Category: The Unknown

Wii U

January 26, 2013

I got one of these for Christmas:

It’s the new Nintendo console hardware, and that giant tablet thing is the controller. I set it up last weekend, have played it for a while, and here are my thoughts.

Firstly, the tablet controller (the ‘gamepad’) is amazing. I was absolutely not expecting the screen to be as responsive or as high resolution as it is, and although massive the controller feels very comfortable in your hands. There is no discernible lag between what happens on the screen and the controller, which is important since you can essentially remove the TV from the equation and play (some) games simply using the controller screen. The Wii U also supports other controllers, including the old Wii motes and assorted other devices for the Wii (such as the classic controller).

The hardware itself seems fine. Graphics are of course much better than the Wii, and it’s nice and small like the way, almost hidden away next to our TV since I sat it vertically. I very much liked that it uses the same cables as the Wii, so installation was simply unplugging the Wii and putting the Wii U in its place! Tragically, our non 1080p TV only has a single HDMI port so I had to connect this guy using the old Wii cables, however I was very surprised by the quality of the picture. Yet another reason to delay buying a new TV…

So the hardware and controllers are good, but what about the software? What about the Wii U experience?

Well if you’ve read anything about it you would have read about the excessive load times! They are terrible. Starting an ‘app’ or even switching menus can sometimes result in 20-30 second (no, I am not exaggerating) load times. This is obviously completely unacceptable and Nintendo knows this and is constantly saying new updates will fix it. Those fixes can’t come soon enough.

The system also seems sparse on included software. Only some of the ‘channels’ from the Wii are present (no news, weather, Nintendo channel, Mii contest channel, quiz channel etc) and some of those on the front page I will never use (such as Hulu or Amazon instant video, for which we use the PS3). There is a new message board called Miiverse though, which has forums dedicated to every game on the system and lets you hand write posts. In practice this turns into people drawing unbelievably good sketches on their gamepads and showing them off to the world. Impressive stuff!

As usual Nintendo has also flubbed the online component. There are user accounts, but it’s unclear as to whether they are system specific. There is certainly no online requirement, so I assume they are. This means nothing is ‘saved’ to be accessed from other Nintendo systems or even Wii U consoles (if yours breaks). Furthermore, there is no messaging or achievement system, and the silly friend list requirements of previous Nintendo systems seems to have returned. Nintendo is still at least five years behind when it comes to the social aspects of consoles.

I have precisely one game for the system, called Nintendoland. This is a collection of minigames designed to show off the features of the controller mostly. Although it’s fun enough, it’s not at all worth full price and should be a pack in for all versions of the system, not just the ‘deluxe package’ (which I have). There is only one other game out right now I am interested in (Super Mario Brothers) and this reveals the critical problem with the Wii U right now – a shocking lack of games.

In fact, looking ahead to games that have release dates within 6 months from now, only two pique my interest. That would be Pikmin 3:

And the god of games, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (which can be played online from the Wii U):

That last game alone makes the system worth owning for those under its spell, but for the rest of the world… who can say?

Later this year the next XBox and Playstations will be unveiled. Nintendo has at least a year-long head start. Will they use it to their advantage? The hardware seems solid, but they really need to bring the games.

The Dungeons Of Our Youth

January 9, 2013

Today I set out early on an odyssey. I planned to walk to Charlestown, have lunch, then find my way home via circuitous means.

As I do every trip, I wanted to walk the Fernleigh Track. I got an early start, and walked the couple of kilometers from here to the start of the track. The temperature had dropped significantly today, but was still about 30 C, and I was quickly very sweaty.

I’m still a bit croaky in the AM from my cold, and discovered that humming seemed to help. This led to singing, out loud, the song Planet Earth as I strolled through Adamstown. Since I wasn’t sure of the words, I had to make them up:

“Look now, look all around,
there’s no sign of life.
What they said and how they sound,
I can’t hear them now…

The track itself was as quiet as I’ve ever seen it, probably because of yesterday. I saw only a couple of cyclists as I headed to Kahibah, and this meant the birds and lizards were quite active.

That cockatoo was holding a sprig of gumnuts in his left foot. He was quite interested in me, dancing and bobbing on his branch as I walked below. A bit later on the track I saw, from a distance, a large lizard (a monitor, I think) walk across the path. He was gone before I got the camera ready, so here is an artists impression:

I left the track at Burwood road. My original intention was to deviate onto a bush walk which would come out near one of our old homes, but the only path I found was overgrown and quickly petered out.

So I walked through the streets of Kahibah. We used to live in this suburb, and there was much nostalgia as I explored the familiar landmarks. At the end of Murrakin Street (where we once lived) I found a better path leading into the woods:

These are the paths we used to walk as kids! It’s now part of ‘The Great North Walk’, but it’s essentially identical to 20 years ago. It was a pleasant breezy walk through the bush, although if you’re bothered by flies you may have been a bit uncomfortable!

I was a bit surprised to see the path continue into ‘the quarry’ (and yes, I’m using specific language in this post that probably only me and Bernard will understand). This was mostly new, and in parts nicely made:

A little bit later, a right turn, a walk through a wide open gate and I was (surprisingly) inside my primary school, Saint Joseph’s Of Charlestown! Here’s a shot for Bernard:

Charlestown Public pool was a place of many firsts. First Pac-Man, first Xevious, first Centipede, first Galaga. It looks much smaller than it did when I was half my height:

Pacific Highway Charlestown held many firsts of its own – Exedexes, Ghosts’n’Goblins, Kung-Fu Master – all in the cramped quarters of two long-gone fish and chip shops. The area is now dominated by the truly massive Charlestown Square mall, and most of the shops around the mall have closed. Once again, so many memories (Snow Brothers, Pang, Street Fighter 2) come from this area.

Having been walking for over two hours I was hungry when I reached the square, and enjoyed this ambrosial lunch:

Not surprised, are you?

What about this then: the pet store was well stocked with ‘Mexican Walking Fish’ of all colours. I found this guy quite charming:

The Square has an arcade now, under the food court. It was very busy, and mostly ticket redemption and driving games. Amusingly it’s still called Timezone, like that arcade of 1989 that was also in the Square and holds so many fond memories such as Black Dragon, Narc and Thunder Force. Today I played only pinball machines: Transformers and AC/DC.

Then it was the 100 bus to Mayfield to check the used book stores. I once caught the same bus to University back in 1990-3, so again it was nostalgic. The bus was mostly empty today, and the trip went quickly. Newcastle University is almost unrecognizable to me now.

If I were to use two words to describe Mayfield they would be ‘age’ and ‘graffiti’. At least the stencils are still impressive:

Good to see Sonic The Hedgehog is anti-fracking, as its called in the US.

The bookstores yielded nothing, so I meandered on, pausing briefly to make a note of an event I’ll sadly miss since I’ll be back in the US:

Before I left Mayfield I also stopped into an arcade game store. Why isn’t there one of these in Albany?

It was mid afternoon now. I’d been out for hours, spending over five of them walking in the sun. I was still over an hour from home when I snapped this shot:

I look miserable but it was, in truth, a great day. I’ve got another epic stroll planned for Friday. Lets hope it’s as successful.

Words I’ve Learned Playing Letterpress

December 12, 2012

Letterpress is a great game. We’re all playing it, so we all know that.

It’s also educational! Here, in alphabetical order, some words that I learned by having others play them against me.

bolix – to do something poorly, to ruin something in execution. (Variant spelling of bollix which itself is derivative of bollocks) (Played by Bernard)

crunkles – to crumple (obsolete) (Played by Dad)

furzes – a spiny shrub common to Western Europe (Played by Dad)

gunsels – young men kept for homosexual purposes; catamites (Played by Dad)

revers – the parts of some garments that fold in such a way as to give the appearance of a tailored collar (obsolete) (Played by Matthew)

seiten – a type of chewy food made of wheat gluten (Variant spelling of seitan) (Played by Florence)

snook – a type of fish related to the bass (Played by Joyce)

Dads words in particular give me pause. Is he guessing these, or is this indicative of the vocabulary of a man who learned English by reading antiquated Biggles novels in a primordial jungle?

Robot Claw