We first told you about Datel's DS product, Games'n'Music, last month as a nifty tool that'll allow you to launch homebrew games, listen to mp3's, watch movies and tons more.

And now, news have reached our ears that Datel has issued a recall warning for all those who have purchased their product from Best Buy (sku # 8241146) between January 1, 2007 and the present because they "have found material embedded within the content."

Here's the full content of the issued notice:

Through the course of our on-going quality assurance testing we have found material embedded within the content included with our Games 'N' Music product without our knowledge or consent. We feel this material could be considered inappropriate by our customers and have chosen to remove it and remanufacture the product.

If you have already purchased Games N Music from Best Buy (sku # 8241146) between January 1, 2007 and the present, please return your product to us and we will replace it free of charge or you can return the product to Best Buy for a full refund.

Please send your product to: Datel Design and Development, Inc. 15500 Lightwave Drive Suite 101 Clearwater, FL 33760

Hmmm..definitely piques one's curiosity, eh? Personally, I'm thinking something porn-related. But then again, maybe that's just me. Any ideas?

Action Replay DS users, please pay attention. A new firmware version for your favorite code and cheat program for the DS is now out and about. Firmware version 1.52 brings with it a brand new manual code entry feature that'll work great with the soon-to-be-released Trainer Toolkit DS that lets you crack and share your own codes for Datel's Action Replay.

According to CodeJunkies, another important feature of the v1.52 update is that it includes the DS side of the Action Replay "Trainer" software, which is necessary if you're planning on using your Action Replay DS in conjunction with the imminent Trainer Toolkit hacking suite.

Upgrading the firmware is as easy as falling asleep in the middle of a history class. Just connect it to the Action Replay Code Manager PC application that came with your Action Replay then click the "Software Upgrade" button.

If those budding homebrew developers who sent in entries to Datel's DS homebrew contest were wondering about the state of their programs, then this one's for you. According to Codejunkies, Datel's affiliate website, the 25 big picks in Datel's homebrew competition are now a part of the company's latest product, which packages the homebrew games with their own multimedia software player.

The product, known as Games'n'Music, would allow users to enable homebrew, listen to music, and watch movies. Provided, of course, that you know how to move movies to and from your DS memory cards.

For the most part, we doubt you could call homebrew "mini-games", unlike what the package says. It makes the work of those homebrew devs seem so much kiddier in that context. We just really hope that the developers of the homebrew they used for this product get recognition and attribution for their work. Otherwise, a free DS and Datel goodie packs don't seem like just compensation at all.

Thanks to Badam for the tip!

Online connectivity's the name of the game these days when it comes to both gaming consoles and handhelds. Of course, the same goes for Nintendo's awesome twosome, the Wii and the DS handheld. But what if you have no wireless router? Does that mean that you're forever stuck with not being able to connect both platforms to each other?

Hell no. From Datel comes the WiFi MAX for the Wii, "the easiest and cheapest way to take your consoles online and compete with gamers from all over the world." This little doohickey is your ticket to the world of online gaming.

Using it is simplicity itself: just plug your USB WiFi dongle into your internet-enabled PC to create a Wireless Access Point. You can then connect to the internet and play online-enabled multiplayer games with DS and Wii gamers from all over the world.

The WiFi MAX supports up to five local DS gamers at a time, so you and your friends can all play online at once with no loss of speed. You can also use it to download additional material such as new levels, skins, artwork and even classic games for the Virtual Console.

WiFi MAX operates on the Wireless G standard, so it's five times faster than an ordinary WiFi connection, and if you use the bundled USB cable and dongle stand, you can position your dongle to maximize WiFi range. The WiFi MAX is also usable with other WiFi-enabled devices capable of using the internet such as laptops or PDAs.

The WiFi MAX for the Wii is out now, and costs UK£ 29.99 and US$ 39.99.

More images of the WiFi MAX for the Wii after the jump!

---

UPDATE: Somebody commented that this device was made by Datel and not Nintendo. We checked our sources and found out that WiFi MAX is indeed a Datel product and we have made the necessary corrections in the article. Our apologies for that minor boo-boo.

It's nice to win free stuff through hard work, and Datel is certainly rewarding good homebrew game makers with prizes. Of course, we mentioned that before, but if you thought you had run out of time, you're in luck!

Datel has opted to extend their entry period for the contest, giving you some extra time to tweak your homebrew for a chance at Datel DS merchandise. As they added on their contest page,

Due to the excellent response to our NDS homebrew competition, and the high standard of entries, we've decided to extend the deadline beyond the end of October. There's still time to get your entries in, but hurry - the competition must end soon...

When exactly is "soon"? You never can tell, but if they're talking about the end of the week, then you'll really want to speed up those last minute tweaks to your games. Till then, you homebrewers have to work harder, faster and make even better games than you've ever done before. Good luck!

Once upon a time, Birslip had released his homebrew game No Place to Hide. He's going far and wide with this game and just recently, he submitted it as an entry to the Datel competition. Upon submitting, he's also been able to add a couple of new things:

• new item in WiFi menu -> high score for each level
• fixed small bugs -> used to break some graphics when exiting a level

We wouldn't be the least bit surprised if No Place to Hide bagged one of the top spots in the Datel competition. His game has the potential to be very addicting. It's a collection of ten games where you just have only one goal (as the tagline reads): avoid, avoid again, score! Just use the touchpad to guide your player around the screen while you avoid touching everything else. Plain and simple!

One interesting feature of the game is that it incorporates WiFi leaderboards. So, if you're the kind of person who has nothing to do the whole day but play addictive games, then you can finally get recognized for it.

More power to Birslip!

Download: [No Place to Hide (Datel competition version)]

You know these guys, right? Datel has made everything from the Max Media Player for the DS to a 4 GB hard drive, and are probably most well-known for the Action Replay cheat device. To celebrate the success of their Max Media Dock, they've got a little contest going on for all the players in the homebrew scene today, and the prizes look pretty good for DS users.

The contest is pretty simple: make the best homebrew game you possibly can! Of course, if you think you've already made the best darned homebrew game you can, you can actually send that in too. Here's their statement on what happens when you send in your games:

They don’t have to be new games – if you’ve already released a game onto the homebrew scene, feel free to submit it for the competition. We’re not after exclusive publication rights either. If your game’s one of the lucky winners, you can still distribute it on the net and issue updated releases. In fact, if you’ve already written a game, entering the competition will be no effort at all!

Now, if you're wondering about the prizes for this game-making competition, the company is giving away 50 DS Datel goodie packs for the winners, each one worth £ 100 /US $ 180. There's also a possibility that they might bundle your game in with future versions of their products, helping to spread your name among homebrewers and fans of Datel products alike. Looks like a good promo for free stuff.

If you're thinking of entering, feel free to check out the source link for instructions on sending in your game. Good luck, homebrewers!

There's Datel's 4GB hard drive and media player that slots into the DS GBA port. But apparently someone wants more storage space hooked up to his DS. Like about ten times as much - 40GB worth. Imagine how many full-length DVD rips or lossless MP3s will fit in that baby.

One of natrium42's latest hardware projects involves hacking a laptop hard drive to the DS through a GBAMP cartridge. The result is definitely unwieldy and does nothing for portability, but it is a demonstration of how a traditional PC storage device could communicate with the DS through the GBA port. The idea for this came from the realization that CompactFlash cards use the same IDE interface as standard hard drives, and thus each IDE pin could be connected to its corresponding CF pin.

But this hack isn't as straightforward as connecting the IDE-CF dots. Read on for more details (click on the Full Article link below).

Our previous coverage told you about the latest upgrade to Max Media Player from Datel. With 1.2, MMP allowed for video playback support. 1.22 fixes some issues with the 1.2 to improve your mp3 and video playback experience.

As always, just grab the bootme.ds from the file, and move the file into your DS's boot directory, through whatever means you usually use to move stuff from the comp to the DS. Afterwards, restarting the DS will start up 1.22. Simple, no?

Here's the changelog for 1.22.

• Full native video and MP3 playback through Max Media Player
  
• Version 1.22 is a minor revision to 1.21 that fixes a bug with stereo MP3s being played back in mono. Use 1.22 to extend the functionality of the built in MP3 player to now support video playback, natively from within Max Media Player
• Updates in this version:
• Fixed stereo sound problem in 1.21
  
• All previous updates

Thanks a lot, badam for the tip!

Download: [Max Media Player 1.22]

Datel, a UK company that has been providing gaming essentials for Nintendo platforms since the days of the NES, has had great success in surviving the turbulent videogame cheat device market. In the wake of the release of their new product, the new Action Replay for the Nintendo DS, Datel's Ian Osborne was interviewed by UK-based Cubed3.

The interview touched on topics such as the delay in the release of Action Replay for the NDS ("Sometimes, you hit a snag or two which holds things up for a while. This is what happened with the GameCube Action Replay too."). Cubed3 also asked Mr. Osborne for some inside information on how big the Datel team that works on accessories for Nintendo systems is ("It varies."), as well as the company's currently available and upcoming products for DS.

C3 got nada from Mr. Osborne regarding their plans for the Nintendo Wii (sayeth Mr. Osbore: "We won’t know what we can and can’t do for the Wii until it’s released, but rest assured we’ll do something."), but that's to be expected since Nintendo has been keeping such a close guard on its next-gen console. Rest assured, though, as Datel will no doubt be right on top of your gaming needs once the Wii launces.

Click on the 'read' link below for the full interview.