Distractions

Hey folks! I suppose I should fess up to what's been taking up my time instead of making regular updates here (Okay, I've managed to keep the weekly cartoon going, but that's the least I should be doing, right?)

Well, I've been playing games, specifically I've just picked up Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and it's hard to put down. As they had with the first Kingdom Hearts game, the folks at Square Enix have managed to push the envelope with what you can and can't do with the Nintendo DS system and the results are terrific.

But, you may ask, that game hasn't been out that long. And you'd be right. Before Kingdom Hearts, I had my head stuck in Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, the second (and what promises not to be the last) in a clever series that combines storytelling and brain teasers.

Okay, there's been other things going on as well, but you don't want to hear about that. Hey, I've got a day off tomorrow. What to do, what to do...

We're back!!

Hey folks, long time, no see. I appologise for the lack of updates, but I've got top people working on it even as we speak. See you next week!

Nintendo DSi

Hey folks, spring is here, the wildlife is abundant and the dog is chasing them.

My old Nintendo DS (not DS lite) was getting worn down, so I was looking forward to the release of the new Nintendo DSi.



Like the old DS and DS light, this little unit has two screens, a touch screen interface and wireless communication. What the new DSi lacks is a port for Gameboy Advanced cartridges - which frankly, I don't miss. What it has instead is a slot for SDHC memory cards, giving you the ability to augment the storage capacity of the machine by 2 gigabytes or more.

Why would you want to do that? Well, for one thing, this new DSi has a modular menu, similar to what you'd find on the Wii. You can add, subtract or rearrange your applications at your leisure. One of these applications, the DS store, allows you to download new games and applications directly to your unit (using the same points you use on the Wii). To make things more fun, they're giving you 1,000 points (roughly equal to $10) to play with right off the bat. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of selection in the store at the moment, but you'll want to get the free internet browser right away.

I had noted that my old DS, as of late, was very picky when connecting to the internet, frequently dropping connections. This new DSi has no trouble at all finding and keeping the signal and giving me good data. The browser still isn't as fast as my trusty computer, but it appears to be a lot better than the previous incarnation available for the DS and DS Lite.

Something else you'll want extra memory for is the built in cameras. The DSi has two cameras, one to look at you and one to look at the world around you. This promises to add some cool new features to upcoming games, but for now, you can take pictures with it. However, the DSi camera utility has some fun options that you won't find on most other mobile devices. You can distort, mirror, morph and have other fun with your pictures. I'll show some creations later - at the moment I'm too afraid that I'll break the lens with my ugly mug.

One more thing you can do with the added memory is turn your DSi into a music player. The drawback is that it only plays music in AAC format (MP4) but this is presumably so you can edit the music files in the same manner that it allows you to play with your pictures. I'm looking forward to playing with this.

For me, purchasing this new DSi was a no brainer, as I skipped the DS Lite and my original version DS was definitely showing signs of wear and tear. If you're in the same boat as me, I'm sure you'll have no trouble justifying this purchase. However, for the rest of you, your milage may vary.

Lost in Space

So folks, I am now the proud owner of Puzzlequest: Galactrix and in many ways, it's a lot like the original Puzzlequest offering.

However, there is one humongous glitch that had me wondering if my DS was broken. It played a lot like this.

When choosing your destination on the galactic map, the interface frequently assumes that you chose coordinates far, far away from where your stylus is pointing and promptly sends your spaceship wandering off to points unknown. This is compounded by the fact that there's a good chance that your choice on a pop-up menu will not register and your ship starts wandering again. What makes this doubly annoying is that you cannot open up that same menu again until your ship is once again on the planet, something that could take a while depending on the speed of your ship and how far off course it is.

I have no idea how this managed to get past testing and approved for distribution by Nintendo. If it were up to me, I would have not allowed the ship to budge until a destination is confirmed. If you click on a planet, then the menu should open and stay open until you make a choice (or choose cancel). Assuming you've chosen something to do on that planet, then and only then does your ship fly over there and nothing would interfere with the journey. But that's just me.

Fortunately, the glitch does not extend to the actual gameplay itself. That is not to say that solving puzzles are not without problems, but they are minor compared to the buggy interface.

So if you are a die-hard Puzzlequest fan, you've probably already picked up Galactrix. For everybody else, you might want to give this one a pass.

Fancy Feet

Hey there. Another week, another cartoon. Feel free to share your thoughts.

This week brings the long-awaited companion to the break-out game, Puzzle Quest. The new game in the series is called Galactrix.

The latest game should be no surprise to Puzzle Quest fans. What's diffrent is there's now an added axis added to the game. But heck, why listen to me? Click here and try it for yourself.