"Do you like your DS? Would you like a bigger DS? Would you like this bigger DS to be called the DSi XL and be released on March 28 for $190? Well, such a prediction would lend credence to the theory that you're a psychic freak, but I'm going to let that pass for now. You got off lucky, dude.
Nintendo of America announced the March 28 release date this morning at their media summit in San Francisco. G4 is on-hand at the event to check out Nintendo's lineup -- stay tuned."
I don't know if you've heard, but Nintendo is releasing yet another version of the DS this year: The DSi XL. If the name doesn't give it away, allow me to explain: it's the DSi, but bigger.
The latest in the Iwata Asks series of interviews has some info as to the design concepts, including a bit of discussion as to the name:
Iwata: I feel that I owe everyone an apology with regards to the name. Just when the ship was getting ready to leave harbor, I caused it to capsize. If you want, you can disclose here the terrible state we got into regarding the name. (laughs)
Kuwahara: (laughs) When Fujino-san, another designer and I were coming up with the name, we thought about it together in secret.
Fujino: We considered a lot of names, didn't we? Nintendo DSi Comfort, Nintendo DSi Executive...
Kuwahara: Nintendo DSi Premium was also suggested.
Iwata: I seem to remember that Nintendo DSi Living was also suggested... (emphasis mine)
Kuwahara: But none of those names were really any good...
Iwata: Right. I don't mean to be rude to the people who thought up those names, but that's how I felt. There's also the fact that when Japanese people think up names in English, they are going to sound strange to English native speakers but then when people from overseas suggest things, they won't quite sound right to Japanese ears. That's how we hit upon one name to use worldwide: Nintendo DSi XL, at least at one time.
Ok, cool. There's some discussion going on about the DS as a lifestyle product, and I assume it comes as no surprise that I'm geared up about this. There is certainly some media buzz about the DSi XL possibly being Nintendo's attempt to break into the burgeoning e-reader market. This site (en francais) has posted a hands-on video using the 100 Classic Book Collection software (which is still not released in the US, presumably to piss me off).
This is all well and good, but what about actual e-books? If Nintendo has any sense, they'll at the very least include a PDF reader and at best include all of the compatibility features of the Sony e-reader. The SD card slot should make storage a virtual non-issue, and the dual screens could provide a unique e-reading experience -- one that feels more like reading an actual book.
The DSi XL will not do particularly well in the US if it is not an e-reader. The reaction of most potential consumers will be "Bigger? Why would I want that?". Some of the more hardcore will be excited to see their favorite DS titles on a larger screen, but not many. But if we're given a reason to buy a Nintendo product instead of the Nook or Kindle, you know we'll bite.
Perhaps this is what getting old feels like, when the people you idolized in college end up holding the mike on Morning Edition.
I went through my standard morning routine: breakfast, cleanliness, then the drive in to work listening to whatever I've DLed on to my flashcard and jammed in the DSi. This time it was a Neil Gaiman NPR piece on audiobooks. "Ho ho," I thought. "If only our dear Mr. Gaiman knew I was listening to his story in the same way I listen to audiobooks!".
Podiobooks, to be precisely correct. Over the last few months I've been... ripping? burning? let's just say "moving" Nathan Lowell's solar clipper series to my DSi. Podiobooks breaks their content up into roughly 30-minute segments, which makes for very easy file management.
There are a few complexities involved in moving audio to the DSi. My process is as follows:
1 - Download the desired audio files to my laptop.
2 - Convert them to the required mp4 format using Foobar. (Vive la open source!)
3 - Drag and drop on to the flash card.
4 - Pop it (out of the lappy) and lock it (into the DSi).
5 - Plug a male-to-male headphone cable into the "Aux In" port in the car.
6 - Enjoy some space-faring adventure.
This is my first experience with audiobooks, and I have to confess to being completely hooked. Lowell's story, a melange of the high seas (think Master and Commander) and deep space, is pocked with memorable characters and is heavy on the dialogue, which makes for a listening experience somewhere between an old radio drama and a campfire story. Reading it as a novel would be a very different experience; I would expect more detailed descriptions of the environments, and perhaps some of the more often repeated phrases (e.g. in Double Share, the protagonist shrugs. A lot.) would fly past without notice like the ubiquitous "he said" does. This begs a question as to whether or not the accessibility of the spoken word due to more developed technology is bringing about something akin to a revival of a near-dying art (which is addressed in Gaiman's piece). The listener certainly feels more of a connection to the author than seems likely via the page, at least not until PhD-levels of repeated readings.
As for the DSi's sound function, I call it a win. I have had no issues with the sound quality, though admittedly spoken word doesn't necessarily require hi-fi-phononess. The interface is easy and seems made for episodic content. So give it a go.
Come on, Nintendo. There should really be no need for me to carry around a notebook anymore. That valuable pocket space should be reserved for the DSi only.
The latest in a string of weekly updates carefully designed to bleed my wallet a few bucks (sorry, I mean "DSi Points") at a time tells of a new lifestyle app -- myNotebook: Blue. (Apparently Green and Red are to follow at later dates. Why? no clue)
Now, this is exactly the direction in which the DSiware apps should be headed. You've got a great touch screen, wireless, and an SD slot; there's no reason the DSi can't be used for increasingly useful purposes. myNotebook, unfortunately, falls a bit short of the mark.
It's a scratchpad. A nice scratchpad, to be sure, and useful as such. Multiple pens styles and colors, auto-storing pages, and a simple interface see to that. And for two dollars, might as well go for it.
Notetaking nuts will be a little disappointed. Is there a memory limit? Why can't I use the DSi's keypad? I want to archive my notes -- how? Can I organize them? Again, as a temporary scratchpad, myNotebook is fine, but I want a little more.
I've complained about this before. Just take MS Notepad and put in on the DS. Let me type away, then either send my file wirelessly or store it to my SD card. Do this for me, Uncle N, and I will never be seen without your product in my hands. Perhaps a future myLifeCollected app will fulfill this seemingly simple need.
And another thing -- why do I have to unlock different ruling styles? What do you want from me?
Geeks don't really know much about fashion; aside from T-shirts and glasses, we're pretty much lost. You've seen the guys who work in IT -- you know it to be true. But do the fashionable know about video games?
Ms. Ronson, a fashion desiger, is collaborating with Nintendo on Style Savvy, an upcoming DS game slated fora November release.
From Nintendo's website:
"Style Savvy combines creativity and fashion with a collection of trendy clothes, chic accessories and stylish shoes. As the owner of a clothing boutique, you must purchase inventory, monitor the store's funds and try to please a constant stream of customers who look to you for the best fashions."
What's the game going to be like? Don't care. What I do care about is pictures like these:
A VG device used as a fashion accessory? Nails painted Noble Blue to match? I thought gamers were all supposed to be mouth-breathing weirdos. Aren't I supposed to be embarrassed to own a DSi?
Something called "Fashion Week", which I assume is some form of festival related to clothing and cigarettes, took place recently, and Ronson held an after-party featuring several DSes and a preview of the Style Savvy game.
"Charlotte Ronson knows how to put together a good show on and off the runway. Following an edgy SS 2010 collection, the designer threw a party where celebs drank Svedka cocktails and previewed a new fashion boutique game called Style Savvy from Nintendo DS and DSi. (The yet-to-be released game will launch later this year so you won't have to wait long!) Erin Lucas, Tinesley Mortimer, Kirsten Dunst, and Avril Lavigne were all glued to their Style Savvy shopping and styling outfits. It's only a matter of time until we see this cute little game in every fashionista's hands as they frolic in the park, travel on the subway, and sip their lattes at Starbucks."
I'm assuming we aren't going to see hand-helds incorporated into any challenges on Project Runway any time soon, but any press is good press when it comes to normal adults gaming. No, games aren't just for children. No, gamers don't all talk funny/smell funny. Yes, videogames are cool. Even the people who decide what 'cool' means think so.
In its most-frequently-seen state, augmented reality involves pointing your webcam at the particular slice of reality you want to augment and then printing (yes, printing) a symbol on a piece of paper. Put the symbol in view of the camera and a 3-d object is placed in the video. Move the symbol, the object moves. Here's a straight-forward example.
OK, fine. Sounds cool enough. There are loads of good examples of how different companies and enthusiasts are putting this tech into place for advertising, for fun, or to push the interactive possibilities. ( This site has a list of 35, and is certainly worth a click.) But how will it affect gaming?
A few VG companies have used AR for web advertising: The teaser for Assassin's Creed 2 features a hidden link which brings up a few 3-d models from the game. Lucasarts has put together a holocomm for a new title, allowing good old Obi-wan to appear in that liney, spectral blue on your desk.
Or at least on the picture of your desk which is displayed on your monitor. This is a main issue for AR gaming -- all you're really doing is setting the background image and moving a piece of paper. Fun, sure, but not likely to be the next big thing.
The place where AR is most likely to find success is with mobile devices. Instead of just making your desk the playing field, you can bring the experience anywhere. The device becomes a magic mirror -- look through it and see the world differently.
Take a peek at this trailer for Ghostwire on the DSi. The device becomes a ghost detection machine, and the top screen will allow you to see the creepy buggers hovering right in front of you. The second camera shows them sneaking up behind you. Yikes.
Without getting hands-on with the game, it is tough to tell how much interaction is really available. Is it going to make me walk up to my spooky attic? How would it know?
AR could represent a new off-shoot of the gaming experience, but it is not going to replace the time-honored couch/console union any more than the Wii has. Keep your eyes peeled, and don't be too surprised if a few years down the line your local paintball/laser-gun maze gleams with the bright blue of handheld console screens.
As I am always looking for new ways to use the DSi while traveling, Imagine my delight when receiving an email from dear old Uncle N while on vacation.
http://www.nintendodsi.com/flipnotestudio.jsp
Flipnote Studio is a 2-color 2-layer drawing app which allows users to create animations on the fly and share them online. Check the link for full details, but here are a few of the notable highlights:
Link to a calendar
Add/import sounds
Import photos
This is ideal for the peripatetic gamer/artist -- crank out a few sketches on your travels, make a slideshow, add audio annotations, and share it online.
It's me, Alex. Congratulations on the release of the Nintendo DSi. I have been enjoying the product thoroughly, and am excited about the future of DSiWare, the downloadable applications.
If I may, please allow me to suggest an application -- DSNotes. A simple DSiWare app which allows the user to write text documents and save them to the SD card. These could then be transferred to the user's main computer for use in other applications.
I carry the DSi with me most places, and I also carry a pocket-sized notebook. DSNotes would allow me to ditch the paper and move another need to the DSi.
Damn it, Nintendo. You came frighteningly close to changing the world.
Why? "Why?" I ask you. Why could you not go the extra step? You make the DS. You give it a touch screen and some decent processing power. You wave that special wand of yours, the one that has "The Breaker of Ground" etched down the side, and bless the thing with wireless connectivity.
Visions of people on subways having pick-up games of Mario Basketball during their commutes, of people at coffee-shops wi-fiing it up to race against their friends in Budapest, Lima, and Des Moines, of heply-dressed urban teens walking down clean sidewalks with your machines in their long hands flickered in your eyes. A gaming revolution.
As what I assume must have been a throw-away feature, you toss in Pictochat, the software that sets up local chatroom so kids can IM each other during recess. And here's where you flub it up. You can now compose messages on your handheld device, but the wi-fi doesn't work for it. Users can't IM each other over the internet. I can type up an email, but can't send it to anyone.
I've done a decent amount of composition on PDAs. It's great -- you can get a few lines down wherever you are. My PDA went all fritzy recently and had to be sent to the Heaven of Broken Electronics That An Unmarried Geek Would Keep In a Box Somewhere But A Married Geek Throws Away. And here I am with a handheld electronic device with a primitive word processor on it, and damned if I want to keep what I write. One half as expensive as a PDA, and which runs games with great awesomeness. I'm not even asking that you put a calendar etc. in there (which of course you should). Just unlock the stuff you've already got.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vfJCrV4EZw-Gvg3paVQsHGLb6VjMPh82I1yDeujcE6Lee0rCuLDS9Dv0Q9ya4iZ46jH30TT4Ppre1y6ulxkG2_xYN5Xs1CvY_TkPO5I8kBr1XER7lr6CO7Smv_zArFKIXfslRO7Ubdik2dB78ldZo=s0-d)
Posts
