Poll #96: "What do you think of Wii MotionPlus so far?" results, no new banner, additional textual screen-filler

"It's amazing!" 2 votes (11%)
"I like it" 2 votes (11%)
"I don't like it" 0 votes (0%)
"It's terrible!" 1 votes (5%)
"I'm indifferent/don't know yet" 1 vote (5%)
"I haven't tried it yet" 11 votes (64%)

I'm surprised so many people haven't tried it out yet! Well, at least those who have tried it seem to enjoy it. Except for that one guy... What's his deal?

As for this week's banner... There isn't one! I figure almost nobody saw it last week anyways, so why replace it? Also, I'm tired.

Moving along to this week's poll, the question is "DS Lite or DSi: Which do you prefer?" Both systems have their advantages, but what's your preference? To be honest, I can't pick one. I hope most other voters are more decisive than me!

Now, about the utter lack of activity here... I'm feeling much better now, so things will certainly be picking up very soon. I will write something this week, no question about it. Just not now, because it's 2:32 AM. But soon!

Poll #95: "Do you prefer 2D or 3D platformers?" results, banner, a word on recent activity

"2D" 7 votes (36%)
"3D" 5 votes (26%)
"I can't decide" 7 votes (36%)
"I'm not into platformers" 0 votes (0%)

It seems that those who aren't indifferent tend to lean in the direction of 2D. I guess you just don't forget those early days of Super Mario Bros.!

This week's banner is based on that funky-fresh Zelda concept art the internet has been chewing on for the last month. Is she the living version of the Master Sword? Or is she maybe the queen of the fairies? Hell if I know... Or care. I just want the damn game!


For this week's poll, the question is "What do you think of Wii MotionPlus so far?" It's been out for a little while now, so those who've picked it up probably have quite a bit of play time to base an opinion off of. Personally, I'm waiting until Wii Sports Resort, so I can't really say. Perhaps you have had a chance to give it a go, and if you have, let everyone know how you feel! And if you'd like to elaborate on your choice, you can always drop a comment!

Now, you've no doubt noticed that preceding this poll results post is another poll results post... Preceded by another (Not counting that little paragraph in between). To put it briefly (And to spare you all the details), I've been unwell lately. I've been unable to concentrate on much the last little while, including my love of gaming. And when I'm not gaming, I'm not coming up with article ideas. I'm feeling somewhat better as of today, but I've got a little ways to go before I'm back to normal. Don't worry, folks, I wasn't in some sort of crippling car accident and I don't have cancer or anything. It's just a... Well, I suppose you could say it's a condition I have. Nothing deadly, nothing like that, relax. Just something I'll have to deal with over the next little while.

As I said, I've been feeling a little better, so I would expect I'll have something written and posted soon. Don't expect anything big, but it'll be something. Hopefully I can keep things running smoothly from there. Now, though, I'd better be getting my sleep. See you all again soon... Sort of. I really don't actually see any of you ever. Awkwaaaaaaaard...

Poll #94: "What do you think of Chinatown Wars being ported to the PSP?" results, banner

"This is terrible news!" 1 votes (4%)
"I'm kinda miffed" 4 votes (19%)
"I don't really care" 11 votes (52%)
"Sounds good to me!" 2 votes (9%)
"About damn time!" 0 votes (0%)
"Wait, what?!" 3 votes (14%)

It seems the majority of voters didn't really care, and now that I think about it a week after the announcement, I suppose I don't really care, either. Also, not to sound fanboyish, but I think the DS version will end up the superior game in the end. Those touch-controlled mini-events really added so much to the experience, a feature I doubt a wider screen can replace.

This week's banner is based on the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii for... Well, the Wii. I think the screenshot used in the banner perfectly shows what this game will be: Old-school platforming fun with three friends joining in on the action. And it looks glorious.


This week's poll is simple question of opinion: "Do you prefer 2D or 3D platformers?". I really can't decide, personally. I've had so much fun with both sides of the coin!

No idea when the next article will be up. I have a few ideas, I just don't know when I'll get the chance to write them. Thursday, perhaps?

New poll and banner tomorrow

Way too tired to do it tonight. Garry's Mod is eating my life again. This post will probably be deleted in a matter of hours, so if you see it, well, hooray for you, I guess.

Poll #93: "Which of the three motion controllers seems best to you?" results, banner

"Wii remote (With MotionPlus)" 7 votes (33%)
"Project Natal" 3 votes (14%)
"The PS3 motion controller" 4 votes (19%)
"They all seem great" 6 votes (28%)
"They all suck" 0 votes (0%)
"I don't know" 1 votes (4%)

Wii MotionPlus swept the competition, taking 33% of the votes. This win was no doubt partially helped by the MotionPlus being so much more "real" to us all, what with it already being in the market, and having tonnes of consumer and media reviews behind it. The competition's controllers look promising, of course, but they both still seem more like "proof of concept" than a real control style as of now. Like the flying car and man walking on Mars, it's something many will have to see before truly appreciating and believing. Or in this case, referring back to what Reggie Fils-Aime said in 2006, "Playing = Believing".

This week's banner is in celebration of The Conduit, High Voltage's Wii-exclusive shooter launching mere hours from now. With nearly every media outlet praising its name, it's hard not to get excited. I've already got tomorrow all planned out!


Finally, for this week's poll, the question concerns a recent bit of news. Apparently, Rockstar wasn't happy with how Chinatown Wars performed on the DS (Can't say I blame them), and decided to port it over to the PSP (Short for Playstation PORT-able, amirite?). While I can see why they decided to do this (GTA sells like mad on Playstation-brand systems), it still makes me a little mad. Just when I thought Rockstar was proving how much they cared about the Nintendo fanbase, they turn around not four months later and announce it's headed to the PSP. So much for the DS having its own little slice of the pie... I guess I'll write more about this later, but back to the poll, I now ask you: "What do you think of Chinatown Wars being ported to the PSP?", and don't be afraid to elaborate on your feelings in the comment section.

That's it for now, folks. I may get writing a bit more later tonight, so look out for that. Until then, keep on gamin'!

DSi firmware update ideas

The DSi is a great handheld for those willing to make the investment (More details in my review), but there are a few minor shortcomings noticeable in the system's built-in software. It used to be that, when a console shipped with problems like this, it was stuck that way for good. That's no longer the case, though, as the DSi's firmware can be updated much like the Wii's, allowing features to be added and existing software to be tweaked. As of yet, Nintendo hasn't even hinted at an upcoming firmware update for the DSi, but that hasn't stopped me from brainstorming the possibilities. Following are a few ideas I've thought up that would make the DSi that much more great.

SD card compatibility similar to that of the Wii since Wii Menu 4.0

I was really getting annoyed earlier this year. I had to keep deleting games off of my Wii's internal memory, redownloading ones I wanted to play again, and performing the mind-numbingly long task of shuffling others to the SD card and back. Finally, Nintendo delivered with Wii Menu 4.0, allowing lightning-fast play of WiiWare and Virtual Console games stored on the SD card. Since then, all's been good...

...but a similar problem may soon be arising with the DSi. It was recently found out that, if you've downloaded all the DSiWare software available, your DSi is officially full. Of course, much of what's on DSiWare right now is, well, crap, but that could surely change in the near future. In the last few weeks alone, Mighty Flip Champs and Mario VS Donkey Kong: Minis March Again have appeared on the DSiStore, and many more titles are on their way. Eventually we're going to run out of space for it all. Sadly, unlike the Wii, the DSi lacks the ability to directly run software off of an SD card... for now. Surely Nintendo could do the same thing on the DSi as they did on the Wii? Since I see no reason why not, yes, they can do it... And don't call me Shirley*.

Pause gameplay and access the main menu

You're sitting on a park bench, playing a good round of Fire Emblem, when all of a sudden you look up and see a hawk perched on the tree nearby. But you left your camera at home, and your cell phone's recharging! Well, you could just tap the power button and return to the main menu... But that would mean losing your progress in that round of Fire Emblem (And you were doing pretty damn well, too!). Well, it's either that, or miss an awesome picture of a hawk. Decisions!

This wouldn't be a problem, though, if you could just pause the game and jump back to the main menu. Like minimizing a program on a computer, you could duck out, take a pic, and jump right back in. The way I see this working out (Mind you, I'm no tech-expert, so stop me if this isn't feasible) is the game just pausing as usual while the picture's being taken. In fact, this may even be what Nintendo was planning all along. The DSi 16MB of RAM, four times as much as any previous DS model. RAM dictates how much a computer can do at once, and it's sure to be the same with the DSi. With 4MB being taken up by the game, that leaves 12MB to do whatever we want. Surely that's enough to handle taking a simple picture? Theoretically, yes, it is enough... And stop calling me Shirley*.

Now, the next question is, how would this function be accessed? Every button on the DSi is already taken... So why not make it replace the one-tap-to-the-menu function of the Power Button? Instead of a single tap taking you directly to the menu, a window would pop up asking what you want to do: Pause the game and access the menu; shut down the game, lose all progress and access the menu; or simply cancel and return to the game.

A final problem arises with upcoming, unknown software... Nintendo can't have put all that extra RAM just for the sake of this function. Upcoming, more hardware-intensive games are coming, and they'll be using higher amounts of the DSi's RAM. When it comes to this, my system outlined above won't be possible (That is, if it wasn't already rendered impossible by my lack of tech knowledge. Experts, feel free to chime in!). When games like these come along, I propose a new function: A quick-save feature built in to all software... And really, that's all there is to it. Just a quick-save feature. Why don't all handheld games have this already, anyway? It's a portable console, for crying out loud, we should be able to save and quit whenever we need! Pick-up-and-play, people!

MP3 support on DSi Sound, and a playlist feature for music

No matter how hard I tried, I was never able to get any AAC file loaded on an SD card to play on my DSi (Click here, hit Ctrl+F and punch in "Continuing along" for more). With so many hoops to jump through, there's probably somewhere along the way where I made a mistake. Why not just cut all the crap and put MP3 support in there? Post an updated DSi Sound Channel on the DSiStore, charge 200 points to cover the format licensing fee, and we're in business. That's all there is to it.

Sadly, I doubt this will happen. Nintendo seems to be running away from the MP3 format for no reason, straight into the land of AAC. Makes no sense. Whether or not this becomes a reality, though, I still want the following feature to be implemented: Playlists. As it is, audio files can only be played one by one, and in order to change to the next one, we have to fiddle about with the touchscreen. Doesn't exactly make for easy-playing of our music, does it? I know, DSi Sound is more meant for messing around with sounds and stuff than replacing a separate music player, but if the possibility for improvement is there, why not go for it? Toss in the MP3 format (Just do it, dammit), slap a 200 point price tag on it and label it "DSi Sound 2.0". Money in the bank!

Increased volume control sensitivity

I do a lot of my gaming at night when everyone else is asleep. When I was using my DS Lite, I usually had little trouble using the volume slider to find an appropriate volume level that was both loud enough for me to clearly hear yet quiet enough so as to not disturb my family. With the DSi, though, the slider is out, the buttons are in, and my ideal volume level is between two of the settings. The one below it is too quiet, the one above it is too loud, and I really don't like gaming with headphones (No idea why, I just don't). I've heard other people complain about the different volume levels, too, so I know I'm not alone on this. It can't be that hard to just make each press of the button adjust the volume less, so go on and do it, Nintendo!

Easier main-menu image viewing

I take a lot of pictures with my DSi, since I usually have it handy. When I want to go show off those pictures, though, it's a bit of a pain. After starting up the system, I then have to navigate to the DSi Camera channel, select the Album option, wait for the first image to load, then wait for the next image to load, and so on... When right on the main menu I can see one of my many photos. So why not just let me shuffle through them on the main menu?

I'm suggesting a button for the lower screen, maybe called "Random Image". Tap it, and the photo on the top screen would randomly switch to a different one. Of course, this would only select images you'd labeled to show on the upper screen, so that random picture you took of a door but forgot to delete won't be popping up. Surely this can't be very hard to implement (You should know where this is going by now)?

What do you think of my ideas? Are they great? Stupid? Technically impossible? All of the above (I don't doubt someone will find a way to make that possible)? Have your say in the comment section, or in this thread.

*You there. Watch Airplane. NOW.

Poll #92: "What did you think of E3 2009?" results, banner

"It was amazing!" 10 votes (37%)
"I thought it was good" 16 votes (59%)
"It wasn't good or bad" 0 votes (0%)
"I didn't like it much" 0 votes (0%)
"It was awful!" 1 vote (3%)
"I don't know" 0 votes (0%)

Good to see that the reactions were generally positive. For the person who said it was awful... What exactly was so bad about it? Was a lack of Zelda and Pikmin 3 info really that big of a deal to you? Well, I guess you really just can't please everyone.

As I said in my last post here, I'd be spending a lot of time chilling out by screwing around in Team Fortress 2. While screwing around, I happened upon an interesting killcam image, and decided to incorporate it into this week's banner. So then, I present to you some incredibly angry BLU Heavy, in all his glowing glory*.


Next up comes this week's poll. Announced at E3 two weeks ago were motion-based alternatives to the 360 and PS3 controllers, no doubt attempting to tap into the expanded audience the Wii remote brought in. Also showcased at E3 (And released the week after) was the Wii MotionPlus, a little device that grants an incredible amount of precision to the Wii remote's motion capabilities. The question is, "Which of the three motion controllers seems best to you?". Personally I think the MotionPlus sounds best, mainly from reactions coming from those who have used it (I've yet to pick up one for myself). What's your take on the situation?

Those two matters aside, we turn to the main part of this blog: Articles. When will a new one finally surface? I'm not making any promises, but I think I can get something written and posted within the next few days. It may not be an epic-length essay or anything like that, but rest assured I'll do my best to get something on the front page in the next few days. For now, though, I'd better get to sleep. Here's hoping my plan holds out!

*For anyone unfamiliar with Team Fortress 2, when invulnerable, a Heavy will sometimes say "Now is coward killing time!". The text in the banner is based on this.

Well, so much for that.

Back on this blog's second "birthday", I said the following:

May those droughts be a thing of the past, and the one thing to be left behind in this new year!

As you can tell by the fact I haven't written anything other than poll results in over a week, I've failed utterly at leaving that behind. Not for a lack of trying, though, as I have seven article fragments sitting in wait, but I just can't figure out how to finish them. In short, I have author's constipation, or rather, writer's block (Take your pick). I suppose it could be worse, though. Chris Livingston hasn't updated in four weeks. Let's just pray I get over my writer's block in a more timely manner!

I won't make any promises as to when the words will start flowing again, but rest assured I'll be doing my best to restore activity... As I frag people in Team Fortress 2. While some people take showers to clear their minds, I'm the guy who's decloaking behind them and pulling out my knife. "PEEK-A-BOO!"

Poll replacement, new banner

Well, that poll was a bust, garnering only seven votes. It sure isn't easy making a poll referring to an event that will still work after said event. Instead of attempting to gauge overall thoughts based on seven votes this Monday, I'll just be replacing the poll with a new one, and letting it run straight through until the 15th. Now then, the question is "What did you think of E3 2009?" Simple, yes? Personally, I was pleased with what I saw. Nintendo fans got Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Metroid: Other M and the long-awaited Golden Sun DS. That's plenty enough for me to consider this a good week.

Now then, for this week's banner, the subject is Super Mario Galaxy 2, one of the games announced on Tuesday. The original Galaxy was an incredibly fun adventure that was downright beautiful to boot. If the image used in the banner is any indication, Galaxy 2 will be carrying on both traditions.


As with the poll, this banner will remain up until the 15th. Now then, with this taken care of, I'll get to work on a few article ideas I have floating about. Expect one (Or more!) to appear later today or over the weekend.

The Super Mario Galaxy 2 logo: Slapped together in a hurry?

This is just a little something I had to toss out there. Make sure to check below for two other articles written today!


When randomly taking a look at the above logo (I do that sometimes), I noticed something strange. You can't really make it out in the above image due to Blogger having a size limit for uploaded pictures, so I've posted below a narrower scope of the image, allowing its full-quality to be uploaded.


Now, you're probably going to have to full-view this image to see what I see. Look at how clear and crisp the lines on the 2 are... Are how utterly blurry and low-res the letter above it is. It looks like someone just slapped a two on a slightly blown-up copy of the Galaxy logo.

Of course, I'm not suggesting any sort of conspiracy by this. It was on the stage, so it's real, no doubt. I'm just saying it seems that this was put together in a hurry. The only thing it could possibly indicate is that "Super Mario Galaxy 2" is merely a title-in-progress, and that the game will sport a name much more suiting of its pedigree in the end, because, let's face it, a "2" on the end of a game title is a pretty lame name for a sequel. Let's get some artistic flair in that bad boy! A game like this is deserving of so much more than a lame "2" to set it apart from its predecessor.

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