Thursday, December 29, 2005

Bad Bobcat drivers... I'm now back up on the Gold Coast after spending Christmas in Melbourne with my family. It was great to be able to go back there to see them all, but I'm looking forward to getting things moving up here. Basically, where I'm staying right now is very temporary. As a matter of fact, I am moving out next week to a location much closer to Brisbane itself. Although I will really miss the gorgeous beach here, I am eventually planning to live within the city. Myself and my roommate have our eye on a few buildings there and I'm really excited about the idea of moving right into the city. It should be very comfortable; I love the fact that Brisbane is a city, but it's small and quiet enough not to be too crazy. I find that very appealing. Also, once I move, I will once again have regular 'net access. That'll be great, because there's a ton of stuff left to do. Having a break from some of that work has been nice, but now I am very eager to get back into it. I have a lot of ideas and a lot of plans, so it'll be interesting to see all of that stuff unfold over the coming months. While I'm here I also want to thank those of you who sent e-cards through to me during Christmas. It's always great to receive them and if I do not directly respond, it's just due to a lack of access here at the moment. But I do want you to know that the thought is very much appreciated! CosmicSailor: I agree with you about tutorials. But in my experience, this relates to tutorials on many different things. It can be frustrating and difficult to find that one magic tutorial that is both useful and really easy to understand. As predictable as it may sound, this is something I was happy with about Art of Otaku. I really hate those ridiculously complex tutorials that seem to only confuse matters further. Annie-kun: Thank you! At the moment my address isn't settled...within the next month or so though, I should have moved into the city. And by then, I'll have settled down. I hope you are going well, I miss you! Mimmi-chan: Oh yes, I've had the fun of cooking here quite regularly lately. I cooked a very impressive meal last night (my roommate was completely stunned at how orgasmic it was), so I was very happy about that. When I was at home I was cooking a lot too, so I've kind of had that practice. However, the range of stuff I can cook very well is still limited...but practice makes perfect I guess. I'm sure it'll only take a few more fires and flour explosions for me to get it right. ~_^ Liam: On my first night back, I did nothing but walk around Brisbane with a friend. Other than the fact that I still hadn't really adjusted to the humidity (and I was silly enough to be wearing long jeans...ouch), it was wonderful. I am continually amazed by how the city is both so clean and well-organized while also being very laid back and never too busy. I think one of the best things is that Brisbane is both large enough to be a cool place to visit, while being small enough so that it's very easy to get around. The Botanic Gardens are great and walking around Southbank was wonderful. That whole area is very pretty. I can definitely see myself living there. ^_^ indifference: I will feel much better when I am more settled, but things aren't too bad at the moment. It's just that I hate my living situation being in flux as it is now - especially in a place that I've never lived before. As far as user-friendliness goes, I'm with you all the way on that. I really feel that my number one priority with myOtaku should be to make it ridiculously easy to use. That's a big challenge, especially as we include added features and so on. But I'm sure we can do it. ^_^ Charlie: It's cool. It was a very sudden decision, so I think it's still sinking in with me as well. lol SunfallE: I really wonder how developers will cope with multi-threading on the newer systems. I was watching an interview with Valve's CEO about this very issue...and he was saying that there aren't enough tools to debug the code and so on. It basically seemed that the whole thing is a big headache and a lot of companies are going to have to invest a huge amount of research and development into this area. Considering the difficulties that the current generation still brings with it, I wonder how they all feel about being thrown a major new challenge that they didn't really ask for. SugarCone: I think there is definitely a place for great graphics and I'm really happy to see new advances in that area. But I think that gameplay always has to come first. I don't care how good a game looks if it's not fun to play. But if it's fun to play, I'm really going to appreciate any extra effort that went into producing beautiful graphics. Baron: The Gold Coast is wonderful, although I am really eager to move to Brisbane, which I think I actually prefer. Still, it's been fun so far and I'm really enjoying all of the challenges that I'm facing here. It's been good to just throw myself out into a new location where I don't know anyone and see how it pans out. dream wings: Thank you so much! I appreciate the support. ^_^ I've made some friends here already and it's all been great fun. I am looking forward to getting more settled, because I'd love to stay for a while.

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Thursday, December 15, 2005

So many full moons... Well, I have finally made the move. I'm now living here in Queensland. Surprisingly, things haven't been as rocky as I'd thought. Actually, it might be more accurate to say that I don't really feel like my life has been changed as much as it really has. Somehow the Gold Coast feels like home, even though I've only been here once before. Out of anywhere I've been in this general corner of the state, the Gold Coast is definitely the most beautiful (although I still think Brisbane is underrated). So I feel very lucky to have been able to land in such a nice spot. There's still definitely an adjustment period, especially because I came up here with fairly light luggage; I really need to think about bringing everything up at some point soon. But that's only really a minor inconvenience. I'm actually surprised at how comfortable I feel after such a major move. The only real difficulty so far is that my 'net access is a bit more limited than it may otherwise have been. Right now I'm sharing a connection with my roommate and his 'net access is far more limited than mine was. So I will have to try to sort something out soon - perhaps I will get my own account or something like that. Anyway, I will try to stay around as much as possible. I think that things will probably settle down over the coming few weeks, so I'll be able to get back to some of the web projects that have been left in the lurch as a result of the shake-up. CosmicSailor: I think the design issue extends across every corner of the Internet, including search engines and so on. But things continually improve. This is why I am happy to see how rapidly CSS-based sites have sprouted up everywhere - even though that movement has brought some negatives with it too (such as a billion "me too" designs and a kind of generic approach at times). SugarCone: Yeah, I'm in the same boat as far as games go. If I look at my habits over the last few years, I can tell you that I've played games less and less. When I think about it, fewer games have interested me in general. Most recently, I've only really spent good amounts of time with the likes of Resident Evil 4, Half-Life 2, Mario Kart DS and Guild Wars. There have been other games in between, but nothing I've really sat and played for any length of time or with any seriousness. I think this is because I'm kind of burnt out. I've seen and played first person shooters before - I don't want another "spiritual successor" type of game. I don't want another Halo (I thought the first one was pretty overrated anyway). What I really want is something entirely new. Not necessarily new just for the sake of being new, but...after playing games for my entire life, I have grown very accustomed to the way certain genres "feel". And while I still love many of those games, I'm just tired of paying so much money for the same thing with a nicer coat of paint. What I really want is something that makes me say "Wow, that's incredible!" in the same way that Super Mario 64 did, or in the same way that Super Mario Bros. 3 did. There have been games like that, but not as many as I'd have liked. So I think it's time for something fresh. Shin: Well, it's definitely possible. If all the information about the hardware is accurate (and it seems so), I wouldn't at all be surprised if the price never went above $199 at launch. Domon: I really do believe that each system has its merits. Xbox 360 is a cool machine and it's cleverly designed. Xbox Live looks absolutely wonderful on Xbox 360 and it's one of the key reasons for me to own the system (other than the backwards compatibility). Of course, right now, it's hard to judge because the launch has only just occurred. But I don't doubt that Xbox 360 will play host to some brilliant games over its lifespan. There are already a handful of games for the system that I'm pretty interested in. But will I buy it when it finally launches in Australia? I doubt it. If the Aussie launch has extra software, I may buy it, but I will probably end up waiting. PSP is also a cool piece of technology, but a computer device is only as useful as its software. And PSP's software is pretty crappy right now. Hopefully it'll see some better releases next year, to give me more of a reason to buy one. As it stands, I've been playing my brother's copy of GTA: Liberty City Stories a little. After I got used to the wonky controls, I actually began to enjoy it quite a bit. However, the fact remains, it's still GTA3 with various changes. If it were a totally new GTA with a new environment, I think that may give me a reason to actually buy the system. Annie-chan: Thank you, m'dear. ~_^ I needed another change on there and I loved that original picture. So I thought I'd do some retouching. ~_^ Mimmi-kun: Housewarming gifts? Hm...I'm really not sure! I'll have to get back to you on that. In the meantime, when things are more settled here, I will be seeing if I can send you a sample of the world's most perfect sand. ~_^ John: Haha, that's very cool. I would really like to see someone write a report on this subject. Perhaps you should take up the challenge. ~_^ Sen: Even if they were to say that, I don't think it would make much difference. Afterall, Sony have tried to say the same thing about DS, yet it's outperforming PSP in global sales. So the PR stuff only goes so far. Anyhoo, as I said above, a $150 price point is not unreasonable. Although previous systems have launched for more than that, it's important to remember that Nintendo's systems have always been closer to the cutting edge (sans various GameBoy systems perhaps). If what we hear is true, Revolution would be somewhat based on GameCube but with some significant enhancements. In other words, it would be reasonably powerful but it wouldn't be tipping the scales at the high performance end, like PS3 and Xbox 360. Due to the use of more "mature" technology, Nintendo could probably afford to sell the system for a lower price point than the competition. I really don't think that Revolution will be excluded in any significant way. I'm sure we'll see some gimmicky games at the start (like with DS), but that's a natural thing - most companies may have trouble fully utilizing the controller at first. As with DS, it takes time for the non-gimmicky games to be released. Don't forget that people complained about DS being about nothing but gimmicky software at the start (and it arguably was), but that's ironed out as time has gone by. As for packing in the controller shell, I really don't know. It depends on the cost. I can imagine the shell itself being very cheap (as it doesn't require all the components that the freestyle controller requires). So we could easily see it packaged in. I'd probably prefer that, just because it gives developers the option. If it's included, I don't think it would necessarily stunt developers or anything. Afterall, their Revolution games will need to be unique in order to be competitive against other games on the system. A big part of Revolution's appeal will be its uniqueness - companies who produce carbon copies are actually probably going to find themselves at a disadvantage, I think. Liam: Are you serious? I looked at my last post and it came across as one big ramble. In fact, I feel like I'm rambling in this post too! Oh well. I guess that's what blogs are about - unedited thought, or something like that. But I'm glad you're excited! I'm sure there will be nothing quite like waving my plastic wand at the TV screen with a big smile on my face. So to speak. SunfallE: I think the bigger problem with the other systems isn't so much RAM, but the whole multi-threading thing. It'll take a while before companies are really programming games effectively on multiple threads. But I'm sure it will happen and I'm sure we'll see some cool results. As for RPGs, I don't think Nintendo have ever been especially big in that area themselves - at least in terms of the Final Fantasy type games. Theirs are more tactics RPGs and stuff like Pokemon or Paper Mario. So there are RPGs, but not very many from third parties. Hopefully that'll change on Revolution - a few big designers seem to have some interesting ideas about Revolution RPGs. indifference: I think you are a good example of what most consumers are like. I mean, gamers get into these discussions about specs and stuff and that's fine because they are enthusiasts. But what they do not realize is that enthusiasts are not like regular consumers; regular consumers are interested in the entertainment and not in what's underneath the hood. RaR: I think the only thing that will change their minds is when they go and play a demo unit at a retailer somewhere. I think that first experience will probably make or break the whole idea for many people.

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Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Revolutionaries. If you follow videogame news at all, you may be aware that further information about Revolution's hardware has just come to light. What I find interesting about the reactions is that many people are still trying to compare Revolution to Xbox 360 and PS3. But I think they are missing one broader point. The relationship that Revolution will share with PS3/Xbox 360 is similar to the relationship shared by Nintendo DS and PSP. PSP is an expensive, highly powerful handheld game system. The screen is amazing and the graphics are second to none in the handheld space. The game experience, however, is pretty much identical to what you're already getting with your PS2. So, in essence, PSP is about high-end graphics and familiar gameplay, except that it has a portable focus. DS, on the other hand, is a cheaper system with less impressive graphics. However, due to its significantly different design, it provides game experiences that are largely new and/or different (ie: not possible on other platforms, or never seen previously). I remember that when PSP was announced, just about everyone said that it was the end for Nintendo. How can DS compete? It's an uglier system design and its graphics aren't nearly as good. And because it has no multimedia functions, it can't possibly hope to survive. And yet, a year later, DS has so far outsold PSP by a ratio of almost 2:1. And now that we're a year down the road, we're finding that DS has significantly more third party support as well. It's interesting, because I'm hearing the same basic arguments about Revolution. It's not as powerful, it doesn't support high-definition displays, the controller is too weird and so on. You would think that the DS naysayers had now learned something, based on the actual sales evidence. Apparently not. I think it is entirely possible that Revolution may simply end up performing similarly to GameCube (ie: selling somewhere around 20 million units when all is said and done). But on the other hand, surely DS has proven something - surely it has proven that Nintendo is actually capable of attracting new consumers. Surely it also proves that compelling and unique gameplay experiences are generally more appealing than familiar experience wrapped in advanced graphics. It looks as though Revolution's hardware will be significantly less powerful than the competition. Current leaks suggest that it may have around 104MB of on-board RAM, as compared to 512MB RAM on PS3/Xbox 360. It is also rumored that the graphics processor will be an extension of the existing "Flipper" GameCube graphics chip. There are still a million details to be filled in, of course. We don't really know that much about the CPU and the details on the graphics chip are very sketchy. The end result, though, is a machine that would be roughly three-to-four times more powerful than GameCube. It's easy at first to think of the negatives associated with that. On the one hand, that simply means that it's less powerful than Xbox 360 and PS3. So even though that really won't matter very much to most consumers, hardcore gamers will certainly argue over it. The other problem with a big power gap is that porting games might be difficult. Either a game would have to be downscaled significantly or it would need to be majorly re-coded. I don't think that the downscaling issue is such a problem, but I do think that the re-coding is - afterall, taking code written for nine seperate processors (PS3) and translating that to Revolution might be incredibly frustrating and expensive. And therefore, not worth the effort. But what are the benefits of this approach? Well, first of all, graphics are already at a stage of incremental improvement. Look at Resident Evil 4 on GameCube and think about how amazing it still looks. On a system four times more powerful, you can imagine a pretty nice result - certainly as good or better than what we're seeing from first-generation Xbox 360 software. Certainly, based on the little that is known now, Revolution could effortlessly run a game like Half-Life 2 as a first generation title. And if you've seen that game, you know how nice the visuals are. Another advantage is ease of development. If Revolution's hardware is based around the basic GameCube architecture (but "beefed up" significantly), game developers who have already made software for GameCube are going to have it easy. And new developers are going to find that the associated costs are far cheaper in such an environment. Following on from that is the idea of difficult porting. If it ends up being too difficult or troublesome to port software from other platforms, this may actually be a slight benefit for Revolution. It would mean that developers would be encouraged to create Revolution-specific software. And because the costs would be significantly lower than competing platforms, there is a strong incentive to do it. But I think the biggest benefit is the consumer cost aspect. Already, some developers have suggested that due to the hardware design, Revolution could debut at somewhere around $149USD. It has even been suggested that Revolution could launch at around $99USD at the lowest end. And that is definitely a mass-market price. If you combine that very low hardware cost with Nintendogs-esque software, you certainly have a recipe for rapid expansion. Again, I don't think anyone can predict what will happen here. But those who are already naysaying should be careful - we've seen a similar situation with DS and many were proven wrong there. I would not be surprised if Revolution's entirely unique approach to this next generation allows it to completely leapfrog the competition. At the very least, it's not out of the realms of possibility. Sen: Ah yes, I've been in a similar situation. I've taught my parents a few things on the computer and they have forgotten pretty quickly. But I guess it comes back to the idea that they never really grew up with this kind of technology. CosmicSailor: I think your last comment there really emphasizes what the advantages of this kind of system are. It's easier and preferable for most people to simply change a number or a word in a box than to actually write the entire code themselves (or search through a page full of it). SugarCone: I am nevertheless very impressed with the work you've displayed there. It's easy to be dismissive of your own work (I often am about mine), but I think that you've achieved something great there. It would be a shame if you never did design again. On the other hand, I understand that a freelance environment can be difficult. You are always working to someone else's specifications and needs, rather than your own. And if you are a creative person, that can be frustrating. It's always better and more fulfilling to develop something for yourself than for others. And that, in turn, comes back to what I was saying about web design in general - because of this situation, we do tend to see sites designed by the designer, for the designer. It's much tougher to find sites that are deliberately created with the end user in mind; particularly the end user who does not have a similar level of knowledge. Sara: I know what you mean, haha. I have that feeling at times. In fact, I often have that feeling when I read anime-based discussions on OtakuBoards. Because I am not an avid anime fan, it often feels as though I am watching a discussion in another language unfold before me. Basically in my last post, I was just talking about playing Mario Kart DS online. I was lucky enough to play with both Alex and Desbreko and it was a lot of fun. Playing online via a little handheld game system (and wirelessly, no less) still feels very strange though. At the same time, it does show you how far technology has come. Aaryanna: Oh yes, you're entitled to share it if you're buying it together. No problem at all. We obviously don't like people outright stealing it, but what you are describing is just fine. ^_^ I'm sorry that I didn't get those details to you soon enough - I have been tremendously busy lately, as I'm actually moving out of here this coming Tuesday. So it's far sooner than I thought. There has been a lot to organize! I will be very happy when it's over and I'm all settled. ^_^ John: I'd be interested to see a non-gamer write a study of gamers and their behavior. I think I could write one like that about young anime fans. "Dear journal, I am still at a loss to understand the 'kawaii' phenomenon, but I can only assume that this word plays an important role among the species..." Annie-chan: I am incredibly grateful to read that, my dear Annie. There's still so much more we can do to make things easier/better, though. And I'm really looking forward to giving it a shot. ^_^

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Sunday, December 4, 2005

Wi-Fi is cool. I've only had Mario Kart DS for a couple of days and I'm already pretty addicted to it. On every level, it seems to get things right. The controls are basically flawless, the new tracks are mostly incredibly good and the changes to multiplayer (including bots in battle mode and the inclusion of teams) injects significantly more depth and replayability into the game. I also set up Wi-Fi Connection and it seems to work beautifully through my modem. The set-up process was ridiculously simple (even on manual set-up). And in general, I've been able to play the game without any real lag issues. It's fair to say that Nintendo could have added a couple of things here and there (slightly better match-making and a few more options for Wi-Fi Connection racing), but in general I'm extremely impressed. There really hasn't ever been a handheld game like this before - the way it utilises Wi-Fi Connection is simple and seamless, to the point where I can't imagine people being very intimidated by the whole thing. Having this experience with Mario Kart actually makes me all the more excited about Animal Crossing: Wild World. Recently, N-Sider listed all of the enhancements and changes that Wild World will have over its predecessor. And I was definitely happy to see that it'll be more than "Animal Crossing with online additions". It's actually like a fairly large expansion pack, with some very significant changes to the raw game itself. So I'm pleased. And I think that this game will be absolutely ideal for online play. I really can't wait to see what other games receive online play in the future. There are several franchises that would work really well with this kind of technology. Other than that, I've spent the last few days rounding off some stuff related to Art of Otaku. My end of the CD stuff is now complete, so Adam and Justin will now take over and finish everything off. I think that people who are waiting to buy the CD version will be pretty happy with what they get, especially if they liked the quickie sampler. And now, that pretty much leaves me open to focus on NGL, OtakuBoards and myOtaku. I am really excited to see what we can do with OtakuBoards in particular, because I'm very keen to begin with a blank slate on that. SugarCone: I think it's very admirable that you spent so much time trying to make a site for your grandma. I may actually be in a similar situation soon. When I move, I'm going to want to use MSN a lot more to talk to family. But both my parents don't know how to use it. So I will probably have to try to show them. It's very intimidating for a light 'net user though. But don't give up! I would like to see some of the things you've done. Practice is the best way to improve. But I understand that sometimes you can go through a period of having no ideas. I feel as though I've been in that period myself lately, where I've had the web designer's equivalent of writer's block. CosmicSailor: I think that what you said about HTML is a very clear demonstration of why sites like myOtaku are useful. There are a lot of people who are in that light-to-intermediate level; people who can't build entire sites themselves, but who are advanced enough to know about colour codes and things like that. For such people, a place like myOtaku is ideal. You can modify your site and make it your own, without actually needing to understand all of the code required to build an entire web site. That is precisely the kind of person we are trying to target with this site. I think that's the key strength with other places like MySpace as well. So I think the big challenge for us is to give that group of people even more power. We have to keep trying to simplify complicated tasks so that anyone can do them with very minimal knowledge of code and so on. RaR: Yeah, it's very hard to get visitors when you are just starting out. Once you build a site that attracts a lot of people, you can use it to keep springboarding from one site to another. So that's kind of cool. But starting from scratch is definitely very difficult. John: Yeah, that's the challenge. It's very difficult to make something that strays from the conventions without being too confusing for visitors. This is partly why I've had such difficulty with my own portfolio site. I keep bouncing back and forth between ideas and I've found it difficult to settle on something. Sometimes I just want to do something more basic and effective...and sometimes I want to do something really crazy and different. Finding a good balance is tough. Annie-chan: It's interesting that people can understand fairly sophisticated machines (ie: aircraft) and still not even know how to put a song on their phone! That's exactly the type of situation that a lot of people seem to find themselves in. I think it's the responsibility of web designers to find ways to make sites more intuitive, so that people don't have such difficulty learning how to do these tasks. SunfallE: I think the example you bring up is something that a lot of people who make sites don't think about. Usually we are designing something for ourselves - if we like it, we tend to assume that others will too. But I find it amazing that if I come across a site that seems very easy to navigate, other people can find it confusing and difficult. The key - and the most difficult thing - is to try to think about how other people are going to view your site. Knowing the audience and catering to them is really, really tough. I definitely think that you have a good attitude about things. I'm very sorry to hear about your parents, but I think it's great that it reminds you about what's important in life. It's very easy to get swept away in small trivial things, but sometimes events in your life bring your feet back to the ground in a major way. Having complications in your family is definitely one of the things that puts life in perspective in general. Best wishes to you. ^_^ Aaryanna: Ah, well, CSS means "cascading style sheet". It's a way of designing web sites. It basically means that you create a style sheet for your site and all pages are edited under that style sheet - this way you don't have to format the design of every single page, one at a time. It's basically a more efficient way to make a site. But as a result, a lot of CSS-based sites have popped up and they tend to advance the idea of simplicity and accessibility. I think that these sites are a very healthy example for the Internet in general. Oh, and yes...packages to Australia! I forgot about your PM. I will have to respond to that today. ^_^ Sen: Yeah, that's a good point. If someone can use Windows, they can probably basically use the Internet. But people like my mother and father only understand Windows in the most basic manner (ie: they can get on the 'net and they can make a Word file and that's about it). For those people, it's very challenging to create content that gets them interested in using the 'net regularly. Ah, Smash Bros. Revolution. Well, you may have read some of the latest news about that. NCL is setting up an entire studio in Tokyo specifically to develop this new game. Development began a couple of months ago and the team consists of people who have worked on the series as well as people who are entirely new to it. Apparently the new members are all extremely hardcore Smash Bros. fans, having racked up thousands of hours in the game. And of course, Sakurai is the director. Considering the tremendous investment that Nintendo is putting into the one title, I think we can expect something very special. Nintendo do not have a tendency to set up entire offices just for single games, so it seems to me that Iwata is taking the game very seriously.

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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Braille beneath the skirts. I was talking to my mum today about technology. It was a really interesting discussion. She was saying that there is a woman at her company who absolutely refuses to learn how to use a computer, even though it's a critical component of her job. Basically, this woman was wanting something to be typed out for her. She went around and asked everyone she could find until the manager simply told her that she'd have to do it herself. In response, she commented that she'd take the document home and have her son type it up. Not only was she afraid of making the effort to understand the computer in any way, but she actively avoided even the most basic computing tasks. My mother is not all that different to most people of her generation, in the sense that she has also generally had a fear of technology. It has always seemed too confusing and complex. But due to her job, she has been forced to learn various commercial applications - so she was literally dropped in at the deep end. She is certainly learning, but sometimes it's still a struggle for her. Unlike me (or any of you reading this now), she hasn't had the benefit of years of learning and progression. When talking to someone like that and when looking at the world from that point of view, it's amazing how much younger people take technology for granted. Those of us who are in web design are a great example. It's only been within recent years that there has been a strong fusion of both programming and graphic design on the web. I've mentioned this in a previous post, about the CSS movement. But I think, in general terms, there is more of an understanding today (particularly by those who are professionally involved in web development) that web sites can't just be the domain of the programmer; like any other tool or product or service, they need to be created with the end user in mind. Although there are some basic web fundamentals that have remained the same over the years (in terms of design), so much has changed. And the interesting thing is that as time has gone by, many different professional design philosophies have evolved. Let me give you a simple example: navigation menus. Traditionally it's true that most web sites will display some kind of navigation menu on the left hand side of the page. Usually, the menu is vertically aligned (as opposed to being spread horizontally across a page). I think that a lot of people who have made sites in the past have done this almost unconsciously. But there are two key reasons for it. One of them is simply that most people in the world (particularly the English-speaking world) read from left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Therefore, if the menu is sitting on the left, it is in a more prominent position by default. The column-based design is also something that many do unconsciously, but it too has a foundation. When you read a paragraph of text, your eyes move from left-to-right and then down to the next row of text. Various graphics studies suggest that if a row of text is too long (ie: over a certain number of characters), readers will tend to "drop" a row. This means, basically, that if a row of text is too long, you are more likely to start reading that same row again, rather than moving down to the next one. In other words, the amount of characters in a row of text has a direct impact on both the comfort with which people read as well as their ability to comprehend text. This is why newspapers and magazines are divided into columns. You would think, then, that all sites should probably stick to this system in order to maintain the most readable design. But there are some designers who feel that, by deliberately "breaking the rules", far more impact can be made. For instance, there are people who very deliberately place a site's navigation menu on the right side of the page. This is done largely because we often expect it to be on the left. But because it's on the right, it causes an immediate and deliberate jarring effect - this causes us to look around the page a little more and to (ostensibly) pay more attention to design details as a result. It makes page-skimming tougher, but it also tends to ensure that there's a greater chance of someone staying around a bit longer as well. This also reminds me of a design debate that was occurring in the 1980's around magazine publication. Of course, there is always a tendency to go for something very deliberate and elegant, with a more subtractive design (ie: only adding components that make sense, without confusing the reader with unnecessary imagery). However, some designers said that the opposite effect may be better - creating a page that is deliberately complicated. Why do that? Because, as some have said, it deliberately confuses the eye. And that confusion causes the reader to look at the page for a much longer period of time, as they try to decipher what's going on. In other words, "visual interest" is put above "immediate clarity". People may not immediately understand what it's all about, but the design will spark their curiosity and they will therefore spend more time looking at it. So, as web development is evolving, designers are increasingly coming to the forefront. There is an expectation that programmers have some basic notion of useability and design, but there is a far greater expectation that professional graphic designers understand technology and are able to handle programming themselves. As design becomes the most critical component of web development, designers are moving to the forefront all the time. There was once a time where a couple of people would build a business site and it would be treated as largely unimportant. Now you have companies spending millions on focus groups, who's job may only relate to relevant colour schemes and appropriate fonts. There is an understanding that design is ultimately what makes or breaks a web site, because design is the element that specifically deals with the end user experience. In my own case, it is very easy for me to design something that I like - or even something that my age group likes. With a bit of work and some thought, it's not very difficult to make something that I'm personally happy to look at. But the real challenge lies in creating something that many other people will use, particularly those who are not in my age group or who's tastes are like my own. It reminds me of something that the editor of Design Graphics magazine said when he visited my class last year. He said "When you show your design to a client, do not ask 'do you like it?' Instead, ask 'does it work?'" I felt that this was an important point. I'm sure there are plenty of people at Nintendo who would not enjoy playing Mario Party, for example - perhaps even some of the people on the design team itself. But what matters is whether or not their target audience likes it and whether or not it's suitable for them. I am certain that pretty much everyone who is reading this right now has enough knowledge of the Internet to know how to use this site or most others. The fact that you're even here of your own accord demonstrates that. But my question to you is simple: how do you design a site for someone who has never used the Internet? If you assume that they know nothing about Internet convention, I think you will find that it makes design so much more difficult. On the other hand, in some ways, it does make things a bit easier, because you can start from a blank slate. At the very least, thinking in this way while designing a site is certainly a very interesting approach. I really recommend it to anyone who wants to challenge themselves in a new way - especially if you have become bored or tired with web design. Aaryanna: Thank you for the hug. ^_^ I feel terrible for what's happened to SunfallE. The plagiarism is really just another thing on top of it. I must say, though, I am very encouraged by her attitude through the whole thing. Remaining so optimistic and pleasant throughout such an ordeal is very admirable. I'm sure you will enjoy your DS, especially now that there are quite a few really great games to play on it. Hopefully we can race together on Mario Kart sometime! Sammy: A community of Finnish teens? Hah! I have noticed things like that as the site has grown. It's funny to think that at one stage, I knew every person who had registered on myOtaku. But now...250,000...trying to picture that many individual people is mindboggling. I will certainly be happy when we reach a million. I'm sure something has to happen at that time...maybe Microsoft will offer a large bag of cash to buy us or something, heheh. CosmicSailor: Oh I agree with you, I mean...I can't imagine that I could tolerate music that loud all the time. As I said, loud music is great, but not to the point where you are severely damaging your ears as a result. Afterall, I'd rather enjoy music for a long time than go deaf tomorrow and never be able to enjoy it again. I liked your sunburn message, haha. Considering that I live in Australia - which has the highest rates of sunburn/skin-cancer on the planet - I can tell you that I've been through many lectures and lessons about the subject. But of course - and as with anything - it's about knowing what you're dealing with and being reasonable. On the one hand, I wouldn't want to frequently tan myself so that I get sick with skin cancer. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to miss out on so many things because I'm worried about sunburn. As always, it's about balance and being sensible. RaR: Your face got stepped on? Wow. I don't like mosh pits at all, personally. Something about being in a group of sweaty people who are trying to either bruise me or feel me up just doesn't appeal to me. Although I suppose it does depend on the mosh pit; I'm sure most of them aren't terribly bad. Funny thing is, I used to never really tan. I think that's just because I never actually stopped my skin from peeling after a burn. But this time, I tanned very nicely. So I'm hoping to extend that tan to places beyond my arms in the near future. As for PSP/DS, I think it really depends what you are looking for. For games, DS is really the no-brainer choice right now. But obviously PSP has the media functionality on its side, which is something that you may or may not really use. My suggestion is to get the DS now and to wait until the PSP's price has dropped in the future. The benefit is that by that stage, you'll probably have a better selection of PSP games and you'll have the benefit of several firmware upgrades and stuff. By that time all of your media management on PSP should be a lot easier and you'll have some games that will really take advantage of the system. Alan: I think the main thing is that we might be making different distinctions here, haha. When I talk about stuff working, I'm talking about it in a graphic design sense and not an art sense. Basically, everything on that page is designed in a really deliberate way (hierarchy of images, positioning of elements and so on). However, because it's an in-development design, it's been necessary to get that stuff in place before I start adding any aesthetic flourishes. So, to answer your comment a bit more directly, you'll find that the final design will carry some added visual flourishes. But the layout (as far as logged out users is concerned) is absolutely locked down and finalized at the moment. But still, I don't expect it to carry very much imagery at all (other than a finalized header image and icons). It's got to be fast, clean and easy to use.

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Monday, November 28, 2005

... I couldn't be bothered thinking of a title today. I have been pretty busy all day and yet I feel like this day just won't end. I'm not entirely sure why - I think a couple of things have been playing on my mind a bit today. But all things considered, I'm in pretty good shape. Since I really have nothing to post today, I will instead comment on your comments. ~_^ CosmicSailor: I guess that's right, but then again, I've been to some terrible beaches and to some amazing beaches. Although I don't have the red hair/fair skin combination, I do find that I tend to burn relatively easily. Although I came home from the Gold Coast with a nice tan on my arms...so apparently I can tan if I want to. lol As far as music goes, I am not the type of person to blast it so loud that it hurts. I actually like loud music a lot, but not when it's so loud that it's actually difficult to decipher. I remember going to a dance thing at my high school one year and standing right in front of one of the speakers for only a moment. But when I came out, my ears were ringing for a good half an hour. That definitely wasn't nice. But I've never repeated anything like that fortunately, lol. So, I would say that loud music has probably contributed to me having less-than-perfect hearing. However, I do see some people blasting music to a ridiculous degree all the time and I don't even know what the point is. Music can sometimes be so loud that you can't actually sit and enjoy it, because it's killing your brain. lol Alan: I'm happy enough with it, really. It does the job it sets out to do. Obviously it's not highly artistic, but I'm going for something a bit more Google-esque here: function first, to the point where anyone can easily use it. In terms of actual graphics, I'm guessing some things will change (that mockup is missing several icons and so on). And obviously, that's the logged-out screen, so it doesn't show the full inner menu and so on. What will be impressive about this site, I think, is that everything should be easy to locate and use. I think the general cleanliness and organization will be key. I like minimalism, but not in terms of excessive white space or anything - my ideal with minimalism is for everything to have a purpose and for there to be a subtractive approach to design. I guess it also kind of comes back to that whole idea of designing something for others, rather than for yourself. I am hopeful that a broader age-group will be able to use this site. Jangalian: If you ever want to ask about this type of thing, it's probably best to use OtakuBoards. Basically one of the two servers that theOtaku.com utilizes was down recently. So that caused some delays in terms of what was submitted versus what was displayed. But you'll find that the problem will be corrected soon enough. Kat: Thanks. My approach to this was just to keep it very simple. Primary colours with black and white. Red on the most critical link on the front page, with left-to-right movement in mind. So yeah...I suppose the design is more technically-minded than what I usually do. I hope things are going well with you. ^_^ Aaryanna: Thank you, I really would love to play Mario Kart with you when I buy it. That would be awesome! As far as photos go, there are more, but I don't have them at the moment. I have to get the Canberra ones from my sister. Those ones are very impressive. Oh wait, I did have something to mention. Just a little thing. myOtaku.com recently passed through the 250,000 member mark. That's a quarter of a million, folks.

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Saturday, November 26, 2005

Dramatic New Scenes... Wow, what a busy few days. There's still more Art of Otaku stuff to do (for the CD release), OB-related stuff, Nintendo GameLink and some changes over at N-Sider. It's interesting though, I think I am starting to enjoy online stuff a little more now. Speaking of Nintendo GameLink, I recently discussed the idea with Cory (er, the guy who owns N-Sider). He was really interested and seemed very enthusiastic about the idea. I have been spending some time talking to people, because it's helped me to come up with some ideas and concerns that I may not otherwise have noticed. As you can see from that concept image, the page is coming together, although obviously there is still plenty to do. What you see there is the page that appears when you aren't logged in, but it will have a variety of different options for logged-in users. Should be interesting. At the same time as all of this, I need to work on a site for Velegant Design. That will be the site through which Justin and I do freelance jobs together. We've been working as a team for such a long time that it seems to work out really well. Once that's done, there are a few jobs in the pipeline for the both of us. So that'll be a nice bonus on top of what I'm doing now. There was something I was going to mention in this post, but I completely forget what it was. Oh well. I'll get straight to the comments. Mimmi-chan: Considering that I can be forgetful (it's the video games), I still find it amazing that I remembered. But it's hard to forget a Mimmi request, afterall. ~_^ CosmicSailor: Hm, I don't know why the Gold Coast ones won't work. Bah. I really enjoyed sunbaking on that beach when there were fewer clouds. I'm still proud of my nice tan. ~_^ Anyway, yeah, I would not be surprised to hear about the engine noise from the jet. It was about as loud as an F1 car (that is, an F1 car passing you when you're trackside). There are few things on Earth I've heard that would be louder than an F1 car. Ouch. But wearing ear plugs really defeats the purpose of going to the Grand Prix, in my humble opinion. Of course, I'm half-deaf as a result of loud music. So following my advice on aircraft or vehicle noise is probably going to harm your health. Desbreakfast: Hahah, next time I pass it, I will see if I can stash it under my jacket for you. ~_^ "Hey, Deb, I have a banana under my jacket. You want?" Ahem, anyway. People say that my laugh makes me sound like a mischevious child who has just done something wrong. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. *cringes at the laugh in the video* Liam: Half-half. I actually didn't use the camera too much, I mostly just enjoyed my time there. My sister and I went swimming twice and each time it was beautiful - the water was the perfect temperature. Aaryanna: The Gold Coast airport is really tiny, it's more regional than anything else. The 737 is the largest plane that actually visits it. So perhaps for that reason, the security isn't as tight. Of course, the security there is so lax that you could easily stand by the fence and shoot planes down if you wanted to. But in a way, I'm glad that it hasn't become like Area 51...I'm glad that you can sit by the fence on a balmy night and watch aircraft fly right over your head. In an odd way, it's very magical. SunfallE: Wow, you had a Kiss mobile down there? That's awesome. Now, if only it were actually made of chocolate... Anyhoo, as I mentioned, the buildings get progressively stranger as you go further north from Melbourne. Stranger in a kind of plasticky sense, not in a genuinely strange sense. If that makes...sense. Ahem. Yeah, I'll stop now. indifference: My pleasure! Luckily my 'net hasn't been too annoying lately, which is good. I hope you had a fun thanksgiving. We don't celebrate that here, but I hope that all of the Americans who do celebrate it had a great holiday.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2005

More travel stuff. I thought I'd take a moment to share a few more images with you (and even a video). These may not be in order, as I'm sorting through a couple of discs here and a few are still on the camera's internal memory. Anyway, here we go. Fox Studios: Channel V This is a picture of part of the front entrance to Channel V, over at Fox Studios Australia. I am guessing that only a few of you will be familiar with Channel V, as they are an Australia-only music channel I believe. The area just under the big sign is where they've had various major artists perform for crowds on their main request show - everyone from Blink 182 to Silverchair has performed there in the past. Unfortunately we were there early in the week and there wasn't much activity going on, although they were taping something inside there. Fox Studios: Sound Stage This is the primary sound stage at Fox Studios, although I believe there are a couple more somewhere in that complex. Fox Studios has a fairly heavy filming schedule and a variety of films were made here, including the three Matrix films and much of the three Star Wars prequels. Coffs Harbour We stayed in this town on the way to the Gold Coast. Coffs Harbour is roughly halfway between Sydney and the Gold Coast (it's about five hours' drive from each spot, basically). Very, very pretty area. And the hotel was amazing. I actually wish I had taken more photos. This one is a bit odd, because I took it from inside the car. The Big Banana You know you are heading towards Queensland when you start coming across ridiculously tacky buildings like this one, haha. It's kind of fun though. I didn't go inside, but I can only assume there are a ton of interesting banana-related exhibits in there. And please, no jokes about Australia having the biggest banana... Gold Coast This shot isn't so good because the day was quite overcast, but this is the southern end of the Gold Coast. In the distance you can see Coolangatta. That is basically one side of a crescent-shaped part of the coastline, with the other side featuring Surfer's Paradise. Gold Coast This is in the exact same spot, but facing left rather than right. Again, because it's overcast you can't really see it so well...but in the very distance is Surfer's Paradise. The interesting thing is how physically large that stretch of beach is. It goes from where I was standing, all the way down past Coolangatta. And it goes well past Surfer's Paradise to the north. So what you're seeing in both pictures is a tiny percentage of the total size of the beach. It's pretty incredible to think about the scale of it. Unfortunately all the pictures from Canberra are not on here. I think my sister has them. So I'm going to have to get them from her to show you. But for now, I'll share a short video with you. Virgin Blue 737 flies over my head (although it was closer than the camera makes it appear - the zoom wasn't quite right). Mimmi-chan: How could I not remember? Hehe. I will try to make it happen! Alan: Only thing is, I'm now using the myO default system to play the file. So it should work; it used to work for me when I used to do it. I am not sure what's changed. Hopefully the site will not be too difficult, I think it will share a lot of similarities with some of the systems we have going here. Although obviously the focus and design will be very different. Kei-chan: Hm, I may have to rent it or something. Only problem is, no local place seems to stock it for rent. Blah! John: Yeah, I'm keeping it nice and simple. Primary colours with black and white. I imagine that the site will primarily be text-based, with a few status icons and so on. CosmicSailor: Ah well, I guess it's just something you have to work on. But it's good that you acknowledge it. ^_^ Desbreakfast: Ah, cool. I wish it would work for me, I don't know why it won't. My browser is the same version as I was using when I was running it before, so everything should be right. Who knows. Hopefully it can be sorted out. I am hopeful that I'll be able to share progress updates on Nintendo GameLink as time goes by. I'd like to have it running by early next year. The domain has already been registered, so we're on the way. SunfallE: Aw, even your DS was taken? Geeze. Good luck with everything. I'll be sending positive vibes your way. ^_^ indifference: No worries, thanks for commenting! I'll ask Justin and see what he says about the whole music thing. I may end up finding another way to put it on here that I'm happy with, anyway. Good luck with the homework, too.

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Monday, November 21, 2005

Return to the beginning. I've just adjusted my page slightly, to bring it back in line with the regular myOtaku formatting. I do not intend to leave it this way, though. Soon (ie: whenever I have the time), I will work on a new layout. I think I will do something different in the introduction area, too. I'd like to see if it can be pushed any further within the default framework. Speaking of going back to default, I'm just wondering, does my MP3 work for any of you? When I use the direct URL on my browser it comes up, but I hear nothing on here, even when it's loaded. Perhaps we have dropped MP3 support, but that seems unlikely (and I heard nothing relating to that). So I'm hoping it's just a basic thing on my end. In my last post, I talked about working on a new site outside what we are doing now. I thought I'd use this post to discuss my plans just a little bit. Those of you who are gamers know that Nintendo has recently launched its Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. If you know about that service, you also know that unlike Xbox Live, it is not centralized. Therefore, the specific capabilities and features will vary depending on what game you're playing (and what game developers have included in that game). A simple example would be to compare Mario Kart DS to Tony Hawk's American Sk8land; the latter has significantly more advanced Wi-Fi Connection features. So different games will use the technology differently. At the moment, people are sharing their Wi-Fi Connection ID numbers primarily over forums. That works out, but it's not the best way to share numbers with large amounts of people at one time. So I have been thinking about a way to solve this issue and to simultaneously build a strong community around Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. I thought that a good way of doing this would be to create a kind of online phonebook, where you could register and list your number publicly. What are the advantages of this? Well, there are a few. For one, you could search for players based on many different criteria (location, age, gender, skill level, gameplay preferences and so on). I am sure that some Wi-Fi Connection games will offer this anyway, but not all of them will and that's really the key point. In addition to this basic search ability, it would be possible to have your number listed publicly or privately. You can still have a listing in the directory, but you could make it so that people need to PM a request to you to receive your number. This is something I discussed with Desbreko and I think it probably strikes a good balance between maintaining a listing (still enabling you to search for others and to have people search for you), without automatically giving your number over to just anyone. Of course, there are several other benefits to this kind of service. For one, it's a lot like hunting for anonymous users, except that "anonymous users" you find there would have profiles and further information. You could potentially set up LAN meetings or even create groups (like clans) for particular games. It would also be possible to organize race meets in Mario Kart DS and of course, you'd be able to maintain a friend list on there, so that regardless of game, you have a list of numbers stored in one convenient location. I have many other ideas for a service like this, but those are really the core basics. Best of all, nobody is really providing something that comprehensive right now. There's a need for it and it's relatively easy to do, so why not? Work is already underway on the site's design (you can view the header here) and domain has already been selected. This new site will be called Nintendo GameLink. I am hoping that a basic site can be rolled out within the next couple of months, with other additions coming along after that. Although this is really a side-project for me, it will be receiving Velegant support. Adam was pretty enthusiastic about the idea when I explained it to him and technologically speaking, it should be very easy to do. With the knowledge we've gained on myOtaku, theOtaku and OB, it will be possible to construct all of the features that a site like this would need. And of course, it would kind of mark a return to gaming for the network (although perhaps not in the form that some were hoping for). CosmicSailor: Although being frustrated easily is something you can probably control, it's also true that the service provider should be making the system as easy to use as possible. Having frustrated users isn't a good thing, for sure. Kei: I suppose for me, as long as there isn't the kind of treasure-hunting as in the Sonic Adventure games, it wouldn't be so bad. I didn't really mind the slower levels in SA (ie: Amy levels), because they were at least still platforming-based, despite being a bit slower. What I really hated was the fishing and treasure hunting. The shooting levels in SA2 were sloppy, but not quite as terrible as those awful treasure hunting levels. Aaryanna: I'm just wondering if sending sand would somehow be impossible in terms of customs (ie: the possibility of some kind of organism being in the sand or whatever). I will have to find out about that. Annie-chan: It's weird to think that theOtaku/myOtaku have been on television over there twice by now. It's a shame the Filter presenter was highly annoying, but it was definitely nice to see the myOtaku logo in the background. And no worries about the AIM chat. Any Annie time is good Annie time. ~_^

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Sunday, November 20, 2005

The tan is calling me. My stomach is still twisted in a knot - in a good way - about the prospect of moving. I'm hoping to settle a few details this week to put me a little closer. I also remembered that I need to send Mimmi a small sample of sand from an Australian beach...I'm not sure if that would go through customs, but hell, I will try! When it comes to online things, I am now focusing my attention on the CD version of Art of Otaku. I really hope that will turn out well. Considering the relative importance of it, I tend to put a great deal of pressure on myself to turn out something good. I suspect that I will be wanting to perform revisions on the first edition of Art of Otaku before the end of the year, too. I am never satisfied (with my own work, anyway). In addition to that, I have been cooking up something in the background, which is unrelated to theOtaku.com. It's something different to what we have now and I'm hoping that it'll come in really handy. I also had an interesting discussion with Adam about the distant future. Adam was telling me about a site idea that he had, which he seems very passionate about. I have to say, though, it really came out of left field - it has nothing at all to do with entertainment. Still, based on our discussion, it sounds like an interesting and unique challenge. But who knows whether or not we'll get to that stage. It really depends on how well the existing network performs, I suppose. If we can make a success of myOtaku Premium, I think that would open a lot of doors to do other things too. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised at the reception that Art of Otaku has received - the beta was certainly much more successful than I'd thought it would be. I mean, I know that the actual product we have is really cool...but getting your audience to pay for a real product is a whole other question. I think it's very cool that, so far, we are finding that our visitors are prepared to pay for something if they feel that the value is right. No matter what, I think I will continue to play a role here - I'm definitely very excited about the future of this place. And I know that when all is revealed, you will be pleasantly surprised. But at the same time, I do feel that I need to dedicate some time to my own outside online ventures. Even at this late stage, I still don't have a portfolio online. That's largely due to my own indecision, but I find it difficult to spread myself so thin. theOtaku/myOtaku/OB and N-Sider are all pretty significant commitments. So I'm not quite sure how I will re-organize things, but no matter what, I think I have to spend more time pursuing my own individual work. The site I mentioned earlier is part of that to some extent, although Velegant will be supporting it, so it'll have benefits for the network as well. Kei: What I really want to know - especially from another avid Sonic fan such as yourself - do you think Sonic Heroes was better than the Sonic Adventure games? Bearing in mind all the things I disliked about those games (and the things I did actually like), do you think it would be a good purchase? If it were more like the Sonic levels from Sonic Adventure and less like the Rouge stuff...then I'd probably have to buy it. But I'm a bit iffy, because Sonic Team have consistently represented wasted money over recent years. CosmicSailor: Cannons to warn ships? Wow. That sounds interesting - the fog is something I can kind of relate to. I remember one day in Melbourne where the fog was so heavy that I couldn't see even a few inches in front of me. But that's only happened once, thank god. As for AOL, I liked the little joke in Stepford Wives about how the women are "slow" because one of the men behind them worked for AOL. I really wonder how AOL employees felt about that, lol. Tony: Funny thing is, I remember playing the first stage of Sonic Adventure when Dreamcast was new and thinking "Wow, this is very cool!" And yet it didn't take long for me to be utterly disappointed by various other aspects of the game. That first level was a pretty good indicator of how a 3D Sonic game could work all the way through. There are plenty of ways to keep the action varied, too. When I think of a next generation Sonic, I automatically think of a game like Planet Harriers (which unfortunately hasn't come out on a console yet). Planet Harriers has that perspective and lush visual design that kind of reminds me of how Sonic could potentially be, especially with the blistering speed. RaR: Sonic Gems Collection actually includes Sonic CD, which is the single reason why I need to buy it...and soon! Very worth getting, because we may not see that game again for a long time (if ever). SA2 is worth playing, but only for the Sonic and Shadow levels. The rest is, generally, absolute rubbish. SunfallE: I've been playing computers for a long time, although when I was younger I played console games far more often. So I'm really more of a console gamer at heart. Although I must admit, in the last few years I have spent much more time playing PC games than any other type of game. Games like The Sims 2 and Half-Life 2 really blew me away and are still quite impressive. Although I've definitely come across some console games lately that have really excited me - Resident Evil 4 and Metal Gear Solid 3 are probably the most recent examples of that. Amazing games. indifference: I liked Final Fantasy X, but that was primarily for the battle system. I really, really disliked the story and I generally disliked the characters too. The entire thing - despite being colourful and artistic - somehow still felt highly generic. I didn't much like the voice actors, which was probably a significant part of it. I also really disliked those awful sphere puzzles throughout the game...it felt like they were thrown in just because the designers wanted to have puzzles at the last minute. That's why I'm interested in Final Fantasy XII. I haven't read that much about it yet, I'm still pretty much waiting until it comes out to experience it with fresh eyes. But based on what I have read, I'm very pleased that Square-Enix isn't afraid to completely overhaul the series. Annie-kun: Yup, I think I'm Mario's biggest fan. I still find it weird that I have his actual signature on my GameCube! But for someone who grew up with Mario...well, you can imagine that there are few greater moments in life. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Nintendo do with Mario on Revolution. And thank you...I'm glad. I hope that we can talk on AIM sometime soon. ^_^

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