Some merry pranksters pulled one over on former Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback ... and it's all because of the DS. Last month, GamePolitics picked up on a particularly atrocious entry at Blogs 4 Brownback, an unofficial site for the then-candidate that focused on the very dangerous Nintendo DS, and how it was offering predators free access to millions of children worldwide (since only children play DS, you know). Several other venues picked up on the story as well; feathers were ruffled, fingers were pointed, and many people had a good laugh and a head-shake over the level of crazy to which some people will rise.
Due to the ability to transmit signals wirelessly, UK prisons have banned the Nintendo DS (along with some other video game systems). The reason? They fear that the devices can be used to plan a terrorist attack. Of course, should they actually research the system, they'd know that the wireless capabilities of the DS are severely limited.
Next-Generation's Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh acknowledges that the Nintendo DS is an industry-changing system, but still sees the portable console as an "unfinished project." He wrote up a wishlist of improvements that he feels would fulfill the handheld's potential, extending its shelf-life. And while we've already seen dozens of message board topics filled with wild-eyed suggestions and what-they-should-really-do ideas in the past, Eric's revisions actually sound half-way sane.
We've always equated PictoChat with the banana peel in Mario Kart DS. It might be better than nothing, but we were really hoping for something a little more useful when we opened up that item box. Despite its polished interface and availability with every Nintendo DS system, hardly anyone uses PictoChat regularly. This can be attributed to the application's limited functionality and lack of online support. Unless you're sending phallic doodles to a nearby friend, there's really no reason for using the communication utility.
The guys over at DS-Play, one of several large DS community sites, have rolled out a PC version of Pictochat. Situated comfortably within your browser window, the program emulates the functions of the built-in DS program, namely sending text messages to others and displaying poorly drawn genitals. In addition, it also lets you save your supposed masterpieces for later viewing. It's not going to make you delete your current IM programs, but it does provide a neat little diversion, especially if your communication and artistic skills aren't hampered by the use of an imprecise mouse and fairly limited tools (you'll get 16 colors and you'll like it).
The connection between holding a stylus and holding a pencil is a fairly obvious one, though many would agree that the latter is more often involved with unpleasant things such as writing essays, ticking boxes in a Reader's Digest survey and, of course, stabbing people in the eye. To be fair, I did use my stylus for stabbing once, but I really can't be held responsible for my actions during a heated Mario Kart DS session. Perhaps if there was some game that allowed me to release my frustrations through artistic expression, some people wouldn't regret using homing shells so much.
_thumbnail.jpg "Dragon Quest IV")
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