E308: New DS rumors abound

Here we go -- with the Nintendo press briefing just hours away, the rumor brigade in Los Angeles is kicking things into high gear, and there are all sorts of rumblings about the DS. According to IGN, a number of things may or may not happen this week, including but not limited to:

• Activision (wait, didn't they bail on E3? No matter; they have their own presentation coming up tomorrow night) announcing a(nother) DS peripheral that will add tilt and motion functionality to the handheld via the GBA slot
• The next Tony Hawk game is rumored to be the first to use the Activision peripheral
• Nintendo is preparing to provide built-in tilt and motion within the carts of some upcoming games

But the most interesting thing from the rumor mill is the big possibility we've been discussing of late: DS Micro ahoy! Word is that Nintendo may be preparing to release that redesigned handheld after all, but per these rumors, it looks like the new design is not meant to supplant the current Lite model -- which explains the color explosion. The slimmed-down DS may sacrifice the GBA slot and could possibly feature that accelerometer functionality built-in. The best part? We may be looking at a drastically-reduced price -- IGN is talking about a DS that's $100 cheaper than the current model.

Our own JC Fletcher is on the ground in LA as we speak, and David Hinkle is en route, so we hope to have more information -- or at least, more rumors -- for you soon. Whatever happens, we'll probably be scratching off a few of our DS predictions very soon.