Friday, December 23, 2005

 

Games and more Games!

So for Xmas, I bought my wife 2 DS games. Also bought one DS title and one Advance title for myself. hehe But I have to say that I researched the titles for my wife: Nintendogs and Bubble Bobble. I know she absolutely loves the Puzzle Bobble series so that was a no brainer. As for Nintendogs, I read that it is actually an entertaining gem and not the usual video game sort. I have to say that she was quite happy playing Nintendogs. *Pat pat on back*
She just mentioned that she also like the other DS title I got for myself: Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Lastly the Advance title: Mario Tennis: Power Tour. I got it because I thought it was time I finally get a sports game and tennis seemed a good start. Also the game was recently released, most likely in time for Xmas folks like me. hahaha

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

 

Revamp for Nintendo DS? II

Having read through some of Nintendo's 2005 annual report, I am quite interested and amazed how the company has achieved its goal of creating highly engaging electronic entertainment products for everyone. And when I say everyone, it's not because of seeing the photos of people of all ages playing the DS in the report, but it's actually because I *have* seen people of all ages play Nintendo products. I admit I haven't seen much of a DS usage by folks from all ages, but as far as the Game Boy Advance SP is concerned, I have. The usual suspects are young kids around 10 years old plus or minus five years. But I've seen older people play it. And these are people who I wouldn't even think that they've heard of video games. For example, I've seen a motherly woman who looks like she's had several years of cleaning house, disciplining her kids, going through her first home purchase, and I see her relaxing away in front of a Game Boy Advance SP.

So with that in mind, I wonder what Nintendo has up their sleeve in the next say five to ten years. I can guess that they'll continue working on designing new games to capture more audiences. As for the hardware, they've already taken some items from the computing world starting with wireless(B standard actually) and the touch screen/stylus from the PDA computing world. I guess a few things missing are the flash memory and hard drive. There's also USB for a common and standard connectivity protocol and immediate access to an array of products. I'm not sure about Nintendo entering the motion picture retail business like Sony whereby they sell "UMD" versions of movies already out on DVD.

Another interesting thing to roll over...

Sunday, December 18, 2005

 

Revamp for Nintendo DS?

When Nintendo introduced the Game Boy, I remember being so in awe. I did have doubts about it being so big. It took 4 AA batteries and it was quite thick. But still, I was willing to lug the thing around and play with it. Then for several years, I lost touch with it. I still like the unit, but I just didn't keep up with it. Then I heard about the Game Boy Advance launch and was quite impressed. It was a lot smaller than the first Game Boy and this time only used 2 AA batteries. I later realized that the first Game Boy went through several modifications before the Advance came out. Nintendo kept the same form factor but was able to make it thinner and use less batteries, I think it was 2 AA or 2 AAA. Also Nintendo added color. But back to the Advance, after it was out for a while, Nintendo modified it to the SP. This time it changed the form factor to a clam shell and added an internal light. Additionally Nintendo started using lithium-ion batteries to meet the small size. I missed the AA batteries because they are easy to replace and cost less. Also rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries come in standard sizes. But the thing with lithium ion is that it can be shaped into any size. On a tangential note, I wonder if alkaline and NiMH batteries need to be in a cylindrical size. Back to the SP, the last update to it is an increased brightness level of the LCD(or actually the internal front light) but the problem is the light can not be turned off anymore now.
The new Nintendo portable now is the DS. I think there is some history repeating itself. Although the DS has all kinds of features going for it: dual screen, touch screen(with a stylus and some thumb string thing) for the bottom half, wi-fi, a built-in microphone and the usual advanced hardware to produce games with better graphics and sounds, the unit is at the end of the day a bulky thing the original Game Boy. So now I can't help but wonder if Nintendo will modify the DS, especially in making it smaller and maybe even change the form factor. Here are my ideas:
1) Following the SP design, add another LCD flip up. The extra LCD would flip out from where the SP LCD is to finally reveal two LCDs so there are two hinges and the DS would not only be thicker than the SP but also bigger in width and length to account for the extra hinge and also the DS has slightly larger LCD size than the SP. The only problem I can see with this is the unit now is too long, but if it can fold up to a smaller size than the DS, then I'm all for it.
2) A modification to 1), the 2 LCDs would still be hinged together but there is some spacing between the two as the controls, the D-pad and the X,Y,A,B,L,R,start,select buttons are hinged on the left and right sides of the bottom LCD. The controls are between the 2 LCDs when the LCDs are folded, so the controls open outwards. Of course these things don't necesarily just contain the controls, they could store the stereo speakers, the charging input, the headphone jack and other circuitry.
3) A modification to 2), rather than the controls being hinged, they are instead hidden inside the left and right sides of the bottom LCD and need to be either manually pulled out or have a spring action pull out.
Wow, can't believe I came out with these 3 ideas while writing this. I didn't have it in mind when I first started writing this article. So.. a little pat on the back, hehe. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to Nintendo modifying the DS in the near future!

Saturday, December 17, 2005

 

Job Interviewing Mishaps

Things candidates say that are thumbs down:

1) When asked whether or not they read the job description, they give a long answer about being referred to the position by someone so they just sent their resume in but never answer the question.

2) When asked about their motivation and interests, they pause and think seriously and think and think and think...

3) When asked about favorite professional achievements, they talk about being in awe of the intracicies of some particular system they learned in a course sponsored by their previous company.

4) When asked a basic question about a particular skill they list as number one, they unfortunately don't know the answer. :(

5) When given a problem to solve, they answer with buzz words and justify that the problem is solved.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

 

Delivering console/portable video games in so many formats

I had a conversation with someone about the Sony PSP. He brought up an interesting point about not liking it because of having to buy the same games again and in a different format. He was also sold on my argument against the PSP being essentially a CD drive. As a portable game system, I don't want the battery power wasted on moving parts and because the system is portable why should there be moving parts in the first place? And what's funny is the PSP most likely has systems and technologies in place to minimize this problem. And these systems and technologies take up space and use up more power to keep everything running.

But back to the main issue about buying the same games in different formats. I initially agreed because the guy was telling me that he owns a PlayStation and finds it ridiculous to buy the same games again but in Sony's yet another new format, UMD, if he were to buy the PSP. I next thought about my Game Boy Advance SP and recently my wife bought me a Nintendo DS for Xmas and realized I'm doing exactly what he's against. hahaha My wife says I have Advance Wars for the DS and the Game Boy Advance. I tried to defend myself that although the game title is the same name, the details are different. For one very ovious reason, the DS is dual screen. So although it seems like it, it's not quite. Also the great thing about the DS is that it has backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance games which means not having to buy the same games I enjoyed on the Advance again.

So I think to get around this problem of buying the same games again but in different formats, the console/portable video games industry should start standardizing the media. One easy and cheap option is flash memory. And there are so many formats to choose from: Compact Flash, SD, MMC, etc and even flash memories attached to USBs. So here's a wild idea.. I think games should be distributed on the web as software like an iTunes service which are then copied to the respective flash memory format that the console/portable supports. So that brick and mortar stores can still sell games physically to customers, I think the package should be a scratch off card which gives authorization to download the game via the iTunes like service mentioned earlier. They package should also include the game manuals and necessary retail cover art. I also like this service better because if the store doesn't have it, then the customer can always find the game from the same web service. That way the customer never has to worry about finding that rare game. I can already imagine building the software to make all this happen. Sounds exciting!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

 

Nintendo

I'm a Nintendo hard core nut. I don't quite remember my first day of knowing about Nintendo. But I do remember the old Game & Watch series and boy those were so fun and addictive. I remember wishing to collect them all. I remember playing Donkey Kong, Popeye, Mario Brothers, Super Mario Brothers and maybe others I've forgotten. But for Super Mario Brothers, I remember that came out way after the Nintendo Entertainment System. I just thought it was so amazing that despite Nintendo entering the home console business, they were still continuing with their Game & Watch series. There were also two things about this unit. One it was wide screen (and also a bit thinner than the older ones). Second the LCD (and also the entire unit) was transparent. This was a neat attraction in that I saw it as a dynamic background everytime I play the unit. I don't know if I remember this correctly, but I kind of remember my first Nintendo product came with a special note thanking me for buying their product and asking me enjoy the product but also be aware of the fragile yet advanced LCD and inside components which delivers that fun and entertainment. I think reading this as a kid I was quite thankful for the note and also quite sold. And became a Nintendo hard core nut.
I know Nintendo has its fair share of failures. But like any good company and good person, gamers will remember the good stuff. Sure I don't know anything about the Virtual Boy or that the Power Glove was maybe too advanced for its time but the Game & Watch series, the NES, and Game Boy's were the good stuff. Looking at history, I know Nintendo will keep delivering the good stuff and I can't wait to be entertained.

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