It’s rumoured that Nvidia has won a contract to supply Nintendo with Tegra chips for the next generation DS. The specific chip Nintendo plans on using is unknown, so we don’t know exactly how powerful the next model could be. Considering the current DS runs on two incredibly slow processors, any Tegra would be a huge boost in power.

As a bonus, the source reports that the new hardware should allow backwards compatibility. Hopefully not à la PSP Go, where backwards compatibility really means you have to buy all the games you already own again. [Bright Side of the News via Electronista]

Priced at $US27 and available now, we know you’ve seen Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa a million times by now. But this time it’s different. It’s on your DSi (or DS, or PSP). And no one else with a print or reinterpretation of Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa can take that away from you. Unless they steal your DSi (or DS, or PSP). Then they’ll have a piece of your art collection and your portable console. And there’s no coming back from that. [WaSaBi via TinyCartridge via GoNintendo]

I have the feeling that this Nintendo DS emulator is not going to last long at the iTunes App Store. Not because it can play DS games—it can’t—but because it looks and acts exactly like a Nintendo DS.

Features:
- 3D environment
- 3D Zoom to both upper and lower screen
- Can change Case Color
- Can change Game Card
- Simulate game device OS
- Play game to earn game point.
- Using game point to unlock more games and case colour.

Game Cards:
- Include two games: “Pixel Mania”(Music Game) and a SECRET GAME.

Future Additions:
- More Game Card
- More Case Color
- Microphone function

I’m as surprised as you are. You can get it for $5.99 while it lasts. [iTunes—Thanks MarkGurman.com]

You thought that you had to choose between your pirated games homebrew and Facebook? Nope, the DSi already appears to have been cracked again.

While the latest DSi firmware 1.4 tempted users with social networking on Facebook, it also blocked infamous R4 cartridges, a popular way to load pirated software on the DS/DSi. But according to this clip, Nintendo’s efforts were again futile, as pirates have already circumvented new security measures.

The moral of the story: The DSi, even with its aggressive PSP-style updates, has no more chance of preventing piracy than the DS. [Kotaku]

The Selector features three slots for games and an indicator light to show which game is in play. A cable runs between the attachment and the DS’s card slot, and it looks like the Selector is easily removable, as it just clips on. It’s mildly useful, especially if you own exactly three games, but it really ruins the sleek lines of the DS Lite, and, of course, it’s vastly inferior in utility (though not in legality, heh) to one card with boatloads of ROMs. The reviews are glowing but we’re not sure they’re trustworthy, especially the one saying, “I really enjoy it and look forward to doing it over and over. Well worth it.”

The Blaze NDS Game Selector is available now for around $US13, which is a totally fair price if you’re not as superficial as we are. [SuperUFO via Kotaku]

Pokémon “Heart” Gold and Poké “Soul” Silver will be bundled with the new Poké Walker peripheral, a pedometer that can hold one deadly but cute Pokémon at a time. As the player walks, the Pokémon gains XP and pedometer earns extra watts, the game’s currency. All of this data is fed back into the DS game through the IR port so that the newly fit child can continue his underground animal fight club.

The new Pokémon titles will be around this fall in Japan before hopefully making their way to the DS. [Kotaku]

When Dean Takahashi asked about the potential threat of free games, Iwata responded, “Because of this?” as he pulled out his iPhone.

Talking about the overlap between it and the DSi, he said, “The features of the iPhone and the DSi may overlap. But if we look at our differences, the areas of overlap are small. If, in the future, this overlap becomes bigger to the extent we should call it direct competition, I have to be more careful. I can’t bring out the iPhone during an interview anymore. Today, I don’t worry about it.”

Man that’s hardcore, like Bill Gates banning iPods from his house.

So if he couldn’t use a Mac or Windows PC, what kind of computer would he use then? Linux? [VentureBeat]

Nintendo has traditionally ignored the iPhone as a competitor, claiming that the DS and iPhone were chasing different markets. Now Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has given in the reality of commerce and started the smack talk.

I do not imagine that iPhone will dominate the Nintendo DS market at once. My impression as the person who has used iPhone is, it is very attractive but, frankly, I did not feel that it was designed to be appreciated by a wide variety of people like how Nintendo has been designing its products.

The DS had an incredible run, and the DSi has shown some impressive initial sales. But with the rise of the smartphone (which obviously includes the iPhone), Nintendo will need to move beyond corporate trash talk and figure out how they’ll survive in the mobile gaming marketplace when consumers refuse to carry two devices. You know, a plan that doesn’t include going the way of Sega on mobiles.

The company will never have more momentum than they have now. So if anyone could launch a crazy new product and find mass acceptance right now, it’s Nintendo. But unfortunately for Nintendo, Apple meets that criteria, too. [Nintendo via Kotaku and image]

If one were so inclined anyway.

The setup features various music apps (like the quirky Elektroplankton) playing on a Nintendo DS, DSi, iPhone, iPod Touch and a Kaossilator.

The beat begins with some tribal drum action, before what sounds like the NBC theme kicks in alongside some spacey beeps and bloops. Soothing holiday-esque bells take us out, and the whole thing is played by what appears to be the giant hand final boss from Super Smash Bros. Did I mention I play video games? [YouTube via Gearcrave via Wired]