bye bye DS Lite accessories

(tags game, hardware, Dual Screen)

My reaction: I don't want the Nintendo DSi, yet. Wake me up when there's a Pokemon version.

So when this thing comes out in a little less than a month from now (in the Japan region), probably all the DS Lite accessories will be gone. It's like trying to find a USB-based power charging cable for the GBA Micro. Impossible. I had to use Yahoo Auctions JP for that.

I am going to hoard the screen protectors and faceplates and cases (edit: and connector cap replacements).

Dual Wield Dual Screen Duel: Pokemon Pikachu DS and games

(tags hardware, game, Dual Screen, Pikachu, Princess Maker, Ketsui, Chrono Trigger, telephone card, television)

The other reason I was in shop today was to pick a screen protector film for my Pokemon Pikachu DS. Yes I haven't opened it until now and I've really been meaning to do it. The film made by Suncrest and called "magic film", claims to "self-heal any scratches". Sure. I only tried it out because it's about the same price as the other films. Anyway, slap that puppy on. I'm pretty happy with how I positioned the film. Usually I'm pretty sloppy. Unfortunately air bubbles and dust never seem to leave me alone.

So I recommissioned the DS (lite) I have been using, my pink Love and Berry DS, as my permanent One-Seg TV in my rack. I can't keep it on twenty-four seven: there seems to be a hot-spot that whitens the center of the screen after a day or two. Don't worry, it seems to disappear after I power off for a couple of hours.

Anyways, in a couple of days, I will have two DS games in the "training" catagory. (How else do you translate "育成"?). One is Princess Maker 4, of course I cannot pass up the ero-kawaii Naoto Tenhiro telephone cards. The other is the Kumatan-chi (くまたんち). I only liked it for the 2D static graphics, then I saw a gameplay/official trailer video and I was completely (re-) sold. The animation is so fluid and so cute. Plus the telephone cards FTW.

And Japanese shopkeepers never remind you to preorder. That's just too pushy. Instead, they have a wall where you can anonymously gawk and slack. I took a ganderand there was Ketsui DS coming around on 2008-10-23. Shmup action on the DS, bring it! Also Chrono Trigger DS as dated as 2008-11-27. I am not missing this one either, in both senses of the word. (Still need to dig out Chrono Cross, ugh) Neither of them have telephone card type omake, but they come with soundtrack CDs, I think. Perhaps Ketsui has a "superplay" video disc?

Surely now I can restart my Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer stuff again?

ipod (non-) lust 2008

(tags hardware, iPod, iTunes)

I am so glad that the iPod product announcements are like clockwork, come every September. I know exactly when my iPod becomes a lemon.

This new round of iPods is not very interesting, but I had a chance to sample them at a store recently. I first thought I would gravitate toward the new "classic" 120GB, but I feel bogged down by the weight. I dig the motion sensor of the slim iPod Nano, and I tried the shake-to-shuffle feature. You can't turn the shuffle off that way, it seems. Plus rotating to Cover Flow and other spirited animations makes me say "Shiny!". I did forget to sample the iPod Touch. I think its the price that puts me off.

Anyway, I'm going to try to go another year without an upgrade. I hope that solid state discs (SSD) tech will reach the size of my library, which is now about 60GB full of mostly 160 kbps MP3s. Anyways, that would make my current iPod 5.5gen almost two years old. AppleCare on it is almost expired. Adding bluetooth makes it somewhat feel new again but battery life is abysmal.

This iPod news has made me re-stitch some cover art for my ripped CDs. I found this great blog for anime related CDs scans. Strictly 600 by 600 pixel samples. I'm going to keep an eye on it.

And iTunes 7.7 is frustrating. I know iTunes 8 is out but the software quality on these Windows releases make me pause. 7.7 seems stop ripping my CDs if I click on the window while it's ripping. WTF, this is totally unlike the previous versions. I want to downgrade, and yes Old Versions of iTunes for Windows will work nicely. Actualy this is the only quibble I have. It's still slow and unresponsive, but my data seems safe and not corrupted (knock on wood).

No cable, Bluetooth life

(tags hardware, ipod)

I've been recently in a Bluetooth mood (because of my new computer, but that's for another post). I bought a Bluetooth keyboard, a Filco mechanical touch keyboard (which again I should talk about in another post). Before that, I already had a Bluetooth-capable mouse, the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000. I bought another USB-to-Bluetooth transceiver just for my desktop machine by "PCI". And now, I've really caught Bluetooth fever because I bought a headphone receiver and a iPod-to-Bluetooth transceiver.

First off, my "home" Bluetooth network looks like this:

headphones <-> Sony receiver <-> Bluetooth transceiver <-> Project Sugar PC running iTunes

First off, the Sony receiver is the Sony DRC-BT15 (white) "for music". Basically its a Bluetooth audio sink supporting A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) and AVRCP (Audio Video Remote Control Profile) with some cell phone integration capabilities such HFP (Hands-free profile) and HSP (Headset Profile). There was another series with the model number DRC-BT15P (P?!?) which is aimed at only cell phones but I couldn't tell the difference between the plain and the P version. In any case, I had to charge it up (1 hour), then connected it to my stereo buds. I tried it out with my Project Sugar desktop PC with no problems. Just remember to press the power button 7 seconds from cold start to start the pairing process. It comes with this white-violet LED that looks really cool. Anyway, Bluetooth is mainly line of sight, so I had to move the PC based USB-to-Bluetooth transceiver "nub" to a fairly central position. It's great, I can move to my kitchen or even the bathroom without any interruption. If there is interruption, the music just cuts off digitally, not like the only weak analog signal of old. Other than that, I really like the relative lightness of this headphone set.

My iPod Bluetooth network looks like this:

headphones <-> Sony receiver <-> Sanwa transceiver <-> iPod 5G (with video)

Second, I tried out the Sanwa Supply ipod-to-Bluetooth receiver (MM-BTAD10, white). Stupid Sofmap store only had black, so I had to run to Yodobashi Camera to get the white version. Pairing consists of connecting it to the iPod and pressing play. Pretty straightforward. Aah, my iPod is now wireless. It feels like a remote control now. Unfortuately I had to cut my iPod skin in order to snugly fit the tranceiver to the body. I worry that this will break off the dock connector.

So I have these wireless audio headphone set. I binded the headphone wires with that reusable hollow electric cable wrap (only 4.1mm in diameter) so my neck doesn't look too wired, and I clip the Sony reciever to it. It's not too heavy but it looks like crap. Oh, did I mention that I only use 2000 yen in-ear buds, with the wire wrapped up and over my ear cartilige so that it hangs over the top of the ear? Totally sweet. Only that the receiver has a battery life of 6 hours. Damn Sony.

Heck: Apple IIGS laptop

(tags hardware, Apple IIGS, customize)

Ben Heck doesn't seem to play much video games himself, but he's a retro-fitting hardware wiz, with modifications like one-handed Xbox controller, PS3 laptop, portable SNES, etc. But this is the first time I've really wanted one of his creations: Apple IIGS laptop (thanks Engadget)

The air slits at the front totally remind me of the IIGS ventilation slits. The IIGS, like the IIe, had multiple expansion slots, and I knew that in recent times, even a Compact Flash hard drive expansion card was available. However, Ben Heck had to right angle the memory expansion card (!) and the CF expansion card as well. Wow. I remember installing my memory expansion card, 1MB, and I physically had to install the chips on it because it was originally a 256KB card, haha.

In reality, it would probably be more efficient to emulate the Apple IIGS on my post-2000 PC. Still that doesn't detract from this brilliant one-of-a-kind mod.

Xbox 360 Joystick with nice polygons

(tags game, hardware, Xbox 360, joystick, Windows)

I won an auction recently for the Xbox 360 Hori Dead or Alive 4 edition joystick. I was lucky to get it for less than 1_0000 yen. It's probably because the seller had only 2 seller ratings (of course, 0 bad seller ratings). I got it last Thursday during the Spring Day holiday. If I had lost the auction, I would have gone to Play Asia and just import the no-poly-chick version.

I don't think I've handled the Xbox 360 version of a Hori joystick before, but I do have the Hori Real Action Pro "Special Edition" for the PS2. They feel the same, or more like, I fumble through the motions. I'm just not good with joysticks. The dead zone for this joystick doesn't feel so great, but perhaps its just me.

The first game I thought about to try it out was Omega Five. But that was a mistake because it's an analog joystick affair. I guess I'm too lazy to switch discs. So I brought out the Dead Or Alive 4 and it controls like I expected. I then tried out Shikigami No Shiro 3, and remapped the buttons to the bottom row, and there was no problem. I was able to weave and stick with some dexerity.

Since its a USB, I tried it out on my Windows PC. The Charge and Play kit driver was already installed, so this joystick didn't need any additional software. But I ran into the same "HAT" problem. The buttons worked but the stick didn't move. For some dumb reason, I only realized I could use the Joy2Key remapper. So now the stick works and there's no discernable input lag.

Unfortunately my PC seems to stutter. I couldn't enjoy anything. That will teach me to VMWare and shmup at the same time.

I put the joystick back in the box. Perhaps this April, I will have my Ikaruga.

MOAR WANTZ: hardware version

(tags game, hardware, GameCube, Xbox 360, Dual Screen, television, science fiction, Contra)

Sorry for the title, but I just gotta get rid of my continuing irrational consumerist bent. At least for tonight.

I am searching for that GameBoy Player for the GC, but for the GC and DVD-playing combo unit Panasonic Q. I could level up my FFTA on the GameCube! But I keep losing the bidding on the auctions. I suppose I won't win unless I bid 1_0500 yen or more. Grr.

And yes, those Xbox 360 arcade sticks by Hori are still untouchable. The domestic Dead or Alive 4 or Virtua Fighter-themed Hori Fighting Stick EX2s seem to averaging 1_3000 yen at the bidding close. One recent auction was for the US version of the stick, and gone with the quickness for 1_0500 yen, whoa. The picture on the auction showed a Play Asia shipping box. Hm, duh, check there. I see it for a no-hassle 8250 yen, with free shipping to (within?) Japan. :-/ But no DoA polygon chick to soothe my fancy, har har.

I was contemplating getting one or two more Nintendo DS TV One-Seg adapters directly. I am using it at my rack daily, not even turning it off. I wonder if the screen will burn in? Since I have a couple of DS and DS Lites laying around, I should emulate the losers in the Max Headroom TV series. Whoa, nostalgia.

Episode 1 "Blipverts": Investigative TV news reporter Edison Carter uncovers the disturbing secret of a new TV technology called "Blipverts,” high-intensity commercials with the ability to overload people's neural network causing them to explode.

Imagine Japanese Blipverts. >:-]

Damn I wanna watch this series again. Reading the Predictions sections on the Wikipedia page makes me think it parallels the author Jules Verne's often accurate technological predictions.

I can't think of any other (specific) hardware that I want, save for the Asus EeePC, so this blog post is finished. Time to get whipped by Contra Dual Spirits (魂斗羅 Dual Spirits). I guess I'm looking forward to the hidden characters, fap fap.

Pikachu reuse

(tags kawaii, character goods, Dual Screen, hardware, Pikachu)

I stopped by the Pokemon Center on a quiet Friday. There seemed to be a lot more Pikachu goods for some reason. Maybe hard times are hitting the Pokemon brand?

Aww, the plastic case illustration is just so perfect. :-)

It's not like I'm going to use yet another Pikachu skin and case and stylus. But I will use the hand towel for bathing. Okay, no jokes about electricity and the bath, please.

Sweet chocolate, Sweet TV: DS One-Seg TV tuner adapter

(tags Dual Screen, television, hardware)

So I got the 1400 XBLA point card for this month's Idolm@ster DLC sale. My habit of scoping the Sofmap shop sometimes (always?) makes me regret. It led me to a used Nintendo DS One-Seg TV tuner adapter (ワンセグ受信アダプタ DSテレビ).

It retails for 6800 yen and is only available directly from Nintendo's online store. I heard it was hard to obtain back in November 2007, but since I bought this one used, it must be in supply now.

I completely forgot that I wanted it. Well, I don't really want to watch TV, but I need to learn Japanese. Real Japanese, not anime Japanese. (Yeah right). I will learn CM (commercial) Japanese. It will be epic zany. (Maximum risky?!?) "FRISK! FRESHENS YOU UP!" :-)

It's pretty large, isn't it. It always surprises me about the quality of the used goods from Sofmap. They're sparkling clean and if there's a scratch or something missing, the handy red seal has the description. It seemed to me that this particular unit was unused (opened). In comparison, Book Off is pretty scary because the goods are really in crappy condition. I never go there for anything, even manga.

I haven't used my DS in a long while, and I though I'd be using my Pikachu DS Lite by now. Darn Rubik's Cube hobby. So I'm still slinging the Love and Berry DS Lite with Pikachu skin. The clear plastic tabs here seem to fit snugly even though there's a yellow skin in the way.

I need to use the antennas, even though I'm only about a meter away from the outside. It's really big, huh.

Here's one of the intended uses, watching a Japanese drama/mystery with subtitles. Vertical mode works just as well as horizontal mode. Obviously the TV display is smaller, but the subtitles are crisp and clear (thereis normal size and big size). Not all programs have subtitles, though.

I'm learning through osmosis, really. The program shown above is 「佐々木夫妻の仁義なき戦い」. I though the lead female character here was famous actress Kyoka Suzuki (鈴木京香, picture) who I think is super-fine. At least, she was super-fine in the 1990s. But it was that Last Samurai hotness with the one word name, Koyuki (小雪, picture). Meh. The picture shows someone else, though. It's ... it's someone I don't know but she looks familiar.

Horizontal mode with the dialog log feature. I am amazed that there is a log feature at all (instant win) and that it takes pictures automatically as well. Very nice.

Mmmpht, Johnny Depp. He's dreamy. Well I mean he's a great actor. He's like a leading actor of our time, IMHO. I would watch his movies because he's in it, just like I would for Denzel Washington. But I don't actively watch movies. :-/ Anyways, this movie is supposed to be "bilingual" but even though I set it to alternate audio channel, it's still in Japanese.

I just figured out that I can magnetically attach my DS TV to my rack. I think I need to buy the licensed accessory though, because this 100 yen magnet seems a bit flimsy. Now I want a remote control for this thing, hehe. Touching the screen with my finger makes me feel like I'm Star Trek or Knight Rider. Sweet.

Ouch, the battery is already dying. I started watching at 21:45, and now it's about 24:12. Two hours and counting. (It finally conked out at 24:21, so about 2.5 hours).

There are some deficiencies with this DS TV. The screen is small (compared to the PSP One-Seg TV, but I don't have that yet). The on-screen buttons are quick but not quick enough for my lighting reflexes. The shoulder and XYBA buttons don't seem to do anything, which is a shame. They should be remappable to functions like Show Log, Toggle Subtitles, Change Channel. That would be cool. I was expecting an on-screen program display for all the channels, but perhaps that's too much. Oh, okay, Yahoo TV has me covered. And of course, no recording. I need a PSP for that.

There is a port to add your own antenna. I need lay an antenna wire (unused from my PC's One-Seg adapter) and a charging wire on my rack. I won't move this DS any more, heh.

This is sweet. In fact, maybe I should buy another one. Damn, get me an IV and change my seat to a toilet. I'm never leaving my computer desk/rack now. :-)

Enduring with a slow libretto

(tags hardware, Windows)

I'm not yet into getting a new PC or laptop yet. (Those Lenovo B5 size notebooks look tempting though.) So I played around with my Libretto L1. I was updating the Windows patches on it yesterday. The 27 patches (!) took all night to apply. Is this computer really slow or did my speed expectations change or am I running heavier software or what else? Now I know why I don't have Firefox on this machine, heh.

I need a special dialing wand: Asus Eee PC

(tags computer, hardware, Windows)

I had a chance to try out the Asus Eee PC in person this week. It's the "Eee PC 4G-X", which I think corresponds to the Eee PC 4G. As I said before, I am disappointed that the Japanese version comes with Windows XP Home SP2 for the OS. I did want to try Linux on this machine, but it's a minor gripe because I actually like tolerate Windows XP, huh. I think the reason for the Windows XP is that Linux distributions don't have comfortable Japanese input methods for free, and the much heralded ATOK for Linux would add 1_0000 yen to the price (20%!).

However, the most important part, the keyboard, is unusable with my hands. Maybe my fingers are too fat. :-( I've always wanted a small computer to just type with, like a Tandy Model 102, or an AlphaSmart. For a time I had the Palm with the foldable keyboard but it was tacky. Also I have a Libretto L1 which is pretty much what I want, but too bad its slow (too slow for even AJAX Gmail ugh) and obsolete (short battery life, noisy fan, low memory, no on-board wireless or ethernet!). Coming back to the Asus Eee PC, I like the keyboard layout itself. The FN key coupled with the arrow keys are the Home, End, PgUp, PgDw combination that makes so much sense. I don't really like the tilde key (Kanji key) being in the same row as the Esc and F1, but I can deal. I'm an Emacs Caps-Lock-Is-Control-Key and AutoHotKey user, so any other niggling bits I can fix up quick.

Other than that, I found that it gets hot on the bottom, which is disconcerting. XP Home, but with no games installed (sol.exe is not there!) and Windows-F1 has no contents installed! The disk reports 1.3 GB free out of 4GB. I am wondering if I can keep an SD card in the slot for my essential apps like Firefox, Emacs, Ruby, Git, Subversion, Cygwin, etc. I wish I could have tried out Parsec47 on it. I didn't bother figuring out how to install more RAM. And there was no camera application for the camera, that I could find (nothing in the Start Menu or Desktop). Strange. notepad.exe, winver.exe, dxdiag.exe, calc.exe, and mstsc.exe I checked and they are all there.

The screen itself is readable, but just barely. I wonder what the DPI is. Let's see, is it 133 DPI? (/ (sqrt (+ (* 800 800) (* 480 480 ))) 7.0) Oh yeah. Oh this is interesting, set the Windows DPI setting to 80 DPI for mo' better viewing. Probably Japanese is unviewable though.

Now I am viewing the various user threads and wikis about gaming on this machine and I figured out Unreal Tournament 99 and StarCraft are playable. Wow. Oh wait, it's 2008 already. Where's my flying car, hurk hurk.

I gotta wait for Eee PC version 2.0, but at least now I can rest easy knowing that Asus will target the Japan market.

Missed the window: PlayStation 3 Console

(tags hardware, PlayStation 3)

On 2008-01-09, Sony announced the last shipment of PlayStation 3 with PlayStation 2 backward compatiblity for the Japan market. My default go-to store, seems to have none in stock over the last week I have checked. I don't really want to buy it from another store, because of the store points. Tight leash, huh.

But what would I use it for... Only Linux on a PS3 is interesting to me now. I guess I could get Everyday Shooter.

Another "good" purchase for the Xbox 360: Media Remote

(tags hardware, Xbox 360)

At the shop I picked up this small Microsoft official remote control for about 1200 yen. I thought it was a pretty good deal anyway. I suspect that this remote is supposed to be part of a bundled system, because I've never seen it before.

Its only a good deal because the media controls on the Xbox 360 using a regular game controller are confining. There's no one-touch fast forward or rewind! There's a menu that lets you do that, but that is so idiotically user unfriendly. So here we are with a remote control that can do one-touch fast forward or rewind, which is just extra hardware that makes up for a software design shortcoming. Ugh. Still it's not the complete cat's meow because there's no button for resizing video. Gah.

I spent yesterday night on trying to stream my media from my Windows XP computer (not Media Center). Before the Xbox firmware update 2007-12-04, I used the Zune software as the Xbox recommended. Unfortunately when I upgraded the Zune software, the shares weren't working right. I even had to manually restart the "Zune Network Sharing" service, so the client is pretty iffy. I considered using third party software such as the on-the-fly transcode TVersity but luckily I figured out that Windows Media Player 11 has media streaming. Yes! Delete Zune app for great justice! The shares were also wonky but I fixed it to my current satisfaction.

So I've been watching my previous iPod rips and more importantly, my downloaded game replays and shows on my Xbox 360 despite the fact I don't have a seperate TV. I am reusing one of my monitors in the dual-screen setup, so this is only for those time I am not computing.

Oh yeah, I have to wrap that remote in some kind of plastic wrap. Geez, its really been a long time since I've touch a TV remote of any kind. :-/

Venturing out of my cave: "Game Show in Osaka Nipponbashi by Joshin"

(tags game, hardware, auction, Nipponbashi, Osaka, convention)

Ever since I bought a Xbox 360, started my expenses budget, and got into Rubik's Cube, I've been avoiding Osaka Nipponbashi "Den Den Town". But for some reason I am bored so I decided to at least head out in that direction. There are many things to check for:

• Dead or Alive 4 limited edition package Xbox 360 game (~3500 yen used) ::1
• Dead or Alive 4 arcade joystick by Hori (~10000 yen used!) ::1
• Ichigo Mashimaro stick poster from Dengeki 15th anniversary convention (Yahoo Auction) ::2
• Barasui cover Comic Dengeki Gakuen from Dengeki 15th anniversary convention (Yahoo Auction) ::2

::1:: check at Sofmap, A-Too shop, Big Tiger, Super Potato
::2:: check at K-Books and Mandarake

Yesterday I tried to check out the Xbox 360's joystick options. You know, the regular controller has a horrid D pad and Ikaruga (斑鳩) is coming out this month. I might as well learn how to play with a joystick. I want to get the Dead or Alive arcade stick but the Yahoo Auctions always end up greater than 1_0000 yen. This is for a "low-quality" Hori Stick! At Sofmap Kobe, the Virtual Fighter 5 Live Arena arcade stick for Xbox 360 is either all sold out (on the first day?!) or all pre-ordered (I saw all the boxes behind the register) so I couldn't get one. That's when I decided to visit Osaka.

And though I did check out that Arkanoid DS game in the shop I decided that I know what it feels like to wait for a ball and control it indirectly, remembering the first time I played Arkanoid on my Apple IIgs so long ago, so I passed on it. That Space Invaders game for the DS is on my watch list, though.

And I was reminded that Shikigami No Shiro Episode -3 (式神の城III) was coming out for the Xbox 360. It's also coming out for the Wii, huh. There's no information on if its useable with a stick or not. Still I don't know why I want to get this game because I won't play it to get my full money's worth and I haven't finished playing the second game in the series.

But on the same page, there was an announcement for the "Game Show in Osaka Nipponbashi by Joshin" (ゲームショー2007 in大阪日本橋 by Joshin 公式ホームページ) happening right now. Now I must go to Osaka. I can try out the game, I suppose, but I don't expect my opinion to change. There's plenty of new games too: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS), Patapon (PSP), as per the usual Final Fantasy stuff. Takahashi Meijin will be there for a talk show and game event. But oh no, there are game "companions" and I don't expect to actually get inside becuase they are holding it inside two Japanese-sized stores. I'll probably be waiting on the staircase for hours. :-/

Get ready now! >:-o

What I want for Christmas

(tags hardware, emacs)

Consider that every day on this blog is like a unrestrained Christmas morning. Not quite a Nintendo 64 Christmas morning, though.

But anyway.

Emacs. On a Asus eee PC. This is totally sweet. (picture)

What if I ripped my DVDs? (And how about a pony?)

(tags DVD region 2, DVD region 1, DVD region 3, computer, storage, hardware)

While cleaning up my totally disorganized cave, I contemplated ripping my DVDs. For my music, I don't even do FLAC just 192 Kbit CBR MP3s, so this whole excursion is out of character. But let's just calculate. I am assuming that if I rip the DVD, I can play it back on some software DVD player, with all the subtitles and niceties intact.

Let's say I had 400 of DVDs. WTF! I just realized I don't have a complete list of the DVDs I got. The CD (compact disc audio) situation is even worse. And I don't want to even think about all the game discs and other stuff I can't copy. :-(

One DVD holds at most 4.37 Gib (Gigabits SI notation). I suppose I have some dual-layer DVDs but let's skip that for now. I know I don't have more than 5 dual-sided DVDs, so I'll also skip that. So! I'm looking at 1.75 Tib of raw DVD data.

On 2007/08 I bought a 500 Gib hard drive for about 1_2800 yen. So without any redundancy it will cost me 4_5000 yen just to keep stuff I already have, but with more convenience. I assume that compression won't get me much because this is already lossy data. In terms of a 12-13 episode anime (in Japan), that's about 1.5 sets.

Would I want to RAID it? Probably, and at RAID 5. This would probably entailing buying another computer and buying cards/switch for Gigabit Ethernet, and budgeting 1_5000 yen per year for electricity. I would also wish to encrypt it. Or I was thinking of doing the single HDD swap trick with those fancy eSATA or "USB 2.0 to SATA" connections, which is risky, right?

Sounds expensive. I think I'll just let them sit in my cave right now. Or maybe I should get rid of some? :-/ I can't "beam them up" where I'm going.

Regret Xbox 360: Faceplate

(tags Xbox 360, hardware)

I tried removing the faceplate of the Xbox 360, but it was a no go. The official documentation is at the Microsoft Help and Support as article KB907331, though this four step process doesn't alleviate my fears of snapping the faceplate into pieces.

Component to VGA upcan converter: Made for PSP lite?

(tags PlayStation Portable, hardware, video)

PSP Gadgetz pointed out the "PSP-2000 VGA BOX 2198P", which is a Component to VGA video converter. The output is 1600 by 1200 (SXGA) D-Sub connector and the input is Component. Sounds great, since I'm still in the "analog" video world (VGA connector, 4:3 based monitors).

Halo 2 fun but Kasumi Xbox 1 "dies"

(tags Xbox 1, hardware, failure, FPS)

I've been playing Halo 2's Campaign mode over the weekend, trying to find the levels that I like. So far I like the bridge one not because of the Scorpion but because I can go through it with a Warthog. I try to give my shotgun-riding support my rocket launcher or a rifle. Also I really like the Covenant Carbine and the SMG, they are cool. Again I'm doing the levels on Heroic not Legendary because I wanna have fun.

But on Monday, my "Kasumi" Xbox 1 refused to read my Halo 2 disc. Then I tried an audio CD, which confirmed it was a problem with the drive. My Xbox is effectively "dead". Now I'm faced with the prospect of "hacking" my Xbox 1 though I resolved not to modify it. I'm glad that somebody wrote up this Xbox drive failure problem, but disappointed that its frequent enough to occur. I'll give the "DVD drive cleaning kit" option before looking at adjusting the laser's potentiometers (!), replacing the laser (!) or replacing the drive unit (.).

With any hardware failure I am despondent. I even fleetingly reconsidered not buying a Xbox 360. Ha, yeah sure.

Tales from a Xbox 360 owner

(tags Xbox 360, game, hardware, Idolmaster)

I actively pursued some personal hands-on Xbox 360 knowledge by asking a co-worker about his setup. He's an FPS-on-PC and action/adventure game guy, and not at all a typical Japanese gamer. So here are my questions in italic, and his answers:

• Is 20GB enough? Sure, I delete demos quickly and Japan doesn't have a video service like in the U.S. so its enough.
• Are game saves big? No, just a couple hundred KB per game.
• How about downloading items? Yeah, I bought some map packs, in the tens of megabyte range. The Idolm@ster stuff is which is "8 catalogs" is a total of about 2GB (see wikipedia).

(photo from 「ビビッドなチャイナ服が登場！ 「アイマスカタログ」第8号配信」 2007-08-29)

• Can I use a VGA LCD monitor? Sure, you can use the VGA cable, no fuss. But why do 4:3 when 16:9 is so much better?
• Will it output "1080p" onto a widescreen LCD monitor? No games support it so why would you need that? Make sure to get a 20 inch or bigger display if you wanna go widescreen.
• Is it good to have HDMI on a monitor? Yeah if you want to use the DVD upscaling function. PS3 has the same requirement, no DVD upscaling on non-HDMI connections.
• Wireless (controller)? Batteries go pretty fast so buy rechargables like "enerloop" or you can try out the "Charge and Play Kit". I've lost power to my controller a number of times.
• Did you service your Xbox and if so how many times? I sent it in just one time a couple of months ago. (I think he has an early Xbox 360.)
• 65 nm process Xbox? I haven't heard any confirmation about this yet, and though the heat sink configuration might have changed in new Xboxes doesn't mean its a 65 nm.

Then he recommended some games. He imports foreign games so he's just like me, but only when he confirms (through official announcment) that they work on the console (ie region-free). For example he bought BioShock the U.S. version and complains that the English subtitles don't follow the dialogue exactly. He plays it in English, and but he doesn't talk to me in English, huh. He gives a thumbs down on Lost Planet. "Play it at your own risk." Huh, but that's not stopping me. "Avoid Trusty Bell, it has a bad (weak) story." Gears of War is good. "Did you know if you change your language they speak English?" Ooh thanks for that info. What about Project Sylpheed? "Um, well its okay :-/" Viva Pinata? "Not bad." "I don't completely finish games, I just keep on moving on to the next ones. :-)"

Upcoming games? Ace Combat 6 (ACE COMBAT 6 解放への戦火), his thumb's up. Beautiful Katamari (ビューティフル塊魂). I asked why?!? Because "its fun and I played it on the PS2". Halo 3? No, I'm not getting that (?!?! why not!). Lost Oddessy? "Hm, maybe." Assassin's Creed (アサシン クリード) Yes. How about those newly announced Xbox Live Arcade games (shmups)? "Hm, well." I think he was feigning interest there just to humor me.

Now I have about two weeks before the Xbox 360 comes to my home. OMG it seems like I can't wait. I need to check if my Xbox 1 games are compatible. I need to make sure I can secure a Halo-edition Xbox at my local store. I need to really make sure I don't want the Elite edition. Will I buy a JP Halo 3 or wait till more info about English-capable version? Aaah!

No line for you: PSP "Lite" Crisis Core Pack

(tags hardware, PlayStation Portable, store, pre-order, failure)

Glad I went to the Sofmap Kobe one day early. The Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII (クライシス コア -ファイナルファンタジー VII-) 10th anniversary limited edition pack is totally sold out, even by pre-order.

Even if I line up (like last time), there won't any left. I didn't pre-order because I thought I wasn't interested in the game. I suppose I'm more interested in getting a PSP "lite" one week early. I was thinking of heading off to Osaka's Yodobashi Camera and/or Den-Den Town's Sofmap to line up, but I don't really want to.

Oh and I finally saw some plastic mockups of the PSP "lite" color variations. I change my mind, the Lavender Purple is the one I want.

Let's get this schedule straight: Xbox 360 hardware

(tags Xbox 360, hardware, purchase)

Over the last week, for some unknown reason, my motivation to get an Xbox 360 has jumped from "eventually" to "want to play it now". Maybe its because I can name 5 games I want to play on it consistently (unlike a Wii or a PS3), or maybe its because of Halo 3 fever. No its not because of BioShock fever, though I wanna play that eventually. It troubles me though that I haven't remembered the release dates of the newer Xbox models, Halo and Elite edition.

At first, I used Yodobashi Camera again to check the release dates, but Wikipedia has more information.

Xbox 360 Halo Special Edition : 2007-09-27 Thursday (open price but 44800 yen at Yodobashi Camera) 20GB HDD, essentially a regular ("Premium") system but with Halo colors and HDMI output.

Xbox 360 Elite Edition: 2007-10-11 Thursday (47800 yen) 120GB HDD and of course HDMI output.

One thing that is not certain is when Microsoft will hardware refresh it. I don't want my Xbox to fail and I don't want to deal with shipping it back for service. According to Engadget, 65 nm CPU have been in production since 2007-08-01, so I hope that it will be in the September refresh.

I think I'll get the Xbox 360 Halo Special Edition, though 20 GB (14 GB usable) doesn't seem like much storage.

Cold shower on iPod lust: iPod Classic 160GB and iPod touch

(tags music, hardware, iPod)

Its been almost a year since I got my second iPod (5.5gen, 80GB). Today Apple announced the new iPod line up and it's hard not to ignore.

The iPod Classic (Engadget) has two improvements for me, the 160GB size and the Cover Flow. Not much, eh, since my library is only 52 GB.

The iPod Touch (Engadget) seems pretty cool. I would use the WiFi and Internet browser. 16GB is a disappointment however. The screen is only 89 mm but has a higher resolution than the PSP (480x320@160dpi vs 480x273). This is the one I want to buy, but unfortunately, I saw at Sofmap that it will be 48000 yens. Ouchie.

The overriding reason for me to pass on this refresh is that I still haven't my money's worth out of my current one. 43000 + 8000 yen over about 350 days, thats about 140 yen per day for the privilege to own and use an iPod. Besides I'm not using it to the fullest with about 15 GB free on it and no recent video conversions. The battery still works.

See you in a year iPod Touch!

edit: changed title

OMG Bad Cable!

(tags computer, hardware, failure)

I'm back and copying data to my new 0.5 TB RAID-1 drive. This is going to take a while :0

I was totally wrong about my RAID woes... It was a bad cable! I first determined that it wasn't the HDD data condition by retrying the old cable. Then I closely examined the old cable. I could even see it for myself: if I wiggle the cable I could see the contacts inside the clear connector bounce around, eg its not soldered correctly. OMG! Its sickening.

I read somewhere that SATA connectors are supposed to be able to withstand tens of insertions or even less. I wonder if its true. Maybe this is the difference between SATA and eSATA.

5 nines? I don't even require 1 nine

(tags computer, hardware, failure)

I was complaining about RAID-1 woes, but it turns out that it was user error. Never mind that it was me who booted the computer while a cable on my RAID was loose. Though I fixed that problem on another boot, I compounded the problem by ignoring the RAID controller screaming at me at every boot. After I backed up the RAID-1 disks and using rsync to figure out the difference between the disks, I let the RAID controller BIOS fix the disk set. After that the RAID controller doesn't complain at all even with the same HDDs. (Also I replaced the SATA cable to each of the drives but I doubt that is resolution.) Imagine that, the RAID controller checks the stability of the data of each drive.

So, no, my motherboard is working fine. In fact I'm going to trust it with more RAID.

Now I'm going to fix my computer. I just need to remove 3 HDDs from my case. Instead of posting a blog about it, I should be motivating myself to do it. Hence the title. My computer has been "down" for a little over a month. (I am changing the meaning of uptime to just my data, not my host OS for dramatic purposes.) Uptime for my data doesn't seem to be important to me, only connection to my entertainment Internet. I haven't synced my iPod in a month! Also I seem to be more dependant on services provided over the Internet like Gmail and Google Reader.

Okay, I'm turning off the computer now. Here we go!

Pikachu love: DS Lite, silicone case, backpack

(tags game, hardware, Dual Screen, character goods, Pikachu)

I've been sitting on this for a couple of weeks, but some stuff came now so I can now show you the height of my Pikachu obsession. Yes, I was able to buy a Pokemon Pikachu DS Lite (ポケモンセンターオリジナル ニンテンドーDS Lite ピカチュウエディション)! Thats the one on the left. The one on the right? Let's just say I didn't have faith in securing one through an online auction for it, so I canvassed Nipponbashi Den Den Town for it. Only 27800 yen, which seems to be around the fetching price on the auctions... Why another?

The flyer for the Pikachu DS Lite (shown top right) sold for 1000 yen on an auction, IIRC. When will I actually open one of these DS Lites? Soon now.

The top right shows a Pikachu backpack for small kids that I bought yesterday at Toys R Us. No way I will actually use this for its intended use. I will, however, use the backpack for storing my pristine Pikachu DS Lite. Ha ha ha!

But that's not all. Today my Amazon.co.jp shipment came in, though I doubted a timely delivery during the O-Bon holidays. In it was the yellow Takara-Tomy licensed Pikachu silcone case (Nintendo DS Lite ポケモンシリコンカバー イエロー) that received DSFanboy attention. I couldn't find this case in the usual children's shops, nor at Sofmap or other game related stores, so I did my first ever Amazon.co.jp ordering. The carrying case on the right is available everywhere, but I got it at the Pokemon Center Osaka.

I'm going to test out the silicone case on my Love and Berry pink DS Lite, which I can imagine is a vomit inducing color wonder. My intention is to use it on the Pikachu DS Lite, but again the color is probably horrendous.

Hot Xbox 360

(tags Xbox 360, hardware, failure)

Xbox 360 is a hot item, but its also poorly designed, according to Nikkei Electronics article 「Xbox 360のどこが壊れやすいのか」 or "Fragile Part of Xbox 360? Thermal Design Expert Investigates". (Thanks Kotaku) What I find particularly distressing is that there hasn't been any hardware improvements from 2005 to May 2007.

Jinxed it: Current RAID 1 woes

(tags hardware, computer, failure)

Looks like my Project Sugar got upset or jealous about my new PC explorations, because it corrupted my RAID 1 data drive. Yikes. I don't have a backup of my RAID 1 drive. How to backup at least 70 GiB of stuff? Get another HDD?

About a month ago, I got a new SATA HDD to replace a failing non-RAID data drive, initally via external USB 2.0, but starting last week, via internal SATA. I must have bumped something or whatever, because the RAID drive problem started then. First it was as if the motherboard didn't recognize the RAID 1 at boot. I figured out that BIOS couldn't recognize one of the drives, and/or finding the second drive as failed. Denial set in and tried a trick: I forceably deleted and re-added the registration of the RAID array, which seemed to work only if I didn't cold boot.

But I checked the Event Viewer's "System" Log and the RAID driver was failing with timeouts. Uh oh. I decided to do a ChkDisk but that revealed the corruption. I lost:

• My zsh shell history
• My iTunes Library metadata
• recent CDs I ripped
• other not so recent CDs that seemed to get the contents of the recent CDs
• my trust in software RAID controllers

I truly don't know how much has been corrupted. :( There's no log file a log file available in Event Viewer's Application Log "Winlogon" source (thanks pcstats forum) but it is incomplete (!), and all I have to work on is the modification dates and the re-syncing of archaic MP3s to the iPod that left my head scratching.

The biggest problem I think is my iTunes Library metadata. The binary file iTunes Library.itl was lost, and it was rebuilt from supposedly pristine iTunes Library.xml file. Unforunately that meant that every song in my 50GB library was imported with today's date. Ugh. And unfortunately the iTunes COM for Windows SDK doesn't seem to allow modifying the Date Added field. Perhaps if I (programatically) edit the XML file by changing the Date Added field and force a re-import... XML massaging, ugh.

I considered building another RAID 1 ... I would need a interface card (3970 yen) because I think its the SATA controller failing. Then I would want two 500 GiB HDD (1_3500 yen each). Then again I thought, "what are you going to do when that fails"?

I'm leaning more and more towards online services, and online storage (backup) is something I need to look into. At say 70 GiB, a service such as Amazon Simple Storage Service would cost me initially 20.00 USD the first month and 10.00 USD for storage. I could either try to figure out how to rotate and encrypt a backup out of this raw service, or try a registered backup client. My naive implementation would require a seperate disk for scratch space. Hm. Naive.

Learning about the Core 2 Duo

(tags Windows, hardware, game)

I'm not yet ready to upgrade my computers just yet, but its always good to be knowledgeable. To run Unreal Tournament 3, my current rig Project Sugar just won't cut the mustard, I think. So I did a Wikipedia session on Intel "Core" processors.

It turns out that Core is at least two different things, a "Core Duo" and "Core 2 {Duo/Quad}" etc. "Core" 1 is a 32-bit processor, while "Core 2" is 64-bit. The Duo or Quad refers to the number of multiprocessing cores on the chip, 2 or 4. Also the Core family has good power consumption behavior, something around 60 W idle, 100W load. And it turns out one can use Windows XP 32-bit on a Core 2.

I've settled on the Core 2 family, because I don't intend to buy another computer within 3 years. What I need to do is find a Core 2 Duo, in my price range which is 2_0000 to 4_0000 yen. Then I can start selecting a motherboard and RAM. Then I keep that configuration data up to date until more about Unreal Tournament 3 is released.

I am totally confused with the Core 2 numbering scheme though.

Please sir may I have another: Pokemon Pikachu DS Lite online raffle

(tags game, hardware, Dual Screen)

How many DS Lites do I need? If its the Pokemon Pikachu DS Lite, two?

It turns out that I can register for the online raffle because I'm a Pokemon Dai-Suki club (ポケモンだいすきクラブ) member. Who isn't these days, since I think there are millions of them. There are two periods to enter. The first just ended today. The second starts up next month.

Yee. I used up all my luck this year, going to that Ichigo Mashimaro concert for free and getting one Pokemon Pikachu DS Lite.

I think I need to rename this blog "Greed". "Greed is good, greed works."

shop stop potpourri

(tags game, hardware, pre-order)

Because of yesterday's PSP "lite" announcements, I went to Sofmap on the way home today. Lets just forget I was there yesterday after the weekly Japanese language lesson.

There wasn't any pre-order info about any of the PSP "lite" or about the FF 7 Crisis PSP bundle. They did though have some Wii in stock, and just for a moment I considered a purchase.

No new figures, no new games of note, no Xbox 1 games of note, no wanted computer games, no anime or other DVDs. I did pick up Leah Dizon's "Koi shiyou" (「恋しよう♪」) CD + DVD, at regular price though.

This weekend I will be picking up the Pokemon Pikachu DS Lite, so I prepared by buying a screen film, a white metal stylus, a recharging base unit for only 280 yen (but no cables), and a DS game case that holds 12 games, just like old reversable one. I still need a upper chassis and lower chassis case.

Pastel PSP, 1-seg PSP, Crisis PSP

(tags game, hardware, PlayStation Portable, Japan, collectable)

I am excited about this news (thanks PSP Fanboy for linking to the original press release). Sony will be release 6 different colored PSPs "lite" (PSP-2000) on 2007/09/20 (Thursday).

Rose Pink and Lavender Purple are the fourth and fifth from the left. Both are pastel colors that look wonderful. I can't decide which one I want so maybe I'll get both. :-)

Also Sony will be release the 1-seg digital TV tuner, something I wondered about before. I tried 1-seg before on my computer, but I am not watching it now. Sony has to gall to make this a PSP lite exclusive. I can't use it on my PSP "phat".

Finally, Square-Enix will be releasing a limited edition PSP "lite" for the Final Fantasy VII "Crisis Core" game on 2007/09/13 (Thursday) (thanks PSP Fanboy). Is this also in my sights? I don't know FF 7 and I felt like I got burned buying that Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings DS Lite bundle and finally it's silver, so I will pass. Though "exclusive" and "limited-edition" always perks my ears up. I am a sucker.

PSP "lite" named as PSP-2001, video output clarified

(tags game, hardware, PlayStation Portable)

The Sony PSP's newest revision is called the PSP-2001, according to the FCC inspection (US). (thanks Engadget) Also the video out functions seem to be clarified, according to the Quick Reference manual:

"Video from games can be output only when the TV in use and the cable connecting it support progressive mode screen display. Also, video may not be able to be output to the TV for some functions other than games."

Gamers will need to get component cables, while video-goers should be able to use either component or composite cables.

Won a chance to purchase a Pikachu DS Lite!

(tags game, hardware, Dual Screen, ECsite)

Oh yeah! I won a chance to purchase the Pokemon Pikachu DS Lite (ポケモンセンターオリジナル ニンテンドーDS Lite ピカチュウエディション)! Effort pays off! Here's the postcard back and front (personal information hidden, of course, by telephone cards):

I thought I didn't win early last week because the announcement was supposed to start on 7/9 (Monday). So the whole week, I have been checking the mailbox, but dreading the disappointment. I even started looking at Yahoo Auction JP for it. Friday the thirteenth, though, was my lucky day.

The sticker on the back of the postcard is probably to protect against counterfeiting, since it has a hologram on it. Also, the postcard is numbered. My number is a 5 digits, so maybe they have a lot of these.

Now, should I take a day off work to get it on the first day? (2007/07/20 Friday) Hm, no.

Time to bring home an Xbox 360 elite

(tags game, hardware, Xbox 360)

Finally the Xbox 360 Elite (an Xbox 360 Premium with black case and 120 GB HDD) will be sold in the Japan region for 4_7800 yen (thanks Kotaku, Game Watch Impress)

Time to buy it and play IdolM@ster.

Or should I wait for the sweltering Japan summer to subside?

edit: Looks like I have no choice. It comes out 2007/10/11!

Downgrade a 3.10-3.50 PSP just around the corner?

(tags game, hardware, PlayStation Portable, crack)

A crack seems to have been found for the uncracked PSP firmwares 3.10-3.50 (2007/01 to present). Although no downgrader is yet avaiable, it is inevitable. Now you can pick any hardware of your choosing, instead of just silver, muhahah.

The demo for the crack seems to require Lumines US or EU for right now. Perhaps the JP version will be developed soon. In any case, I need to get my copy of a Lumines soon. It seems other people are thinking the same thing.

Game catchup: Puzzle Quest

(tags game, Dual Screen, hardware, puzzle)

I am only playing Puzzle Quest right now. I've been concentrating on beating the game, which means skipping optional stuff.

For a while there was one boss that was kicking me to the curb but I managed to clear it. Then from there it was smooth sailing. I think it's because I found a weapon that gives me extra damage because of my level and also I equip a ring that regenerates health. The enemies rarely regenerate health and they hit wimpy, so I am cleaning up.

Or I was until the final boss. That guy just owns me, with arbitrary spells and bonus. I ran away with my tail between my legs. I have no idea how I'm going to clear this guy, because frankly leveling up doesn't seem to do any thing.

There is part of the game that I am still unsure of, and that is the resistance points. How do I accumulate them and use them to my advantage?

I'm going to keep playing this game until I beat the end guy. It's proper.

A Pikachu DS Lite!

(tags game, hardware, Dual Screen)

OMG, a Pikachu DS for purchase! (thanks DS Fanboy)

I am going out now to secure my raffle ticket to enter to win a chance to purchase. Ugh.