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?

More TV watching: DS TV One-Seg

(tags television, Dual Screen)

I watch more TV now. I'm more interested in news. I see I can talk about more stuff in normal conversation, instead of d00d overclockin' and Idolm@ster!?!?. I watch fun and emotional programs.

I was random channel surfing and I saw that Honey and Clover received the mainstream live-action TV series treatment. Great, except the real people differ even more from the anime and manga in looks, of course.

I was complaining to a friend that a recent interview for a shogi player concentrated on what paper fans (扇子, sensu) he carried. But I didn't understand that paper fans carry some sort of dignity for an activity, like shogi or sado. What does that make me carrying my Di Gi Charat fan?

Right now Sunday afternoons show bouts of rugby. I don't understand rugby. I rather be watching soccer. Isn't rugby the sport where the referree in a white coat does the pimp pointing when someone kicks through the posts? I'm just waiting for that.

And yeah, the yen is strengthening, people are killing each other, and look a movie with cute dogs. People throwing zabutons at sumo matches, or people saying nandeyane over and over again. The studio audience consists of old people. The camera is always on the hot actresses in variety talk shows. And there's a special on sportsmen's wifes. Increase the MILF (WILF?) factor.

I'm glad I got this One-Seg for DS instead of PSP though. The DS is much more convenient, even though the screen size is smaller. And I still haven't decided if I want to record anything.

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.

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. :-)