"You know what this little bad boy can do?" the Gizmondo guy asks, not even looking up from the portable he's playing.

Yeah, I do. The Gizmondo guy behind the counter finishes his game and finally gets off his duff. His baseball cap is decorated with holly. Its four days before Christmas, and nobody else is in sight.

"Can I take a look at it?"

The guy hands me the handheld. It's small and fits snug in my palms, even if it does look like some wack alien steering wheel.

"When did it go on sale in the US?"

"About a month ago. How do you know this device isn't American?"

"I like videogames," I say, holding back. "What do you think of the product?"

"I wouldn't trade it for the world," the guy says. He tells me all the things the Gizmondo does. The handheld plays games, music, takes pics and some other stuff. His voice is metallic, and I tune him out.

The handheld itself ain't so bad. And the guy's right, it can do a lot of things. The demo I am playing (a ball spinning through a maze) sucks, though.

"What were you doing before?"

"Contract labor, working on a dock," the guys says, stroking his goatee.

"How do you like working here?"

"Wouldn't trade it for the world. I got my music, my games. I love it."

"Is the Gizmondo sold only via kiosks like this or in stores?"

"Like this. In fact, this is the only shop in all of Texas."

Here I am at the sole Gizmondo outlet in a state larger than Japan. What an honor.

"Are all the titles third party?" I ask.

The guy looks at me puzzled. Crap, I'm showing my hand.

"Does Gizmondo make all the games?" I try again in English.

"There's other companies making games. In fact, we're gonna have Mario and Sonic."

"Software?"

"Yeah, or online for download. That's what everyone's been asking about."

"How do you know this?"

"Oh," the guy says, "I know people and got everybody's number on my speed dial. So I get all the juicy details."

Mario and Sonic on the Gizmondo? Geez, I don't know whether to smile or cringe. I hand the guy the handheld back, adding a "Merry Christmas." Hope I see him next year.

Gizmondo [Official Site]

Planning on getting someone a PSP for the holidays, but you want to make sure it's one of the ultra-hackable versions? PSP Hacks has a tip - the secret is in the label. Apparently, the firmware version of the enclosed PSP can be figured out from the label on the back of the box (see image).

Here's the coding breakdown:
A-1.50
B-1.51
C-1.52
D-2.00 Unconfirmed
E-2.00 Unconfirmed (likely 1.52)
F-2.00
G-2.01

Hack away.

Is It a 1.5? How to Tell From the Box [PSP Hacks]
PSP 2.01 Already Hacked

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Reuters via Financial Express is reporting that Sony's PSP is on track to double its user base by year's end. SCEA president Kaz Hirai predicted exactly that from the handheld back in October. The sleek portable is expected to sell six million units in North America in 2005. That's more than I would've expected.

Sony on Track to Double Video Game Sales [Financial Express]

They showed the faceplate on its own a few months ago, but here's the final packaging for FF IV GameBoy Micro Pack. I will admit, it looks pretty slick.

First GameBoy Micro Pack (Japan) [British Gaming Blog]

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

Wow, so that question about the best video game console to start your kids out on elicited a lot of very thoughtful comments, nearly 50 of them to be exact. But one in particular caught my attention. A reader sent me an email saying that the best console for a kid was none.

Here's his reasoning, it's a good read:

I am not able to comment on Kotaku so I will pass my remark along to you. A consensus of reputable pediatricians recommend no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of television for young children. And no television at all for children under 2. Most American parents let their children watch much more than that and usually from the earliest age. Not only do they let their kids have free run of the television, but they also keep the television on themselves "to keep them company" and their children have portable gaming devices and access to the computer. Once you factor in DVDs, videocassettes, Game Boy, computer games, and mom and dad leaving the tube running in the background all day, your kid is getting far in excess of that 1 to 2 hours. And from the comments on your thread, your readers are saying their kids are playing Game Boy at age 2 and 3.

Most parents have some amorphous and ill-considered notion that somehow gaming "encourages creativity." How do they arrive at this? They don't. They don't attempt to support it, prove it, or verify it. They just believe it and hope like hell it is true. I am a life-time gamer (been playing since Pong in 1977) and I game with my DS, Xbox, Gamecube. In addition, I am wrestling with whether or not I should give my daughter a DS at age EIGHT or whether I should wait until she is ten. In America in 2005, that just about makes me some sort of fanatic, crank, or luddite when most parents are letting their kids watch "Revenge of the Sith" or "Bride of Chucky" at age 2 and most kids have their own televisions in their rooms by age 5 (to go along with the three or four other televisions and videoscreens in the house and in the car).

The reason I don't know if I want her to own a DS is simply because right now she reads at every opportunity. When she's bored, she reads. Or draws or writes. In addition, she has taught herself how to play the piano by just sitting down and pursuing it relentlessly. Her entire life she has been limited to one hour a day of "media time." That means she can spend that time playing a computer game or watching PBS (never commercial television which constantly pushes useless products on her... and us) or a DVD or occasionally a Gamecube game, primarily Animal Crossing (which she usually plays with us, so it's a social activity). One hour. That's it.

Now, I know for a fact that she would love to play Animal Crossing on the DS. But whether or not she will love it is not the point. She would love to eat potato chips and ice cream for every meal, but being a responsible parent is not about giving your kid what makes them happy moment to moment. A parent needs to plan for the ongoing long-term happiness and health of their child. Being fit and creative makes her happy. And it takes work. It takes her parents saying no when she asks for candy. Or other crap food. And it takes work when she asks for crap entertainment (maybe "crap" is too strong a word. Better to call it "high calorie/high fat/low nutrition" entertainment).

I have volunteered in my daughter's classrooms consistently since she was in pre-school and I have had a chance to watch she and her classmates change over time. I have noticed that the children who have spent the most time with television often think and create narratives or artwork using cartoon, game, or comic book characters. They don't create their own characters or stories. They simply relate an episode or game experience. It wasn't always that way. At their earliest ages they would create wild epics with wonderfully imaginative original characters. As they grew older, the stories would inevitably become a retelling of Scooby Doo or Spiderman. It saddens me to see them begin so creatively and slowly evolve into mere consumers.

In addition, excessive television watching or playing, especially late at night disrupts sleep patterns. And unless you are locking up your 3 year-olds Game Boy or DS each night, you can bet they are playing it when they need to be sleeping. For young children sleeping is not just about being groggy in the morning like adults. It's about cognitive development. I see kids in the classroom who don't get a proper breakfast or who didn't get enough sleep and they simply cannot focus on their work. Their entire day is a haze. When your kid is playing DS and is not getting the absolutely mandatory sleep their brains need to properly develop you are seriously hampering the health and growth of your child.

Seeing their smiles on Christmas morning or their (and your) joy when you play multi-player Mario Kart is a poor substitute.

It is increasingly becoming clear that Internet and gaming are as addictive and debilitating as any other obsession. And to put that kind of crack into the hands of a 2 year-old does not speak well to the discretion of that child's guardian, who themselves likely suffers from a dysfunctional attachment to electronic media.

And to say "well, gaming didn't harm ME" is a weak defense. Gaming in 2005 is PROFOUNDLY and completely different from gaming even five or ten years ago. With WiFi and MMOGs and Xbox Live and portable game systems which offer endless hours of always-on diversion in addition to 500 channels of cable and broadband Internet is nothing like the Pong of my youth or even the Game Boy Color of some of your youth. We don't have any idea how this will affect our children. To just say "it's fun. Here. Knock yourself out" is slapdash and irresponsible.

For me, I love to game. But I also think of the things I give up when I go on a gaming binge. I give up the face-to-face company of other humans. I give up exercise. I give up BEING creative instead of just enjoying the creativity of others. I've had to ask myself how much of my gaming is healthy pastime and how much of it is unhealthy obsession.

And I don't want my kid to lose hours and days in front of a video screen like I have. I want her to enjoy gaming as any other pastime, but I want it placed in its proper context.

My suggestion to you is that after you've run this "first console" thing, you might want to have a poll which asks who, if anyone (and you might be depressed at the results), has decided to severely limit their child's gaming time based on their own experiences as a gamer. Or as a sometimes-gamer. Or as a non-gamer.

Finally, your invite system for comments may cut down on spam or poorly crafted remarks, but this thread illustrates how a homogenaeity of pre-selected posters tends to skew the remarks heavily in one direction (i.e. hardcore gamers and their hardcore habits).

I love to game and I would like to spend time (and I have) with my daughter gaming, but I am having some serious doubts whether I should accelerate her access to videogames. Actually, reading the remarks on this thread and the completely uncritical acceptance of the necessity of getting your kids hooked onto a gaming console ASAP has made the decision for me. I was thinking of getting my daughter a DS for Christmas, but that won't be happening this year. I think I'll give her rollerskates instead.

By the way, even though this seems highly critical (and it is), I still love your blog and its intelligent treatment of the rapidly maturing medium of video games. Thanks.

Good stuff and an issue I'm often left pondering myself. The winner of the poll, by the way, was the SNES followed by the NES and the GameCube. Damn Nintendo, you've got some hardcore fans.

So, the last poll and the above letter beg the question, which portable console is best for kids? I'll start a poll a bit later today, so make some suggestions now.

We sure have some intelligent readers out there, it makes me proud. If you want to check out the discourse about whether kids should play video games and if so on which console, they hit up the links. This is particular post is to help narrow down which portable system is the best to purchase be it at a store or in eBay. Hit the "more" and take a vote.

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Boing Boing alerted us to the hacking of PSP 2.01 (already), this time PSP 3D did it. How'd they do it this time? Boing Boing points to some published cheats for Grand Theft Auto: LCS as the way in. Some more details and a how-to are readable at the PSP 3D forums.

PSP Firmware 2.01 Unlocked [Boing Boing]
First 2.01 Homebrew Game Ported By PSP 3D [PSP 3D]

Aside from me figuring out what to get Crecente for Christmas (see image) - it is at least interesting the the font Bouncy is written in is pretty similar if not the same as the Grand Theft Auto font. Those porno UMD makers sure have those PSP users pegged. Le sigh.

Thanks for the gift tip, Scott

Geek On Stun, like us here at Kotaku, is into leather. As a result, so are their Nintendo DSes. They link to the Nintendo Japan site's excellent leather cases. I'm getting one of these for Christmas from someone, right?

Nintendo DS Leather Cases [Nintendo Japan]
Our Christmas Wish [Geek on Stun]

Track one of these babies down to tell your girl you'll love her forever. Or at least until she comes into your town on Animal Crossing and buys all the rare stuff from Nookington's. Then, you can toss her out like last week's garbage. Pixel Theories was linking to this now-ended auction. The company behind the diamond DS is NYC Peach in case you want to track down one of these units. Careful guys, if you get this for your special lady, you could end up with a Paula Abdul mixtape containing "Forever Your Girl" on it. Not sure if that's what you're going for, either.

Diamond DS [EBay]
Get Your Girl a Blinged DS [Pixel Theories]

There are officially less than two weeks to go until Christmas. Mom, if you're reading this you need to click over to the Gift Guide and consider that my Christmas list for 2005, okay? Everyone who isn't my mother and is reading this, check the Gift Guide if you're struggling to come up with ideas for the gamer or gearhead in your life.

The Gawker Gift Guide

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

In an effort to convince everyone that the first Metal Gear AC!D didn't suck eggs, Konami's pulling a bait and cover by introducing in-game pin-up cards to collect and trade. Better yet, players can view the bikini girls in 3D through the Solid Eye add-on. I remember talking to the game's director about this at TGS and thinking that 3D could really help make the PSP. Shame that Konami stooped to slinging T&A, because for my money the original AC!D wasn't half bad. Sequel drops tomorrow in Japan.

More Info Here [Konami] via GameBrink Thanks Jeromy!

Just because GameSpot debunked our hopes of seeing Lapis coming to a stylus near you doesn't mean that Nintendo's DS is any less of a holiday gift. Mario Kart DS, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright - there's a mountain of great stuff for the system, check our Gift Guide for some help. Get one for someone you love. You can learn the stuff Lapis wants to teach you on the Internet, anyway.

The Gift Guide
Lapis [The Official Site]
Rumor: DS rubbing girls the right way? [GameSpot]

That's former prize fighter Wajima showing his famous "frog punch" to reporters at a press conference for the upcoming PSP title Boxer's Road 2: The Real and NOT some old man that's just been kicked in the nuts. The PSP game's a sequel of sorts to the popular PS2 title. It's out this week.

Full Article Here [Watch Impress]

Last week's PSP firmware update includes a gimped version of an RSS feed, and Slashdot links to a bit that has a Sony spokeswoman saying if enough customers ask for it, they'll unleash the RSS potential of the handheld. Want more progress? Ask for it.

Sony May Complete RSS Support for PSP [Slashdot]
Sony Will Consider Text RSS [Digital World Tokyo]
PSPodcasting

The PSP graffiti that Sony wasn't talking about earned mention at Wired. Finally, something more than just idle bitching, Wired snapped pics (see image) of people tagging over Sony's desperate, stupid marketing ploy. Sony finally loosened its lips on the whole fiasco, opening up a little bit to Wired. Spokeswoman Molly Smith offered the following: "With PSP being a portable product, our target is what we consider to be urban nomads, people who are on the go constantly."

Yet, Sony in their wisdom is overlooking the simple truth that the graffiti is pissing people off. Anyone have any data available that ties hating a company and its marketing to purchasing their products? It might be handy.

Sony Draws Ire With PSP Graffiti [Wired]
California Loveless: PSP Residents Pissed About PSP Promos
Sony's PSP Graffiti is Pissing People Off [Gizmodo]

For gamers, Tecmo's got Kasumi. For gamblers, they've got Rio. Even though Miss Rio has her own DS game, PS2 game and pachi-slots, she's nothing but a pretty face. I really wish Tecmo or Team Ninja would provide some half-assed rational for this flat-out sexploitation.

Order Rio Goodies Here [Tecmo]