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Once more Nintendo is releasing products for Japanese gamers that the rest of the world can only covet (or import, in any case). It wasn't enough that they're releasing the Super Mario All Stars bundle in Japan and Europe and the sexy-looking Mario-red Wii in Sushiland, now they've also announced that two limited-edition DSi consoles are coming to the Japanese market: Pokémon Black & White.

Each handheld version, according to the color you choose, will come bundled with the corresponding version of the Pokémon game. They've also set the release date to November 20th. and say the special versions will cost almos 5,000 Yen more than a regular DSi, at an MSRP of 19,800 Yen (around US$240).

Via Kotaku.

Opera employee, user research scientist, and otaku specialist Lawrence Eng ran into a problem with the user interface (UI) of a game recently. Well, actually his young son did, and it was a Nintendo published DSiWare, too: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

In his recent blog post Bad UI Makes My Kid Cry, Lawrence illustrates a problem that I've often wondered about but could never prove existed. A problem that spans 30 years and over 200 games. A problem not tied to to the color of Mario's hat, but threaded in the fabric of game design, across systems and generations. Red.

Nintendo likes the color red for obvious reasons, I'll not get into that. In the real world, kids learn red means danger, caution, and stop. But video games don't adhere to nature's standards and sometimes artistic liberties are taken in interface design that give mixed signals. In Lawrence's example, Red to start a new game, Red to erase your data, Red to go back to the title screen, and blinking Red to cancel that erase command. Green to confirm erasure. :[ In a game that's geared toward a younger audience, you'd think the designers would make it harder to accidentally erase your data.

We've had red and green buttons across systems and on in game menus for years, sometimes performing the opposite function than you'd expect, sometimes a company will choose one function set across multiple games. Sometimes a system will make color less important. You ever watch a Playstation gamer try to start a Konami game?

Have you ever learned a hard lesson due to bad interface design?

Again no Virtual Console update! But at least it's a good update - seven titles, one of which is technically an application.

Hit the jump for details.

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That's right, it's official, DSi LL is like the Escalade of the DS world. Blingtastic "Red Wine" paint job (or Dark Brown or Natural White in Japan), executive style stylus, and 4.2 inch displays. Mm, it's a shame my Zombie Survival DSi is still so ferociously awesome. Still though, having extra huge monster screens like that is something to drool over right? Looks like the Japanese release date is set for November 21st... this year. Europe and the US get it Q1 of 2010 with the name "DSi XL" and it will be more expensive than the current DSi.

I guess Sony is gonna have to make a PSP Go SE or something to follow-up right? DSi LL is targeted primarily to the gamers out there who are a little hard of seeing... like Brain Age players who have a physical age approaching the triple digits.

So, what are you thinking? Want one? Infuriated that this will be the tenth DS system you buy? Are you gonna be savvy and wait for DSi LL in black so you can ensure it's zombie survival skills? Or is it something that is just not floating your boat; I mean it IS more bulky and harder to carry around, though it is pretty much the same depth. And that pen really doesn't hide inside the thing anywhere does it? To be fair though it does have a second "regular" type stylus that does fit inside it.

Japanese Package includes: Easy Meikyo Kokugo Dictionary, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, and Brain Age Express: Math.

Read more for more photos of sweetness...

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Rejoice, Europe! You're getting shiny, new colors for your DSi! If the rumors are true, of course... According to reports from a Nintendo distributor, three new colors will be available for DSi shoppers by the end of October (on the 23rd to be exact if the report is accurate). Now Euro gamers will have blue, navy, and red on their DSi to choose from.

While the fact that around this time Sony will be releasing the PSPgo and would make it look as a move for Nintendo to boost DSi sales and beat the PSPgo, reports that the aforementioned handheld is dead before it even arrives (retailers refusing to stock Sony's new mini-wonder, pre-orders not even being touched, distributors refusing to give publicity, mixed reviews, and insanely high pricing) make it look as if this was not the true reason why the colors would be released.

Bear in mind that Nintendo has NOT made an official announcement yet, so take this as is: RUMOR.

Well, they're soon to be here: DSi-specific games. We all talked about them and wondered when they were coming out; a few developers actually expressed that unless the system became uberly popular, developing specifically for the DSi was not yet an option; some of our own even questioned the DSi's capability of actually running slightly more powerful games. Well, not anymore.

While Nintendo did say during GDC that these games were coming, they never had a 'fixed' date...until now. Games like Ubisoft's Jam Sessions 2 or My Healthy Cooking Coach will be DSi only games that will be sold via 'regular' cartridges. However, and to avoid frustrated buyers, DSi-specific games will be packaged in all-white cases, making them stand out from regular dark-gray casings used for general DS games. Even the cartridges themselves will be white and, of course, a 'warning' label will be added to both the cartridges and the package.

Well, this should get all you DSi lovers fired up (and those who call it a 'stopgap' too). According to a Kotaku Interview, Band Hero developers are aware that their soon-to-be released game is not compatible with the DSi... The worst part is, it is an easily solvable issue; one they just don't care enough to correct right now.

With Guitar Hero, for instance, the problem is that the game requires a GBA-slot peripheral to work; something the DSi lacks. There, the problem is hardware-related and much more complicated to solve. However, with Band Hero, the problem is that the 'peripheral' they use is just a 'skin'; it wraps itself around the DS with four drum-like pads that fall over the DS buttons. Now, this 'skin', won't fit the DSi because it is not the same shape as the DS (and I don't know, but I guess the same goes for the DS Phat). However, and although the problem is easily solved by releasing an adapted skin, they just don't feel the DSi audience merits their investment.

It's something we want to work on and we have been investigating ways to get (Band Hero) to the DSi, but we looked at how many people already have the Guitar Grip and already have the DS and not the DSi."