Category Archives: Nintendo

Games, Nintendo

Wii? Non!

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Sacr? bleu!

Is it me or are Nintendo deliberately trying to make themselves difficult to get behind? We’re all up for downloadable Nintendo games, downloadable Sega games, new gaming experiences, a cheaper price tag, and the excellent console design, but then they keep trying to cancel out these big pluses with apparent negatives.

First there’s the idea that its maximum output will be 480p. That’s going to look nice on those HDTVs that people are buying. Then the infamous controller, which I’ve come to like but doubt most will. A couple of weeks ago the news that it’s barely more powerful on paper than the Xbox broke which set off all the specs whores. Now they’ve come out with the weirdest console name possible. OK no, Wonderswan still keeps that title.

I’m sure that ‘Wii’ is supposed to be a play on the pronoun ‘we’ and therefore community or family (back to ‘Famicom’, in a way), but to me and my English slang it just means that the new console is effectively called the Nintendo Urine. Urban Dictionary agrees with me.

Games, Impressions, Nintendo

Seeing The Lite (Pics!)

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I got my crystal white DS Lite on Saturday. Parcel Force take EMS deliveries when they get into this country and they don’t deliver on Saturdays, but my Dad had a package to pick up from their depot and got mine while he was there. No import duty (yay!) but I had to pay VAT (nay!) and a £13.50 “handling charge” (BOO!). £33.10 extra, all in.

To apologise for the delay in shipping Play-Asia also threw in a free copy of Shaman King: Chou Senjiryokketsu 2 for the GBA, whatever that is. It seems to be a card battle game which is absolutely impenetrable in Japanese, but I appreciate the gesture.

DS, DS Lite, and Game Boy Micro

The first thing to mention is the size difference, because there’s not a very big one. Next to each other the Lite is obviously smaller, but those expecting the same change as when going from GBA to the SP will be disappointed. It’s been slimmed down a bit and made to look much more iPod-like instead of an 80’s toy, and the glossy plastic is very nice if something of a magnet for fingerprints.

While it isn’t a huge reduction in size, the Lite seems a lot less bulky and much easier to fit into a pocket without looking like you have a deformity. It doesn’t seem to scratch easily (Nintendo are known for durability, after all) so any marks can be wiped off easily.

It’s the screens that are the big reason to upgrade, and they are possibly the best LCDs I’ve seen. I got one stuck pixel on the top screen but nothing too annoying, and having played with the brightness settings I settled on the third level because the highest one is almost too bright. The viewing angle is anothing thing which I’m sure people have seen in pictures but in the flesh is highly impressive. It’s a bit pointless for a handheld but I can look at it from a fairly tight angle and see things just as well as looking at it straight on. Due to the overall size reduction they appear bigger than the screens on the standard DS, but in actual fact they’re the same size.

The rest of the improvements are minor tweaks – the D-pad is now the same as the excellent GB Micro and Revolution one; the power switch is now a slider on the side, scuppering the fiends who enjoy pressing the front button to turn it off mid-play (I have immature friends); and it comes with a cover for the GBA slot so that the aesthetics aren’t ruined if you choose not to keep a GBA game in it all the time (it should be noted that GBA cards stick out of the Lite by about a centimetre which is annoying). The upgrade isn’t as essential as the move from GBA to SP was, but for those who use their DS a lot it’s worth it for the screens and size reduction alone.

Games, General, Nintendo

DS Lite Shipped (Eventually)!

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You may remember that I ordered a DS Lite almost as soon as it was announced, but with the popularity of the DS in Japan reaching fever pitch my order got lost amongst the sold out signs and predictably extortionate eBay prices. Well, Play-Asia have finally gotten to me and my crystal white DS Lite has shipped via EMS, so it should be here in a few days. Of course I’ll put together some belated impressions when it arrives.

What’s cool is that as I held out and stuck with Play-Asia I got it for $170 instead of the $200+ that some places were selling it for. Not a bad deal at all, and even with courier shipping it’s about the same price that it’ll probably be when it eventually comes out here.

Games, General, Nintendo, Sega

Sega Revolution

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I’ve got a nagging suspicion that in all the furore over who’s going to come out on top between Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo could be the ones who are going to steal the show at E3. GDC has brought plenty of good news like the story that the PS3 will be region free for games, but even that has been overshadowed by the fact that the Revolution will play Mega Drive games.

While Microsoft and Sony are fighting each other to get through the front door Nintendo are silently slipping themselves in through the back with fantastic news after fantastic news. The DS has shown that the unique inputs can power the games, Twilight Princess will be on it, and it’ll launch with a library of thousands from at least five great systems. I remember when I first saw the controller and thought Nintendo had finally lost it, but I’m starting to turn around very quickly. With this and PS3 launching around the same time I may end up having to choose which one to get first, and at the moment it’s not going to be much of a choice.

It’s slightly ironic of course that Sega’s best chance at attaining major console success is to have all their games on a Nintendo machine. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have believed that Sonic would be on a Nintendo console, let alone that all their Mega Drive games would be on one.

Games, General, Nintendo, PlayStation

PlayStation 64

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With the first day of Spring a little over a week away and Sony still insistent on getting the PS3 out in that impending three month window, the jokes and conspiracy theories are inevitably starting to hit fever pitch. I’ve just been reading this feature over on 1UP and it really made me think.

I chuckled at their Dreamcast 2.0 feature back in November and although those parallels are quite amusing, I have to say that the ones between the PS3 and the N64 are even more compelling and Sony will be in trouble if they come out a year after the 360 with little extra in the way of power and a price tag $100 bigger, brand name be damned. Microsoft’s launch might have been a minor debacle but the signs are looking like unless Sony have pulled the wool over all our eyes they could actually be taken to the wire with this one.

I’m tempted to back Microsoft if only because I want to see what would happen if a system that they can’t give away in Japan becomes the top dog. That could be interesting…

General, Nintendo

DS Lite Video Review

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Not mine, unfortunately. That’s lost amongst the millions of Japanese and potential importers who are scrabbling to obtain what little stock is available, although I may be able to get one next week since Eynon and team are off to Japan again. This is a video review put together in two parts (the second is answering questions from the first one) and answers most of the concerns from people wondering how much better than the standard DS it is, so without further ado…

The bigger Mac geeks out there may have noticed that the videos were made by Cabel, co-founder of Panic, who are in turn makers of the best FTP program ever and one of the few pieces of shareware that I’ve bought. He’s a great host for the videos, with some classic lines explaining how the DS Lite can function as a death ray whilst also managing to call it “mildly retarded” and coming out with a great ending to it. I’ll be watching for more material from him in the future.