The next time you’re playing Nintendo Wii or XBox, think twice before offing anybody or anything.  According to an  article I read yesterday, a Japanese woman was jailed on charges of hacking to commit the virtual murder of her online husband’s persona after he unexpectedly divorced her.  Whew!  Time to step back into reality.  All of these acts supposedly took place within a game called “Maple Story”.

More in video game news… keep faithful old Fido away from your Nintendo Wii, and your iPod for that matter.  According to Britain’s Daily Telegraph, a recent study by PetPlan (a pet insurance company) named the top ten electronic gadgets for injuring pets.  iPod and Nintendo Wii topped the list, followed by Sony Playstation, and Nintendo DS.  Injuries named in the study included everything from falls to electrical incidents…eeewww.  One other thing that ranked high on the pet injury list- karaoke machines??  I don’t even want to know the details on that one.

So, all those rumors circulating this week appear to be true… Nintendo DS is getting a makeover, in the form of the Nintendo DSi. According to Kotaku, speculations were confirmed at Nintendo Japan’s fall press conference on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the Nintendo DSi will include a camera, an SD card slot, and WiFi features for purchasing downloads. Here’s the big bummer though- the Nintendo DSi will won’t include a slot for playing GameBoy Advance games, so save you old Nintendo DS unit for that.

Japan will see the new gadget hitting shelves on November 1, but the rest of us will have to wait until next year to purchase a Nintendo DSi for around $180.

Here’s a fun way to totally customize your Nintendo DS Lite.  I’ve seen all the skins and protectors for Nintendo DS Lite, allowing users to customize them with cool colors, camouflage and other prints, but this is the first option I’ve seen for making your own one-of-a-kind DS skin.  Made by MadCatz, maker of many Nintendo DS Lite accessories, the Custom ShowCase for NDS Lite gives users access to a downloadable template to create their own prints and designs for displaying on their DS Lite.  After designing, users print their designs, slip them into the Custom ShowCase, and apply it to the unit .  This could be a lot of fun for kids who always seem to want to change the look of their Nintendo DS, and its a good way to protect their sytems from the scratches and bumps that come with normal use.  I found the Custom ShowCase for Nintendo DS Lite at Game Shark Store.