The problem is that two of those games (Guitar Hero & Pokemon) are HUGE. Which means that anyone looking to ditch their current DS to obtain money for a new DSi is out of luck. They either need to give up those games or keep two DS units (a Lite/Phat and a DSi) around.
The quote you posted says that BOTH cameras are 0.3 megapixels. The original poster said that one was 0.3 Mpx and the other was 3.0 Mpx. The two sources do not agree.
As for the CNet article, Nintendo has not said anything other than 300,000 pixels. Until we have confirmation from Nintendo, we do not know if the outer camera is of higher resolution. I'm expecting to see a press release soon which will hopefully clear up this mess. (Since Reggie completely FAILED to give any details. *sigh*)
I'm not sure if M&L and Trace Memory will be DSi only. However, this does appear to be a generational update. Ninty hasn't released hardware specs, but it seems clear that the DSi will have a beefier CPU and GPU than its predecessor. Combined with the new hardware functionality, this is going to be a generational update.
GBA support isn't the real problem. The real problem is that the GBA slot was the DS's expansion port. Games like Guitar Hero: World Tour plugged hardware into that port. Without the port, these games will not work on the new DS. Even if the software is otherwise compatible.
The only accessories you need are a GameCube controller and a save card. Both can be found at your local GameStop for less than $10. Along with plenty of used GameCube games.
I imagine what this is really about is giving some games a second chance to shine. The GameCube wasn't exactly Nintendo's most popular system. And some of their best games (e.g. DK Jungle Beat) were sold in a fire sale because Nintendo needed to shift gears to a new strategy. (I got Jungle Beat + 2 bongos NEW for $14!) By reintroducing these games, they're pushing them out to millions of customers who never got the chance to play them when the GameCube was still supported. The advantage to re-releasing them as Wii titles rather than GameCube titles that work with the Wii is that Nintendo can distance themselves from the failure of the 'Cube.
Some of these details are a bit confused. For example, Nintendo appears to have announced a 300,000 pixel camera (0.3 megapixel), yet it's also being reported as a 3 megapixel camera. Also, there was a report (now believed to be unsubstantiated) that both screens would have touch capability.
What *is* known is that Wii Points will becomes Nintendo Points. Why? Because the DSi will have internal flash memory along with the SD Card slot that can be used to download games (both new and previous gameboy games) from the DS Shop Channel. Just like the Wii. The system also appears to have TWO cameras. One on the inside of the hinge, and one on the front cover. (More evidence that we're talking about a 0.3 megapixel camera capable of 640x480 resolutions.)
Nintendo also announced a Wii storage solution. The Wii Shop Channel will have the option to download directly to an SD Card. A player will then be able to use an "easy copy to the Wii's main memory" to play the game. It's not clear if Iwata meant the Wii would use some of its flash memory as cache, or if you really have to do the copy yourself.
The DSi will be priced in Japan at 18,900 Yen. Which is approximately $180. The DS Lite sells in Japan for ~$150, so that should give some clue to its likely American price.
Nintendo also announced new games in the form of Punch Out for the Wii, Sin and Punishment 2 for the Wii, Mario and Luigi 3 for the DSi, and Trace Memory for the DSi. They are also going to be "refreshing" the GameCube line (e.g. Pikmin and DK Jungle Beat) and re-releasing them for the Wii. I'm not sure what that's supposed to accomplish, but whatever.
Nintendo of America will hold its own press conference at 12:30 PM EDT.
Hopefully we'll get a few clarifications at NOA's press conference.
BTW, if you want to see videos of Nintendo's new stuff go here and scroll down to the box that says "Nintendo Conference". Inside that box are two large buttons. One is a video for the Wii, one is a video for the DSi.
I don't think it's entirely accidental that the Wii and the DS can communicate over WiFi. Nintendo liked the idea of the GCN/GBA cable. WiFi offered them the option of providing the same service without the extra hardware.
This meant 4 GBAs and 4 link cables... not something the average gamer owned (even finding three friends with link cables was a task).
So, it's a lot like Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, then? Well, save for the fact that Adventures required four GameBoy Advances, four GameCube/GBA link cables, AND a copy of the GameCube game.
Methinks the current (Nintendo DS) solution of downloading stubs of games over WiFi works a lot better than the hardware-junkie scheme Nintendo tried to sell before. One would have thought that after the four player cabling for the original GameBoy failed to take off, Nintendo would have learned about all this extra hardware. Guess not.
You know what? I think that does the trick! I never would have thought of using the DPI to increase the resolution of fonts. But if you think about the way that font renderers are implemented, it makes a lot of sense. Kudos!
Kerning is definitely part of the problem. Even with the auto-hinter on and/or forced, the text kerning is still a bit bizarre. But even then, Photoshop appears to emit smoother edges on the text. GIMP fonts often look rough around the edges, and I can't figure out why.
One area I hope the GIMP team focuses on in the future is font rendering. I absolutely love working with GIMP, but the fonts still don't come out as nice as they do in Photoshop. I'm not graphical design savvy enough to know why, only that my fonts look like crud when compared to the smooth output of Photoshop.
Other than that, GIMP is an incredible product. Anyone doing casual graphical editing, just learning, or otherwise does not need the top-end features of Photoshop will be well-served by this package. Kudos for doing such an incredible job, guys!:-)
Ah, I see. See what I get for posting at 1:30 at night?:-P
Honestly, that scheme is a usability feature, not a hardware limitation. Nintendo came up with unlimited saves scheme in the form of Miis, but games that don't bother to use Miis (even just for savegames!) obviously fall back on the classic system. Of course, my brain is a smidge fried here, but I believe some games do limit the number of Mii-saves as well. I think this is still a usability issue as Nintendo didn't want multiple save files hanging around for a single game.
I mean, seriously, save slots? Still? Sure, it made sense when using carts where there was a limited space tied to the cart. It kinda stopped making sense when you had memory cards and most certainly stopped making sense when the console has built-in storage.
You do realize that Wii games use the built-in storage? The save-slots are for backward compatibility with the GameCube. Nintendo isn't emulating anything there, so it was easier to add a couple slots rather than work out how to intercept GameCube MemCard I/O.
All your talking about is how it comes configured out of the box and how it is updated.
All I'm talking about is the army of programmers and technicians who are keeping the cloud ahead of the curve. No one is currently keeping your home server ahead of the curve. No one. And it still falls on you to update to new revisions and install security patches. What. a. pain.
It is really stupid to think that only the internet 'God' google and their acolytes the googlites can configure a appliance server and deliver it to the end user ready to go and safe to use ie. plug and play and even if the user is incapable of then they supply and install.
If such a mythical device existed, it might be used. But right now, the device doesn't exist. There is no system that can be plugged in and provide all the advantages of the current Google methodology. When there is, then we will see the pendulum swing I was referring to.
But until someone creates this device (and the market solves supporting issues like home broadband lines that are not designed for serving) your better solution is merely a pipe dream. A pipe dream we all share, perhaps, but a pipe dream none the less.
Why the hell would anybody bother with those privacy invasive add spweing services, when they can simply plug in and run the own easy to configure consumer grade appliance server, running their own mail, web, media and file servers.
Because right now their videos don't stream very well on a home broadband line, their mail is full of spam, their website is a PITA to manage, they don't know how to setup DynDNS or even remember the wacko addresses it spits out, and their home systems have more security holes than Carter has little pills. (Hmm... might be showing my age on that last one.)
10 years ago, running your own mail server and web server was a highly effective solution. Far superior to anything else on the market. These days it's a fools errand. Services like GMail provide better service, faster access, greater usability, and lower cost. Why use anything else?
I'm sure the market will eventually shift back the other way as these things tend to come in cycles. (Anyone remember the various thin-client cycles?) But until the great pendulum of the market swings back, cloud computing is a superior service.
That would assume that it was a) possible to detect when the device was disabled and/or b) that USB flash drives would be shut down along with the mouse. I didn't have a flash drive at the time, so (b) was right out the window.;-)
I considered that as well. Only problem? It takes about 15-30 seconds to unload/reload these modules. Which means that during periods of actual usage (when the mouse is unlikely to lock up), I would have to put up with the mouse occasionally stopping in the middle of work. Obviously I could lengthen the cron period to make it less annoying, but that creates the issue of large gaps between when I want to use the mouse and when the cron script reactivates it.
So... not an effective solution.
On the bright side, that machine is currently running Knoppix after having been retired from active service. The catch? It's using a COM mouse.
I just yanked this from a report on one of the sites I operate:
Firefox 63.32% Internet Explorer 16.33% Safari 7.43% Chrome 6.36%
(For the record, the site is nothing that would predispose it to FireFox users over IE users. Unless you count video game players as "pre-disposed".)
For Chrome to have grabbed that much market share so quickly is impressive. So "successful" is a perfectly acceptable tag. What remains to be seen is if Google will build on that success or let it flounder.
And yet, who does the average user blame? Their hardware or Linux? There is a certain threshold beyond which arguing is pointless. If something doesn't work, you're not hurting anyone except yourself by trying to deflect blame. (Rightly or not.) As a developer myself, that's a lesson I had to learn long ago.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem is that two of those games (Guitar Hero & Pokemon) are HUGE. Which means that anyone looking to ditch their current DS to obtain money for a new DSi is out of luck. They either need to give up those games or keep two DS units (a Lite/Phat and a DSi) around.
The quote you posted says that BOTH cameras are 0.3 megapixels. The original poster said that one was 0.3 Mpx and the other was 3.0 Mpx. The two sources do not agree.
As for the CNet article, Nintendo has not said anything other than 300,000 pixels. Until we have confirmation from Nintendo, we do not know if the outer camera is of higher resolution. I'm expecting to see a press release soon which will hopefully clear up this mess. (Since Reggie completely FAILED to give any details. *sigh*)
First off, that article does not confirm what the grandparent said. Secondly, I wrote that article. So take it with a grain of salt.
I'm not sure if M&L and Trace Memory will be DSi only. However, this does appear to be a generational update. Ninty hasn't released hardware specs, but it seems clear that the DSi will have a beefier CPU and GPU than its predecessor. Combined with the new hardware functionality, this is going to be a generational update.
GBA support isn't the real problem. The real problem is that the GBA slot was the DS's expansion port. Games like Guitar Hero: World Tour plugged hardware into that port. Without the port, these games will not work on the new DS. Even if the software is otherwise compatible.
The only accessories you need are a GameCube controller and a save card. Both can be found at your local GameStop for less than $10. Along with plenty of used GameCube games.
I imagine what this is really about is giving some games a second chance to shine. The GameCube wasn't exactly Nintendo's most popular system. And some of their best games (e.g. DK Jungle Beat) were sold in a fire sale because Nintendo needed to shift gears to a new strategy. (I got Jungle Beat + 2 bongos NEW for $14!) By reintroducing these games, they're pushing them out to millions of customers who never got the chance to play them when the GameCube was still supported. The advantage to re-releasing them as Wii titles rather than GameCube titles that work with the Wii is that Nintendo can distance themselves from the failure of the 'Cube.
Nintendo announced a new WiFi adapter. So WPA support is probably in the new revision of the DS.
FYI, there are more pics and details here: http://www.wiimedia.com/news/view/next_gen_nintendo_dsi_wii_storage_solution_and_more/
And here: http://www.dsfanboy.com/photos/nintendo-dsi/
Some of these details are a bit confused. For example, Nintendo appears to have announced a 300,000 pixel camera (0.3 megapixel), yet it's also being reported as a 3 megapixel camera. Also, there was a report (now believed to be unsubstantiated) that both screens would have touch capability.
What *is* known is that Wii Points will becomes Nintendo Points. Why? Because the DSi will have internal flash memory along with the SD Card slot that can be used to download games (both new and previous gameboy games) from the DS Shop Channel. Just like the Wii. The system also appears to have TWO cameras. One on the inside of the hinge, and one on the front cover. (More evidence that we're talking about a 0.3 megapixel camera capable of 640x480 resolutions.)
Nintendo also announced a Wii storage solution. The Wii Shop Channel will have the option to download directly to an SD Card. A player will then be able to use an "easy copy to the Wii's main memory" to play the game. It's not clear if Iwata meant the Wii would use some of its flash memory as cache, or if you really have to do the copy yourself.
The DSi will be priced in Japan at 18,900 Yen. Which is approximately $180. The DS Lite sells in Japan for ~$150, so that should give some clue to its likely American price.
Nintendo also announced new games in the form of Punch Out for the Wii, Sin and Punishment 2 for the Wii, Mario and Luigi 3 for the DSi, and Trace Memory for the DSi. They are also going to be "refreshing" the GameCube line (e.g. Pikmin and DK Jungle Beat) and re-releasing them for the Wii. I'm not sure what that's supposed to accomplish, but whatever.
Nintendo of America will hold its own press conference at 12:30 PM EDT.
Hopefully we'll get a few clarifications at NOA's press conference.
BTW, if you want to see videos of Nintendo's new stuff go here and scroll down to the box that says "Nintendo Conference". Inside that box are two large buttons. One is a video for the Wii, one is a video for the DSi.
I don't think it's entirely accidental that the Wii and the DS can communicate over WiFi. Nintendo liked the idea of the GCN/GBA cable. WiFi offered them the option of providing the same service without the extra hardware.
So, it's a lot like Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, then? Well, save for the fact that Adventures required four GameBoy Advances, four GameCube/GBA link cables, AND a copy of the GameCube game.
Methinks the current (Nintendo DS) solution of downloading stubs of games over WiFi works a lot better than the hardware-junkie scheme Nintendo tried to sell before. One would have thought that after the four player cabling for the original GameBoy failed to take off, Nintendo would have learned about all this extra hardware. Guess not.
I don't think those are Miis. I think they are in-game creations loosely based on Miis. That's probably why they look so funky, (Blue hair and all.)
You know what? I think that does the trick! I never would have thought of using the DPI to increase the resolution of fonts. But if you think about the way that font renderers are implemented, it makes a lot of sense. Kudos!
Medicated powder?
Kerning is definitely part of the problem. Even with the auto-hinter on and/or forced, the text kerning is still a bit bizarre. But even then, Photoshop appears to emit smoother edges on the text. GIMP fonts often look rough around the edges, and I can't figure out why.
Man, just after I updated 2.2 to 2.4! @#@!#*!!!
One area I hope the GIMP team focuses on in the future is font rendering. I absolutely love working with GIMP, but the fonts still don't come out as nice as they do in Photoshop. I'm not graphical design savvy enough to know why, only that my fonts look like crud when compared to the smooth output of Photoshop.
Other than that, GIMP is an incredible product. Anyone doing casual graphical editing, just learning, or otherwise does not need the top-end features of Photoshop will be well-served by this package. Kudos for doing such an incredible job, guys! :-)
Ah, I see. See what I get for posting at 1:30 at night? :-P
Honestly, that scheme is a usability feature, not a hardware limitation. Nintendo came up with unlimited saves scheme in the form of Miis, but games that don't bother to use Miis (even just for savegames!) obviously fall back on the classic system. Of course, my brain is a smidge fried here, but I believe some games do limit the number of Mii-saves as well. I think this is still a usability issue as Nintendo didn't want multiple save files hanging around for a single game.
You do realize that Wii games use the built-in storage? The save-slots are for backward compatibility with the GameCube. Nintendo isn't emulating anything there, so it was easier to add a couple slots rather than work out how to intercept GameCube MemCard I/O.
All I'm talking about is the army of programmers and technicians who are keeping the cloud ahead of the curve. No one is currently keeping your home server ahead of the curve. No one. And it still falls on you to update to new revisions and install security patches. What. a. pain.
If such a mythical device existed, it might be used. But right now, the device doesn't exist. There is no system that can be plugged in and provide all the advantages of the current Google methodology. When there is, then we will see the pendulum swing I was referring to.
But until someone creates this device (and the market solves supporting issues like home broadband lines that are not designed for serving) your better solution is merely a pipe dream. A pipe dream we all share, perhaps, but a pipe dream none the less.
Because right now their videos don't stream very well on a home broadband line, their mail is full of spam, their website is a PITA to manage, they don't know how to setup DynDNS or even remember the wacko addresses it spits out, and their home systems have more security holes than Carter has little pills. (Hmm... might be showing my age on that last one.)
10 years ago, running your own mail server and web server was a highly effective solution. Far superior to anything else on the market. These days it's a fools errand. Services like GMail provide better service, faster access, greater usability, and lower cost. Why use anything else?
I'm sure the market will eventually shift back the other way as these things tend to come in cycles. (Anyone remember the various thin-client cycles?) But until the great pendulum of the market swings back, cloud computing is a superior service.
The Linux developers doing the bulk of the work are paid.
That would assume that it was a) possible to detect when the device was disabled and/or b) that USB flash drives would be shut down along with the mouse. I didn't have a flash drive at the time, so (b) was right out the window. ;-)
I considered that as well. Only problem? It takes about 15-30 seconds to unload/reload these modules. Which means that during periods of actual usage (when the mouse is unlikely to lock up), I would have to put up with the mouse occasionally stopping in the middle of work. Obviously I could lengthen the cron period to make it less annoying, but that creates the issue of large gaps between when I want to use the mouse and when the cron script reactivates it.
So... not an effective solution.
On the bright side, that machine is currently running Knoppix after having been retired from active service. The catch? It's using a COM mouse.
CONSOLE video games. As in Wii and DS players.
I just yanked this from a report on one of the sites I operate:
Firefox 63.32%
Internet Explorer 16.33%
Safari 7.43%
Chrome 6.36%
(For the record, the site is nothing that would predispose it to FireFox users over IE users. Unless you count video game players as "pre-disposed".)
For Chrome to have grabbed that much market share so quickly is impressive. So "successful" is a perfectly acceptable tag. What remains to be seen is if Google will build on that success or let it flounder.
And yet, who does the average user blame? Their hardware or Linux? There is a certain threshold beyond which arguing is pointless. If something doesn't work, you're not hurting anyone except yourself by trying to deflect blame. (Rightly or not.) As a developer myself, that's a lesson I had to learn long ago.
Just some food for thought.