Got a DS? Got WiFi? Got friends? Then you've got a ready-to-go VoIP phone!

The DS really has still only yet to tap its hardware potential - WiFi, mic and touch screen should make for some amazing homebrew software eventually, and releases like this are still just scratching the surface. iPhone? Screw that. You've got a touch screen, WiFi and voice-recognizing doodad already! C'mon Nintendo (or h4X0r fellas), unleash this puppy!

In the recently released 4th Quarter 2006 numbers (compiled by the research firm NPD), Nintendo pretty much mopped up the competition. Kotaku has done a rather thorough analysis of the numbers, and while the Xbox 360 outsold the Wii in December, Nintendo totally hit their target and sold 1.1 million Wii units in 2006 from launch to Dec. 31st! In the same story, the DS Lite kicked the living crap out of the PSP, which should be surprising to no one, but the lead they've established is shocking: 2.5 million more DS/Lite units sold than PSPs. Ouch. In fact, the DS and (of all the darndest things) the PS2 were the real winners last month, with Nintendo selling 1.6 million new DS units, and the PS2 selling an impressive 1.4 million. This over the "next-gen" console sales for December, which clock in at 1.1 million for the Xbox 360, 604,200 for the Wii and an anemic 490,700 PS3s.

So, in short, Nintendo hit their launch goal (1 million by year end), and sold more DS systems than any other system. Microsoft won December, and has sold 4.5 million Xbox 360 units since its launch in 2005 (though this means in a month and a half, the Wii sold enough systems to make up 25% of the 360-owner market). Sony sales are in the shitter - PSP losing badly to DS, and the PS3 is finding more of a home back on store shelves rather than in people's homes or selling like hotcakes on eBay.

But the PS2? Sony's saving grace? What could be up with this? I've got an idea, but I'll talk more about that later...

So at any rate, because all of Sony's current systems are falling short of everyone's expectations, Microsoft is now taking note of the real competition: Nintendo. Bill Gates himself acknowledged that Nintendo is their "toughest competition," even though the company isn't directly aiming at any of their users. This is an interesting admission, and is a double-slap in the face of Sony, especially after such a smackdown on the PS3's nascent online service by MS reps recently.

Poor Sony. My heart breaks, and yet my Wii elbow throbs on...

So, with the disclaimer that I haven't been as attached to the Dragon Quest series as I have to Phantasy Star, Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger/Cross series, this game looks utterly amazing. Get yourself a bib or other suitable drool-catching device, sit down, and...

...watch the amazing video.

Dragon Quest IX kids - looks mighty yummy.

Thanks to the boys over at Gay Gamer for clarifying the uselessly minimal AP wire recounting the recall of DS AC Adapters.

Read their article to find out if you're at risk for fire-and-shrapnel death while recharging your DS. Curiously, the unit I bought in Japan had an AC Adapter that was fine, but the one I got for my wife in the USA had the bad unit with it. Hmmm....

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Additionally, I'd like to take this opportunity to give big ups to guys who run GayGamer.net - it's a great gaming news site, and so far the only one of its kind I've run across. Plus, they've got awesome fan mail, like this Super Mario Beefcake they received!

Just a few quick bits on the Nintendo front. There is an outstanding article from (of all places) the New Yorker on how Nintendo has won the console war by dropping out. I've been thinking as much for quite some time: Sony and Microsoft are gunning to take over Hollywood's profits for keeps, and the ultra-immersion-violence-and-fantasy genre is pretty much locked by the PS3 and Xbox 360. But... Nintendo has made gaming affordable, approachable, intuitive, creative, and fun on a much more universal level. I could get my dad to play Wii golf; I could never get him to touch something as complex as Gears of War.

Also, on my actual all-time favorite console, the DS Lite, the fantastic Space Channel 5 throwback Elite Beat Agents causes some moron to completely lose it. For those not scared by the DS Lite and music, you can use it to wirelessly control MIDI interfaces!