Stand Magnet-ed

That word in the title would probably earn itself several disputes on the Scrabble board, but no matter as I'm reviewing a particular Nintendo DS accessory which I"ve grown fond of rather quickly. The Magnet Stand is a simple solution to my problem with trying to have the DS propped in a manner which doesn't require me to lean forward from my seat to observe what is going on in BOTH screens.

The Magnet Stand came with the rest of my stuff on Tuesday and it came in a simple white box. However, if you've seen the user manual for the Japanese Nintendo DS, you'll find that it's illustrated with cartoons. The same goes for the Magnet Stand as it is an official product; the cartoons depicting the proper use of the stand is located at the back of the box.


This is the bottom partion of the stand, known as the feet. The feet has two strips of pretty strong magnets (hence the name Magnet Stand). These magnets help the unit to remain fixed onto any metallic surfaces including white boards.


This is the top portion of the Magnet Stand. It has a Slot-2 interface which is used to secure the DS to the stand.


The stand opens up (ala Transformers), and the picture above is a rear shot of the stand. The slant of the stand can be adjusted to up to 4 different degrees. When not in use, the entire unit is collapsible, allowing for easy storage in my bag. The picture below is of my DS and the stand.

The only problem that I've faced is that the Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS has to be left empty as it is used to secure the DS with the Magnet Stand. This prevents the user from utilizing the Rumble Pak or playing GBA games.

However, I'm very satisfied with my purchase and the item is still on sale at Play-Asia for USD 7.90 (here)

Shooting with a D40

I've been fooling around with a new Nikon D40 DSLR camera all night long and all I can say is that it is a very nice camera to use. The camera is pretty simple to operate, and despite only venturing to manual focus and some other stuff, I never felt once like an idiot using the camera. Picture quality is impecable and the kit lens is quite adequate for the time being.

So far I managed to dig up two problems, but fortunately these are user related (therefore easier to fix compared to a hardware issue). My shot composition is still pretty poor and I have shaky hands, both of them resulting in pretty lousy shots on my behalf but hey, learning is a life-long process and I am pretty much determined to get the hang of shooting great photos.Here's a sample of what I took, a shot of a gashapon, more specifically Mario in his kart.

On to something else, but not too far off. I've commented unfavourably on people who make noise like empty cans about LCD TVs (but don't own them in the first place) and I'll do the same for those who comment like airheads on DSLRs. You can go on babbling about megapixels, tech specs and all that jazz but I've something for you: size doesn't really matter, it is how you use it.

Adventures in WiFi

Setting up the WIFI LINK Adapter on the PC or laptop is pretty straightforward stuff; just install the drivers, plug in the device and then set it up as an access point using the software that came with the driver installation. Despite how complicated it may sound, access point setup is actually quite easy in practice; just don't forget to select a bridge adapter to a current network connection which hooks up to the Internet.

Things get a bit harder when it comes to connecting the Nintendo DS to the access point. I came up with the following settings for Mario Kart DS' WFC setup through some trial and error. My network is set-up as such that my laptop is connected to my router modem via network cable while the WIFI LINK adapter is connected to the laptop via the USB port.

1. Set Auto-obtain IP Address to No.
2. Set IP Address to something along the lines of the IP addresses in your network, but of course choose a unique address. In my case, my laptop's IP address is 192.168.1.4 and I set the Nintendo DS's IP address to 192.168.1.9
3. Set the Subnet Mask, which I set to 255.255.255.0.
   
4. Set the Gateway, which I set to the router's IP address which in this case is 192.168.1.1
5. Set Auto-obtain DNS to No
6. Set the Primary and Secondary DNS to Streamyx's (or your particular ISP of choice) DNS which are 202.188.1.5 and 202.188.0.133

Once these settings were entered, I got Mario Kart DS connected to the WFC, and the rest, they say, is history. The Mayflash WIFI LINK actually works!

That Rumbling Feeling

As the title of this post might imply, this is not the sequel to "That Rumbling Sound" nor is this about hungry stomachs. This post is about one of the more interesting accessories to go along with the Nintendo DS, the Rumble Pak.

The Rumble Pak attaches to the GBA slot on the Nintendo DS and provides tactile feedback to the gamer when playing supported games such as Metroid Prime Pinball. It is safe to say that Metroid Prime Pinball wouldn't be much of a pinball game without the Rumble Pak, which goes to show how, for lack of a better word, useful such an accessory the Rumble Pak is.

The Rumble Pak not only vibrates, but depending on the duration in which it is vibrating, a certain sound, like a chirp, will be emitted. This might annoy some people and there is pretty much no way of shutting it off.

The vibrations emitted from the Rumble Pak isn't much to shout about, not like the ones that comes from say, a Playstation 2 Dual Shock controller. It is a good thing however that Nintendo didn't go about naming the Rumble Pak somewhere along the likes of personal massagers.

My Rumble Pak came with my copy of Metroid Prime Pinball but I'm not really sure whether it comes with other games. However, I did find several titles that make use of the Rumble Pak:

• Super Princess Peach
  
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
• Metroid Prime Hunters
• Metriod Prime Pinball

It is a shame though that Mario Kart DS is not supported. I wouldn't really recommend getting the Rumble Pak by itself, but if you love pinball, go get Metroid Prime Pinball and the bundled Rumble Pak instead.

That Rumbling Sound

Creative first released the Playworks PS2000 Digital 2.1 Audio Speaker System way back in 2000. This particular model had a unique way of presenting 2.1 audio in a form "virtual 5.1 surround sound" using a Dipole unit and an active subwoofer which has built-in Dolby Digital decoder.

The highlight of this speaker system would be the Dipole unit which basically consists of two speakers joined together and placed on a stand. The direction in which the speakers are aimed is adjustable to produce the best possible listening effect to the user.

I got this set just a few days ago as a birthday present from my brother and I'm happy to say that besides the matching colours between the Dipole unit and my Nintendo DS, this audio set produces really great sound. I hooked up the DS with the speaker system and it really made my day hearing the sound effects from Mario Kart, especially that of the engine rumbling at the beginning of the race.

This funky looking audio set, which was marketed years ago as the perfect compliment for the Sony Playstation 2 in both looks and functionality, is currently out of production and thus unavailable in most online stores. However, scouting around your local computer store for this will definitely make it worth your time. Did I mention that this unit comes with a full complement of cables and a remote control as well?

Game Boy Gaming

Aside from my Nintendo DS, I have a nearly a decade old Nintendo Game Boy which I found stowed away in a drawer downstairs. I mainly played Super Mario Land on my Game Boy and no other game really mattered. My best achievement on that game was reaching the final level boss but failing to beat it.

Having talked about the games, the thing I like most about the Game Boy itself is the dimensions. It is large, bulky and somewhat heavy but in my opinion, it has a very nice feel to it. The main reason for it being heavy is the fact that it utilizes four AA size batteries.

Some interesting (and geeky) facts obtained from Nintendoland.com about the Game Boy include:

• It was introduced in 1989.
• The processor speed for the device is 4.19 MHz
• Over 55 million Game Boys have been sold.