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Once in a while, I stumble across a story so remarkably absurd that I question whether or not I’m awake. Today, I saw such a story. Forbes blogger David M. Ewalt wrote about how the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has criticized Nintendo and the Mario series for animal cruelty. It all stems from an item you can find in several Mario games called the Tanooki Suit. This is a costume of a raccoon-like animal that gives Mario limited flying abilities.
Yesterday’s episode of TechStuff was the culmination of a month-long experiment. In August, I asked Chris “what would happen if we outsourced the research for one of our episodes?” Chris got that sparkly, happy look in his eyes and said “that means we wouldn’t have to do any work!” Believing that we had stumbled onto [...]
The Nintendo 3DS system debuted last March. Almost a year before that, the company unveiled the 3DS to throngs of video game industry professionals and journalists at the 2010 E3 event. But despite that initial, breathless reaction, things have not gone well for the handheld system. According to this press release from the company, Nintendo sold a 3DS to “more than 830,000 people in the U.S. alone.” Keep in mind that Apple’s iPad hit one million units sold within 28 days of its launch. The original iPhone took about twice as long to hit the million unit milestone. Five months after launch, the 3DS is still more than 100,000 units shy of that mark. Now Nintendo is taking steps to boost that number.
Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many news roundups of what’s going on in the tech world today. Below are some of the interesting stories developing in technology, accompanied by a little unbiased, objective and mature commentary from yours truly. Let’s get to it!
With the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) right around the corner, expect to see lots of news about video games over the next few weeks. We’ll be sending Holly Frey, our new tech editor, to get a first-hand look at the newest developments in gaming. That will include a glimpse at the successor to the Nintendo Wii. But before we dive into rumors, we should look at the news. We’ll start with the recent price cut for the Nintendo Wii.
I found a gem of a video on Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch blog today. If you loved “Super Mario Bros. 3″ as much as I did, you’ll get a serious kick out of this bit of classic video game nostalgia: Jazz pianist Scott Bradlee actually recorded an acoustic version of Koji Kondo’s famous score and set it to a run-through of the Nintendo game. You have to see this.
I read in Ars Technica that last night, Nintendo announced the Japanese debut of its new portable game system, the 3DS. This is the portable system with built-in 3D technology. It uses a lenticular display so you don’t need to wear glasses. The system lets you adjust the 3D settings — you can even play without 3D if you like. It also has a camera that lets you take 3D photos. But you have to view those photos on a Nintendo 3DS to get the effect. I got to play with one at E3 and I thought it was a nifty device.
In a normal 3D screen, the screen displays one image for the left eye, and then a separate image for the right eye. Shutter glasses then show the correct image to the left and right eye by blocking every other image.
In the 3DS display, a technique called parallax-barrier technology is used, as described here…
Once you read the article and sync up with his vibe, you look at this video from Microsoft and see exactly what he is talking about…
…It’s like Leave It To Beaver has invaded the video game industry.
I just got out of the Nintendo press conference at E3 and am trying to process what I just saw. It was like seeing ghosts from the past come back to haunt me. Mario? He was there spiking volleyballs and shooting hockey pucks in Mario Sports Mix. Link? He was swinging his sword and raising his shield in Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Even the legendary Kid Icarus made an appearance (okay, I admit it, I kind of let out a fanboy squeal of delight at that one).
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