Nintendo's First Podcast

celerityfm writes "With the US release of an MP3/multimedia player add-on for the Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance just around the corner, Nintendo is already busy creating content for it with their first Podcast, produced by podcast pioneer Carl Franklin. Check out the first episode, it's all about Nintendogs." Commentary is available at Press the Buttons. From that post:"From the sound of things, girls love Nintendogs. Dog training tips are exchanged, fans are briefly interviewed, and even a parent weighs in now and then. Ms. McCollom's segment goes in to why girls are apt to love raising portable puppies and just how the Nintendo DS's wireless mode enables gamers to meet new players and their dogs. Teen People even proclaims the experience 'better than Barbie', so if that's not a young girl stamp of approval, I don't know what is. "

Comments

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[Mr.Dippy]

Here is more info/price on the Nintendo media player http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000537028472/

The Play-Yan interests me

[Guspaz]

I've been debating importing one for quite some time. Originally I discarded the idea because it turned out that videos encoded for the thing could only handle mono 8khz audio (Yes, eight kilohertz), which sounded horrible. However, a recent firmware update added support for AAC audio in the videos, allowing up to 320kbit 48khz stereo.

What put me off importing is the price; the unit costs $50 US in japan, but the importers sell it for $80, even before shipping costs. I understand they want to make a profit, but a 60% markup over retail is a bit much. Because it is expected to sell for $50 when it comes to North America, I think I'll probably just wait for it to be available here instead of importing.

When you think about it, the unit is really rather impressive. A hardware MPEG-4 decoder that can handle video at over a megabit, and AAC audio over 320kbit, at the same time, and it costs only $50.

My laptop also has an SD slot, so I can save some cash on an SD reader.

The only downside of the play-yan is that while it can be used in the DS, it only displays content at GBA resolution; the upcoming M3, a similar device, uses a PassMe type solution to allow it to run both in a GBA and on a DS at native res. This means that if I purchase the Play-Yan for my GBA, if I get a DS I won't be able to take advantage of the additional screen space.

Oh well. I'll probably still pick one up when it launches here.

Stop Podcasting - or the puppy gets it

[tod_miller]

Look, there is no reason for the word podcasting to exist.

It is one of those words when you first hear it you imagine this immense technology behind it. But no, it is a URL to an audio file, inserted into XML.

Wow. I realise that Audio available through a non-html interface, i.e. a 'play list' application is good, but there is no reason to call this crap podcasting, any more than it is to call downloading a zip file of the internet spudcasting.

It makes no sense.