BRASS IN POCKET

With more than 77 million units sold worldwide, Nintendo's handheld DS is by far the most popular video-game machine out there. But Sony's PlayStation Portable, while lingering far back with 41 million total sales, has been outpacing the DS in Japan recently.

Nintendo's defense? A new model of its popular portable.

The DSi's major new feature is a pair of digital cameras, one facing outward and one facing inward as you play. It also has a slot for a memory card, allowing you to store images, music or games that you'll be able to download through its built-in Internet browser. The whole package is thinner and has bigger screens than its predecessor, the DS Lite.

The DSi, shown above, goes on sale Nov. 1 in Japan for the equivalent of $180. But Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said, "We will not see the DSi in America until well into calendar year 2009."

HIGH VOLTAGE

As a longtime fan of AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, I like to play "Rock Band" while wearing schoolboy shorts and spinning in circles on my back. And MTV Games' "Rock Band 2" really let me go all out by including "Let There Be Rock" on its soundtrack. But you can never have enough Aussie metal, so the announcement of "AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack" . . . well, it shook me all night long.

There are a few catches, though. The 18-song disc for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii will cost $40 ($30 for the PlayStation 2 version). That's not a lot for the money, even if the songs include "Back in Black," "Highway to Hell" and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."

-- Lou Kesten, Associated Press