Nintendo Handhelds and Infrared: A History

Image from nectaris.tg-16.com

You know what's the big fad with all the kids nowadays? INFRARED, of course!

I kid, but you might be surprised to learn that Nintendo portables actually have a really long history of implementing IR technology. It makes some degree of sense, as IR is a cheap, portable way to wirelessly send data- something which games like Pokemon have used to great effect. However, IR is a fairly limited technology and can't be used for fast-paced multiplayer, and far from every Nintendo handheld has featured the technology. Thus, IR has a pretty weird history in relation to Nintendo handhelds, being one of the only features I can think of that's been added, taken away, and added yet again to their hardware.

The original Game Boy and IR:

Image from Wikipedia.

The Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket both don't have any sort of IR tech built into them. You'd think that would be the end of it, but nearly ten years after the Game Boy's release, Hudson came out with a new kind of cartridge, one featuring black plastic and advertised a feature called the GB-KISS.

Image from nectaris.tg-16.com

GB-KISS is Hudson's name for the software they put in special cartridges that included IR sensors/blasters. The name is derived from the position the Game Boys had to be placed in to allow the cartridges to communicate, which looked a bit like they were kissing, I guess. Every game that had the software had an option called GB-KISS where players could send and receive data. The most basic type of data you could transfer were text messages, called KISS MAIL. You could write and receive text messages, and there's a whole save system where you can organize messages however you like. I've tested the feature and yep, it does indeed work.

Yokai Watch 2 Review

So uh, this game is old now... EH, LET'S REVIEW IT ANYWAY!

 So, over the past year I've played through all of Yokai Watch 2 Fleshy Souls (I assume Bony Spirits is pretty similar, so you can use this as review for that as well). I had a genuinely enjoyable time, but I was never fully sure why I was having a good time. Before I get into my own enjoyment quagmire, let me give some background.

For 90% of the time, the combat featured in Yokai Watch 2 is very hands off. In most random encounters, so long as you aren't trying to get the enemy to join you, the player can go make a sandwich while the battle resolves itself. Yokai battles work on a 3 vs 3 basis, with all of the player's Yokai and the enemy Yokai all attacking and doing abilities automatically. So long as you've got a Yokai that heals occasionally, you're pretty much set for all common encounters. If you're in a hurry, you can activate a Soultimate, a move Yokai can use once a meter is filled. Doing so requires doing a brief mini-game, which I never saw a problem with, actually. If a game wants an attack to have a long wind-up, having the player complete a mini-game isn't a terrible solution, in my opinion. The player can also freely rotate their party, swapping Yokai between the active battle area, and the back area, leading to them having access to six Yokai in every battle. When the player is actually fighting a powerful enemy, combat is a delightful mix of optimizing Yokai locations and waiting for the ideal time to activate a lengthy Soultimate attack. It's just unlikely you'll ever have to work that hard throughout Yokai Watch 2's campaign. Still, I rarely saw the combat as a chore, likely due to how fast it all flows in most instances.

The Not-so-Odd Year of 2017: 3DS.

On all sides, the 3DS has returned to normalcy. In fact, this year, in my opinion, has been the best since 2014, and it might end up being just a tad better than 2014 (This was written July, my opinions have changed, see end of article). Yet, the 3DS is will be entering what I presume will be the last good year of its life, 2018. But first it is time to address the elephant in the room.

Yes, the Nintendo Switch. The Switch is doing extremely well currently, with there not actually being enough made to fulfill demand to this day.( Well, when I originally wrote this anyways) To say that the switch has caused the 3DS's demise is not entirely fair. Whilst I may have preferred a direct successor, the 3DS is old. A new system was inevitable, and needed. However, unlike some believe, the switch doesn't NEED the 3DS to die to do well. It will do just fine alongside the 3DS, as they aren't really equal machines anyway. Their form factor and specifications are entirely different. So the question is this: if the 3DS can still do well, will it still be supported? The answer to this seems to be yes, seeing as this year has a had an actually really good lineup of releases. That being said, 2018 does look like slim pickings, but we'll get there when we get there.

So, the Pokemon Announcement...

Image source: www.pokemon.com

     Think of this as an addendum to my 2ds article. So, for those that haven't heard, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were announced a couple days ago. For the 3DS. Yeah. To be honest, the game itself isn't particularly interesting personally, but this announcement came as something of a shock to some Nintendo Switch owners. There had been a rumor going around previously of a "Pokemon Stars" game for the Switch. Common knowledge would assume Nintendo would choose to support their current system, so why didn't they?
     The reason why isn't perfectly simple. It is true that there is precedent, as Black and White 2 came out for the DS nearly a full year after the 3DS came out. Of course, to some extent, speculation on the subject is rather pointless, as it would be nearly impossible to prove a thought process. Instead, what I would rather talk about is how this impacts the 3ds, specifically the New 2DS, going forward.
     So, this announcement seems to clearly have the effect of boosting the sales of the New 2DS. It wouldn't surprise me that, come release day, a bundle would be released with both items. Nintendo has already confirmed that hey will support the 3DS through 2018, but I see 3 distinct possibilities:

1: The 3DS remains as successful as it was in 2016 and support runs parallel with Switch through 2019. I find this somewhat unlikely, but the real crux is if the Switch's sales remain constant for the end of 2017 and through 2018. Currently demand is quite high, but high launch sales don't always mean a whole lot.
2: Some sort of handheld sequel console is released for approx. 200$. This could mean a smaller switch, but the form factor of that system doesn't seem to lend itself well to a smaller size. The Joycon controllers would have to be made even smaller, which would be uncomfortable to play detached in sideways position. The other product could be a completely different console meant to replace the 3ds. This would of course come at the cost of significantly cannibalizing the Switch's sales. This isn't entirely impossible, but it does seem unlikely.
3: The switch fully replaces the 3DS and the next Pokemon game comes out for the Switch in 2018/19. This is the one most expected to happen, as it follows precedent. The last major time Nintendo said they wanted to have their new system to run parallel to their old one was with the original DS and the Game Boy Advance. In that case, the DS quickly picked up in sales and the GBA was thus completely ignored.

The fact that Nintendo's path is so vague points to them hedging their bets. I actually think they themselves aren't entirely sure about what to do either. These are some weird times. Who knows, maybe Sony will announce the PS Vita 2 at E3 in a week. Yeah, maybe things aren't that crazy.

New 2DS XL reveal!

Image from Kotaku.com

WHAT? The odd year of 2017 :3DS confirmed? In all seriousness, this is a thing I didn't even envision in my wildest dreams. HANDHELDS STILL LIVE! OK, yeah...this is super weird. I was hoping the 3DS would live into 2018, but a new model? Now? I am shocked. Let me breakdown what this means.

Hardware: The New 2DS is a 2DS(essentially a budget-oriented 3DS without the 3D screens), but with the better New 3DS hardware, and large 2D screens. The name is pretty self-explanatory. The design it self is quite a bit different, with it being much more rounded than other models. It kinda looks like an oval sandwich a bit.

What it means: This relieves some thoughts in my mind over limited hardware. The New 3ds (non-XL) and then original 2DS have pretty well disappeared from store shelves. What I thought this meant was Nintendo was moving away from the 3DS. Nope, they just wanted to make a new model which is cheaper to produce. What this means for the existing New 3DS models in unclear, though this makes me believe that the smaller New 3DS units are pretty well gone. Those units would simply cause internal competition. At the price of 149$, The New 2DS is easily cemented as Nintendo's "Budget Switch".  And yeah, those Switch obsessed people out there are pretty disappointed that developments by Nintendo will be split between two platforms,at least for right now. But me, an unwilling (I prefer both the original DS and the Vita to the 3DS in a lot of ways, but the first is dead and the second... well, maybe I'll write a future article on that) 3DS diehard, is quite happy at this turn of events. What this ensures, t my mind, is an increased chance of localized games from japan. New Monster Hunter and Yokai Watch games probably seem a whole lot more viable now.

In conclusion,this is a pretty short article, the thing was JUST announced, after all. I certainly am not looking forward to being tempted to buy ANOTHER system, but I'm glad the 3DS has some life left in it, as it seems increasingly likely the era of dedicated games consoles that can fit in your pocket is going to end.

Wonderswan Color Retrospective

Now this is the real main event. The Wonderswan Color is the system the people who actually know of it will think when you say "Wonderswan".

The Wonderswan Color color came out in December 9, 2000, more than two years after the Game Boy Color game out in Japan and more than a year after the release of the Neo Geo Pocket Color in Japan and the US. It gained some success, for about two reasons. One: It was cheap, a mere 70$ for a superior specced machine than the Game Boy Color or the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Two: It had Final Fantasy. Square, the makers of Final Fantasy, had a no-Nintendo ban going at the time so they decided to release remakes of Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 4 on the system. These remakes were a hit, and really gave the Wonderswan Color a boost in sales and fame. In fact, the first Final Fantasy was a launch game for the Wonderswan Color, which was a pretty much brilliant move for Bandai. Then Square decided to merge with Enix, who didn't hate Nintendo,and they ended up putting remakes for 1, 2 and 4 on the Game Boy Advance. That was pretty well the final nail in the coffin for the Wonderswan Color. However, the main sign of doom was Nintendo's Game Boy Advance,which made the Wonderswan Color look dated about four months after it came out. Now, lets move into the mixed bag hardware.

Wonderswan Retrospective

The tale of how the wonderswan came about is widely known, so read other's articles about that. This will start at the release of the original Wonderswan.

I think every model of Wonderswan came out in some sort of blue color. I can't blame them, it looks nice.

The Bandai Wonderswan was released in march 4 1999, after the release of the Game Boy Color and also even after the release of SNK's Neo Geo Pocket. The NGP was an immense failure almost instantly and was soon replaced with a color model, so it didn't really impact the Wonderswan's launch. The real competition was from the Game Boy Color, obviously having the color feature whilst the wonderswan was monochrome. There was a reason for this seemingly backwards design, and that was price. The Wonderswan costed 4,900 yen or about 50 dollars in the 1999 valuation. The Game boy Color retailed for 70 dollars. So, for 20 dollars less you technically got the more powerful system, as the wonderswan had a 16 bit CPU but the GBC had a 8 bit CPU. The wonderswan had decent support from developers, quickly accruing over 50 titles. However, the market had spoken: color was important.

Pokemon Moon Review

This review is more of a what I think they did right or wrong with the game rather than a comprehensive overview.
The Pros:
The Region: Make no mistake, Alola,the region Pokemon Moon takes place in, is based on Hawaii. Your main character is from the Johto region, which is based on Japan. This sets up some of the game's constant explanation of how things work in Alola, as the character is from a different place, and Alola is quite different from any other region. Alola is split into four islands, with each island having a Kahuna which acts as the boss of the island. Within each island is at least one trial as well, a sort of gauntlet which pits you against various wild Pokemon, culminating in a final battle with Totem Pokemon. These Pokemon all fight in a new battle style called SOS battles which I will get into later. The Region as a whole is vibrant and a the change away from the grid based system of past helps too, giving the game natural looking flowing paths.
The Roster: The new Pokemon introduced in Moon are generally pretty great, at least as far as designs go. Pokemon with multiple forms like Lycanroc and interesting conditions to catch like Mareanie help these pokemon seem unique in an increasingly huge pool of pokemon.

Inner Monologue Of a Cardboard Box

I’ve been sitting here, on this beige basket, for the past year and a half. My body’s so full of dust, it would be hard to breath, if I breathed. I got Garbage, debris that floated into my cesspit. Forgotten items much like myself that no living being wishes any action upon. I’d stand up and yell, if I could.

“Hey! I’m right here!” I’d yell.

“So what?” The person across the carpet would say.

“Ain't you ever gonna do something with me?”

“No. I don’t want to bother.”

“But i’ve been here for over a year!”

“And you’ll be here for another. Not like you’re about to move.”

“I’ll rot, you know!”

“Look, it’s not that i dislike you, it’s just that you hold absolutely no importance in my life.”

Upcoming games in 2017

I made an article like this, but that was nearly two years ago, in this blog's golden age of 2015. I thought it was high time then to make a new list for games I'm personally excited about. Also, almost everything on that old list was either disappointing or hasn't come out yet. Looking back, everything there is super ironic. I really hope that doesn't happen with this list.

PS Vita (Though all of these are on PS4 as well :/)

YS VIII

Image from: Gematsu http://gematsu.com/
YS: Memories of Celceta was cool game, and this one looks like it will be good too. It also looks pretty great for a vita game.

Danganronpa V3

Image from: Danganronpa Wiki http://danganronpa.wikia.com/wiki/

Ultra despair Girls was flawed and 3 (the anime) was mediocre, but this looks to be a total return to form. If this is anywhere near as good as 2 I will be a happy camper.

Tokyo Xanadu

Image from: Gematsu http://gematsu.com/
2nd Falcom game on this list, and that ain't just a coincidence. I'm playing Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel right now and it is FANTASTIC. I have high hopes for this one too.

3DS-

Fire Emblem Echoes

Image from: Fire Emblem wiki http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Emblem_Wikia

FE fates was... odd, but not bad, but really I don't think this game will be really similar to it. It is a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden on the Famicom (It returns on this blog!), and I'm excited to play through that story for the first time.

Ever Oasis

Image from: Polygon http://www.polygon.com/

Ever Oasis might not be great, but it at least LOOKS interesting, and it's a 2017 3DS game, so it makes the list.

Wii U-

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild https://www.forbes.com/

Image from: Forbes
 This was on the LAST list, and it makes its way here as well. I have some concerns, but it does look interesting.

I'm sure there will be more interesting stuff announced later on, but for now this is just about it. Well this and Mother 3, but... it was on the last list too. Also, stuff like Horizon: Zero Dawn is already out (I think?) so I can't put it on here. To be fair I'm most interested in picking up some 2016 games for cheap soon.

Some Questions

*AHEM* Research has been done, and the result is: blog ads are worthless for me. Even if someone clicked on an ad everyday it would take 200 days for me to see a cent. SO yeah, poll closed, and this post will be deleted in a week or so. Yeah... this was an eye-opening experience.


I've put a couple of polls up today. One is a retrospective poll, which I'm excited about making. The other is a bit of an experiment on my part. Yep, I've put up a poll about ads. Now, a primary rule of this blog is no ads, buuuuuuut I'm curious.If I put ads up, and I make, say, a dollar a month (Which is probably hopeful talk, all things considered) I might be more "intrigued" about making new articles. I'll put ads up for about 2-3 months as an experiment if the poll approves.No worries either way, the blog will remain FOREVER. WHAHAHA- uh, anyway, vote on it? Hey, if It's a yes I can make a review about ads themselves! Anyway, I'm just curious to see what will happen from all this. Retrospective in march!

Edit: I added a "Followers" gadget to the blog. I'm not yet sure if that is better or worse than subscribing by email. If you're already subbed by email, don't worry about it.

The Nintendo Switch

Boy, this is an odd one. Yup, it's a console-handheld hybrid, like expected, so what are my own feeble thoughts about it? Full disclosure, I don't have a switch. That's a whopping 300 bucks I don't have or have spent on vita games.

Yeah, that's the thing though, the switch is a PS Vita + PSTV. It's a high-end portable, something I thought was proven that people didn't want with the vita. Of course, the switch has its own variety of gimmicks and features, but it has a lot of flaws too. Clearly, the detachable controllers are a big selling point. Not only can you put them into a controller, but you can also have two players on the go. However, aside form technical issues (controllers purportedly de-sync) they also look uncomfortable when held sideways for two players. Also with this comes the complete removal of the D-pad, which is ironic, given the fact that it's Nintendo's invention. Instead, there's a Wonderswan-esque four button arrangement. As an aside, I am overjoyed that I successfully used "Wonderswan-esque" in a sentence.

A new year and nothing's changed.

It's a brand new year, and I'm still laughing at google translate. Anyway, here are some highlights of a translation from a japanese website from 2003. Hey, I was just going to post these no context, so be grateful.

"Friends, friends, game rivals, marriage partners and heads of organizations are all part of someone's altogether. "
Truly deep and inspirational.
"Work and love partners and rivals are someone over the internet. "
I suppose this is true?
"Someone with the encounter, someone and fell in love, married with someone,? How can what children"
How can what children, indeed.

The Odd Year of 2016: 3DS

Not my image, but it fits way too well with the subject material. Yes, this is a real game.

Note: I wanted to write this whole thing in an evening. That didn't happen. I'm posting what I've got anyway. (MY HANDS!)

I remember back in 2013, that things looked pretty great for the 3ds. The system had finally thrown off the plague of its mediocre launch and was becoming a veritable hit factory. 2013 brought games like Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokemon X & Y, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. I did, and still do believe it to be the best year for the 3DS, bar none. 2014 was also a good year for the 3DS, but the exclusives were drizzling out and there were 1st party failures like Yoshi's New Island. 2014 still had blockbusters, but the number was dropping. I took this as a lean year- perhaps certain developers need time to create big games for 2015.

Namcot Famicom Cartridge

So, as the first part of what is a (potential) series about famicom cartridge variation. Now, videos and pictures have been made before, but uh... Hmm. Well, now with more minute details?

The first (and only) cartridge we look at in this article is Valkyrie No Bouken by Namcot.

Now, in case you didn't know, A lot of third party developers on the famicom made unique cartridge casing for their games. Why? No idea, but most of them do look cool, or at least are more interesting than the generic NES cart. Namcot, the name namco went by for some famicom games (multiple theories exist as to why this was done), created a uniform (to my knowledge) cart design for most of their games.