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Nintendo DS Lite Review – The Truth Behind Its Simplicity

January 27, 2011 / admin / No comments

Nintendo DS Lite Review – The Truth Behind Its Simplicity

Article by Julius Modesto

Nintendo DS Lite, as I look at it today, it reminds me way back in the 80′s of a good old “Game and Watch” mini game system clam-shell type design. Do you remember that? It looks like a LCD calculator miniature game machine that comes in a variety of colors, designs and with the embedded standard function cross-like buttons on the left and a 2 letter rubber buttons on the right. Funny cute thing isn’t it?

Its monitor screen is 2″x 2.5″ at least and a black digital graphics with a single motion function character moving from left to right or forward and backward gameplay. A LR4x/SR4x “button-cell” battery makes its power last at least like 3 months before you change and so forth.

However, if you imagine how we’ve gone through with the technology of 20th century, it’s so very amazing how we’ve crossed the millennium with these new kinds of gadgets, cellular phones, digital cameras, and computers so on. Based on some models of game and watch that also have two screens and a clam-shell design is how I describe Nintendo DS and DS Lite models today.

Compare to Sony’s graphically superior PSP, Nintendo DS Lite is quite a different style of handheld portable system released next to original DS. It revolutionizes the way games are played in ultra-bright dual 3D screen and enhanced by touch-screen technology. Both screens are terrific, they do not possess any ghostly white glow that emanates, than in any front-lit display of a game system. This 2 display works together seamlessly even when the upper screen is tilted slightly. Visually glare-free even when you try to pivot the screen as back as far as it would go.

Using a stylus pen or finger on the bottom screen, you can navigate to select options and to moving character. More stylish, smaller than the original version, sleeker body, with free Wi-Fi connection so you can have a chat with friends online and compete with other players on the internet.

Available colors are lined up in several combination like Polar White, Coral Pink, Onyx Black, Crimson/Black and the limited-edition Gold and Metallic Rose that complements any outfit. Cobalt/Black marks the seventh color in the Nintendo DS Lite color palette.

Normal face-button layout allows you to feel the same natural way method of control. DS cartridges are measuring somewhere between SD and Compact Flash cards smaller than the PSP cartridge which they called UMD seems playing flawlessly than Sony’s proprietary formats when it comes to loading games.

Nintendo DS size is more roughly than the original Game Boy Advance, so it’s big because of its increased size although it’s not heavy unlike the SP that almost fits in pockets while DS can travel in your backpack or shoulder bag. Well, also the good thing about Nintendo DS Lite is when you travel out-of-town; you can play 5-8 hours in maximum visual output gameplay at full volume and brightness compare to PSP Slim and Lite that only takes 3-4 hours with both statuses.

The Nintendo DS Lite impressive battery life is also one of the greatest advantages compared to PSP Slim and Lite 2000/3000. The improved size had translates to a better performance and battery life that greatly benefits the game play and other media functions.

On a heavy gameplay at full brightness and full volume, the PSP Slim only takes 5-6 hours than the DS Lite takes 7-11 hours. At low gameplay at low brightness and volume, PSP Slim will last 6-8 hours and DS Lite is 10-15 hours. A real headway over the PSP that Nintendo DS Lite delivers in terms of battery life and dimensions.

Okay, let’s check the visual aspects of both game consoles produces in fairness of its benefits. In terms of screen size, you’ll probably enjoy the wide 4.3 inches screen of PSP than the 3 inches dual-screen of Nintendo DS Lite. Most of gamers seem to really enjoy action-pack games in a wider screen. So that’s PSP take advantage ahead of Nintendo DS Lite. The 16:9 viewing panel screen aspect ratio is definitely a win than a 4:3 screen ratio of DS Lite.

PSP screen resolution is simply has an outstanding output of 480×272 while DS Lite is 256×192 on both screens. PSP projects brighter screen colors in a 32-bit (16.7 million) while a 16-bit (262k) for Nintendo DS Lite. However, despite it lacks the multimedia and graphical finesse of the PSP, Nintendo DS focus more on gameplay and still maintained a sales edge over Sony’s PSP Slim and Lite. As for the other features like Wi-Fi connection, built-in microphone port are much likely had the same function.

The Wi-Fi connection of Nintendo DS is same as the Nintendo Wii. Using the microphone port and touchscreen of DS to command inputs for Wii games and as to act as an additional controller without any use of additional accessories. As for the Nintendo Wii, it uses the Mii Channel to access on the content downloads, games and other expansions to Nintendo DS. Although, there’s an additional service may cost a subscriber to downloading additional content.

It can support 16-32 players online at a time in a local Wi-Fi area range of 30 to 100 feet. A unique Friend Code ID is used by player to engage with another player for multi-playing purposes. This measure is a privacy authentication whenever a user first goes online.

The inclusion of Wi-Fi multiplayer capabilities had increased the list of growing original and fun games that you can play that no other game system can provide. Its backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance cartridges using a separate media port allows you to play with your favorite games in a single-player mode. With a nearly 600 game titles and another titles available online added had made Nintendo a tremendous breakthrough sales. And even a one best-selling game made more than 18.67 million copies has been sold.

Though Nintendo DS does play Game Boy Advance game cartridge, its accessories and memory cards are not compatible but it do have a variety of accessories available ranging from specialized controllers, memory expansions and others.

In summary, gamers can spend time playing all day long with their own game system but in most cases the battery life is the one that makes the new Nintendo DS Lite stands out among the other game system. Low or heavy gaming using either full or low brightness, nor high or low volume, it would never be a problem if you are using Nintendo DS Lite. While it does lacks on some multimedia and graphical features, Nintendo DS Lite is still has its unique offer in gaming experience for users.

If you want to get the latest and complete summary review of Nintendo DS Lite, click through this link and get a discount price of this product available from Amazon.

About the Author

If you are looking for more specific information about the game consoles gifts for Christmas, Julius recommends to visit this site through this link. Details, specs and the best deals are specified in the website. Holiday Season is fast approaching so you better take advantage of learning the right details to make a right choice that you’ll need for a perfect holiday present. Games, Console & Bundles

This was intended for Gotgame.com, but screw em.
Video Rating: 0 / 5

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Review: Professor Layton And The Curious Village – Puzzle Solving At Its Finest!

January 25, 2011 / admin / No comments

There have been a lot of puzzle games made throughout the history of video games. These puzzles games range from putting blocks together, guiding a character through a course of obstacles, or even adding 1+1. One thing to be sure of about puzzle games is that they tend to always be one type of puzzle throughout the whole game. Tetris will always have you putting blocks together, the Phoenix Wright series will always have you searching for clues and then going to trial, and Picross will only require you to put dots on a board while following requirements. My point is that I never played a puzzle game that had so much variety of puzzles in it, so that a puzzle isn’t only harder because its longer but harder because it becomes more complicated and requires you to really think hard. That game is Professor Layton and the Curious Village, the first game of the Professor Layton trilogy.

Title: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: E
Release Date: February 10, 2008
Publisher: Nintendo

Story: 9/10

Professor Layton and the Curious Village…well the title pretty much tells the whole story in a way. In more detail, this game is about Professor Layton, a man who really loves puzzles, and his apprentice Luke. They are summoned to a village called St. Mystere. At the village, they are to solve an inheritance dispute regarding the “Golden Apple” which was a treasure left away by a deceased Baron Reinhold. Even more mysteries will soon reveal themselves, like a murder mystery, and even a mystery regarding the village and its villagers.

In order to solve these mysteries, Layton will have to investigate St. Mystere and talk with its villagers. Some villagers may have very helpful info, but in order to get it, you will have to solve the puzzles they give you. Puzzles are what drives the game forward, as the story will not progress unless you complete certain puzzles.

The story is very interesting and may also be a mystery itself. So I was pretty drawn to it from beginning to end.

Gameplay: 8.5/10

The gameplay aspect of PL & the Curious Village is a simple point and click style. You pretty much click where you want to go and where to explore. You pretty much do that for the whole game, until you click certain spots which trigger puzzles. Pretty much all the villagers have a puzzle for you so these puzzles aren’t hard to find. There are some hidden puzzles, so I recommend searching an area closely before moving on.

The main part of the game is, of course, the puzzles. One thing I liked about this game is the variation of puzzles and the ranges of difficulty. Each puzzle is given a story, a situation, or a description. Then you will be given a problem that you must solve using the info you were given. These puzzles range from mathematics, sliding pieces around, finding a certain object within a picture, logic(my favorite), as well as many others. You will solve these puzzles via the touch screen. Requiring touch controls that range from drag and drop, drawing a line, or to simply write a number or letter.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in PL & the Curious Village aren’t anything revolutionary or mind-blowing, but the style does give off a unique atmosphere. The exploring part pretty much just shows you a background of the town with the animated villagers simply pasted on it. The puzzles are just a bunch of text with a picture for you to interact with. There are some animated cutscenes in the game, so its not all pictures and text. Nothing over-the-top, but the animated style really helps draw out the feeling of the game.

Sound: 8/10

Just like with the graphics, the music really suits this game also. Matching its modern England type style the music really draws you into it. The music is constantly looping over and over but it doesn’t get annoying since it matches so well with the game. Take for instance the puzzle theme, which plays whenever you’re doing a puzzle, it really makes you feel like a detective and gets you thinking. Due to the repetition of these music tracks these songs will grow on you and don’t be surprised if you just suddenly start humming one of the tunes.

There are voices for the characters but it only happens in the introduction and in the cutscenes. Everything else in the game relies on text, so it kinda hurts that there was no voice-over for the whole game since it would really add more feeling to the unique atmosphere surrounding this game. With that aside, the voices that are in, really match the characters and is very well done.

View article Images here

Challenge: 8.5/10

Let me just tell you right now, PL & the Curious Village will make you feel dumb at times. Mainly because of the heavy logic behind these puzzles. Another thing though is the sense of accomplishment you will feel when solving these difficult puzzles. Not all these puzzles are hard though and with a little thinking some puzzles are really easy. If you get stuck though, you are given three hints to help you solve the puzzle. Also if you get the answer wrong you will also be given a hint. These hints aren’t free to use however, and require hint coins which are hidden throughout the game. These coins aren’t too hard to find and their locations are kinda obvious.

You can tell the difficulty of a puzzle by how many “picarats” they are giving you. “Picarats” is this number value that’s attached to each puzzle. The higher the “picarat” rating the more difficult the puzzle. These “picarats” don’t have any real value in the game but they are more like a rating system. Each time you get a puzzle wrong the amount of “Picarats” you receive will decrease. Don’t worry about it decreasing to zero though, the rating will only decrease two times. You can use this to show people how smart you are with a high “Picarat” rating. Although you can cheat by starting the game over once you get the answer, but please don’t and learn to accept your mistakes.

The challenge in Professor Layton and The Curious Village will differ with many people. The reason is because there are so many different puzzles in here and each one will require different amounts of thinking.

Replay Value: 6/10

The length of this game really depends on how long it takes you to solve these puzzles. If you get stuck, it could take you from around 5 minutes to even a day, if the puzzle really has you stumped. That is unless you look to a place like Gamefaqs for the answer.

There are a lot of puzzles to solve with over 130 in all so this game will take you a while to complete no matter what. I beat this game around 19 and a half hours and some people beat in lesser time, so its gonna differ based on how fast you get through the puzzles and how often you play it. I was addicted to this game when I first got it and kinda played it non-stop, but if you limit yourself to like a few puzzles a day or so this game will last a while.

There isn’t much replayability to this game since it relies on puzzles. Once you beat a puzzle theres no sense in going back and solving it again. There are some puzzles though with different ways to solve them so if you’re up for a challenge you can try to find every solution possible for one puzzle. You can also share the game with friends and see how they fare against these puzzles. Another good thing about this game is its Weekly Puzzles. Each week a new puzzle will be released via Wi-fi and you can download it and then solve it. You won’t be given hints to help out, until the following week of that puzzle’s release. Also don’t worry if you missed a puzzle of a certain week because you will be able to download all the puzzles available and they are dated so you can see which one you missed.

At the time of writing this review, all the weekly Wi-fi puzzles have now been released. There is 26 in all so even after beating all the puzzles the game has to offer, there will be a bit more to solve via Wi-fi.

Closing Comments

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a great game, and the first of three(which I hope will come to the US soon). I recommend this game to any puzzle lover out there. Lots of puzzles are packed into this game, with a nice story, and a unique style to go along with it. The game will last you quite a while, but its hard to replay a puzzle once you know the answer. Overall though, this game is great, and is one of my favorites. With its addictive and rewarding gameplay, Professor Layton is a game you musn’t overlook.

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Professor Layton and The Curious Village (Nintendo DS)

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In Professor Layton and the Curious Village, you'll tackle over 130 puzzles as you unravel the mysteries of the village.
In the curious village of St. Mystere, townsfolk greet each other with rebuses, lock their doors with sliding puzzles and hide their secrets within brainteasers.
When a wealthy baron passes away, his will reveals an elusive treasure hidden someplace inside the village.
Now it's up to Professor Layton to untangle St. Mystere's riddles and puzzles, find the hidden treasure and crack the case.
Puzzles range from mazes and riddles to logic and sliding puzzles.
Touch Screen controls make working through puzzles fun for players of all skill levels, and new puzzles are available weekly for download via th

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Playstation 3 Review

July 22, 2010 / admin / No comments

If you are looking for a gift, Sony Playstation 3 will make the recipient ever so grateful to you. Since Sony officially announced the release of Playstation 3 in May 2006, it had fascinated both the young and the old alike since then. This is the third in the Playstation series and one can expect many more features to come. This is also known as the seventh generation video games console in the industry. The structure of Playstation 3 incorporates many successful standards established by the original Playstation and the Sony Playstation 2. Both – Playstation and the Playstation 2 are two consoles that were market leaders until succeeded by later versions. However, Sony Playstation 3 offers the user some excellent new options and features that clearly differentiate Sony Playstation 3 from its predecessors. There is yet to find a matching competition to Sony Playstation 3. At present Sony has relatively unchallenged dominance in the console market.

The exterior design of the Sony Playstation 3 console is similar in size but somewhat squarer than that of the Sony PS2. It can be played in either in a horizontal position or in a vertical position. Placed horizontally on a table, the Playstation 3 is almost like a square. It comes in a casing, which is silvery gray plastic, and it has a smooth, simple aesthetic appearance. Only the disc drawer is plainly visible along its front. The four USB ports are hidden behind a front panel.

The Playstation 3 has the unique distinction of having the cell processor developed by three giants. IBM being the computer giant teamed with two of the electronic market giants Toshiba and Sony to produce the Playstation 3-cell processor. The Playstation 3 has in it eight SPE’s or Synergistic Processing Elements. The eighth Synergistic Processing Element is for “redundancy” which facilitates the dynamic handing of Sony Playstation 3 multiple operations. Nvidia together with Sony co-developed the RSX GPU of Playstation 3 to produce the stunning graphics. Interestingly, in the Playstation 3 the console comes with a 256MB of XDR RAM for use by the CPU, and also has a 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM for use by the graphics chip.

Another co-development by Toshiba and Sony that is seen in the Sony Playstation 3 is that games can be written to DVD or Blue-ray discs (BDs) in the higher density format. The PS3 is backwards compatible meaning all Sony PS2 and its predecessor the original Playstation games can be played well on it. Another remarkable feature of Sony PS3 is that it can read and play audio, video, and other files from a range of modern media formats, including CDs, DVDs, and BDs.
Another notable feature in the Playstation 3 is the Bluetooth facility and the presence of Ethernet ports in its console to enable IEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi communication possibility. This facilitates the Sony PS3 to access internet games, online chats, and download anything while playing games on the console. The Sony PS3 has been manufactured as to be compatible to other modern electronic devices. The console also reads Memory Stick, SD, and Compact Flash memory, providing opportunities for any cross-platform file sharing and other communications between the Sony PS3 and the Playstation Portable.

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