I’m a big gamer. I love my Nintendo DS. I love my board games. So on the road, [I play them] especially to kill time. Now, I don’t have much time, because of my little one, to play those games. I play different games now.

Her favorite game? Mario Kart DS. The neat thing isn't that Christina Aguilera plays her DS (ho hum), but that she plays board games. Board games are awesome. Aguilera's music, not so much.

Christina Aguilera Names Her Favorite Handheld System, Game [Multiplayer] [Pic]

The Wii is one of those markets where Nintendo owns both the hardware and the software, but part of that is because they make such damn good products. So it’s the toughest platform for third party developers. We don’t have a software or content base ideally suited for it. So it doesn’t really play to our strengths and we’re pretty busy with other stuff right now. I’m thrilled that Nintendo has had this kind of success because they took some risky bets, and it’s always nice some bold thinking pay off for them. But I don’t think we’ll be on the platform.

At least he's honest!

Carmack on Doom, Rage, EA and More [Tom's Games via Go Nintendo]

Alba, currently starring in the new Fantastic Four and probably best known for her work as Some Girl With A Fantastic Ass in Into The Blue, explains of her Nintendo sales domination contribution:

I had my DS on the set of Fantastic Four and I bought it for my entire cast when we wrapped. I guess I just felt bad because between takes they'd be chatting and we were in the Fantasticar and I'd always have my iPod and my DS with me. It was like fingernail-biting, gripping moments in the movie and then, "Cut!" I'd pick up my DS and try to beat my 82 age in Brain Age. I'd try to memorize all of those damn words.

Sure she may have a brain age of 82, but I'm sure you're mostly interested in the fact that Jessica Alba knows what the hell a DS is. Should help ground your masturbatory fantasies involving Jessica and a heated Mario Kart DS battle with high (sexy) stakes. Michael McWhertor

Celebrity Byte: Exclusive Interview With Jessica Alba [Yahoo!]

Circuit City is never really a place I think about going for games, but they do seem to have a lot of sales on them. This week they are running a special with all games $19.99 sold two for $30. They also seem to have Wii's in stock although by the time you read this they will most likely all be gone. Also available is Mario kart DS and New Super Mario Brothers for $26.25 each. As an added and rather humorous bonus. If you purchase a copy of Tomb Raider Anniversary, you get a free TR beach towel. Now you can finally fulfill your fantasy of getting on top of Lara Croft without resorting to dressing up that blow up doll in your closet. Flynn De Marco

[via GoNintendo]

But back to gaming. I'm currently armed with a Nintendo DS and a fresh copy of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and only one boss in. I've also got a Ziploc bag full of random cards and carts, ready for whatever Kotaku Wi-fi battle needs to happen. And since I'm the owner of a brand new Wii, when I get back to Los Angeles, it's Wii Sports and Wario Ware Smooth Moves all damn night.

So what games have you got penciled in for the weekend? Anyone going to Barcade ready to issue an arcade challenge? Let us know what's gettin' played in the comments. Michael McWhertor

At only $12 a set, DS Buttons can make avoiding those awkward introductions when asking strangers for a game of Tetris DS or Mario Kart DS on the train very affordable. Michael McWhertor

DS Buttons

Not my wife. My wife doesn't have an apron, because we eat only beef jerky at the Ashcraft house. That and popcorn. Reader Elfire's misses does have an apron. He explains:

My wife is a Nintendo fangirl. A few months ago she made this apron for herself so she could show her love for Nintendo while cooking.

Domestic evenings are spent playing "a few rounds of Mario Kart DS together" and then eating a home-made feast to satisfy those "after Kart munchies." Stepford Wives, anyone? Brian Ashcraft

According to our site description, we supposedly supply 'cheats' but not 'strategies'. So I'm not really sure if this post conforms enough to our mission statement to pass our rigorous screening process. But if you're looking to improve your Mario Kart DS game, _NANO_ over at the official Mario Kart DS forums has posted a comprehensive tutorial with extensive video on How To Dodge That Nasty Blue Shell. Hit the link to see more videos and read instructions in action. Crecente! Prepare to suck it. Florian Eckhardt

How to Dodge a Blue Shell in Mario Kart DS [Official Forums]

The Biggest Mario Kart Tourney Ever [GZN]

In addition to the four million Nintendo DS sold in North America, Nintendo has also sold over a million copies of both of their big holiday titles, Nintendogs and Mario Kart DS. The latter cleared the one million sales mark in less than seven weeks. Funny, when we were out at the Game Sumitt back in November, it seemed like Mario Kart would end up one of the hot gifts at X-mas. Guess we were right.

The Regginator will shake some hands, sign some stuff and then kick some ass in Mario Kart DS. Nintendo will also be giving away some cool stuff after the tournament. You have to be in-person to win, but you may be lucky enough to catch Reggie in-game on your own DS as well. Make sure you do some racing tonight and keep your fingers crossed. I'm told that you will definitely know if you are racing Reggie. Here's a rough schedule (all in PST):

o 3:45pm start signing players up for game play
o number of players will determine tournament structure
o 4:00pm start tournament play
o 4:15pm Reggie arrives
o 5:00pm finalize tournament (championships)
o 5:15pm award prizing

Alice points out that a slew of Walk Throughs have already hit the net for Mario Kart DS. Hey Luke, maybe you should check them out before we play again.

Mario Kart DS [Gamefaqs]

A thread at the perpetually informative Gaming-Age Forums points to a GSCentral thread discussing the hackability of Nintendo's WiFi system. One user, Parasyte, claims to have already gotten several offline tracks in Mario Kart DS playable online - but he's not saying how. Here's a clip of an offline level being played online. I want more information, I want to know how to do this and I want to see what Nintendo is going to do. Upon hearing the news of hte hack Crecente asked, "Did they give Mario boobs?" Only a matter of time, my friend, only a matter of time.

Mario Kart DS Offline Tracks Spotted Online [GAF]
Anyone Up for Hacking Nintendo WiFi Later this Week? [GSCentral]
Video Proof

We delayed the contest more times than Team Ninja is going to delay DoA 4. Finally, we stopped extending deadlines and had to man up. The winner of the Hot Rod DS is: derekc.

The five losers runners-up receive a Nintendo DS stylus and they are: Drew, the_briarpatch, Cerif27, Ravidrath and supersloth.

The random number generator gods have shown favor on you all, today. If your commenting name is listed above you need to send us an email with your shipping information. The email you use must match the email your commenting account is registered through.

Don t forget to drop a comment over on the official contest thread for your chance at winning a swank Hot Rod Red DS bundle (that s a red DS, checkered wrist strap, stickers and the Mario Kart DS game), or one of five Mario Kart DS styluseseseseses. The contest ends today, so don t pull a me and put it off till Thursday when it s too late.

Contest Thread [Kotaku]

We kinda feel bad about pushing back the Friend Code contest for weeks when all you get to win is a Mario Kart Stylus. So we asked Nintendo if they could pony up something worthwhile and they delivered.

The grand prize for the contest will be a Hot Rod Red DS bundle. For those of you not in the know on this tricked out Nintendo goody, it comes with a red DS, racing stickers, racing wrist strap and a copy of Mario Kart DS. To make this a bit more fun, you no longer need to enter a friend code to enter. Just hop to the link and create a
comment with your city and state or your friend code.

We are still giving away five stylus and the winners will still be determined by random drawing.

Entries end at midnight on Wednesday. So if you ve been slack, or didn t own a DS, get to commenting. If you need commenting privledge make sure you request via tips@kotaku.com early so we can get it to you in time.

Good luck.

Enter here to win [Kotaku]

There are a lot of things I really love about Mario Kart DS and its use of NiWiFi. But, let s face it, Nintendo s first WiFi DS game has some major issues.

Rant on:

The biggest problem is the game s seeming inability to deal with the dips who decide to drop out of a race in the last five second rather than face a single defeat. I can t believe Nintendo didn t forsee this. It s annoying as hell and alone makes me not want to race people some times.

While the simplicity of Kart s WiFi racing is a big plus, it s just as big a minus. I d kinda like to have lobbies to check out the competition or at least to allow me to select who I will be racing against instead of relying on a totally random match-up EVERY, SINGLE, RACE!

I hate that I can t talk, message or draw pictures to the competition before, during or after a race. Why wasn t anything like that included? The first time I raced Luke we had to resort to IMing each other for a quick barrage of smack talk between races.

Where s the damn leaderboard. I must have a leaderboard. I need to know that I am number 12,437 out of 12, 438. It will do my inflated ego good. I need to know how my friend s rank. I need to know how much Luke sucks.

Come on Nintendo, you can do it. Fix Metroid Prime before it hits WiFi. Just remember, everytime Nintendo screws up an online game God kills a kitten.

We re down to the second to last day of the neverending Mario Kart DS contest. I swear we renot going to be extending it anymore. Hop on over to the link to enter your Friend Code and be entered for a chance to win a cool Mario Kart Stylus.

I was on the other night playing a bit of MKDS, I noticed Luke was no where to be seen. He claims he was saying his Hail Mary s over the porcelin alter, but I don t believe him.

Official Kotaku Friend Code Thread [Contest page]

Slashdot has word of a site dedicated to hooking NiWiFi players up in Mario Kart without totally random results. DS Meet lets you search for online users based on their DS user names.

DS Meet Hopes to Match [Slashdot]