There’s no point denying it this time round. Fact is, I pre-ordered a Gamecube. I pre-ordered a Wii. I love both those machines, and I’ll love this. Even if only three decent Nintendo games ever come out for it and then it dies a horrible death. I don’t care – I want one.

In fact, I’ve pre-ordered one already. Tch, eh?

My main gripe with all of these, but the PS2 the most, is the controller. I loathe it. It’s not a device for helping me make my man on the screen do what I want it to do – it’s a tool for making me die over and over because I can’t work it. Maybe my hands are broken, but I simply cannot get on with it. The sticks are in the wrong place. The dead zone is huge. There’s not enough resistance. The d-pad is terrible. The buttons with shapes on – I can never remember which is where (oh! the fun I had with the QTE bits of GTA: San Andreas). And so on. I’ve said all this before.

However, I had a little bit of head sickness a couple of weeks ago, and bought a Slim 120GB PS3, second hand, from someone locally. I don’t know why. Especially since I couldn’t think of many PS3 exclusive games I wanted to play on it, and PSN was down so I wouldn’t even be able to buy any games from that. Anyway. I got it home, and there it sat for almost a week until Katamari Forever was delivered. Which I’ve now completed.

Thoughts!

The console itself is quite nice. It’s a little bigger than my (old-style) 360, and I’m not keen on the curved top (I can’t put anything on it then, y’see), but it’s OK, and I like the finish on the plastic. The recessed slot load drive is a bit odd, and I keep thinking discs are going to get scratched on it when they’re spat out, although that probably won’t actually happen. The unit is nice and quiet, even when reading from disc (although PS1 games seem to be quite a bit louder for some reason – but not excessively so), which puts the WHOOO!!!! LISTEN TO MEEEE!!! WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!! of my 360 to shame.

The cable for the controller is too short, so I had to find a USB extension cable for when I was charging it. Also, I hate the way you have to resync the controller with the console when the battery runs out completely. I probably won’t be letting the controller battery go flat again, mind.

The controller could generate an entire ranty post all by itself, but I will say that I hate it. It’s worse than the PS2 one, even with the bits on L2/R2 that the previous owner (thankfully) fitted to fix the trigger shape problem (the triggers are normally, and stupidly, convex). The analogue stick dead zone is even bigger than the Dual Shock 2, and it’s still the wrong shape and the sticks are in the wrong place.

I never liked the “XMB” on the PSP, or even the name “XMB”, truth be told, but on the PS3 it’s bigger and even more unwieldy. All the sub menus and options and stuff are a nightmare to navigate, and I can see all my installed games listed in the same “column” will become a pain when there’s more of them.

I don’t understand the point of Home. Lots of areas that take ages to “install”, but contain nothing of interest? What am I missing? It’s a glorified chatroom, yes?

The Store is OK, much the same as the PSP one. Not really much to say about it, except it works – now at least

I do have an issue with the games and demos downloaded from the store, though. You have to install them, which in the case of Little Big Planet and InFamous took ages. Like, 20 minutes for the latter. And it can’t be done in the background. It seems silly they can background download, but not background install!

I also have an issue with turning the console off. When I do this via the controller, it doesn’t shut down straight away – I have to wait. I have to wait because I want to make sure it’s off before I turn it off at the wall (like my 360, I won’t leave it on at the mains), and this is a pain. What is it doing? Why won’t it just go off?

What else? That’s it for now, I think. I’ve had other issues with it (the Store being down, and slow when up – neither of which are the console’s fault, and the way the console always takes control of my HDMI auto-switcher even when I turn another device on after it – but this could be the fault of the other devices or the switcher).

Overall: pretty much as meh as expected. Of course, it’s all about the games (and Katamari was great), but I’ve not been converted.

Of course, then I came to order it and the only places online that had it in stock wanted a billion pounds (well, £300) for it. Bah.

On Monday I needed to buy a new external hard drive for my Wii (an exciting story for another time) and, when I went on eBuyer’s website, they had the DS211j not only back in stock, but also for £129 – almost £100 cheaper than it’s RRP when I was looking previously.

So, after my wallet was molested to the cost of the Wii drive, a DS211j and two 2TB hard drives to fit inside, my NAS was on it’s way.

I’ve had it a few days now, and love it. It was stupidly easy to set up (put drives in, attach to network, turn on, run setup app on CD, done), and everything past that point can be controlled through a web browser. Not that you’d know it was a browser – it feels more like a remote desktop session!

This is the welcome screen that comes up when you log in through your browser. The little down-arrow in the top left is like a Windows Start button and there’s a control panel and (context sensitive and very useful) help button on the “desktop” and almost every app window.  You can even make your desktop “persist” between logons, which is useful.

These are some of the apps that come with the NAS, and there are a few more available from Synology’s site and elsewhere (as well as a few others built in that aren’t activated by default). The Audio Station is a full music player that streams any audio files on your NAS through a nifty player – no client software required! The file browser lets you up and download files through the browser, and File Station lets you access chosen files and folders without the need to log into the full NAS system.  WebDAV is also supported, as is FTP.

Another great feature is Download Station. It’s a full Bittorrent/NZB/eMule/RSS/HTTP download client. It’s great for setting stuff off to download without it tying up you main computer, meaning you don’t need to leave a computer on overnight to get those huge files. It has all the speed throttling, scheduling and priority settings you’d expect with a “normal” downloader too, and will email you when downloads complete (or fail).

Other things it can do include updating your DDNS settings with your DDNS provider (such as dyndns or no-ip – something I really needed since the no-ip client is flaky under Snow Leopard), running a webserver (including php and mysql support), Time Capsule support (my main reason for needing it!) and serving photos.

Of course, it also acts as a file (and print) server, and even does one-touch backup for USB devices when you plug them into it. Pretty impressive, yes?

It doesn’t stop there. It’ll also backup to other devices, can have it’s storage increased by adding a USB drive, and supports RAID and multiple partions. It can even beep at you when it’s broken, or something has finished downloading. And act as a mail server. And you can administrate it via SSH if you’re a command line pervert.

But that’s just what comes out of the box!  As an iPhone owner, I was impressed to see there’s a set of complimentary (and free) Synology apps for it.

DS Finder (above) shows some stats about any Synology NAS devices it finds or your LAN (or configured over the internet). It will display drive usage, connection details, running temperature, and so on, and you can also make it beep and flash remotely so you can locate it in a sea of other devices if necessary. You can also remotely shut down or restart your NAS with it.

Useful, but not exciting. This, however, is a bit more interesting:

It’s DS Audio – an app that streams all the audio files from your NAS to your iOS device. Even over the internet. And it supports playlists and shuffle and artwork and runs in the background and everything. Lovely!

There’s also a nice front-end app for File Station, and another for your photos. In fact, the main Synology DSM website works quite happily in Safari on the iPhone anyway, but these apps just make the experience a bit more pleasant.

In terms of its operation, the DS211j is quite quiet, although heavy disk activity does increase the noise, as I found out when doing my first Time Machine backup to it. I think much of the sound is from the drives, rather than the fan, though. It runs cool too (again, this might be mainly due to the types of drives I put in it), being barely warm to the touch even after a solid 12 hours backing up.

DSM software updates are done directly on the device through the web interface, and can be set to download and install automatically if necessary. Extra software modules can be installed through this interface too.

Is that everything? Pretty much everything I’ve poked at so far, anyway. Except one thing – did I mention it’s also multi-user? Yes – you can set up multiple users and it even appears to be possible to authenticate with LDAP and other user databases. What users can access can be easily fine-tuned too, meaning you could, in fact, use the NAS as your network server if need be. Amazing!

Overall, I’m very impressed. It’s well made, has a slick, configurable interface, has millions of great features and functions, and works. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap and flexible NAS.

EDIT: Oh yes – one more thing! You can also share your media on the NAS via the iTunes protocol, meaning your NAS music shows up in iTunes as a shared library!

EDIT 2: And another! (It just keeps giving!) The DS211j can also serve media to other media clients. For example, your Xbox 360 or PS3 (or any other DNLA supported device) can stream media directly from the NAS. Useful, I’m sure you agree.

No doubt over the next few days I’ll post more of my thoughts, but here’s a brainjumble purge to be getting on with:

The console

Surprisingly small. It’s supposed to be minutely larger than the DS Lite, but somehow feels a lot smaller and lighter. I think some of it is due to the top screen half being thicker than on the DS Lite, and the bottom screen half being thinner as a result. The screens are nice and clear, and the 3D “sweet spot” is easy to hit once you’ve calibrated the 3D slider and used the 3DS for a few minutes.

The circle pad is excellent, and feels like a proper console analogue stick – nothing like the awful nub on the PSP. It also helps that the circle pad is slightly concave, whereas the PSP’s is convex. All the other buttons and controls feel fine to use, and the d-pad is pleasingly clicky, if a little awkward to access. I’ve not needed it yet, though.

Built-in stuff

The augmented reality stuff is little more than a toy, but is incredibly impressive. Having a dragon burst out of your desk is amazing. I did this today too, by blowing the Mario AR card up to A3:

“Hey, dont’a touch-a me there!”

Face Raiders is fun, and plays a lot like the iPhone version of Rage, only with your face (and others) to shoot. It’s creepy when I attack myself with kisses though. Yes.

Mii Plaza looks like a nice diversion, where you use pedometer-acquired coins and passed-by 3DS users to either build a jigsaw or play a simple RPG.

Super Street Fighter IV

Excellent. Looks amazing in 3D, plays just like the console version (with the addition of useful special move shortcut panels on the touch screen), and online is lag-free. Very impressive.

Ridge Racer 3D

I’ve never really been a fan of RR, but it plays well and the 3D effect really adds to the game. It’s certainly fun, but just makes me ache for a 3DS port of Outrun 2 or C2C. That would be outstanding.

Headaches and Nausea

Thankfully, none whatsoever! My eyes watered for the first 30 seconds of playing for the first time, but after that, all was well!

Posted via email from deKay’s posterous

You (as in, James Luff) may be wondering how I pulled off this cheeky stunt with the £18 Rule in full effect. Well, here’s how. Warning! May contain maths:

Base cost of 3DS on Asda’s website: £217

Cost of bundle with Super Street Fighter IV: £244.91
Cost of additional game (Professor Layton): £29.91

Total order cost: £274.82

Now, recall one of the rules: “For games that include extra hardware (Guitar Hero, for example) I am allowed to pay over £18, but never full price.”. See that game-and-console bundle up there? Bingo!

What about that £29.91 for Layton? Well, it just so happens Asda are doing a £15 off voucher for any order that includes a 3DS. So that’s Layton down to £14.91. Phew! Rule saved!

“But wait!”, you might say, “that’s cheating!”. Well, it’s not, but lets split it another way, shall we?

Total order cost: £274.82
Take off £217 for the 3DS itself: £57.82
Take off £15: £42.82

“Aha! It doesn’t work!” spake you thusly. Well, I have an ace up my sleeve. Did I mention the £20.90 cashback via Quidco? I didn’t? Oh! Sorry

Take off £20.90 Quidco: £21.92
Divide between two games: £10.96 – again, under £18.

Happy, James?

Posted via email from deKay’s posterous

Why should this change with the release of Nintendo’s new 3D fancy DS followup? Answer: it shouldn’t. And here’s 5 reasons why I’ll be getting one on release day:

5. The games.

If you believe, they will come. The same is always true of Nintendo consoles. New Super Mario Bros, Professor Layton, Ouendan, Hotel Dusk, Another Code, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. All excellent DS games, none of which were early titles.

4. The games. Really.

Lego Star Wars III and Super Street Fighter IV not enough at launch? Pff. Plenty more in the first three weeks. Plus whatever gets put on the 3DS eStore in the form of new games and Virtual Handheld games.

3. Nintendo, innit.

Therefore, ace. FACT.

2. It’s better.

Better specs. Better screen. 3D. Better online stuff. Better shop. Bigger better faster more. And still plays DS game.

1.Shiny.

Oh so very shiny. Lovely and shiny. New and shiny. SHINY.

I’ve never bothered with any other consoles on release – only Nintendo ones since 2000. So why not the same with the 3DS? Here’s 5 reasons why:

5. £££

£229 is a lot of money.  Yes, it’s comparable to how much I paid for my original DS and GBA, when you consider import taxes and postage and inflation and stuff. But £229? Yeah, even though a few places are doing it for nearer £200, even a little less, that’s still a lot.

4. ££££££

The games are £30-40. Lets just ignore the fact that I have the £18 Rule in place for a moment and look at how much I currently pay for hand held games. Oh, that’s right – 59p. Admittedly, most of them don’t have the depth of a DS-sort-of-game, and certainly none are in 3D or made by Nintendo, but that’s a big price hike.

3. £££££££££

The aforementioned £18 Rule. Even if I did get a 3DS, it’ll be many months before the games drop to under £18. I’d have a 3DS and no games, and that’s like no 3DS at all!

2. 3DS Lite

There’s bound to be a 3DS Lite at some point, right? Right. Which will be better, right? Right. Well, there you go then.

1. Games? What games?

When the GBA came out, the only new game (as opposed to a remake) I fancied at launch was Pinobee: Quest of Heart. Which was OK, but nothing amazing. When the DS Lite came out, I had Feel the Magic: XX XY and Spiderman 2. Woo. Maybe wait a while this time round?

LOOK!!

Did I mention it was shiny? Because it is. Very.

The haters are quick to point out that it’s just a big iPod Touch. Which it is, only that’s missing the point. Other haters (or the same ones) say it’s very expensive. Which (again) it is, and (again), that’s missing the point too. Others too say it’s less useful than a laptop. Which it is. Once more, missing the point.

What it actually is, in fact, is something that wasn’t really there before. It’s a simple to use, lovely to operate, sofa-based web browsing device – which does a lot of other things pretty well too. There’s nothing else that does comfy in-front-of-the-tv internetting quite this good. Yeah, this good, as I’m using it now.

And it is very shiny. And now I want one of my own.

The first thing you’ll notice is that, unlike most SD cards, the SanDisk for Wii card is white. Like the Wii. Little known fact: the Wii itself, its power supply, the  SD card shaped. Check yours – I’m right!

Other exciting features include a write protect lock switch – ideal if you’re paranoid about Nintendo’s system updates deleting your Wii’s homebrew stash. This sort of thing is pretty standard for SD cards anyway though, and you could just remove the card when you update…

Anyway! In use, it performs about as well as my usual SanDisk Extreme II card. I couldn’t tell any speed differences when transferring channels and saves to and from it compared to the Extreme II. The Extreme III is supposedly quicker, but I suspect a lot of the speed issues are down to the Wii’s transfer methods and not the cards themselves. Apart from that, it’s an SD card and it works. You can even use it in cameras and stuff – it’s not fussy about only being for the Wii. There’s even a sticker on it declaring DSi compatibility. Wow!

You can get these fine items (and other similar things) from MemoryCardZoo. The 2GB SD Card is £5.99.

Competition!

Now, of course, you want to know how to save yourself £5.99 and win one, right? Of course you are! So what do you need to do?

Simply reply in the comments with Things You’d Put An SD Card Slot In And Why. You can email me pictures (the worse the better) to andyk @ lofi-gaming.org.uk if you’d prefer. Closing date, ooooh, close of day Sunday 4th July. One card each to the two suggestions or pictures I deem best. Or worst. Go!

You know the OneStation handheld Famiclone? What do you mean “no”? I wrote about it right here!

This, the “Digital Dragon System”, is actually just another OneStation. It even says “OneStation” on it. But it’s a different shape! And! It has 999 games built in! And! The cartridges are a different shape! Gasp!!

Other than that, it’s the same thing. A poor quality handheld Famiclone with fewer than advertised games (they’re almost all duplicates) and a TV Out socket. Amaze.

And, although I was looking forward to the reveal, I didn’t think I was going to be especially interested in the product. After all, I’ve had tablet PCs and PDAs and an iPhone and laptops and netbooks and stuff in the past. So it wasn’t going to be anything new.

I was wrong. I really want one. I’m right in that it does nothing new, but that’s not the point with Apple kit – little of it is actually new. The iPhone did nothing new. The iPod did nothing new. But Apple are masters of mastery; Of doing things right. The proof is there: mp3 players didn’t take off until Apple’s iPod, and now half of the competition are trying to duplicate the iPod. Touch screen phones had been around for years before the iPhone, but now every phone is an iPhone wannabe. So it is with the iPad.

Everything it does, has been done before. But it’s how it does it. How easy it is to do it. How powerful it is in doing it. How slick, smooth, seemless and shiny Apple have done it.

I can see the naysayers and iPad haters already making complaints and rubbishing it. It might well flop yet – after all, every other similar PDA/tablet/touchscreen device before it have already flopped – but this feels different. It gets so many things right that even if some of it’s functionality doesn’t take off, there’s loads left.

Take iBooks. It’s just Kindle mixed with Delicious Library. But then this is Kindle which can also play films. And games. And surf the internet.

Or it’s a portable movie player. That lets you read books, check your email, and do your online shopping.

Or it’s a games console. That doubles as an electronic photo frame, lets you view YouTube and plan a holiday.

Or it’s all of those things, and everything else the App Store can provide for you. As with the iPhone, it’s all the “value added” stuff that will make the machine. The iPhone without the App Store is a basic, but pretty and functional, smartphone. With it, it does everything you can imagine. If you can think of a need, there’s a pretty good chance (as they say) there’s an app for that.

If you’re the sort of person who wants a mobile office desk, with your desk diary, email, internet, notepad and so on, with features for when you have “down time” or are travelling (that’s your music, books, films and games then) it’s great. If, like me, you love the iPhone but when playing games or reading web pages you just want something… bigger, then it too is great.

Imagine playing the sort of games Microsoft were showing off with Surface – only without having to spend ten billion pounds to own one!

My only concern with it is the lack of a camera on the front. This would be ideal for Skype, but I’m betting there’ll be a camera add-on for the expansion socket available at some point.

Will I be getting one? I’d like one, certainly. But I might just wait until the second revision. If I can.

Of course, it had to be this:

It’s three old Game & Watch games – Oil Panic, Donkey Kong, and Green House – all for the DS. Which is oooh shiny enough in itself, but becomes even more oooh shiny when you realise it isn’t available for sale anywhere. Excellent.