A French court decided that, just because something can be used in illegal activities, that thing itself is not illegal. That’s pretty obvious logic. But Nintendo has been hot to get flash carts banned because they enable piracy. But that French court threw out Nintendo’s case.
But I found the second part of the judgement far more interesting–Nintendo shouldn’t restrict development to only proprietary SDKs. This one is less common sense and creates a rather interesting precedent [for French courts, of course]. Nintendo’s Wii SDK, for example, is not expensive but hard to get. So, if there are libraries that someone else has developed that don’t use the Wii SDK, then the French court says that that is okay basically. Yet, I don’t think that’s quite the pandora’s box that it suggests because Nintendo can still find other means to restrict what games are released.
Surprising my kids with new DS games, I read the reviews and picked up Star Wars Battlefront – Elite Squadron. I’ve bought games that have been C games on metacritic but that I have immensely enjoyed, finding more to them than reviewers gave credit for. I’ve now played Elite Squadron for a couple hours, and overall, this isn’t a bad game, but it’s not very challenging, which results in repetition.
When you run into a room, you have to typically clear out the droids. With the auto-aim, you have to do little more than press B because the target automatically switches to another droid as soon as you kill the current target. So far, I’ve no need to use cover or to use the exploding tanks. Part of the problem is that hits do little damage. I’ve dropped grenades on myself and continued to fight, even while getting shot. So, I’ve been able to run into the middle of a bunch of droids and kill them while suffering little damage. But if you want to play it safe, you can slowly enter a room and as soon as you see a droid, start shooting. (Yep, you can shoot off-screen droids.)
And the game has no challenges for key objectives. For example, to open a game, press X at the very obvious terminal. Or press X to set the ship to self-destruct. I’ll take Jedi Alliance‘s puzzles or even Republic Heroes unlocking sequences over this “roll over and surrender” approach. (The problem with Jedi Alliance was that some puzzles had very unclear instructions but were easy after you knew what to do.) I realize Battlefront is an action series, but this isn’t the typical Battlefront game.
The racing sequences are also far too easy. For example, after setting a ship to self-destruct, you have to race back to your ship before the timer ends. I ran, expecting more droids or obstacles. Nothing that interesting. You just run. It’s ridiculously easy. Even with obstacles and droid attacks, the bike racing section was pretty easy as well. Again, Jedi Alliance had more challenging race levels.
As a result, the game has little to slow you down or make you think. And it’s a shame because this could have been better fairly easily–take more damage from hits, don’t give unlimited ammo for most weapons (like, give us a reason to use grenades), add some puzzles. Or design better levels that aren’t the usual room that you clear and move on to clear another room. Hidden areas? Give us reason to use cover or to cycle through all our weapons.
I played the multiplayer only slightly, to get a taste. But I played with bots as I have no friends. But the difference was night and day. 3-5 hits, and my character died, unlike the campaign. I had to use cover and grenades, again, unlike the campaign. Even with the bots, this felt like a different game, closer to Battlefront (though still not there yet). I know multiplayer can be more difficult because you respawn. But there’s no reason that the campaign couldn’t have at least some levels like this–levels where you have to fight through multiple, powerful enemies. Event he boss levels that I have played so far in the campaign weren’t as difficult as the multiplayer.
I’ll continue to play the game, in part to see where the story goes but also to see if it improves. (I actually find the space fights the most entertaining type of level so far, partly because I’ve also been terrible at flight games so there’s a little challenge in that respect.)
Now, my son enjoys the game, but he’s a Star Wars junkie.
Globeil is indeed working on a new version of virtual game maker DS, which I commented on before.
Check his site for more information about the beta version.
It would appear that the new version will allow you to create games on multiple platforms, as Globeil states in the announcement:
VGMDS (Virtual Game Maker) is a program that allow non-programmer people to make easily 2-D games, like RPGs, Action-Rpg (Zelda-Style), Platform (Mario-style) or any 2-D style Game! This version aimed to work on the most common platforms: - PC - Mac - Wii - Xbox 360 - Nintendo DS (low resources) - PSP - And maybe other versions… And will be collaborative, so I mean that users will be able to create their project together, through the internet. Several people developping the same project in the same time ! Of course, multiplayer is OK. The programmation method is new, and will prevent a maximum of bugs, so I want that each functionnality working will work 100% bug-free. I’m programming a demo, that I’ll release to a few beta-testers to improve the project!
How do you get songs from your music library to your DSi? We don’t use the DSi much as a music player, although the kids enjoy it. And with Flipnotes, you can use music files in the animations.
You might want to watch a free music library tool/player called Doubletwist, which was just released for beta and which will include in a future release support for the DSi, including converting the file to the acceptable format.
I like, too, that Doubletwist includes integration with Amazon’s music store [though not yet for the Windows version]. I’m always in search of a good replacement for iTunes, and this could eventually be it. [Songbird is still a little rough for my wife's use at this point, who has a low threshold for bugs.]
I’m not playing homebrew games like I was, but this lot of NEO competition entries has me interested. Smealum’s DawnSeekers looks like an excellent 3D game. If you’re looking for new homebrew to try, go download these and vote.
Also, an interesting new Wii game released this week, Cursed Mountain. I’ve been eyeing this game for a while because it looked like it has atmosphere and a good narrative. It’s not action horror game, like Resident Evil 5, but the pace does pick up after the beginning. The setting and use of Tibetan and Buddhist lore has me the most interested, perhaps. I like the slightly offbeat, different games that might not be a huge hit but that isn’t following the pack. Sometimes, these types of good games are more memorable than the great games.
I started to include just game footage, but this amateur review is good for showing more of the whole game rather than just the beginning.
For some games, creating is as fun as playing. Maybe it’s just a carryover my childhood obsession with building blocks, but a couple of creative items have my interest right now.
First up is Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! which I never played in earlier versions. For DSiware, this is a very full offering, in large part because you can edit, upload, download and rate cutomize levels. Like other Nintendo games with level editors, you have to play the game to unlock new features and items in the editor. I have spent almost as much time editing levels as playing the game. Even though the DSi has larger screen, it’s still not a lot of screen real estate for something like level editing. Yet, it works very well and is easy to use. Minis March Again offers enough items that a lot of variation is possible.
Next, if you want more than level editing and more game creation, then get ready for Microsoft’s Kodu which is coming the end of June. It’s a game creator that is aimed at younger kids, but not limited to them, because it relies on icons, not code snippets. IGN has a nice hands-on with Kodu, which is part of the 360′s community games area. One of the nice features is that you can have more one person authoring a game at the same time.
My son already has summer homework, so we’re talking about creating a game for a part of it on the 360. I plan on wasting much time with it myself, creating some short RPGs and the like.
I’m going to recommend a game to DS owners. It’s not your typical strategy RPG.
Have you had your fill of elves and child-like anime?
Do you like turn-based games?
Do you like NPCs that act like characters?
Do you want a strategy game that’s focused on a squad, not on gathering resources and creating buildings?
Then put on that Ace of Bass or The Jesus & Mary Chain CD, and play some Jagged Alliance on the DS.
The graphics from the 1994 DOS game appear to be tweaked, not overhauled. With no previews, we’re flying blind into this DS port, but we probably know what to expect–a very fun game. The graphics might be difficult for some to get past, and it’s possible that the lack of a grid could cause issues, as it did in Warhammer for the DS. But the core gameplay of the game is solid. It wasn’t a hit of the 90s, but did well enough to bring a sequel.
You have to hire a squad of mercenaries, which is the RPG element of the game. You can purchase weapon upgrades and develop your mercs’ skills. The combat is turn-based, much like that in Fallout and Fallout 2.
But what makes Jagged Alliance different and so enjoyable are the personalities. You see, those mercernaries have personalities, and some don’t get along with others. You can have some even quit or go rogue on you in the middle of combat. So, another aspect of the game is managing these personalities. You might even spend as much time managing your team as fighting the enemy.
It’s not a game for everyone. I tried it when it came out and didn’t like it at first, but in time, I thoroughly enjoyed. If you don’t have a DS, then consider getting it from gog. [or the sequels ja2 and unfinished business--Jagged Alliance 2 is the best of the series].
M3 Adapter and Supercard have announced their own slot 1 solutions for the DSi. Supercard’s DSONEi has a usb connection for upgrading the cart’s firmware. You can watch this video to see what the DSONEi interface looks like. The M3 Real i doesn’t have much detail, although some have referred to images of its menu.
Yet, these carts are susceptible to Nintendo updating the DSi firmware and taking away whatever exploit the carts use. This is true for any DSi slot 1 cart. DSONEi’s USB makes updating the cart’s firmware easier, but this is meaningful only as long as the manufacturer responds with a firmware update to counter Nintendo’s update. And this response might not be quick.
tinycartridge has a good interview with Narin from gbatemp on DSi flashcarts.
The DSONEi seems affordable at around $23. We will probably hear more about DSi carts, such as the Cyclo DSi, in coming weeks. But, if you do purchase one, do be aware that some folks sell fakes.
A few carts are now appearing for the DSi to run homebrew on, and the more adventurous among us are buying them and trying to make them work–acekard 2i, R4i, DSTTi, EZ Flashi. But it seems that some might not be what they’re advertised to be.
While these carts are sometimes cheap [~$15], you might get something that works but only until Nintendo updates the firmware on your DSi. So, it’s critical that there’s team supporting the cart for these DSi firmware updates. As we saw with the homebrew channel, the response to Nintendo’s update can be rather quick, if sharp programmers are involved. The R4i is not from the R4 group, which dissolved last year, which makes it a risky or unknown cart.The AceKard 2i seems to be having troubles, if you scan the topics in the gbatemp acekard forum.
My advice is this: if you’re a gamer and want to play homebrew, don’t waste your time and money on any homebrew cart for the DSi right now. I think, for now at least, this is something for the programmers and hackers. Wait for a valid, tested, and supportable solution is available.
Although homebrew for the new DSi is still relatively quiet, here are a couple of resources to keep an eye on.
DSibrew.org–Like its sister wiibrew.org, this site has the potential to be the place for homebrew developments. You’ll be able to see any DSi-specific tools for developing homebrew as well as more end-user apps.
DSi google group–A discussion group for DSi homebrew, with some development resources made available.
gbatemp–This has been an important site for announcements and discussions for GBA and DS homebrew, and I would expect it to remain so for the DSi. As of now, they have a dsi-specific forum, so you have to browse the existing DS forums. However, for now, this thread is worth watching, which, so far, doesn’t have much encouraging news.
DSi Homebrew Channel–This is a forum for the development of a channel for the DSi along the lines of the Wii homebrew channel. However, this project is probably not relevant until someone discovers an exploit to allow for unsigned, or unauthorized, apps.
wehackdsi–A blog posting news about DSi homebrew. The bloggers running the site don’t appear to do any hacking themselves but just report on what others are doing [a good service in itself].
What might be encouraging is that, according to Bushing [of team twiizers], the DSi reuses the Wii security, which we know has already been hacked to allow homebrew. Of course, there’s more to it than that, as someone had to find a save file hack, which, more than likely, Nintendo has probably eliminated for the DSi.
Bushing in the gbatemp thread above notes that folks need to keep in perspective how long it took to get the homebrew channel working on the Wii, which was roughly 18 months. He wrote:
Yes, there are some similarities [between the DSi and Wii] — but not enough that you can just skip a year’s worth of hard work. Putting together the final artwork and coding is one of the last bits, and if history is any guide, it will just sort of fall into place once the technical side is ready. Even if you do put together a team now, you’ll probably lose half of them due to attrition before you actually have a chance to start coding.
The point is it’s going to take a while, so don’t get ahead of the first steps, and be patient. Okay, that’s two points.
Well, I picked up my new DSi [black--the blue was a tad the wrong shade for me], and after playing with for a day, I think it’s an upgrade over the DS Lite. The larger screens are definitely a plus for me, and some features are much better than I expected.
For example, even though you cannot crop images, you can apply several filters that transform the image, including erasing and creating picture frames from images. A few of the filters, such as merge, require very good pictures of faces from the front. When I took a picture of my son at 85% profile, I got an error message saying that the portrait couldn’t be recognized. [It also doesn't take much to blur a photo, as the camera seems very sensitive to the slightest movement.] Still, the photo editing is better than I expected. The sound editing is not quite as useful, but it’s fun, at least for a while, as my son and I took his recording from Darth Vader baritones to chipmonk highs.
The interface is also very simple and usable, which is not surprising given that it’s adapted from the Wii Menu. I like that I can somewhat personalize the interface with pictures appearing in the top screen. The DSi Shop is also very clean: although I didn’t use any of my 1000 free points, I downloaded the Opera Browser, which took a while, not unlike the early days of the Wii Shopping Channel. Again, Nintendo leveraged the Wii Shopping Channel for the DSi Shop. [I liked the default categorization of titles by prices--free, 200, 500, and 1000 points. Sometimes, you shop for what you can afford, not to mention, who doesn't like free stuff?]
As for the web browser, I’m actually impressed: it’s faster than the Opera browser that was available for the DS Lite and faster than the homebrew browsers, not to mention that it supports forms better. In fact, using the touch keyboard [which is much faster and easier to use than on the Wii], I drafted most of this post from the DSi. I’m not going to do major surfing on the web with it, but it’s nice to have as an option, for trips or even around the house.
The DSi feels overall more compact and well made. My only nit is the SD slot–the cover opens and bends back for inserting and removing the SD card, something I can see cracking or breaking. I certainly love the matte finish.
If it weren’t for the homebrew issue, I’d upgarde our other DS Lite for the DSi. The camera and recording is fun for the kids, and I can see DSware having a bit to offer in the coming months. So, all in all, this is not a purchase/upgrade that I regret.
The DSi is coming to North America in a few days, and it’s hardly surprising to see that Nintendo is promoting it. Sure, we know that the DS has about half the market penetration in North America than it does in Japan, but that alone doesn’t explain the hard sell.
Maybe it’s that Nintendo wants this more powerful DS [2x CPU speed and 4x the RAM] to take hold so that game developers can kick it up a notch.Note, though, that the DSi has two modes, ‘native’ which is for DSi-specific processing and ‘compatible’ for DS games. So, your DS games probably won’t see any benefit from the improved RAM and CPU.
No, the most obvious answer for the hard DSi push is two-fold:
The DSi Shop offers a way to sell [and resell] apps and games in a steady stream of offerings.
There’s also that fear that some DSi-specific features and games will be coming soon, which, of course, we don’t want to miss out on.
Because we have two DS’s [one for the kids and one for me], I’ll probably do the trade-in offer at Gamestop and get the DSi, just so that I can see what it’s like. [Plus, as my eyes worsen, the larger screens are an appeal.] Even though I still have the means to play homebrew games, I don’t doubt that this change will have some impact. For many, though, I don’t think giving up homebrew is much of a sacrifice, either because they don’t play the games or don’t play them much. And that is a shame because, as I’m in the midst of repackaging updates for my recommended homebrew games, it’s chock full of gaming days.
The DSi offers several obstacles for homebrew:
Nintendo has taken a page from Apple by creating a whitelist and requiring apps to have registered signatures to play.
DSi firmware that prevents booting up on a flash cart.
The DSi firmware can now be updated, which means that Nintendo can counter hacks. The PSP has had this, yet the PSP homebrew scene has thrived.
Homebrew on the DSi seems dependent on the flash carts. Acekard has already found a way, although a firmware update could nullify that. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see someone hack a solution through the second SD slot so that, although the DSi boots up normally, you can switch over to play homebrew, a la the homebrew channel on the Wii.
So, there’s reason to think that homebrew will eventually run on the DSi, and DSi won’t have to miss out on all the homebrew loveliness.
FWIW, I will probably stay with black for the DSi, although I’m somewhat tempted by the light blue.
Update: I went at lunch to Gamestop and did the trade-in. However, the clerk confirmed that reserving a DSi doesn’t guarantee you one on April 5. I know the clerk decently well, and he said he couldn’t confirm how many they were getting, but they had already had a lot of people reserve one, with the trade-in or not. He said he hoped it wouldn’t be like the Wii, but he didn’t know.
In January, I commented on Joystiq about the significance of services for consoles in this generation and even moreso in the next–something far more significant, in fact, than the next gen graphics that have consumed console and gamer discussions for the last three years.
Gaming doesn’t occur in a vacuum, despite our closing our doors as we indulge in hours of gaming. Although I’m on board with Jon Stewart and his derision of twitter, social networking is but one aspect of what’s happening with the Internet, as we’re seeing on-demand in greater quantity, and mashups of services. We’ve known about the idea of gaming consoles as multimedia centers for a while, but sometimes, it takes time or several attempts to get it to work. And I think time is the key because often innovations require a certain threshold of users before it gains the attention of mainstream users.
For example, about 8 years ago, I tried AT&T’s cable tv/internet/phone package. And it failed miserably, both on the service level [and boy, was their service atrocious] and among the public–it was just not something that people saw as a benefit. Today, that is a different story, as Verizon and others are succeeding in packaged services.
When my wife bought me a 360, she thought it was just for me. Similarly, I bought the Wii for the kids. And they were both for gaming. Yet, the 360 sees more non-gaming activity today because we use it to watch movies and shows via Netflix and Playon, and I use it [when the 360 decides to work with my router] to talk to my brother rather than the phone. We use the Wii for Wii Fit exercise, checking the news, and even surfing the web.
Even though it might not have the range of services as the 360 [at least, outside of Japan], the Wii is perhaps a key on service implementation. For one, it is a far more popular console and has the ability to push new products and services to more people than the 360. [I'm not saying by any means that the 360 is the innovator and the Wii is a popularizer.]
Second, as restrictive as Nintendo can be, it has created a far friendlier, more customizable interface. Several years, when I taught technical writing, I had students conduct usability tests with older users and telephones, and we found that one of the key problems of phones is that their controls were too similar yet too different from other devices, causing confusion. The underlying design metaphor is critical in user satisfaction. This past weekend, my wife was trying to find a movie and became very frustrated with the 360 interface–the new one–because it separates Netflix, videos on our local network, and Microsoft’s own video offerings. Too many things, too many similar things, and too little customization. Even though Microsoft call them ‘channels,’ the metaphor is weak, at best, especially with an interface that has 3 tiers. The Wii has a very flat interface. And there’s only one place to configure the system [unlike the 360]. But the flat interface allows customers to organize the channels on their own, grouping similar channels however they define them. The Wii menu could use a lot more work, but the underlying design principles are the right ones.
Third, Nintendo has shown that less can be better. The Wii console itself is compact. It’s cheaper. The basic controller has just 6 buttons compared to 12 for the 360 controller, not to mention that it looks more like a remote control. The Wii in a way represents less of a physical console presence than the 360 or the PS3. As such, it’s closer to the idea of a thin client, which is where I think gaming services are heading or should head.
The point isn’t to argue who has the advantage; instead, I’ve tried to point out what the consoles are doing and need to do. I think the thing none of them have done well is to offer more dynamic functionality. With computers, we see new services pop up all the time, and we simply enter a URL to use them. With game consoles, we are much less able to do that. We have to wait until Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo decide that the services are worth rendering to their respective products. As such, the current consoles are decidedly last gen and ‘web 1.0.’ Yet, even in their flawed current models, they can do more, can offer us more ‘web 2.0′ features that involve information sharing, collaboration, interoperability, and hosted services.
Several months ago, I tried an earlier version of DS Game Maker. It was good, but just getting through the installation was a pain. A couple of nights ago, I splurged and bought a license to view the whole feature set. And man, I was greatly impressed. Version 2.4 seems much easier to use [because of familiarity?] than v1.0.
I made a cruddy little non-game, and I spent far, far more time working the graphics than adding the controls to move the sprite and add collision effects. There are a few nits with the app; for example, I wished that I could copy and paste actions that were frequently reused. [Perhaps this is my ignorance of programming . . . I almost wished I could create a function with different actions, such as playing a sound, change a variable, and move a sprite, and then call that function each time rather all the individual actions.] Yet, this is a very good tool for creating homebrew, although you should have some basic idea of programming.
James has a great tool in DS Game Maker. You will have to make use of the forums on the DS Game Maker website to get help, but there are good posts there already, as well as this nice sprite overview. If not, James and others are pretty responsive. And version 3.0 is in development, so this app bears watching.
I’m now wishing I had an idea for a little DS game. Even so, I’m having a hard time putting DS Game Maker down.
There have been some very good complex DS homebrew games, such as a Touch of War. But I think there’s a trend for excellent homebrew games: take a simple but entertaining game, and do it very, very well with the ability to add to it. For example, StillAliveDS and Warcraft Tower Defense follow this model, as both offer level editors and ways to get new content to keep the game fresh.
Add to that the very excellent Marble from Noda. The game itself is simple–you have tilt a gameboard to move a marble to its goal, dealing with obstacles along the way. Marble placed third in the Neoflash summer 2008 competition [which StillAliveDS won].
Marble is quite a game, one that you can easily play for a long time. The game has some beautiful textures and backgrounds, and the game physics are really well done. But what is truly impressive is the level editor, in which you can edit the marble, board, and game elements:
Board — Adjust size, border size and width, texture [8 available], and diffuse light color
Board elements — Add walls, speeders, magnets, bumpers, black holes, life, portal, sticky; set size, position, diffuse color and other parameters for each element
Game — Set time, rebound, friction, main light color, main light position, and background [8 available]
I think Noda has a great game here, one definitely keeping on your cart. Now, the graphics are somewhat rough in places, but this is still very enjoyable and well done.
Of course, while the game might be simple, the work behind is hardly that. But I think the focus allows these developers to do it very well.
A French court decided that, just because something can be used in illegal activities, that thing itself is not illegal. That’s pretty obvious logic. But Nintendo has been hot to get flash carts banned because they enable piracy. But that French court threw out Nintendo’s case.
Surprising my kids with new DS games, I read the reviews and picked up Star Wars Battlefront – Elite Squadron. I’ve bought games that have been C games on metacritic but that I have immensely enjoyed, finding more to them than reviewers gave credit for. I’ve now played Elite Squadron for a couple hours, and overall, this isn’t a bad game, but it’s not very challenging, which results in repetition.
But the difference was night and day. 3-5 hits, and my character died, unlike the campaign. I had to use cover and grenades, again, unlike the campaign. Even with the bots, this felt like a different game, closer to Battlefront (though still not there yet). I know multiplayer can be more difficult because you respawn. But there’s no reason that the campaign couldn’t have at least some levels like this–levels where you have to fight through multiple, powerful enemies. Event he boss levels that I have played so far in the campaign weren’t as difficult as the multiplayer.
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