The Picante Project

3DS: In a slump or over the hill?

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Breedlove) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:05:00 +0000

Hot off the heels of the highly successful DS and Wii systems, Nintendo has a high bar set for itself. But the much anticipated and recently released 3DS handheld hasn't sold as well as its predecessor did in the early going, likely not helped by a weak launch game lineup. However, the tech landscape has undergone quite a change over the last few years, as iPhones and Android phones have been widely adopted. Casual, as well as hardcore gamers, can now whip out their phone and play anything from Angry Birds to ports of popular DS/PSP games such as Grand Theft Auto and Phoenix Wright. Further bolstering Nintendo's competition is the game pricing on phones. While 3DS games are $40 a pop, iOS and Android games can usually be had from $1 to $5. Are specifically gaming handhelds such as the 3DS losing relevance in the face of such smartphones?

The short answer is no, at least not yet. Nintendo's loyal fanbase all but assures that the 3DS will find success, coupled with a strong lineup of upcoming games. Next week, a remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be released, sure to boost system sales immediately. And familiar favorites such as Starfox, Super Mario, and Mario Kart are due later this year. Though mobile phone games have become significantly more sophisticated over the last several years, they still lack the level of detail and polish Nintendo have always been famous for, and the familiar franchises that we all know and love. Jus the same, it will be hard for the 3DS to outsell its older brother in the new tech frontier. Even with these games, and innovative 3D-without-glasses tech, many casual gamers will be happy with the gaming experience they can get out of their mobile phones. It also remains to be seen how many existing DS gamers will elect to upgrade to the new system.

The 3DS in its current form is far from perfect. The battery life is mediocre, the system is bulky by today's standards, and the much heralded 3D tech is what we expected it to be: new tech, in need of refinement, specifically as far as viewing angles are concerned. Finally, at $250, entry cost to the platform is hardly appealing. With the PSVita due later this year at the same price, it's hard to see Nintendo being able to maintain that price point and be successful. A price drop is sure to occur by this holiday season, with a game bundle or two likely as well. And heading into next year, a redesign (think 3DS Lite) is hardly out of the question. However, the competition won't be sitting on its heels waiting for Nintendo. PSVita, as previously mentioned, will be released this holiday season. And mobile phone tech is continuously being updated. Nintendo may yet have a winner in its 3DS system, but it definitely will face a lot more competition than the original DS did during its prime years. Nintendo has always won over gamers because they have what matters most: high quality, fun games. And as more titles are released, 3DS sales are sure to pick up. Yet it will be interesting to see its sales figures a year from now, or even 5 years down the line. Only then will we truly know if Nintendo's days as kings of handheld gaming are numbered.

An elegant weapon...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Breedlove) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 06:10:00 +0000

...for a more civilized age!

My Obi Wan Kenobi Force FX lightsaber has arrived. =] This is one of the new ones that features a removable blade. They say a picture says 1,000 words, so I imagine a video says even more. Here it is:

My thoughts on paid Halo Reach DLC

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Breedlove) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:09:00 +0000

So, yesterday it was announced that the first map pack for Halo Reach will be landing on November 30th. The Noble Map Pack will cost $10 and include 3 new multiplayer maps. Since the announcement there has been a lot of discussion on whether or not charging for the pack is justified. I have always been a Halo fan and have supported Bungie by buying the games & the subsequent DLC. But this time I have to admit that I am a little disappointed in this being a paid pack, especially at that price. Here's why.

Halo Reach came out with a very paltry selection of maps to begin with. The fact that most of these maps are lifted straight out of the campaign makes this even worse. And aside from those, the rest (including Forge World maps) are remakes of old Halo maps. None of Halo 3's base maps were from the campaign, and I don't believe any of them were remakes either. I do like some of Reach's maps, such as Powerhouse, Spire, Boneyard, and Sword Base. But there are others such as Reflection and Boardwalk that I feel are very average maps. Not bad, but not up to Bungie's typically awesome standards. The fact that so many are campaign rips makes it obvious that not as much time and/or effort was put into making them. Whether this was a case of Bungie cutting corners or Microsoft pushing for a premature release is unclear, but though the game is solid it doesn't seem like you get as much, map wise, for your $60 as you did with Halo 3.

Now frankly, for the reasons I listed above I think Bungie should do the "right thing" and make it up to their die hard fans who waited and line and bought expensive special editions of the game by making this first pack free. Those points I just made have been expressed by most friends I have spoken with about the game. They love the gameplay, as do I, but feel the maps are a bit lacking right now. Well, that happens. This could be a feel good move by Bungie by releasing a free map pack to make up for the lack of quality maps included with the game.

I think the above should be enough of a reason, but there is a another big reason that the pack should be free; Halo 3's DLC had a big problem. I paid for all the map packs, and was happy to do so because I thought the new maps were generally really awesome. The problem was, once I actually had downloaded the maps I wasn't able to play them online very much. By making map packs paid, Bungie couldn't force everyone to pay for the maps by integrating them into the standard playlists. And so, if you buy the new maps you were not able to play them without going to a special "DLC" playlist. Unfortunately, this playlist was populated by a fraction of the players the standard playlists had and also included non Slayer gametypes that I was not a huge fan of. In short, by making the maps paid they penalized even those who were happy to cough up the money. And I am afraid of this happening on Reach.

Bungie and Microsoft are pulling in tons and tons of cash on this game. I, like millions of other gamers, have always done my part by buying each of these games as they are released and even forking out the cash for the paid extras. But this time I have to take exception to what they are doing. Reach's multiplayer maps are subpar compared with previous games, and charging us for their laziness is not a customer first attitude. All this said, I will probably end up paying for these maps just because I like the gameplay so much. But I certainly hope I will actually get a chance to play them, instead of them being cast off to some other playlist. Who remembers the golden days of PC gaming where map packs were just a given thing that was part of your initial $30-50 investment in the game? Unreal Tournament 2004 is a great example of this. It's just a shame Bungie and Microsoft have let their greed take over. But can you really blame them? They have millions of gamers at their mercy, so I'm sure that while people will moan and groan about this, they are still gonna shell out the dough. But my opinion of both companies has gone down a couple pegs today.

Some useful free iPhone/iPod touch apps

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Breedlove) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:19:00 +0000

I've decided to put together a list of a few useful iPod Touch/iPhone apps that I use on a regular basis. These apps listed here are all completely free. Some are very widely used, but others are lesser known and it is my hope that this list might help you discover a new app or two. I may be following up with some more apps soon, and I definitely will make a list of my favorite iOS games next.

eBuddy

In my opinion, eBuddy is the best IM application for the iOS platform. It just works, and has all the core features you would want out of an IM program. eBuddy, just like the web version, can connect to all major chat protocols, including Facebook and Myspace IM. The program fully supports multitasking and push notifications (on iOS4+), and performance is very good. A paid version is available for $5 which adds a couple features and, more notably, removes the ads present in the free release. I also tried Trillian for iPhone but was very unimpressed and encountered lots of connection problems.

ESPN ScoreCenter

Like many guys (and some awesome girls!) out there, I am an avid sports fan. Between MLB, NFL, NCAAF, and others there are many teams that I like to keep tabs on. Thankfully there is an app for that. ESPN's ScoreCenter app is really useful for keeping tabs on your favorite teams. It has scores for any professional game you could think of and also features recaps and live GameCast looks at games in progress. Perhaps most useful is that the app supports push notifications, allowing it to give you updates for when one of your teams' games starts, has a scoring play, and finishes. If sports are your thing, you'll wanna give this one a try.

Dropbox

Dropbox is an online file storage website that gives you 2 gigs of free online space. The cool part about Dropbox is that they have applications for PCs and mobile devices to keep your files synced from the cloud. Their iPhone app features a very streamlined interface and allows for quick synchronization of your files to and from your online account. I mostly use it for school related purposes, and it does a very good job of letting you view different types of files such as Word documents. I highly recommend it.

Shazam

This is the sort of app that really appeals to my inner geek. It's not even something I see myself using a lot, but the underlying technology makes me want to use it anyway. What the app does is simple: you put your device's microphone up to some music that's playing on the radio, car stereo, etc, and the app will identify what track is playing. It listens to about 15 seconds of the song, but it is surprisingly accurate. Or should I say eerily accurate? I gave Shazam some really obscure music to test it out, and it never let me down. Again, even if you don't think this sort of app would come in handy a lot, I think it's worth checking out just to see it in action.

Adobe Ideas

Adobe Ideas is a free sketchbook app. It's very simple but it does everything you need it to do in a very easy to use way. I don't consider myself very artistically inclined, but I did find myself sketching away whenever I had a few minutes to kill. There's really not much more to say about this one, but I think Ideas could find a place on most anyone's device.

Point Inside

This app allows you to download maps of airports and malls straight to your device for viewing. These maps show were things are and also give you details and phone numbers for different stores. I have found myself at the mall a lot more than I used to and this app can really come in handy. It's pretty accurate, though not always entirely able to keep up with rapid turnover of mall stores. All in all I would say it is a very good interior counterpart to the standard Maps application that comes with iOS devices.

Skype

Skype is Skype. Most of you have probably used it before, and thankfully there really isn't a lot else to say about the iPhone version. It just works. With the advent of Facetime in the new iDevices, some have said Skype will become deprecated. I can't say I know many people with Facetime capable devices though, and since Skype allows communication between many different types of devices I find it far more useful. Unfortunately, there is no webcam support as of yet; one thing which would put it on the level of Facetime. As it stands, I get a lot of use out of it especially since the new iPod has a built in mic.

Yelp

Yelp is an online reviews site for restaurants, shops, and other places you will find when you are out and about. I like having the app version with me, and though I can only access it when I'm around WiFi hotspots, those are frequent enough that I can usually count on it to find the nearest bite to eat. Like on the website, you can specify several criteria when you do a search and read reviews for different places. You can also manage your Yelp account and post geotagged Check Ins. For the adventuring socialite (yes, this is me ;) ), I think it a must have.

So there you go, 8 free apps that I get a lot of use out of. If you end up using these or have some others you would like to share, please leave me a comment! :)

Jailbreak awesomeness

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Breedlove) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 06:39:00 +0000

I'm sure most of you "in the know" have heard that a jailbreak was released for iOS 4.1 devices (iPod touch 4g, iPhone 4, etc). After successfully doing the limera1n jailbreak on my device I have been able to rediscover the world of homebrew on the iPod. Or discover it fully for the first time I suppose. I especially like all the customization options it opens up. The springboard (main UI for iOS) can be custom tailored with different themes and hacks. Amongst others I installed SBSettings, which is a useful tool that allows you to quickly toggle things like WiFi on and off and change your brightness. Emulators are also fun to play around with, but not especially practical. SNES A.D.X. was intriguing since it allowed Wii Remote control (very nifty), but was a bit disappointing on the performance side. I haven't really tried a whole lot else out yet, but I would like to try my hand at making an app or two myself. If anyone has any jailbreak app suggestions, be sure and let me know! I may end up making a list of favorites.