The latest craze in customising your favourite gadget is adding bling to it and what better way to add it then with the world renowed Swarovski crystals. Here is the latest by noted Japanese designer Tikko a Swarovski studded Nintendo DS Lite. The flap behind the LCD is embedded with crystals giving it a bold new look. So if you happen to be in Japan you can surely get in touch with him.

The customisation is not cheap and will set you back by 45,000 Yen ( $ 390) for the price you can get three DS Lites.

Check out the Ugliest DS ive ever seen via the Comments ...

Via Gamesradar

For those of you brave enough to venture again on to the streets of Silent Hill, this competition should tickle your fancy with a 10-inch knife.

We've teamed up with Pathe to offer one lucky winner a PSP console, a UMD of The Silent Hill Experience and a DVD of the Silent Hill movie, which stars Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell and is due for release on 4 September. Three lucky runners-up will each receive a copy of the UMD and DVD.

Night after night, nine-year-old Sharon DaSilva enters nightmarish trances and when she is woken by her anxious parents she screams the words "Silent Hill". Driven to desperation, her adoptive mother Rose (Mitchell) disappears with her troubled daughter to find the root of her nightmare - the ghost town of Silent Hill.

After losing control of her car on the outskirts of the town (of course), Rose awakes to find Sharon gone. Once inside Silent Hill, she enters a world where reality and a hellish dimension seem to blur into one another. Stalked by hell beasts with massive knives, twisted limbs, burning flesh and a hunger for blood Rose stumbles from building to building following the lingering screams of her daughter.

Scared yet? Well, you'll have to brave the trailer to be in with a chance of winning. All you need to do to enter is watch the trailer here and tell us the answer to the following question:

What does the newspaper call Silent Hill?

a) The Tainted Town
b) The Noiseless Knoll
c) The Town of Terror

To enter, click here to email us with your answer, name and full address. The closing date for entries is Tuesday 26 September 2006. Note: The movie is rated 15 so entrants must be aged 15 or over. ...

This holiday season, few consumer electronics categories are being watched more closely than that of video game consoles.

Both Sony and Nintendo plan to release their next- generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Wii, respectively. Yet, with prices as high as $600, the PS3 is clearly aiming for the high end, while the Wii is targeting more casual gamers with prices expected to be well below $300.

Meanwhile, both companies must contend with Microsoft and its Xbox 360, which has a yearlong head start and therefore a commanding lead in the next-generation race. Still, Sony has always maintained that its console cycles are 10 years, rather than the five considered the industry standard. That's why, even as the market readies for the PS3 launch, the PlayStation 2 is still selling like gangbusters. And it should continue to do so for some time, as Sony has committed to the PS2 for at least another four years.

In a few weeks, much of the video game industry will descend upon Tokyo for the annual Tokyo Game Show. But for the time being, the focus is on Germany, where the Leipzig Game Convention is being held. So, for companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, and publishers like Electronic Arts and Activision, there is no break in sight. Sony Computer Entertainment of America president Kaz Hirai talked with CNET News.com about the forthcoming PS3 launch (parts of this article refer to comments Hirai made earlier this month in an interview with GameSpot).

CNET: Can you provide an update on the PlayStation 3?

Hirai: The PlayStation 3 will launch in the North American market on November 17. Things are pretty much moving according to plan.

CNET: How does a scaled-down Electronic Entertainment Expo affect a company like yours? Was it a good thing to institute some changes in the format, or were you happy with the way it had been?

Hirai: E3 has about a 10-year, 11-year history, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's grown to a point where it became just such a massive show that we needed to take a look at what we were trying to accomplish with the show. We needed to see how effectively we can accomplish those goals. I think it was pretty much across the board in agreement that we should revise or relook at how E3 is structured.

CNET: Beyond the pricing and availability of the PlayStation 3, one of the big pieces of news from this year's E3 was more information about Nintendo's new console, the Wii. There were rumors that the Wii would be priced for less than $250. How did that affect the PlayStation 3?

Hirai: The pricing that we announced for the PlayStation 3 is a price that ultimately offers fantastic value to the consumers. I think that we are offering a very good value for the consumers. We look at our products having a 10-year life cycle, which we've proven with the PlayStation. Therefore, the PlayStation 3 is going to be a console that's going to be with you again for 10 years. We're not going to ask the consumers to suddenly buy another PlayStation console in five years' time and basically have their investment go by the wayside. So for all those reasons, I think at $599 we're offering a very good value to the consumers.

CNET: Are you saying that there won't be a PlayStation 4 within five years?

Hirai: Well, I think that if you look at the history of the way we've managed our console business, we always try to hit a 10-year life cycle. I can't speculate on when we might come out with a new console after PlayStation 3. But my message is that once you become a family in the PlayStation family of products, you become a family member. We make sure that we take care of you.

CNET: Going back to the question of the Nintendo console, it seems like its pricing is significantly lower than what the PlayStation 3, or the Xbox 360, will cost. Any concern that Nintendo's Wii pricing will undercut the market as people decide which console they want to buy?

Hirai: Some consumers will compare features or software offerings and decide that they may want to go with a different console. You also have to realize that we have a very strong, market-leading console called the PlayStation 2, which is at a very affordable price right now. Consumers will also understand that if you buy a PlayStation 2 right now, and you make some software investments, when you feel it's right to move onto PlayStation 3, those software titles aren't going to go by the wayside. Consumers will take that into consideration. I don't think price is the only determining factor when consumers make a choice in looking at their console purchase decisions.

CNET: Is there a danger that some consumers will buy PlayStation 3 just for the Blu-ray player and not the games?

Hirai: Consumers are going to look at the totality of what we offer in the PlayStation 3. Even if there was a consumer who decided to buy the PlayStation 3 perhaps as a Blu-ray player, I think that they will quickly realize the potential and the entertainment value of the fantastic content in true [high definition]. Any consumer would be hard pressed really not to try that functionality out.

CNET: ...

News Via Gamestop

The top 10 bestselling games from last week looked eerily like a football score: Madden 7, others 3. The 07 edition of Electronic Arts' annual football game nabbed the top seven slots in its first week in release. The platforms represented were, from first to seventh, the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2 (Hall of Fame Edition), Xbox 360 (Hall of Fame Edition), PSP, and GameCube. The only console versions of Madden NFL 07 not to make the top 10 were the DS and Game Boy Advance versions.

When gamers weren't tackling runningbacks last week, they were killing zombies. Capcom's Dead Rising landed in eighth place, down three spots from the previous week. But even hordes of undead and 350-pound linemen couldn't stop the DS duo of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and New Super Mario Bros. The two titles remained on the top 10 list in ninth and tenth, respectively.

1 Madden NFL 07
Platform: PS2
2 Madden NFL 07
Platform: X360
3 Madden NFL 07
Platform: XBOX
4 Madden NFL 07: Hall of Fame Edition
Platform: PS2
5 Madden NFL 07: Hall of Fame Edition
Platform: X360
6 Madden NFL 07
Platform: PSP
7 Madden NFL 07
Platform: GC
8 Dead Rising
Platform: X360
9 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
Platform: DS
10 New Super Mario Bros.
Platform: DS ...

Rockstar's Bully hasn't been released yet, but the game has already seen its share of hate. Set in a fictional prep school, Bully follows 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins as he copes with bullies, teachers, and other sorts at his school. When faced with getting his head dunked in a toilet or being beaten to a bloody pulp, Jimmy learns that talking his way out of confrontation isn't always practical and that he can use various weapons, including baseball bats, to even the playing field.

This portion of the game has upset many groups, including outspoken Florida antigame lawyer Jack Thompson and youth group Peaceoholics. One more can be added to the list today, as Jayne Hitchcock, president of activist group Working to Halt Online Abuse, has spoken out against the game.

"How long will it be before we hear on the news about a victim of bullies who is inspired by the new game and retaliates using a baseball bat?" asks Hitchcock, in a statement that proclaimed her as an "Internet expert." "There is a tremendous probability that this new game will send out twisted messages, possibly even influence victims of bullying to resort to violence as a means of defense."

Citing a report by The American Justice Department, Hitchcock points out that 77 percent of students say they have been bullied and one in five has admitted to being a bully. The statement didn't mention any specific demographics.

"[The glorification of the game's violence] targets the video game to kids and teens, who are impressionable and might come to believe they could be just like Jimmy Hopkins and beat the daylights out of their real-life bullies," says Hitchcock. "That is not the message that should be sent out."

Late last week, the group known as Peaceoholics protested in front of Rockstar's offices in New York City, demanding that the company not release Bully. A gamer known as "The Software Pirate" documented the protest, which consisted of chants of "This game is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S."

Despite opposition, Rockstar is pushing along with the game's release. Earlier this month, Rockstar revealed that the game would be available in October on the PlayStation 2, and a company spokesperson told Reuters, "Finally, Bully can speak for itself. People can look at the game and see what it is and what it's not."

Bully has not yet been rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. ...

Eidos has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that the Xbox version of movie tie-in Reservoir Dogs has been removed from shop shelves following a printing error.

The game went on sale in the UK last Friday. Although the PC and PlayStation 2 versions are still available, Xbox gamers will have to wait a while longer to get their hands on a copy.

"Eidos has recalled the Xbox version of Reservoir Dogs due to a printing error," a spokesperson told GI.biz.

"We are working with retail to rectify the situation as quickly as possible."

It's thought that the game has been withdrawn because the 18 certificate logo was not printed on the Xbox discs. However, Eidos has yet to confirm that this is the case, and did not give any indication as to when the game will go back on sale. ...

Following a statement from Konami and comments by Pro Evo creator Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka, confusion has arisen over Microsoft's claim that PES 6 will be exclusive to the Xbox 360.

Microsoft made the announcement at last week's Leipzig Games Convention, declaring that both FIFA 2007 and Pro Evolution 6 would be Xbox 360 exclusives for at least 12 months.

But according to a statement on Konami's website: "It has been falsely reported on some websites that Konami will release its Pro Evolution Soccer 6 exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360. These reports are not true.

"Konami is currently proceeding with the production of a multi-platform release of Pro Evolution Soccer 6 so that as many people as possible can enjoy the game."

It's possible that the statement is referring to current-gen versions of PES 6 - it's long been confirmed that the game will also appear on PC, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS.

However, speaking to 1up, series creator Takatsuka said that a PS3 version is already in development. He went on to reveal that the game could be released as early as spring - adding that the only certainty is that it will not go on sale before January 1st, 2007.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is sticking to its original line, with a spokesperson telling our sister site, GamesIndustry.biz: "I can confirm that PES 6 and FIFA 07 are indeed next-gen exclusive to Xbox 360 in Europe for the next 12 months, as announced."

This could be seen to suggest that PES 6 will appear on PS3s outside of Europe within the next year, which would make sense - the series is hugely popular in Japan, unlike the poor old Xbox 360. Microsoft has yet to respond to requests for clarification, while Konami is expected to issue an official statement shortly.

The 1up article went on to suggest that Microsoft's deal with Electronic Arts to make FIFA an exclusive may also be in doubt - but an EA spokesperson told GI.biz"FIFA '07 is exclusive to the X360 for the next 12 months," adding, "This would be a global agreement." ...

As the controversy over forthcoming Rockstar title Bully continues, footage of a group of anti-bullying campaigners protesting outside Take-Two's Manhattan offices has appeared online.

In the video, which is available to view via You Tube, members of a group called the Peaceaholics can be heard voicing their disapproval and seen waving placards daubed with slogans such as ‘Say no to Bully’ in the background.

A protester explains: "We think it’s very irresponsible for someone to put a game out like this... If you’re coming from where I come from in (Washington) DC, where children get killed in schools and everything, and see people get picked up off the ground with their brains in the street, then you know we’re not exploiting.

"We’re dealing with real issues, where our children are trained to be animals. Anybody who would do that is just as bad as the terrorists overseas."

The Peaceaholics aren't the first people to take a pop at Bully, of course. Numerous anti-bullying groups have also spoken out against the game, not to mention our old friends Keith Vaz and Jack Thompson. But to no avail, it seems, with Bully due for release in October. ...

Most new technologies have some teething problems as the early kinks are worked out, but it seems like the Blu-ray camp is experiencing more than its fair share of growing pains -- first the delays, then news that the supposed format-savior PS3 might price itself right out of the market, and finally the revelation that first-gen BD-P1000's were shipping with a picture-degrading chip. Well now it appears that there's even more bad news for Sony's pride and joy, as The Digital Bits' Bill Hunt is confirming what many people already suspected after reading their P1000 manuals: the $1,000 player, as currently configured, will be unable to support movies on upcoming 50GB discs. Hunt cites multiple anonymous industry sources in reporting that Samsung is still having problems getting 50GB discs to work on its machines -- production titles weren't even available to test before the players launched -- and that both Sony and Pioneer are experiencing the same issues with their upcoming products. Luckily for current P1000 owners, it seems that this incompatibility is of the type that will eventually be solved by a firmware upgrade, but until that time, movie studios have been forced to delay longer titles like Lawrence of Arabia and Black Hawk Down -- no doubt frustrating some consumers. With so much on the line here, it's clear that this issue will be resolved sooner or later; however, with the HD DVD camp already offering cheaper (and more) hardware, a larger media selection, and garnering better initial reviews than Blu-ray, it's not clear how much time is left before the so-called format war begins leaning decidedly in HD DVD's favor. ...