"Two music games got it right on the DS this year, both eschewing fancy controllers, instead focusing on the system’s touchscreen to present their engaging concepts: Rhythm Heaven and Maestro: Jump in Music." Ooh, sounds interesting - will have to hunt that down. (Via Simon Parkin)

"Egmont Press and Penguin Publishing will launch a range of children's books onto the Nintendo DS in a licensing deal with entertainment software company Electronic Arts (EA). It is the first time that children's books have been developed specifically for the Nintendo DS platform in the UK." Ooh, that's kind of awesome.

"Bayer’s DIDGET™ is the only blood glucose meter that plugs into a Nintendo DS™ or Nintendo DS™ Lite system. This unique meter helps encourage consistent testing with reward points that children can use to buy items within the game and unlock new game levels." Blood glucose monitor for diabetics that plugs into your Nintendo DS. Utterly awesome, and exactly what a new world of products should look like.

I can't really quote from it, but you need to read this; it's the most deliciously bonkers concept, and if they pull it off - which seems like it might just be possible, given the level of detail they talk about the game at - it could be properly magical. Lovely preview, too.

"Obama Says: Yes We Can is a Simon Says game based on Barack Obama's New Hampshire Primary speech, as later turned into song by will.i.am. Watch the game create a pattern of button and direction presses, and repeat that pattern correctly to score! The more you get correct, the harder the patterns become - can you keep up?" Oh blimey.

Lots of good stuff in here I didn't know about, all for your DS, and all not illegal. Hurrah for homebrew.

"With DS Reader you can read any e-book (or text file) on your DS. It even has a great little bookmarking function to keep track of your progress." Ooh.

"Game Trivia Catechism is a multiple-choice trivia game, testing your knowledge of video gaming. It can be played as straight trivia, or as part of a story that follows Al and Sally as they compete in the King of Game Trivia Tournament." Looks awesome.

Commander Keen on the DS. Heck yes. One of the first games I spent a *lot* of time playing.

"DS brut is an open source hardware prototyping platform for the Nintendo DS, developed by and for electronics enthusiasts, artists and game developers. By connecting the Nintendo DS to the outer world, the game console can be easily hooked up to a variety of sensors (e.g. GPS receivers) and can itself control all different kinds of actuators, servo motors and others."

Portal-inspired homebrew game for the DS. Looks rather sweet, although not keen on collect-em-up mechanics.

"It occurred to me that if I could somehow tether a DSLR to an instant-on device like an Arduino microcontroller I would have less weight to carry around and could get more work done. After mentally spec’ing out what I would need, I realized the solution was right in front of me - because I bring it with me for Mario Kart wireless races on long night jobs - (In the manner of John Lasseter’s slow epiphany voice): “Use-the-Nintendo-D-S.” Duh." Oh wow.

"VideoGamesHero brings you homebrew action at it's best - offering lasting fun and challenging action with over 65 Songs, 5 Game modes, Motion Card and Guitar Grip support, there is something for everyone!" Homebrew Harmonix-style rhythm action game for the ds. Awesome.

"A simple pocket knife can be more appealing and usable than a bristling Victorinox, and a dedicated little games machine like the DS can engage us far more than the sleek power of the PSP. You can feel admiration and even awe for the big power boxes, but for the DS you feel affection - and that, in marketing terms, is worth a whole heap more." I love Stephen Fry.

Looks nice.

"the nintendo ds is an excellent platform for homebrew audio software - here’s an (incomplete) list of some of the excellent sound toys that are available for the platform." Awesome. More listed in the comments, too.

Lovely article on the localisation work for Etrian Odyssey on the DS. Tight memory restrictions leads to translators having to be smart; Atlus' team appear to be that.

" Protein[DS] is a little audio manipulation software running on Nintendo DS, which ables you to manipulate audio, anywhere you go - it is in some ways similar to ElectroPlankton concept."

"glitchDS is a FREE homebrew Cellular Automaton music sequencer for the Nintendo DS. It’s perfect for creating IDM and Glitch style loops." Should only work with R4, but seems to work with several carts.

"NDS adaptation of the famous Warcraft mod". Oh my. DS Homebrew, I love you.

Users' artwork from Colors! for the DS. Really quite impressive, some of this.

"Colors! is a simplistic digital painting application for Nintendo DS based on modern
painting-techniques developed for drawing tablets in programs like Photoshop."

"Not necessarily the completest 'best' collection, but some of the more notable games, applications and emulators that have grabbed my attention long enough to stay on my DS."

The first of Joe Deaver's adventure gamebooks translated to a rather beautiful NDS port.

"This is a port of Tyrian for the Nintendo DS." Wonderful top-down shareware Shmup, now abandoned, and put on your portable.

Wavelet-based video codec and player for the Nintendo DS, developed by Nick and his brother.

"A man with only a PictoChat session has to convince the authorities that a major international incident is unfolding. Spies, diplomats, terrorists, SAS-style rescues. And a DS in almost every shot." Any way you look at it: genius!

Ning-powered app for finding other Mario Kart friendcodes. Fun!