The 22-year-old woman told Joliet police that she was away from her house for about 30 minutes. When she returned and opened the door to her apartment a man ran out.

"The victim's Nintendo DS was on, and it appears the suspect had been playing it," Deputy Chief Mike Trafton told the News.

The woman's bedroom was ransacked and a "pink iPod Touch" was missing. The DS, however, was left behind.

What sort of game could have been so interesting that a burglar stopped in mid loot to play it, but then decided that not only was the game not worth stealing, but neither was the DS?

Intruder plays video games [The Herald News]

Sleeves make everything better. So does Disney. And keyblades. And punch. Man, we love punch.

Thanks ZeroGinc for the tip!

Vleugels, designer of 16 flash games, has put together "Kenney's Bite-Sized Non-Adventures" (above). Part 1 is "Watch a movie." In it, you play our hero, exploring his apartment while finding the remote control and DVD that will unlock his happiness. For the next 90 minutes anyway. (The DVD, not the game.)

"Up next I'll try to make you experience my morning ritual," Kenney writes. Uh, if it's anything like mine you can keep that to yourself, bub. Thanks.

Kenney's Bite Sized Non-Adventures [Kenney Vleugels]

"Did you notice around :49 his tapping actually shook change off my desk and onto my floor?" writes Brentalfloss. Yes. All I can say is, I feel sorry for your downstairs neighbors, dude.

Tap-Dancing the Super Mario Bros. Theme [YouTube via GoNintendo]

His latest project is the Nintendo Wii SUPREME, for which he wants the equivalent of US$483,883. The console contains 2,500 grams (88 oz.) of solid 22ct gold and the front buttons house 78 x 0.25 ct flawless diamonds. The total of all 78 diamonds is 19.5 karats.

The total value of the gold and the two diamonds is considerably less than what Stuart Hughes is asking. What's more, you'll have to play your SUPREME Wii with a NORMAL Wii Remote.

Let's say that the gold is US$1,000 an ounce for a total of about $88,185. And the diamonds are about, say, between $1,200 and $1,500 a karat for a total of somewhere between $23,400 and $29,250 for the diamonds. Both bring the grand total to approximately $117,435 — not including the price of a Nintendo Wii and labor. Stuart Hughes site says that it takes six months to make one of these things. Stuart Hughes' time is very valuable. Six months will cost you, give or take, $365,565.

Only three of these will be made. You can buy it online, too. Go ahead, do it.

Stuart Hughes [Official Site, Thanks Kal!]

"The Only Elite Xbox 360 that has been microwaved," boasts the advertisement by artist Kenny Irwin. I'd love to see someone zap theirs just to spite the claim. Anyway, Irwin says half of the proceeds from this auction will go to the Council on American-Islamic Relations of California, which I bet never thought it'd be the beneficiary of a sale of melted consumer electronics.

Irwin's bio, according to the eBay listing:

Kenny Irwin art comes in many unique forms from using bic ball point pens to draw with to weaving xmas lights into textiles to microwaving everyday retail products into other worldly creatures and building giant robots out of your junk and much much more. Kenny Irwin art is endorsed and featured by AVAM [American Visionary Art Museum] and is the talk of the town and the talk of the world. Owning a Kenny Irwin original means owning something everyone talks about. From the internationally renowned dOvetastic Microwave Theater comes this state of the "art" work of art worthy of a place in the Guggenheim Museum sign and dated by Artist Kenny Irwin. Comes with free stylish display stand. Your item is guaranteed to have been microwaved or your money back. Remember, microwaving food is for morons. Price is non-negotiable. Buyer shall receive an object of microwave modern art.

CAIR of California is also listed as the 25 percent recipient of the proceeds from a nuked Wii, going for $5,988. It got the same treatment, microwaving, eyeball-affixing, the works. Speaking of works, these don't.

Microwaved Elite White Xbox 360 and Microwaved Nintendo Wii Mutant Gaming Machine [eBay via Hot Blooded Gaming]

According to Turner:

When you play, you watch only the Christmas lights, but the audio you hear is from the Wii, so your flubs are broadcast for all to hear (people in cars can tune 99.1 and crank it up as loud as they want.) When we are not playing, a separate version of the program that has the audio from the recorded game plays with the lights as a loop.

And all across America, thousands of suburban dads hold their manhood cheap, and thank God that Ric Turner does not live on their block.

Christmas Lights Display of the Day [The Daily What, thanks Carlos M.]

Super Smash Bros. Brawl fans may recognize this version of Andross as he appeared in the original Star Fox for the Super NES, but much of New York's commuting populace will be puzzled by the polygonal antagonist's cover up of their favorite glowing advertisements. You can enjoy photos of the Andross installation at Posterchild's Blade Diary.

Andross [Blade Diary]

While the straight-to-DVD has already gotten a release in Europe and Australia, the flick never got an American release. Till now. Lionsgate Home Entertainment is finally releasing the movie on January 26, 2010 with the tag line "Evil Returns". Apparently the tag "Crap Returns" was taken?

Based on the game by the same name, the previous Alone in the Dark was directed by Uwe Boll and starred Christian Slater and Tara Reid. The sequel was written and directed by Boll cohorts Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer.

Alone in the Dark II DVD Art, Date [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

When Sonic character designer Naoto Ohshima was asked by game site Gamasutra the obvious question as to why Sonic's sneakers are white and red, it got a less than obvious answer: "His shoes were inspired by the cover to Michael Jackson's Bad, which contrasted heavily between white and red — that Santa Claus-type color. I also thought that red went well for a character who can run really fast, when his legs are spinning."

Also know that Sonic is blue because SEGA's official color is blue, not because he is sad that Sonic games aren't good any more.

Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks [Gamasutra]

You can pick up that T-shirt (if you dig barfing robots) and some free mp3s at their Myspace page. I caught one of their tunes off this page, too.

They've been around for more than a year (their first album, on Eyeball Records, released last July.) I don't want to turn this into a discussion of trademark law because I'm trying to wind down my amateur freelance litigation career. Maybe Nintendo's mark doesn't cover indie/electro/pop music. So, carry on Metroid the band. But if anyone names their group "Grandma Incest" we're gonna have a lawsuit.

Metroid on MySpace Music [via GoNintendo]

A commenter asks "Was that one hand for left AND right hand, or was it just a really intense right hand part?" and the artist, RigorMortis999 replies, "the former becoming the latter."

Good thing Mario didn't run down to his final 100 seconds at the end.

Mario Theme with One Hand Only [YouTube User RigorMortis999, thanks Isiah O.!]

1. twitter
2. michael jackson
3. facebook
4. hulu
5. hi5
6. glee
7. paranormal activity
8. natasha richardson
9. farrah fawcett
10. lady gaga

As we previously posted, Google has released its Zeitgeist" lists for 2009, highlighting the fastest-growing and fastest-falling search trends over the past year.

Now let's look at the "Fastest Rising" words for Japan in 2009.

1. Dragon Quest IX
2. Mieko Tanaka
3. bing
4. Makoto Kitano
5. Shinken
6. Demon's Souls
7. Noriko Sakai
8. Dump Matsumoto
9. Zeni Geba
10. Kamen Rider Decade

Demon's Soul? Really?

Google、2009年の急上昇ワードNo.1「ドラゴンクエスト9」 [マイコミジャーナル]

You have to go through about a minute of this video to get to the germane portion. In all, it's a nice use of Grand Theft Auto IV, but what's up with the its-a-me-Mario voice? Elin Nordegren is a woman and a Swede, not an Italian dude.

New Tiger Woods Video Game [Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.]