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Wal-Mart packs Phantom Hourglass preorders with skins and styli
Most of the DS Lite skins we've come across in the past made our eyes want to commit suicide -- you could literally see them darting around, panicked, struggling in vain to grow arms and grab anything in reach to stab themselves blind with.These Phantom Hourglass decals, however, won't disfigure your handheld; they could even by considered somewhat appealing. Wal-Mart will include them, as well as a Link-green stylus, with every $34.82 preorder. The only downside we can see in reserving the game through Wal-Mart is that the retail giant won't ship it out until October 5th, four days after Phantom Hourglass' release. Do you think these extras are worth holding off your Zelda playtime?[Via CAG]
Halo 3 faceplates and skins for your 360
Getting tired of your plain white (or black) Xbox 360 and feel like it's time to give it a makeover? In comes GameShark to your rescue with officially licensed Halo 3 faceplate / console skin bundles in three different Halo'licious designs. Each design pack is made up of one faceplate and two easy to put on (and remove) skins for the sides of your 360 which retail for $29.99 with free shipping. The three designs include the Master Chief inspired Brown Vehicles skin, the Grunty Orange Culprit skin and our favorite purple and pink Covenant skin. Go ahead, get in the Halo 3 mood and skin your 360 or we'll make you purchase another even more Halo themed console.[Via Grunts R Us]
ModMyiPhone releases web-based skinner
Goodness, these hacks are getting so slick and easy to use that we're really not sure it's appropriate to call them hacks anymore. ModMyiPhone has outed a rather impressive web-based home screen skinner, allowing even the most timid of iPhone users access to the wide world of iPhone modding. Besides the extensive selection of stock icons, users can upload their own, position them in the order they wish, and add a custom background while they're add it. The app spits out an .ipb file -- install it on the handset using InstallIPB (see the site for details) and you're good to go. Make your skin for free while you can, though; the site's suggesting that it may need to move the service to a subscription model depending on how popular it becomes.
A WoW iPhone theme
It's been a good few weeks since we've had an iPhone-related post here at the Insider, so it's probably time for another one. While this may not be any form of playing WoW on the iPhone, it's definitely pretty cool: this is a WoW theme that can be applied to the iPhone, changing all its menu icons and background image. And in my opinion, it's pretty sweet. If I had an iPhone I'd definitely take this for a spin.This is the work of Dimos (Darkspear-H), and if you want to Blizz up your own phone, the files to do so are at ModMyiPhone.com. I particularly enjoy the Phone icon being a hearthstone. A common conception on RP servers is that the hearthstone is what enables us to communicate in chat channels, serving as some sort of radio-like device. I don't know if this is what Dimos was going for, but it pleases me either way. The Safari icon is also an uncanny match -- does anyone know what that icon is used for in-game?
The iPhone gets 360'ized
If you're lucky rich enough to have purchased one of those touch friendly iPhones as of late and have been wanting to express your inner Xbox 360 fanboy on your phone, then we've got the solution for you. DecalGirl is offering up a Xbox 360 decal skin for iPhones featuring the green rings we've come to know and love. The three piece skin also comes with a code to download the background seen in the picture (you know, so you get that full Xbox 360 aesthetic feel) and will cost you about $7. But that kind of change is a drop in the bucket to iPhone owners who aren't afraid to shell out $500 for a cell phone.[Via Major Nelson's Twitter]
Wii Warm Up: Skinning
Have you slapped a skin on your Wii, or thought about it? We found ourselves browsing some skinning sites and wondering if we might want to cover up the pure, smooth whiteness of the new console and finally decided against it ... at least, for now. But that's just us. This sweet set of controller skins could get us to change our minds, though -- especially at the low price of five dollars. What about you?
Man gets BSOD message tattooed on his arm
If anyone gave that Zune tattoo guy props for his bravery / stupidity, you owe a handful of kudos to this fellow, too. In an admittedly bizarre move to show one's disdain (right?) for the always infuriating Blue Screen of Death, this man has went so far as to tattoo the BSOD error message on his arm, presumably as a battle scar for all those Windows driver installations gone terribly awry. Next up? We're betting on a Kernel Panic tat for arm number two.[Via Tumbl, thanks Laura]
Julius the Pirate Monkey DS Lite
It's been too long since we last took a sip from China's rum bottle of personalized DS Lites; it's time to get back on that wagon with a buccaneer-themed skin.YYJoy forumer Pikapika shivered our timbers, decorating his handheld with a crossed-cutlasses pattern and Julius the Monkey decked out in full corsair regalia. Now that's piracy we can get behind! Walk the post break plank for more photos of the shipshape DS Lite.
Give the Sudoku grid a new look
The Nintendo DS is rife with Sudoku releases, both commercial and unofficial. Dress them up with mini-cakes or martial arts if you want to, but it's getting harder and harder for these games to keep us interested with each passing week.Leave it to homebrew superstar Mollusk to add some life to the number puzzle. As its name implies, Skinz Sudoku allows you to customize almost every visual detail of its interface. Dropping a PNG template into the game's included PAFS.bat file spits out a unique Skinz Sudoku ROM with your graphics. Jump past the post break for some examples of the different themes.Think of the possibilities! Design your screens with lightning bolts! Replace all of the numbers with Pokémon heads! Scan in a photo of your secret crush with a word balloon that says, "I luv u! Plz date me!" Just don't let anyone catch you locking lips with your DS after staring into his or her eyes for too long. Seriously guys, that's weird.
DS Daily: Get your skin on
We were looking wistfully at this phantom Phoenix Wright decal set, as we are prone to do in unguarded moments, and we realized that despite the fact that this particular set was too beautiful for this world, we still have a desire to skin our DS.But we thought we'd check with you before we did anything hasty. What's your opinion on skinning? Is it universally tacky (er, in the style sense-- we'd kind of hope they were a little sticky) or a way to make your system unique? And if you're all for it, what do you go for? Bling? Anime tie-in? Or something from one of the online stores like Decalgirl that specializes in skins?
Classic Controller gets skinned
You've been able to cover your Wiimote and Nunchuk with a colorful silicone shell for some time now. But your poor Classic Controller has remained-- shamefully-- nude. Cyber Gadget is offering a solution to this indecent situation with Classic Controller skins in six colors: blue, pink, white, black, clear, and clear black. They even come with little coordinating analog stick covers! Cyber Gadget has yet to put these up on their own site, so it seems that they aren't available for sale yet. We're sure someone will offer them to non-Japanese markets once they're released.
Target pimping out DS Lites
Here we thought it was enough that Target was selling our favorite games on the cheap, but that's not the only gem in their huge DS sale. If you happen to be in the market for a new DS Lite, you can also pick up one of these bad boys, though "bad boys" may not be the most appropriate phrase, considering the bedazzling, beaded array of special edition skins on display here.It's a shame these aren't sold separately. Do we really need a reason to pick up another DS Lite, considering we all own like eight? No, we need reasons not to buy another! No wonder the games are on sale ....[Via Gay Gamer]
Pocket PC gets iPhone makeover
While skins to make your Pocket PC look like a little more like the iPhone are nothing new, they've got nothing on this full-on interface change an enterprising programmer created for his E-TEN M600 smartphone. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to pretty up the exterior of the device, but it does manage to successfully emulate some of the iPhone's more notable bells 'n whistles, including its trademark finger-touch scrolling, its slide-to-lock feature, and its now-familiar menu system, all of which was apparently written in PPL (Pocket Programming Language). It also appears to have had the not unexpected side effect of bringing down its creator's site (linked below). Possibly as a result of past brouhahas, it seems that the software won't be going very far beyond that one lucky E-TEN anytime soon, although you can check it out in action in the video after the break.[Thanks, Joel]
Just about the awesomest skins EVAR
As you can see, these "Slim Skins" are available to those who recently got their hands on a DS Lite for the first time in Korea. Who wouldn't want to dress their DS Lite up in such colorful skins? We sure as heck want to! Of course, the skin pictured above is by far our favorite.Question: does that say Lamb or Lame on that submarine?See also: Koreans encountering some problems with Brain Age[Thanks Andy!]
CAMY introduces "dual injection" faceplates
Remember how sweet-looking those Signature series PSPs were? Well, CAMY is offering you a cheaper alternative: faceplates that use their "dual injection" technique. Don't start rolling up your sleeves, though. According to their website, "CAMY PRO GEAR™ faceplates are actually created using two individual layers, the colour layer and the clear outer layer, just like the official SONY PSP™ stock faceplate."Theoretically, this is supposed to make installation easier ... which is much appreciated, considering how much trouble I had installing the invisibleSHIELD many months ago.
Zox announces skinnable DVD player
While there's no shortage of custom skins for game consoles and other front-and-center gadgets, skins for the humble DVD player are still a relatively rare breed (DIY efforts notwithstanding), which makes Zox Japan's latest compact DVD player here slightly more notable than it would have been otherwise. In addition to spinning DVDs and CDs (DVD-R and CD-R/RW included), it'll let you slide in one of three different snazzy looking covers to add a splash color to your home entertainment setup (such as it is). If that's not enough, you'll also apparently be able to download additional skins from the company's website in PDF form or, of course, whip up your own custom job pretty easily. Look for this one to be available in Japan later this month for 7,000 Yen (about $58). [Warning: PDF link][Via Far East Gizmos]
JGUI crafts Vista skin, looks better than Crossbow
iPhone skins are pretty much a dime a dozen at this point -- Pocket PC included, much to Apple's horror -- so why not switch it up with something a little more... shall we say, in the "in the family?" Polish firm JGUI has thrown together a skin for Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PCs that mimics Vista (which we hear ain't bad looking) with a Sidebar clone complete with gadgets, Aero-esque taskbar, and a totally retooled UI for all of the phone's major functions. The screen shots look fabulous (with the possible exception of our mohawk-sporting contact here) and, from what we've seen, put Crossbow to shame in the eye candy department. Note to Microsoft: "Get your ideas for Photon here." The Today screen is freeware and the entire package is available for under $25 -- not bad compared to, say, Vista Ultimate.[Via jkOnTheRun]
Pocket PCs can look like iPhones, too
So maybe you're not the Palm OS user by day, closet iPhone fanatic by night type. No, that's not you at all; you're the Pocket PC user by day, closet iPhone fanatic by night type. Totally different breed, we understand. The cats over at xda-developers have cobbled together a means to get the Windows Mobile Pocket PC of your choice looking pretty much like an iPhone -- if you let your eyes go out of focus, that is -- using a combination of apps and skins. Of course, none of this makes Apple too happy (as evidenced by the removal of the screenshot from the forum), but aren't the folks using these hacks just rearing to buy an iPhone in June anyway?[Thanks, Denys]
Skin your WM5 Pocket PC to look like the iPhone, get sued by Apple
With the various OS X and Vista themes we're always seeing crop up, just to be shut down by Apple and Microsoft legal teams all lickity split like, it's really no surprise that someone whipped up an iPhone theme for Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC already, and it's equally unsurprising that Apple legal is already doing its darnedest to put the kibosh on the skin. The pretty view comes to us courtesy of "hanmin" of the XDA Developers forums, and while there's only so much you can do by swapping out a few icons, we're still liking the look -- WM5 was never really the pretty one.[Via MoDaCo; thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Konami offers skins with new shooter collections
Konami's upcoming trio of shooter collections is coming with a surprisingly cool bonus: skins for your PSP. The Salamander one (pictured above) is clearly the coolest, but Twinbee and Parodius ain't too shabby either. The games will arrive in Japan on January 25th, and shooter fans may want to import these classics. The remaining skins can be seen, after the cut.[Via Siliconera]
