All right, kiddies, we know all of you out there have dutifully replaced your DS with a gaming-powered iPhone 2.0, but with all that gaming power comes the responsibility to be careful. Thus, you should all be on the lookout for a new Windows virus masquerading as apparently popular iPhone game Penguin Panic.

According to Sophos, the computer-controlling Trojan shows up as a zipped attachment to an e-mail with a subject like "Virtual iPhone games!" or "Apple: The most popular game!" Ironically, it seems the virus won't actually infect your iPhone or any Mac-based computers. It also seems incapable of infecting other portable gaming systems, which should be a relief to those of you still living in the past with those long-defunct platforms.

In a world where video providers seem to be adding increasingly disruptive digital rights management into their video streams, you can always count on video game accessories to provide a hole for unprotected video to break through. First it was the Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive, whose component output allowed for DRM-free copying of the now-defunct high-def discs. Now it's Sony's European PlayTV digital video recorder add-on for the PS3, which CVG reports can "export [recorded] videos to your PS3's XMB menu as MPEG-4 video" for free use on other devices.

At a time when everyone from Tivo to Microsoft seems to slap some sort of protection on digital video recordings, it's frankly a little baffling that Sony (itself a major video producer) would leave this hole in its digital recorder. Not that we're complaining, we're just waiting with trepidation for the other patch shoe to drop.

[Via Evil Avatar]

You've probably all but forgotten about a story we ran way back in March in which one Bernie Peng used a homebrew version of Bejeweled to propose to his girlfriend of three years. Well, Bejeweled publisher PopCap didn't forget about the proposal, helping to make the couple's wedding this Saturday an unforgettable affair.

According to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, PopCap chipped in $1,000 for decorations ($500 of which went to a Nintendo DS-shaped cake) and $5,000 for free copies of Bejeweled that were given to all 250 guests. "There are good ways and bad ways to hack software and to us, this is a good way," said PopCap spokesman Garth Chouteau. After a honeymoon in Bali, the happy, nerdy couple will also get a guided tour of Popcap's Seattle headquarters.

Let this be a good reminder to always err on the side of caution when giving out your Xbox Live information ... that is to say, don't do it. MTV Multiplayer found out that Halo 3 multiplayer producer Joe Tung can list himself among the gamers who have had their XBL accounts compromised. "Representatives from Microsoft aided Joe in swiftly resolving the issue," said Luke Smith, who didn't provide other details.

One rather sneaky method of account stealing has been "social engineering," whereby the hacker in question calls up Microsoft service support and pretends to be the owner of the account and gains the sympathy of the customer service rep. Of course, the biggest tactic so far has involved promising one billion MS points with a simple click of the mouse. Protip: Don't give out your password, no matter how enticing a proposition is.

One of the most surprising films in the sort of "Holy crap? What the heck?! This is cool!" vein to come out of SXSW film festival earlier this year was Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet. It's all about chiptune music and the performers, and is beautifully shot. It's hard to imagine Nintendo thinking people would be hacking into their Game Boys in order to create full-fledged concerts, concerts that would one day spark a feature documentary and an entire genre of music.

For one week, you can watch the impressive documentary at Pitchfork.tv. It's even broken up into bite-sized chapters for you. Give it a looksee and you'll find yourself toe-tapping along to the addictive 8-bit music throughout the film. It's beaten Wizard Rock as our current favorite geek music of choice.

[Thanks, Eliot]

Let this be a lesson to developers: If you're planning to make a tie-in XBLA game that lets you earn gold in your main title, make sure to vet the game as much as possible for potential exploits. A trick has been found in Fable 2 Pub Games that lets you bet 60 on Tower of Fortune and potentially earn 600 each time. We've embedded the video after the break, should you wish to start Fable 2 with a gazillion trillion gold.

Earlier today, we reported on the better-late-than-never news that DVD playback has come to Wii, thanks to the console's burgeoning homebrew development community. We decided to give the hack a go ourselves and recorded a brief video tutorial of how you too can unlock the immense potential of the Wii's disc drive. Okay ... so you can just watch DVDs, but this is big stuff for Nintendo, folks.

The actual process is so simple – and the results, even for a first release, so impressive – that we're boggled by the fact that Nintendo hasn't simply added this functionality to the Disc Channel as part of a system update. It's a matter of downloading a small file, a hombrew video player, copying them to an SD card, and using the Homebrew Channel (a guide to installing which we've posted about previously) to apply a two-second patch. Keep reading after the break for our full impressions.

Nintendo isn't exactly swinging for the fences with the remainder of its 2008 Wii lineup, but then, when you hit your grand slam so early in the year, it's easy to fade in the second half of the season. Thankfully, homebrewer Erant has stepped up to the plate and delivered a clutch hit: DVD video playback.

... Um, let's try that again: DVD VIDEO PLAYBACK!!1!!!!!

The no mess utility is easy to install (well, maybe not for grandpa) and includes a media player that also makes nice with the video files stored on your SD card. All we need now is a VHS-to-DVD converter so we can transfer mom's old step aerobics tapes onto disc. That's right, homebrewed balance board games! Who knew all this old stuff could feel so new again?

[Via Wii Fanboy]

DS owners are a handsy bunch. Rarely do fans of Nintendo's handheld jump onto the PSP wagon, as they know they'll miss the thrill they receive after wiping their meaty paws all over the screen of their portable gaming device. However, modder jube808 is working to bridge the gap between handhelds -- in addition to adding a sturdier control pad and increasing the battery life of the PSP, he also recently integrated a touchscreen into the system. So far, he's created a brief tech demo, seen above, and a rudimentary keyboard (posted after the break), but he hopes that the technology can be utilized by interested homebreweries.

His next project? Integrating a Cuisinart panini press into his Xbox 360. Let us know how that one works out for you, Jube.

In a striking departure from the initial blueprint, the world's first "PSP Phone" has killed two birds with one stone:

• Added a working phone feature (Check!)
• Got rid of that blasted UMD drive (Check!)

We're not sure which is more preposterous: Quadrupling the size of your cell phone (and in turn, clutching a PSP to your ear), or cutting a hole in your PSP and gluing a cell phone in there? Sony, please take this as a sign that folks are getting mighty desperate for the real thing.

[Via Engadget]

Remember that Wii system menu hack we told you about yesterday? Among other things, HackInstaller removes the health warning at startup, the background music and -- most importantly -- all region encoding for GameCube and Wii games and Wii channels (you can view a walkthrough of the patch, above). Homebrew coder "Crediar" has released HackInstaller into the wild.

Installation requires the homebrew channel. If you haven't taken the leap to homebrew, check out the Wii Pack Generator for a no-fuss entry into the scene. We suspect Nintendo isn't going to take this loss of region coding concern lightly.

We're not even willing to label this a "proof of concept," as this mash-up of Windows Vista (via emulation) and the PlayStation 3 is only for those with near-infinite patience or those with a penchant for pain. Some numbers to keep in mind: a day to install, 25 minutes to boot up, 5 minutes to access the start menu and 12 minutes to open notepad. (That's a lot of sandwiches.)

Video embedded after the break, or click here to view instructions on how to do it yourself. Only the truly masochistic need apply.

[Via Engadget]

There's nothing wrong with your speakers. The above video is totally silent, although its content speaks volumes. What you're looking at is a new Wii System Menu hack from homebrew coder "Crediar." What's special about this one – which is installed via the Homebrew Channel we've covered previously – is that it does away with the annoying health warning screen at boot-up, the Wii Menu background music, and, most importantly, region coding for Wii games, GameCube games and Wii Channels. The video is annotated so you know exactly what's going on during the walkthrough. Crediar hasn't made his work public as of yet, but we can only imagine Nintendo – unlike Wii owners – will be none too pleased.

[Thanks, Craig!]

Forgoing parkour in favor of teleportation, an inspired modder by the nom de éditeur of EvilWeevil has created a 1:1 replica of the Mirror's Edge demo level from E3 (or, if you'd rather, the initial gameplay footage of DICE's first-person platformer) using Valve's smash action-puzzler, Portal. As you can see in the video, there's no fancy climbing, leaping, balancing, or zipline action – this mod is all about using the portal gun to reach the (all-too-sudden) end of the level. Now to get a hold of the actual mod ... our time with Mirror's Edge at E3 was criminally brief, and we're always looking for an excuse to revisit Portal.