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sergioalb64 Blog

Thinking of doing a DS Podcast

Shouldn't the biggest DS fan have a DS podcast? Darn right he should. I'm considering making a weekly DS-only show. Apparently, the equipment and software required can be obtained for a low price, and since I'm on top of all sorts of DS news as it is, it would be a matter of planning a little 1-hour show filled with DS goodness. Of course, I would use my site to deliver the podcast :)

Suggestions? Comments? I'll keep you posted on whatever happens regarding the DS podcast. I'm quite excited; just a few quirks to work out and I'm certain I'll get it going soon!

Design Competition

I worked late last night finishing up yet another Photoshop project. I was very tired by 3:30 AM, and although my project wasn't perfect I knew it was going to impress my professor. Here's my vectorized kangaroo composite:

Little did I know that my professor had a secret design competition planned, between the game designers and the design 'for sake of design' designers. My kangaroo was the best out of the game designers group...

...but a designer student beat me, with a great composite of a jaguar in a forest. It was a close match, but two experienced design professors agreed that, although it was great, mine wasn't the best out of the two.

I felt angry and dissapointed at myself. I'm not a very competitive person, but I hate losing, especially by very little. As time went by, though, I realized what I had to do. I'm going to learn from this experience; I will work on my projects earlier in the week, so that I spend more time working on them overall and not on a single all-nighter. Whenever there's a surprise design competition, I'll be ready.

DS Lite: Ravages of Age and Heavy Use

My ever-so-beloved DS Lite is starting to show its age. I've owned and played the tears out of it for little over a year, and its flaws are becoming more and more evident. Although, thankfuly, I haven't had the cracked hinge problem, my Lite makes a low but noticeable cracking sound everytime I open it. The touch screen, on its right side, requires a bit more pressure to detect stylus input, and the overall units feels fragile and...sniff...weak.

It'll soon be time to move on. There is a rumored Zelda Phantom Hourglass limited-edition bundle, said to be released this holiday season. If this is the case, I'll borrow some dough and I'll buy it, even if I have Phantom Hourglass already. Hopefully, if true, the new system is a golden version, not the silver one already shown:

Although that one would be sweet as well and I would still get it.

If said rumor ain't true, I'll import a Metalic Rose (which looks totally like copper / bronze) DS Lite from Japan. This time around, however, I'll still keep this whitey ol' friend of mine; I know my sister would like to play it. I had a Phat before, sold it to import my first Lite, which I sold to buy the one I currently own.

And of course, my good ol' special buddy, the black DS Lite with no top screen, is still around, giving me plenty of Sudoku puzzles to enjoy.

Oh, but there's more; there's another rumor floating around suggesting another DS redesign, this time with a TV / Radio tuner. Sounds interesting, and I would get it for sure, but I hope and expect more features, if true.

1 out of 130 people in the world own a DS
1 out of every 6 people in Japan own a DS
1 out of 22 people in USand Canada own a DS

Long Live DS!
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sergioalb64

The Raccoon...

I just finished this. The cool thing about it is that it's a vector-based illustration, which means you can scale it to any size--billboard or small sticker--and it'll look the same.

Anyways, back to scool work :)

Back to school: cool new courses!

This week was back to school week for me. Fortunately, these new three courses look to be really cool!

1 - Digital Imaging II
Continued study of Photoshop and its many features, with a heavy emphasis on photographic correction

2 - Introduction to 3D Principles
Study of the Maya 3D software; building polygons and shapes in 3D. Looks really cool!

3 - Character / Environment Design
Game course focused on design and development of game characters and their environments.

All three teachers are cool and they like games. Looks like a good bunch of courses to end the year with!

Next Zelda: when?

I can't help it, but Phantom Hourglass has once again sparked my love for the Zelda franchise. I wonder when the next true Zelda title will be released, and for what system (Link's Crossbow Training doesn't really count).

Twilight Princess took over two years to be released after its announcement, and Phantom Hourglass took a year and a half. The Minish Cap took at least 8 months...

So...unfortunately...I don't think we'll see a new Zelda next year. Perhaps we'll hear something during the next E3, but I don't have my hopes up. I'm also almost certain that it's going to be on Wii and not DS...unless...the next one is a Four Swords title for the DS, which I would also love :)

Zelda = awesome; agree?

DS Collection Update - 109

As I've said about five times now, I like to keep a current record of my DS collection. It's been almost six months, but here it is!

1-Super Mario 64 DS
2-WarioWare Touched!
3-Yoshi Touch & Go
4-Polarium
5-Zoo Keeper
6-Meteos
7-Nintendogs; Dachsund and friends
8-Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
9-Trauma Center; Under the Knife
10-Pac-Pix
11-Feel the Magic XY/XX
12-Trace Memory
13-Pac-n-Roll
14-Phoenix Wright; Ace Attorney
15-Mario Kart DS
16-Animal Crossing, Wild World
17-Tony Hawk's American Sk8land
18-Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
19-Metroid Prime Pinball
20-Daigasso Band Brothers
21-Sprung
22-Kirby Canvas Curse
23-Ultimate Spider Man
24-Advance Wars: Dual Strike
25-Castlevania; Dawn of Sorrow
26-True Swing Golf
27-Electroplankton
28-Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll
29-Frogger Helmet Chaos
30-Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
31-Viewtiful Joe DS
32-Super Princess Peach
33-Sonic Rush
34-Tetris DS
35-Metroid Prime Hunters
36-Rayman DS
37-Brain Age
38-Dig Dug: Digging Strike
39-Monopoly/Boggle/Yahtzee/Battleship
40-Bust-a-Move DS
41-Pokemon Trozei
42-New Super Mario Bros.
43-MegaMan Battle Network 5 DS
44-The Rub Rabbits!
45-Age of Empires: Age of Kings
46-Big Brain Academy
47-Magnetica
48-Break Em All
49-Lost Magic
50-GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
51-Spiderman 2
52-Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
53-Star Fox Command
54-Point Blank DS
55-Mario Hoops 3-on-3
56-Sudoku Gridmaster
57-Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
58-Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
59-Mario VS DK 2: March of the Minis
60-Cooking Mama
61-Clubhouse Games
62-Yu-Gi-Oh!: Nightmare Trobadour
63-Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
64-Tao's Adventures: Curse of the Demon Seal
65-Magical Starsign
66-Contact
67-Children of Mana
68-MegaMan ZX
69-Pokemon Ranger
70-Elite Beat Agents
71-Puyo Pop Fever
72-Bomberman DS
73-Scurge: Hive
74-Yoshi's Island DS
75-Final Fantasy III
76-Lost in Blue
77-Bomberman Land Touch!
78-Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
79-Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
80-Nanostray
81-Deep Labyrinth
82-Over the Hedge
83-Spiderman: Battle for New York
84-Gunpey DS
85-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
86-Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
87-Hotel Dusk: Room 215
88-Uno / Skip-Bo / Uno Freefall
89-Touch Detective
90-Konductra
91-QuickSpot
92-FIFA 06
93-My Frogger Toy Trials
94-Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
95-Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
96-Purr Pals
97-Pokemon Pearl
98-Elf Bowling I & II
99-Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Tamashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
100-Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle
101-MechAssault: Phantom War
102-Nacho Libre
103-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
104-Alex Rider: Stormbreaker
105-Picross DS
106-Brain Age 2
107-Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
108-Phoenix WrightAce Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
109-Wario: Master of Disguise

Zelda Phantom Hourglass: great, but not perfect

Honestly, how amazing and refreshing Zelda Phantom Hourglass is. The touch screen controls really shine and make the game feel innovative and fresh, even if we have solved countless Zelda puzzles very similar to the ones in the game. Same superb and addictive gameplay...but also the same low difficulty and short quest.

I have my full review here for anyone interested:
http://portablevideogamer.com/2007/10/ds-review-zelda-phantom-hourglass/
But the gist of it is...if you have a DS, you should also have this game :)

THE GOOD: Awesome gameplay, great graphics, excellent control method and surprisingly fun multiplayer
THE BAD: Somewhat short, on the easy side, and inconsistent volume and quality of music

Too many great things going on!

Wow; life sure is great when you're out of school! Don't get me wrong, I like the college life, but the 2-week break is delicious :)

Picross DS is taking my gaming time like you wouldn't believe; I'm afraid I'm addicted to it; last night I was playing, so much that my head hurt, but I didn't want to stop :)

Next, the awesome Zelda Phantom Hourglass will be on my hands tomorrow! And me and my buddy Danny are going bowling, something we had planned for a while and now we're going to do it!

Anyone else getting Zelda? :)