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While playing the DS, I noticed that my hands were sometimes pushing a couple of buttons at the same time - basically, the buttons were small and pretty close together.

Comparing the old button design to the new (old design), you can see that they've altered the layout.

This is an absolutely welcome change in my book. With the buttons in a side-by-side, wider layout, they'll feel a lot more comfortable for adult hands.

Actually, all of the above were launched for strategic reasons.

The ROB was released to get the NES out of department stores and into electronics stores, and at that it succeeded admirably (they never intended to support it, sadly). The GBA-GC link was an attempt to use the success of the GBA to drive sales of their new system. The SuperGameboy took some of the edge out of the criticism that the Game Boy was not actually a color device, during a time when it was under a very real attack from the Lynx, the Game Gear, and the TurboExpress. It also attempted to leverage the success of the GB to the SNES, in the same way that the GBA-GC link would later fail to do. The 64-DD was an experiment in optical re-writable technologies, as a response to criticisms of the storage capacity of cartridges and the then obvious future for networked gaming. The e-Reader sold and still sells well in Japan. Selling barcodes for 5 bucks sounds like a good idea to me. The SuperScope was Nintendo's attempt to make and promote a gun to shed their kiddy image, but to make is so laughably non gun-like (and ergonomically challenged) as to not offend parents. Gunpei Yokoi, who helped found Nintendo's interactive ambitions with light gun shooting galleries and created the original zapper, was responsible for the SuperScope. He also (ill)concieved the VirtualBoy was during a time where JaguarVR and the Genesis/SegaCD/32X VR system was perceived as a threat.

You did miss a few, though. There was the Power Pad, the Game Boy Camera, the Game Boy Printer, the Super Mouse, the Play Choice 10, the Nintendo Super System, the entire Wizard movie, Killer Instinct for the SNES, the years-too-late mini NES. Some of them, like the RAM expansion pack, or the Satellite, were handled surprisingly well overall. Most of them were just swept under the rug.

I think we can all guess what the fate of this system will likely be.

This service reminds me of the Sega Channel. Here's a picture of the cartridge used for the service, along with some extra information.

It was pretty disastrous. It makes you wonder if a similar idea will work now.

There are quite a few very successful classic game shows out there - like the Austin Game Expo that happened in late July. Link to Review.

As long as there are people like me, and the thousands of people that attend these shows, classic gaming will never die.

Actually, you're somewhat mistaken; Nintendo didn't make the product you're thinking of. That was the X-Band, and it was by all acounnts a quality system. However, the system is down now, since the SNES is all but dead ;)

Thats not to say that Nintendo is any foreigner to networking-- they've offered networking options throughout the years. The SNES had a Bandai Satellite, which was sort of like the Sega Channel, only for SNES and broadcast over the satellite. With the release of the 64DD also came RandNET, but again it wasn't a very strong selling point or very popular. And of course, there are networking modules available for the gamecube.

I don't have the numbers for Japan but the XBox Live! service can't be faring well there. XBox has something close to 2 percent of the market in Japan, according to Famitsu. To put that number into perspective, on most weeks, the PSOne outsells the Xbox. I can only imagine that the live! subscription service isn't any better off.

In fact, things aren't much better off in Europe either. It appears that nintendo is simply designing a console with the global market in mind. Well, if you consider online gaming a success in the States, at least. If you don't, its just ignoring idiot analysts.

Instead it would appear that Nintendo is focusing on bringing people together physically, and networking with the most popular gaming (or second most depending on how you count, the given day and the weather outside)system out there: the GBA. Which basically means capitalizing on the forms of multiplayer gameplay they created with the 64 (smash bros, Mario Kart, mario party, star fox) and continuing to bring new forms (Four Swords, Pikmin 2) of multiplayer. You'll notice that a majority of these titles avoid the splitscreen system that plagues typical multiplayer games. Nintendo isn't going anywhere, and will be a force to reckon with for the foreseeable future.

A reviewer called Toriko wrote an interesting review of The Culture of E3 a few months back. Was an interesting read in that she didn't mention many games and instead concentrated on the event itself.
You can see the members of Fark and their reactions to the article here.

This isn't a particularily stunning move (that SOMEONE would take an interest in Sega), as Sega has been a target for quite some time. Sega has been bleeding money - earning less than expected even though they ceased hardware production.

The reason? Poor sales of the "2K" sport series, combined with heavy marketing of the series. They've been unable to dethrone EA, even though they're producing quality product.

Personally, I've got a soft spot for Sega because of Phantasy Star and "blast processing".

Here's a good Genesis game (Thunder Force III): Review.

Here [Fatman Games] is another good article on the topic of repairing your NES (my new site). It is fully illustrated, and has several helpful links.

I've found that while the top-load NES and the pin replacement techniques produce good results, nothing beats taking care of your GAMES. Some games that I've bought used just don't play well, regardless of how much I clean the system or the game.

I also had a NES week a while back that had some great reviews and articles. Good for the 8-bit flashbacks.

Here [Fatman Games] is another good article on the topic of repairing your NES (my new site). It is fully illustrated, and has several helpful links.

I've found that while the top-load NES and the pin replacement techniques produce good results, nothing beats taking care of your GAMES. Some games that I've bought used just don't play well, regardless of how much I clean the system or the game.

I also had a NES week a while back that had some great reviews and articles. Good for the 8-bit flashbacks.