): DS (Wii, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC)Release Date: June 3, 2008Publisher (Developer): Activision (Vicarious Visions)ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for cartoon violencePros: Utilizes the touchscreen extremely well and maintains a fair amount of humor. Nice looking environments and smooth panda moves.Cons: Moments of boring backtracking, overly difficult bosses (for the target audience), redundant opponents and claustrophobic rooms.Overall Score: One thumb up, one down; 79/100; C+; * * 1/2 out of five.

Although Chinese kung fu is not necessarily related to the idea of yin and yang, both play a huge part in Kung Fu Panda for the DS.

On the sunny yang side, when the game is good, it’s surprisingly good, taking excellent advantage of the DS’s touchscreen. On the darker yin side, when the game is bad, it’s really bad and becomes unplayable especially for the young, teen audience the game is aiming for…