Game Consoles

Gaming has become one of the most important activities in everyday life for most of the contemporary people. It features in the agenda of almost all the youth. Of late, gaming has attained serious attraction from people of all ages and is now not just a juvenile fashion. People from all walks of life also now prefer gaming to watching television shows. And with the advancement of technology, as we have already seen, the sizes of all the electronic devices have been slaughtered. The gaming consoles, which once looked like the tower of your computer systems and which were situated inside the house, are now fitting into the hands of many ebullient youths. So, this is the perfect part of the panorama for the little Game Boys to play a cameo and to show their mettle. Now, Nintendo is one very illustrious company which features as the prime producer of gaming consoles along with the other champion manufacturers in the form of Sony and Microsoft. We are right now going to discuss about one of Nintendo’s excellent and also best selling gaming console, The Nintendo Game Boy Micro.

Design:

The X Factor is here!

From quite a time, we were dreaming of a gaming console that would differ from the norms and that which has a special characteristic that makes it a very unique console.  Well, we were very happy to see the almost dream-come-true console. Everything we dreamt of a handheld console was there in this Nintendo Game Boy Micro Console,  except for the fact that the edges are not that curvy in reality. It is sleek, stylish, portable and most importantly, landscape oriented. This is more important because landscape oriented devices always get the better off their portrait oriented counterparts when it comes to gaming. Imagine playing games on the latter, is it not kind of disquieting? Wowing at the design for some unknown feeling it creates when you take in your hands, we were still slightly disappointed at the same time, to see a smaller screen.

But, nonetheless, as we must accept the reality at the end of the day, we feel that you have got an almost perfectly designed console. It looks pretty stylish and is also not too big (4.0 x o.7 x 2.0 inches), hence its design supports portability. Let us now look further to find more details regarding its design. As usual, the screen takes the centre position and the controls lay surrounding it. On the left, we have the directional keypad, just like in most of the handheld gaming consoles. On the right are the A and B buttons, whose importance will be explained by any exuberant young player, even before you complete your question. Below the screen are the Select and the Start buttons. Another important feature here is that the faceplates of the device are removable and customisable and hence are praised by people because, they allow for personalization. Now, this means that regarding the buttons and the display, everything seems simple, normal and quite common. But still, the way they are arranged and put up makes it impressive for even a very stubborn pessimist.

Display:

The 2.0 inch TFT active matrix colour LCD is used in Game Boy Micro for display. It can produce as many as 32000 colours in all. This makes it ideal for almost all the latest games in the market. The games look all the more realistic when they are played. Since the device is landscape oriented and then the screen takes the centre position, the console is pretty much ideal for playing. You will feel prosperous this way. Now, even though the screen is slightly smaller than usual, we believe that Nintendo has given importance to the buttons this time around. User interface is also very essential and hence the screen is shrunk to just 2.0 inches. But even then, an average gamer would have expected a slightly bigger screen so that he could have had a good visual spectacle. But nonetheless, it is really a commendable effort put in by Nintendo in trying to adjust the available space and also in providing a very good and solid display mechanism. This very backlit screen of the Game Boy Micro is commended well and also received positive critiques for being superior to that of the original Game Boy Advance SP, which is a later model from Nintendo, and it also has been praised for its good visibility. The screen is very uniformly lit, and also the brightness is made adjustable due to the presence of a fine dot pitch. This smaller dot pitch is also accounted for the improvement of the sharpness of the Game Boy Micro’s display.

Features:

Processor: It is Really Sharp!

Now the Game Boy Micro handheld gaming console has got an impressive new processor designed by Sharp, which means that the device runs at lightning quick pace. In general, the Game Boy players do not come with a very fast processor because most of the games they feature require modest graphics and processing system. But this time around, the tables have turned and the 32-bit 16.8 MHz ARM processor (ARM7TDMI) is a really fast processor that makes the Game Boy Micro a very good player and manager of games, and more importantly, it also avoids the little problems, like hanging or delay, that frustrate you. You don’t want your Game Boy to cause problems while you are amidst a game. Do you?

Memory:

With a built in 32Kb cache memory and 256KB WRAM, you can expect the device to perform really quick.  The WRAM is a very fast version of RAM and it helps in the dynamic storage of data in the form of bits. This dynamic storage is important in the field if gaming and the magnitude 256KB simply means that the device is really advanced in terms of technology.

Joystick:

This is the only thing you will find to the left of the screen. The four way directional joystick is of great importance. It has two functions. One is helping you regarding the directions inside the game as you can manipulate your subjects in the game with the help of the joystick only. Another thing is that it helps you navigate through the menu and the other different items in it. But, one disappointing thing is that this joystick is only four way but not five way when it comes to directions. Most of the contemporary joysticks are five way directional, which means that they have an additional feature, which makes it easy for you to select the options by just the press of the centre button. But here, you need to use other button for the purpose of selection. Although this may sound like it is a petty issue, some pro gamers are very particular about this.

Headphones:

In order to make things more personal here, the Game Boy Micro comes with a headphone jack, which is often not seen in many other Game Boys. The Headphone jack is at the bottom of the device and any 3.5 mm headphones can be connected to it comfortably. Most of the times, if not every time, this option gives you better and more personal gaming experience and also it takes you to your own world of gaming without having to disturb your neighbours.

Games:

There are no specific games provided along with the Game Boy Micro, either built in or separately since the device is not provided with sufficient in built memory. This version of the Game Boy only supports the cartridge type inputs for gaming. There are lots of and also a great variety of games available in the market in the form of these cartridges. You should buy them separately as there is none given to you along with the Game Boy.

Customisation: Dress Your Game Boy

The Nintendo Game Boy Micro comes with a variety of faceplates that are available in the form of different designs and colours. These faceplates can be changed at any time by the user themselves in no time. The designs, silver with black, Ammonite, Ladybug, and black with silver, Flame and Camouflage faceplates are available in the market and they are also pretty colourful. The 20th anniversary edition faceplate was also released of late. These colours make your player a very interesting one and the designs are a feast to the eyes. Hence, the customisation option really has helped in boosting the sales of this player.

Performance:

Since this is a very new player and also since it is a revitalised version of the previous hit model from Nintendo, it is natural for anyone to expect that the Nintendo Game Boy Micro performs really well. Let us look at the performance details of this player so as to find out whether or not the beauty is on the inside as well.

Sound:

For you to experience the best of gaming you also need to have a solid audio mechanism on your Game Boy and that is what you can see on the Game Boy Micro. The speakers are revamped and redesigned so that the new ones are able to give out excellent sounds, which is, at the end of the day, all you need when you are on top of your gaming. On the device, these speakers are put in a very unique and new position which helps in giving some really good sounds. But, in order to experience or test the optimum sound experience, you need to connect your headphones. When we did that, we have found that the sounds were really good and they were nicely complementing the games and hence making the games more lively and energetic. We also recommend you to purchase good quality headphones so that you will have a great feel while playing.

Video:

As we have already seen, the screen is a great one and its display is very lucid and good. This is what any pro gamer would dream of. Some of the LCDs in the market are not sufficiently good and they create a few problems while playing and this really annoys any loyal gamer. The re-modeled screen also has a better dot pitch and hence better pixilation. This means that the subjects inside the game are clearly visible and are also distinct. This is really vital for any Game Boy player. And since the processor is also a pretty good one, you will be quite happy to see that there are no errors while playing. Hence, it can be said that the video performance is excellent from the Game Boy Micro.

Graphics:

Considering the array of graphically appealing games that are coming out of late into the market, it is quite necessary for your Game Boy to have a very solid graphics acceleration system. Fortunately, The Nintendo Game Boy Micro has got one such system and this makes your games run at a very good pace. Most if the games you play today need some graphics acceleration and the graphics chip of the Game Boy Micro has enough power to drive even the highest end games in the market.

Battery:

As usual, there is a 460 mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery inside the device. This is one of the better batteries you will find in the market. It takes just about 2.5 hours for complete charging and then the battery life is about 10 hours on an average. An external power adapter is also provided for the charging purpose.

Warranty:

The Nintendo Game Boy Micro is warranted against damage for a period of one year from the original date of purchase.

Verdict:

As we have come to the end of our journey, we can conclude that the Game Boy Micro is one of the best handheld game consoles available in the market. And it also focuses only on gaming and is so far successful in doing so. Its design is really captivating and its features are somewhat less in number but still, they proved their mettle in the end. The performance aspects also reached the expectations. Most importantly, the device is not highly priced and hence any enthusiastic gamer can afford to buy this one. It is really a commendable effort put in by Nintendo in providing a very good Game Boy for a moderate cost.

Check other Game Consoles from Nintendo and read Microsoft Game Consoles Reviews in this website.

Nintendo Game Boy Micro – Product Specification Details

Manufacturer	Nintendo
Model Name	Game Boy Micro
Form factor	Handheld
Dimensions (H x W x D)	4.0 x o.7 x 2.0 inches
Weight	2.8 oz
Display	2.0 inch transflective screen
Display Colour Support	32k colours
Display Features	TFT LCD
Available Enclosure Colours and Designs	Silver with Black, Ammonite, Ladybug, black with silver, Flame and Camouflage
Colour Support	Yes
Included Games	None
Sound	Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone plug
Controls	Analogue joystick, built in triggers and action buttons
CPU	Sharp 32-bit 16.8 MHz ARM processor (ARM7TDMI)
Memory	256KB WRAM
Graphic Accelerator	Yes
Connectivity Features	None
External Connectors	Headphone jack only
Casing	Anodised aluminium
Battery	Rechargeable – Lithium ion
Capacity	460 mAh – 10 hours
Package Particulars	Nintendo Game Boy Micro Console, AC Adapter, one lithium ion battery, instruction manuals (Quick Start Guide and Tips and Tricks booklet) and warranty.
Manufacture Warranty	One year limited warranty

Overview:

Pros

• Amazing design
• Fantastic Screen
• Great Sound
• 2 SD Card Slots
• A PDA and a Game Console
• Bluetooth
• Nice Interface
• Decent Battery Life

Cons

• Unusual stylus placement
• Bad technical Support
• Price

Review:

People often crib that Palm OS and Pocket PC PDAs offer little variation in term of form factor or features they offer. When it comes to games, there are few games that keep you busy while out of office. There was little scope for serious gaming on PDAs. However, every couple of years, there comes along a device that cannot be categorised easily. Tapwave’s Zodiac is one such device. It is the first PDA that is also designed to be a handheld gaming console. It is sort of like a GameBoy Advance for adults who also would need the organisational and power of a PDA. Its designers have achieved something extraordinary. The Zodiac excels at doing both things well.

Why is it special?

The gaming market is larger than the movie industry right now and an increasing share of that lucre goes to mobile devices. The Nintendo GameBoy Advance, The Sony PlayStation portable, Nokia’s NGAGE along with the Zodiac is all poised to go after this lucrative market. When it comes to gaming, the average gamer is more sophisticated than previously. While graphics and playability still matter, more and more people want versatility. They want devices that would play videos, surf the internet and store numbers as well. That is what Tapwave has done. Their product, the Zodiac does it all.

The Zodiac:

The Zodiac is the first PDA designed keeping the gamers in mind. It does all the things a high end PDA does but the layout is gamer friendly.  It has a 3.8 inch half VGA (480 x 320 pixels) backlit colour display and is powered by Motorola i.MX1 ARM 9 processor. It features an ATI graphics accelerator augmented by the Forge 3D graphics engine. Navigation can be done either using the touch screen and stylus. The device also has Bluetooth, dual expansion slots, rechargeable batteries and playable control buttons sufficient to make most manufacturers squirm. Available in 2 models, the Zodiac 1 and Zodiac 2 the only differences are the colour of the device and the RAM. The Zodiac 1 comes in slate gray and has 32MB of memory whereas the Zodiac 2 is available in black (or charcoal gray) and has 128MB RAM. The battery is a 1540mAh better than palmONE’s Tungsten C at 1500mAh.

Design:

Never before seen Design:

Wow! That was the first reaction when we held it in our hands. While it looks a bit large for a handheld and most certainly out of place in a board meeting, it is nonetheless well designed. With its hand friendly curves and subtle detailing, it looks nothing like any gaming console you would have probably come across. Once you start playing games, you would realise that the size and the form serve well. The body has two anodised aluminium shells sandwiching a multi part plastic frame. The device has tapering sides that make it easy to hold in the hand. There are rubber grips on the side edges of the device to make it resistant to falls. There is a soft vinyl flip cover over the recessed screen and is wrapped over the top to the back where it is pinned. Bend the plastic pin and the flip lid pops open.

There is the Tapwave logo impressed on the centre of the matte black vinyl cover, the first of several subtle details we loved. The stylus is available in the slot on the bottom of the unit and is held in place with the help of 4 pieces. However, it is annoying to turn the unit over to pull the stylus in and out. Left of the screen are four important controls; first in the list is the power button that lights up orange while charging, green when totally charged and flashes orange when the battery is low. While the screen shuts down and music is being played, the light fades in and out, which was another of those subtle detailing we absolutely loved. At the bottom is a hardware version of the Home icon and above it is the function button whose function varies depends on the program one’s using. Left of these 2 buttons is the left speaker that has a right counterpart also.

Analogue Joystick:

This is the most important item present on the left side of the screen.  It is analogue considering good gaming requires finer control than what digital can provide for. The joystick has 3 functions. It acts a 5 way navigator for Palm programs and OS functions. It goes north, south, west and east and pressing down on the centre is the fifth way. While it is clumsy on most handhelds, it tuned surprisingly well on the Zodiac.  It also acts as an 8 way controller with 8 zones around the dial.  The joystick is capable of 360 degree rotation with varying degrees of speed. The joystick uses a pair of small potentiometers according to a news report. While there was occasional drift, it was eliminated by recalibrating the joystick.

Four Action Buttons:

On the Right of the screen are the ‘our action buttons’ intended for controls such as shoot, accelerate or whatever the programmer would need to create a complete experience. Once you are on the Palm OS home screen, you can set the buttons to launch any applications of your choice. For most palm programs they function for scrolling.

On the Top:

On the top side of the Tapwave Zodiac 1 Handheld Gaming PDA device you would be surprised to find three more buttons. Two of them are the shoulder buttons or triggers. The centre button is the one that caught our attention.  It is the Bluetooth button. Easier to access than the one on palmONE Tungsten T3, all you need to access it is press the button and within three minutes, you are all set to access the Web and email. There is a Web browser and SMS application included on the disc. While there is no application for email included, we installed Palm’s VersaMail and it worked well. Behind the Bluetooth button, you will find two SD slots making the Zodiac the second Palm OS to have two of the same slots on it. So you can make the PDA have wi-fi or camera and still enjoy all the benefits of accessing data and games.

At the Rear:

The back of the device has logos, approval marks, a serial number and most importantly the stylus. The reason the stylus was mounted in a different way is perhaps there was no room for a conventional design without destroying the design of the Zodiac. There are rubber grips present, so that the stylus would not fall while being carried. To remove the stylus, press down on one of the ends and the other end will pop out for easier removal. The stylus itself is pointed at one end and hollow point on the other end. Apart from the reset button, there is a lanyard lashing point available as well.

Things at the Bottom:

At the bottom of the device is the HotSync port, charging port and the headphone jack.  The headphone jack is mounted so that when the included headphones are attached to the zodiac, they wrap around and up to mate with the device neatly. Really clever thinking from the design team at Tapwave, we must say. Like the Sony Ericsson phones, the power and HotSync ports are separate. For HotSync one needs to use the included cable or an optional cradle which joins the HotSync and power components into one.

Amazing Screen:

The display of the Zodiac 1 is simply marvellous; With 320 x 480 pixels resolution, it has a great contrast. Easily one of the sharpest displays around, the screen performs better than that of the GameBoy Advance and N-Gage. At its brightest setting, the Zodiac was not as bright as that of the screen of the Tungsten T3. It was surprising as often we had to turn down the brightness of the device indoors. The screen is slightly larger than the T3 and the design makes it look larger. The screen performs well outside and the only distraction was our own reflections. When used indoors, the screen is bright enough to concentrate on the screen.

Features:

Wheel Interface:

When we turned the device on, we were greeted by a new launcher interface. It appears as an effort to circumvent the stylus driven nature of the Palm OS. The Zodiac launcher takes advantage of the Analogue Joystick. The icons are arranged in a wheel format and moving the joystick towards an icon takes you to a program or category.  Users have the freedom to create wheels that lead to other wheels to leave some of their products on the right side as a list view. While it does take time to get used to, it works well. Pressing the joystick down would take you back one level. For those who do not want novel interfaces, there is also a large list view for those who like to tap with the stylus. One can also use the joystick to navigate around.  There are a couple of features that were missing in the Palm OS. While colour themes are not new, here one can set colour themes individually within a program and can even add background photos on the home screen. For the home screen wall paper one can use any of the pictures in the library or any one of your own. On the list view, the text is white and on the wheel view, it is black.

Versatile Status Bar:

On the top right side is the quintessential side bar.  Well, you can choose it to be on your right side or left side depending on the handedness you choose. There is a house icon which takes one to the home screen, a menu icon, a find icon and a volume control icon. The volume control icon also lets one control the brightness level of the screen.

Tiered Mute:

An interesting feature we found in the Tapwave Zodiac is the Tiered Mute. When we tapped on mute, there appears a pull down menu that comes with a Mute Until. There are values ranging from an hour, two and an indefinite option that allows one to mute the game silently for a while without the need to permanently disable the alarms if set.

Few other things:

The preference screen of the Zodiac is not a boring space; it has an application wheel of its own with custom icons that are unique to the Zodiac. Press on the icons, you would be taken to a boring white space which is familiar nevertheless they did something to the preference screen. The Clock application is crafted well too. There is an analogue clock as well as a digital one .There is an option for an alarm separate from the date book and a countdown timer as well. To activate the countdown, press the watch icon and comes up a keypad where one can set the time you would like to count down. After the sequence is complete, there is an alarm that goes off.  Tap the alarm icon to set up your wakeup time. If you think alarm sounds are boring, you can put a song of your choice to be the alarm. While the original release allows only a part of the song as the alarm, the upcoming 1.1 release would play the whole song.

Pleasant Alarm Sounds:

The Zodiac team added new sounds to replace the tired status beeps and noises that one is so used to at our workplaces. The sounds feel more magical and fun filled. While this is not a big deal, it shows how much Tapwave has tried making the device livelier. The sounds are not silly or corny either.

Decent Multimedia:

The Tapwave Zodiac 1 handheld console also excels at Multimedia. It has its own applications for playing music and viewing images. Music is the full screen player that runs in landscape mode. There are buttons for volume control, pause and navigating tracks. The application supports play lists and plays tunes present on storage cards as well. ‘Photo’ is another Tapwave application that supports JPG file format and offers thumbnail view. There are tools such as scaling and rotating as well. Viewing photos on the gorgeous display is a pleasure.  For viewing videos, there is the Kinoma Player 2.02 that is popular for viewing videos on Palm OS handhelds. It allows conversion of MPEG1, MPEG4, AVI and QuickTime files to Kinoma format for playback on the Zodiac. However we were unable to convert Windows Media files to this format. It would have been better if the video player could have played the files without any conversion.

Bluetooth:

The Zodiac features built in Bluetooth wireless networking. It allows one to enjoy multiplayer games with friends over Bluetooth. To start enjoying multi player gaming all you need is a pal with a PDA and the game that supports multiplayer over Bluetooth. Games such as Stuntcar Extreme, that come packed with the Zodiac support Bluetooth. For other activities such as browsing the web, one can connect to a Bluetooth enabled phone.  One can send and receive messages using the InkStorm chat application provided.

Strong suite of Software:

When compared to the gaming devices in the market, the Tapwave Zodiac has a pretty decent title selection of software.  Though only 2 games, StuntCar Extreme and AcidSolitaire are available, there is a fairly strong suite of Palm OS software. The popular word processor WordSmith, Kinoma Player and Producer, powerOne calculator, InkStorm Bluetooth chatting, Tapwave’s Clock and Web are the applications included.  Apart from them, there are standard Palm OS apps such as Address, to do list, Calendar, Memo Pad, Graffiti 2. The Palm Reader included supports portrait and landscape modes. The unit comes with a customised version of Palm Desktop for Windows.

Games:

StuntCar Extreme:

The most important aspect of the Zodiac is how good it is at gaming. We started playing StuntCar Extreme and were left speechless. It showcases the capabilities of the Zodiac brilliantly. The sounds, textures, scenery and the sense of speed make the game even more interesting. The interface is well designed with nice fonts, great graphics and decent music. There is a milkshake bar as well where drivers can have a chat and that adds to the subtle depth of the game. The sound is better and is more impressive when the headphones are attached. The console not only fit naturally in the hand but also was impressive enough to make us engrossed in the game. Extra depth is added by including the vibrate feature. It lets one know if the car has been hit or damaged. It was in this game, that we really discovered the importance of the Analogue Joystick. Moving the joystick a little bit when a curve approached allows the car to be gently steered and maintain a constant speed.

SpyHunter:

The Spyhunter is a combat driving game that is playable in landscape mode. It has four modes: Arcade, Multiplayer, Missile Crisis and Tournament. The game is real fun considering the cool chases in cars and demolishing cars. The graphics were crisp and clear enough that we could notice the smallest of details on the enemy car.

MegaBowling:

This game is better off being played using a stylus rather than a controller. It too has great graphics and decent sound effects. However, even if one hits a single pin or all of them, it sounds like you are hitting all of them. Though the game is playable in both portrait and landscape modes, it is better in portrait as the stroke resolution is greater due to the longer screen.

Firehammer:

Firehammer is an arcade style flat flying game that draws one in with the fast action, powerful weapons and great techno music. Easily one of the most stylish fight shooter games around, it is released from the guys who made the X Forge Game Engine. There are opponents who keep getting more challenging and start shooting at you from all the angles. The analogue joystick makes one able to move all around the screen and dodge attacks. It is playable vertically which means one needs to control the ship using the joystick with the left hand if you are right handed.  A great game to keep one entertained, we say!

Galactic Realms, Shattered Worlds and Tony Hawk Pro Skater:

Galactic Realms is a space game that offers great graphics and equally good music. The space simulation is pretty decent but it is incredulously difficult to defeat the opponents. The ability to create campaigns and play in multiplayer mode adds to the depth of the game.  Shattered World looks fun as well. But the joystick controls work opposite from a plane’s. Tony Hawk worked great on the Zodiac and is fun if you would get it.

Performance:

Sound:

For a complete gaming experience, one would want great sound too. The Yamaha audio chips that are inbuilt deliver amazing sound. One of the very few to have inbuilt speakers when it was released. Attach the headphones to get even better sound.  The Zodiac’s bass boost is one of the loudest around and all alarms sound loud without getting distorted.

Horse Power:

The Zodiac uses the 200MHz Motorola i.MX ARM9 family processor which is a pretty fast performer. The raw power of the processor makes it perfect for running emulators.  . The unit feels zippy and we had no issues with the processor. The impressive graphics chip combined along with the processor makes the Zodiac an amazing power house.  The Zodiac has 32MB of RAM whereas only 20 MB is available to the user. The rest is reserved for system/application use. There are 2 SD card slots one of which supports SDIO as well. The SDIO slot is compatible with SD cameras and more.

Battery Life:

The Zodiac runs on a non user replace Lithium Ion Polymer battery. Its Battery life is pretty decent considering that the Zodiac is a large screen PDA with a set of well amplified speakers and Bluetooth. Playing games and MP3 files would drain the battery soon. However, it allows 3 to 4 hours of gaming when fully charged and that is marvelous. If used as a PDA alone the device lasts two whole days assuming you check emails, phone numbers etc.

What is in the Box?

The Zodiac comes along with a lanyard and flip cover attached.  There is a power supply cord, a USB cable and headphones included as well. There is a Quick Start Guide, Warranty, The Tips and Tricks guide and a CD.

Service and Support:

The device has a warranty of 12 months and there is support available on the site such as support phone numbers and live chat, a knowledge base, downloads and support email addresses.

Verdict:

The guys at Tapwave have done a great job. They made a product that exceeded what people expected of it. It is not just a game console but a world class PDA as well. It has all the makings of a successful product. However, a game console is as successful as the titles available in it. If the future launched titles attract the attention, Nintendo and Sony would have tough competition from the Zodiac. If you are going to buy a PDA, we recommend you go for the Zodiac.

Tapwave Zodiac 1 Gaming PDA – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Tapwave
Model Name	Zodiac 1
Form factor	Handheld
Dimensions (H x W x D)	142 x 79 x 14mm
Weight	180g
Display Type	3.8 inch transreflective screen 480 x 320 resolution
Display Colour Support	65536 colours
Display Features	Touch Screen
Available Enclosure Colours	Slate grey
Colour Support	Yes
Included Games	AcidSolitaire, SpyHunter, Galatic Realms, Shattered Worlds, Tony Hawkpro Skater and StuntCar Extreme
Sound	Yamaha Sound and stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone plug
Controls	Analogue joystick, built in triggers and action buttons
CPU	Motorola i.MX1 ARM9 processor (200 MHz)
Memory	32MB
Graphic Accelerator	ATI Imageon W4200 2D graphics accelerator (with 8 MB dedicated SDRAM)
Connectivity Features	Infrared, Bluetooth and compatible with some Wi-fi SDIO cards
External Connectors	2 expansion slots, both are MMC/SD capable and one is SDIO compatible as well. Headphone jack
Casing	Synthetic rubber, Anodised aluminum and plastic
Battery	Rechargeable – Lithium ion
Capacity	1540 mAh – 3-4 hours
Package Particulars	Zodiac 1 Console, Stylus, AC Adapter, USB Cable one lithium ion battery, instruction manuals (Quick Start Guide and Tips and Tricks booklet) and warranty.
Manufacture Warranty	One year limited warranty

The thing that attracted most people about the Nintendo Wii console was the fact that one could now swing a tennis racket or a sword just by waving the Wii remote provided. But there were complaints that the remote was finicky and often misread movements. There was trouble in moving it faster or slower, or adjusting it to an appropriate angle to get the best shot.  In the E3 conference of 2008, Nintendo announced the Wii Motion Plus, a more attachable add on for the Wii remote that would provide the console more information on the remote’s movements.  The hardware patch promises true motion control gaming with 1:1 motion detection.  When launched in June, there were no first part games from Nintendo and hence we could not really determine how it exactly is to play with the attachment. But thanks to the Wii Sports Resort, we could fairly estimate how good it actually is.  So, does the launch of this accessory herald the revolution in motion control gaming? Read the following detailed review to find out.

The Device:

The Wii Motion Plus is not really a stylish add on, however, it does make the Wiimote look complete and a bit longer too. It is about a square inch and hooks on to the Wiimote easily. The attachment does feel bulky and has 2 buttons on the sides that one can use to push in or remove the motion plus to from the Wii controller. On the rear, you will find a lock button which slides up to lock and down to unlock. At the bottom of the device is the pass through for the nun chuck.  There were problems in hitting the 1 and 2 buttons while moving horizontally. The newer Wii remote jacket would help in limiting the damage done to the accessory if it falls down.

Set up:

The Wii Motion Plus is provided in a pre packaged protective cover and to connect to the Wiimote, just thread the wrist wrap, plug it in and pull the rest of the cover over the assembly. There is a locking switch on the back and you are done. To remove the Motion Plus, one needs to unlock it, press on the tabs on the sides and pull it off.

Features:

Hardware:
The Wii Motion Plus hardware consists of a sensor that is capable of detecting rotation and hooks onto the expansion port of the Wii remote. Thus, it allows the setup to feed back on the exact 3 D positional information to the console. However, since it still requires all the other motion detecting systems of Wii including the sensor bar, there is scope for flaws.  While, playing Showdown we had to constantly re-calibrate the system by pressing down on the D pad. Then there are problems of the Wii mote being susceptible to interference from sources of bright light as it mistakes them to be signals from the sensor bar. But otherwise, its 1:1 motion in carefully controlled environment and just about does whatever it claims to.

Games:
Grand Slam Tennis:
The Grand Slam Tennis title from EA sports is one of the few titles that Motion Plus is compatible and when we tried playing the game with the accessory on, we noticed that it felt no more accurate than the Wii Sport Tennis. Unless you are really into tennis, neither would most of you notice a difference. The Motion Plus let the game distinguish whether the user was holding the racket in the left or the right hand.  One can hit a reasonably decent serve but constant calibration was a pain in the neck. Even swinging backhand and forehand was not distinguishable. There was a noticeable difference in the hand movements and the actions on screen and so it certainly was not 1:1. But we must keep in mind that one to one tennis is real hard to simulate.

Tiger Woods PGA 10:
There is a reason EA games has packed the game along with the Wii Motion Plus add on, the accessory works here. While playing tennis was not that realistic, the Motion Plus accessory did bring us to the reality of playing golf indoors. There are 3 modes of difficulty in the game and that basically tells you how realistic you want the game to be. The game has astounding consistency and controls are pretty accurate. Twist the remote left or right, so does the club move on screen and that translates in the shots. The main thing left to ape is the topspin and backspin which are very difficult to do on a handheld controller. While there is that, one could feel the difference between a shot with 30 percent power and 70 percent power. This slight extra force does remind you how hard it is to do so in real life.

Disc Golf:
Not only is the mini game in Tiger Woods a fun little game, but this game allows you to experience the most technical demonstration of Motion Plus available right now from a non Nintendo title.  Pickup a disc and you can play it in 3 d space with almost perfect 1:1 motion. The game allows distinction in twisting and bending a flick well. However, the game was not able to detect the distinction between a full body throw with less power and a powerful flick.

Wii Sports Resort:
Nintendo has made sure that the true potential of Motion Plus is revealed in the Wii Sports Resort. The title is developed such that the implementation of this concept is best done in the titles we have seen so far. The Frisbee game is fun as you would watch your Mii character with the 1:1 replication before you toss the disc.  Even basketball, bowling and table tennis fare well and make you feel like you are controlling what is happening on screen, something that was lacking from Wii Sports. But there are games such as archery and canoeing where Motion Plus is not as flawless as it seemed to be. There was a problem of constant calibration in both the games and hence precision was not as perfect as you would want.  While we believe these games do lack depth, we also believe that this is a blueprint for future development and that Nintendo and others should focus on expanding into “real” games.

Some Hassles:

Constant Calibration:
While playing most titles, the game will ask you to place the controller on a flat surface so that you can re calibrate it. Games have an option to pause at any time so that this can be done manually. We guess that the reason for constant calibration is to be careful about the experience. But it does get annoying at times. What was interesting was that there is an option in the game to let it use the sensor bar to help refine the motion control detection.
Single Motion Add on:

One disappointing thing about the Wii Motion Plus is that to play any multi player games Motion Plus compatible games, one would need two or more Motion Plus controllers.

Design Issues:
The Motion Plus does make the Wii remote big enough not to fit in any of Nintendo’s official peripherals.  And if you would want to use the Wii Zapper or the Wii Wheel, you would have to remove the Motion Plus and place the standard Wii Remote into the shell.  But if you would want to play games such as Super Paper Mario or Excite Truck, try removing the accessory that simplifies things.

Cannot be used with Third Party add-ons:
Another complaint with the Motion Plus is that it cannot be used with third party add-ons. There are wireless nunchucks that communicate with the remote via a device that plugs into the nunchuck port. The Motion Plus also is capable of plugging the nunchuck, but since the port is positioned differently than on the remote, it is incompatible with some devices.

Not Backward Compatible:
Sadly, the Wii Motion plus is not backward compatible and it neither would probably in the future. There are a great deal of games that would highly benefit from Motion Plus and that would probably boost sales of the accessory as well.  Let’s hope that Nintendo launches a firmware update regarding this soon.

Power Drainer:

As soon as the Motion Plus is attached to the Wii Remote and is powered on, the gyroscope present in the accessory drains power from the batteries. If you keep playing non motion plus titles, keeping the accessory attached means one would have to keep on changing batteries quite regularly.

Warranty:

While the console itself carries a warranty of one year which is one of the longest in the console industry, the accessory has a warranty of three months. The warranty covers all manufacturer’s and workmanship defects and they will be repaired at no change. However, the warranty does not cover any sort of physical damage such as spilled liquid on your accessory or anything of that sort.

Conclusion:

Let us be frank, we are not really sure whether to give the Wii Motion Plus a buy or do not buy recommendation.  While the Motion plus at its best can be seen as completing the Wii revolution and allows player a sense of control that they have expected from the beginning.  It looks like it could solve the problem of people overusing excessive and pointless waggle in games.  The use of the Wii Motion Plus does differ from game to game but the functionality is definitely working as Nintendo promised.  All this makes you wonder why this was not included when the Wii launched. Nintendo claims that the gyroscope technology was too expensive then and hence launched it separately.

While it does deepen the experience of most games, it has a lot of issues that are need to be dealt with. There are problems of calibrating very frequently and constantly altering your Wii remote if you own accessories such as the Wii wheel. Also most games are neither Motion Plus compatible nor is the accessory compatible with older titles. At the end of the day, should you buy it? That depends on what you think of current Motion Plus games available in the market now. If you love golf and the likes, then this would be a good investment.  If it still does not appeal for you, there is no need to buy it soon, as we believe it is something that you would need sooner or later because that is the future of Wii.

Check Nintendo Wii Fit Reviews,  Nintendo DS Game Console Review in this website.

Nintendo Wii Motion Plus – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Nintendo
Part Number	Rvlagl1
Compatible Game Console	Nintendo Wii
Type	Expansion Device
Weight	8.8 lbs
Colour	White and Black
Compatible Games	Grand Slam Tennis, SEGA Tennis, Tiger Woods Golf Pro 10 Wii Sports Resort
Connectivity	External Extension Connector
Warranty	3 months

GP2X Wiz gaming handheld console

Ah! The wait ends. Korean manufacturer GamePark Holding’s fourth generation handheld GP2X Wiz has finally been released. The machine, intended to be the successor to the highly popular GP2X, sadly has been subject to a lot of delays. The company has developed a Linux based hand held gaming console to cater to homebrew games and emulation. The GP2X Wiz is not another ordinary gaming console as it differs from the mainstream competitors like the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable.  While the latter makes sure users stop writing their own software, the Wiz is completely open. It means anyone can write new applications and software using Adobe Flash or the native code of the machine.  The GP2X Wiz is an extremely compact hand held gaming console that features a 533MHz processor with a 3D accelerator.  It has a 64MB RAM and a 1GB NAND Flash memory and 12 inbuilt games.  It also has a 2.8 inch OLED touchscreen with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, a USB 2.0 port and a SD card slot. Sadly it lacks Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support. However GamePark claims to incorporate those two as well in the future. Is it worth the wait or should you rather wait for the Pandora – another equally powerful console, read the review to find out.

What’s in the Box:

GamePark has always had a knack for catchy packaging and they have not let us down this time.  The heavy cardboard box has been designed to look like a treasure chest.  The Wiz logo is present at the centre of the box with the caption “Whatever you want” printed below. Sony and Nintendo ought to learn a thing or two from GamePark when it comes to bright and attractive packaging.  Inside the box was the unit present in a plastic bag, a mini CD, a lead for connecting PC and a Quick Start guide. There is also a packet of Silica gel present in the box, which is a first as no other gaming console packaging  has ever had Silica gel included. A Carry case, headphones, a stylus and a screen protector are to be separately bought if needed.

Design:

Impressions:
The initial impressions of the GP2X Wiz device are pretty favourable. Made up of matte black plastic, it resembles a toy. The build quality is better than GamePark’s earlier models. It might be small, but it feels very solid. It has dimensions similar to that of an iPhone or an iPod touch but a bit thicker. Moderately larger than the Nintendo Game Boy Micro, the console beats the GP2X F-100 / 200 in terms of design. The buttons feel good and smooth to touch.  It seems to have all the amenities we have expected to be towed in as well.

Controls:
GamePark never really had great controls in their earlier models. The First version of the GP2X, the F 100 had a micro switched joystick intended to be used on Sat-Nav devices.  The F 200 had a four button D pad which still had issues. The Wiz fortunately features a proper D pad and while it could have been much better, it is still a bit spongy. The controls could do with having a solid pivot company and in spite of all this; the console has a substantial improvement over its predecessor.

Buttons:
The buttons in GP2X Wiz Gaming System are a bit close to each other and are quite small.  There is a Menu and a Select button on either side of the screen, rather reminiscent of GP32’s layout. The implementation of the function of the select button depends on the specific game or application.  On the right side are the four action buttons (A, B, X and Y) also located similar to the joy pad cross. They have a surrounding silver edge that has a metallic look. Though mushy, they would not be used much during game play.  The Joy pad can be pressed not only in the four basic directions, but also diagonally as well. By pressing at the centre, one can gently move the thumbs to rotate without much problem. On the upper side are present two more “action” buttons that are well placed. They make a “click” sound when pressed so that you do not have to check for it.  The power button is located on the left side of the device and is used to switch on or off the console. The device can also be used to lock the device as well.  There are buttons on the bottom side as well: 2 to control the volume (that is to either increase it or decrease it).

Ports:
At the middle of the bottom is present the USB slot to which one can connect the supplied USB cable.  The right hand side of the bottom is the location of the 3.5mm jack adapter which allows one to connect a pair of headphones. Next to the left button on the top is present the microphone hole and on the middle of the upper side is present the slot for SDHC. This leaves out one slot on the device for the strap.    So a pretty decent set of ports, nothing extraordinary here.

Display:
The display has a diagonal measurement of 2.8 inches and a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels points. Most Emulated games faced problems while running in high resolution. However, a wide screen such as the one PSP has is not necessary as most games were made for 4: 3 aspect ratio earlier. The touch screen uses the same technology used in PDAs. The screen responds to a touch pen or a finger with ease. We wish the screen were larger but it is not really much of a deal breaker. It does display images very beautifully. One also can choose from four possible intensities, brightness and display. The touch pen provided is hard to lose because the holder is located in the device.

Using the GP2X Wiz:
To turn on the unit, one needs to slide a self returning switch on the side of the unit.  Since the Wiz uses a trimmed down version of the Linux operating system, it takes some time to start up unlike other handhelds with just cartridge software that take 20 odd seconds to load. Once the Wiz boots up, there is the icon driven menu which is pretty okay, but the quality and brightness of the screen will bowl you over. The Wiz runs a Qplus embedded Linux and is capable of playing some homebrew games created for its predecessor. It also has a GUI that allows one to play videos, view photos, record audio and read eBooks and comics. It does not come with emulators built in but one can download them free of charge. The Main menu has the following icons : Wiz Game (that allows you to play purchased SD card games), Built in games, Flash Games, Entertainment(which is further subdivided into Video, Flash, Music, Photo, Comics, EBooks, Tools,  Launcher and settings.

The OLED screen makes it viewable from any angle and allows you to view bright and sharp images. One small niggle we found in the Wiz is that the volume resets itself every time we reboot the machine.

Connectivity to PC:
In order to connect the GP2X Wiz Game console to the PC, one needs to use the USB cable and connect one end to the bottom of the console and the other to the PC. The connector has an LED that goes green if the console is connected and turns red when the device is not. The console shows up as a separate drive on your PC and one needs to select on the display whether you would like to see the internal memory or the memory card.

Features:

Although the GP2X comes loaded with a host of applications such as a video player, a clock and a voice recorder, it is best as a gaming console.

Powerful Processor:
The GP2X Wiz features an ARM9 533MHz CPU with 3D acceleration which means one can enjoy cutting edge music, games and movies with this powerful Processor. It is 100 more MHz than the Dingo which is under clocked at 400 MHz. It is capable of over clocking to 800MHz and hence is powerful enough to play with if you are interested to write your own applications. However, it is still weaker than Pandora’s 600 MHz and one really cannot observe the difference between this processor and the one of its predecessor the GP2X. However, it was able to handle emulators, some homebrew software and flash based titles pretty well. When we played the game Quake 2 on the Wiz, it seemed choppy at the default clock speed, however, over clocking to higher speeds eliminated that as well.

AMOLED Display:
One of the USPs of the GP2X Wiz is that fact that it is the first handheld console which boasts of modern AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) display. How is it different from conventional TFT? These LEDs are thinner, do not need a backlight and are excellent in clear and contrasting views. Even in pitch black darkness, the colour black is visible and the device consumes a significantly less amount of energy. However, it is difficult to make out anything on the screen in direct sunlight. It also does not suffer from ghosting like the Sony PlayStation Portable does.

Storage:
The Gamepark GP2X Wiz comes with an inbuilt memory of 1GB and most users would likely require more than that. The Primary storage device of the Wiz is the SD Card (with SDHC supported) which can be placed into a socket at the top of the unit. The SD cards must be formatted as FAT16 or FAT32 and now cards up to 32GB can be added.  The console features an SDRAM of 64MB.

Built in Games:
The Wiz is capable of running several emulators, flash games, applications and freeware games and comes preinstalled with a number of games on NAND. However, gamers notice that the Wiz is best for playing eternally popular classic arcade games and one cannot expect game launches like the one PSP and Nintendo has. So does that mean missing out on a lot? Not really, thanks to the growing list of emulators in GamePark’s application store. GamePark has announced that it will be making a handful of games available every month for download. The best part about all this is that one can download all of them for free. The following are a list of games that are included in the console.

• IQ Jump : A collection of 5 brain training style “flash” games that allows you to look for the same pictures, or a missing number, addition and subtraction, looking for a coin in the saving pocket and Crisis ladder.
• Animatch by Ruckage: A regular match three game with cute little animal icons. The cutest thing was that the game says “Paws” when you pause it.
• Square Tower Defense: A rather cubist tower defense game that did not have basic instructions included.
• Wiztern by Chemaris: A demo game that allows one to tap at the screen to shoot at cards flipping over.
• Myriad by WarmFluffyUK: A space invaders game that allows one to shoot a city from above and whips them.
• Space Varments by Ruckage: A point and shoot game where one has to tap the touch screen to shoot passing aliens.
• Tail Tale by Rerofumi
• Boomshine 2x PeterR

Backward compatibility with previous models such as the GP2X is missing and one can make them compatible and copy them into console. This is unlike the PSP where one has to “hack” the console.

Emulators:

The inbuilt games are good enough, but what most users are excited about are emulators. They are basically programs that allow the Wiz to “emulate” a video game console. They are usually used to play older video games on PCs and consoles. They are usually used to translate games into other languages or modify existing games. However downloading emulators and ROMS usually violate copyright rules and is punishable by law. For Emulators and ROMS to work on the Wiz, one needs to first find an appropriate emulator and then the actual ROMS. Once you have both of them, one has to drag them into proper folder on the device. To do that one needs to connect the console to the PC via the USB cable.  One can navigate the Wiz folders on the PC and can even store ROMS on an SD card to save space on the device. We did try a couple of emulators and they worked flawlessly. The Wiz supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Super Nintendo, various arcade machines, Sega Master System, Game Gear, Mega Drive, Genesis, A Sega CD, Sega 32X, Sony Playstation and Neo Geo games and mind you, that is a very impressive list.

Music Player:

The GP2X also functions as a music player something that most users would also want in a console. Buyers will not be disappointed as the Wiz can handle music in MP3, OCG and WAV format. There is even a spectral analyzer that “visually” reacts to music and was an aesthetic add. The music player was equipped with basic functions alone and too bad it did not have an equalizer like its predecessor did.

Other Applications:

When compared to the older models, the Wiz features four new applications: Calendar, World Time, Calculator and Timer. A calendar is highly handy and thanks to the world time one can see what time it is in different cities in the world. The timer helps in measuring time intervals.  There is a recorder as well on the Wiz. With an integrated microphone one can record sound. There are only four controls: Start / Stop, recording, playback, delete and exit. The recorded audio files are stored in WAV format. Another mentionable feature is that the Wiz acts as an eBook with limited functionality. One can read .TXT files on the Wiz along with images and enjoy comics on the handheld as well.

Support:
One can download and view photos taken from a digital camera or a phone through your PC. There are options to enlarge or abridge the image from 320 x 240 to 1024 x 768. One also can rotate the images in 90, 180 and 270 degrees. The Wiz supports JPG, BMP, PCX, GIF and PNG files. Amongst the wide range of video formats, the console supports DivX 3/4/5 and XVid (MPEG-4) and the audio formats of MP3 and Vorbis.

When it comes to audio, it is capable of replaying music in MP3 and OCG formats on its multi codec MP3 player.

Performance:

First and foremost, the Wiz as a gaming console does excellently well. Although it does not stray anywhere close to the territory of Nintendo or the PSP, it excels at what it is aimed to: Open source gaming and emulators.  Emulators such as Pico Drive (Megadrive/Genesis), GP2Xpectrum (ZX Spectrum) and Mame4All (Arcade) worked wonderfully well and the OLED screen made them look even better. Controls, sounds and sights were great. The new processor does not seem to enhance the performance of the GP2X Wiz and then there was the problem of screen tearing in some fast paced games. There was a diagonal split across the screen making the game look like it was running 2 displays at once perhaps due to different refresh rates. We hope that GamePark will launch a software fix for this soon.

There were some occasional crashes and freezes but a quick reboot solved the problem. The built in games were fun and the best was perhaps Animatch, a clone of the Zoo Keeper.  Video playback through the inbuilt media player was at best average. The movie files we played were occasionally marred by stuttering. The music playback was far better. The recording capabilities were good too as it was able to accurately capture spoken audio well. We believe that future firmware upgrades will greatly enhance the performance of this already well performing device.

Battery:

The GP2X Wiz features a Li-Pol battery with a capacity of 2000mAh that lies hidden under the removable back cover. To remove it one needs to unscrew the 2 little screws and there you have 2 AA rechargeable batteries. In order to charge your GP2X Wiz, you need to connect the console to the PC using the USB port. Charging the battery through the USB port was gruesome and slow and it gets slower if the console is switched on. It took 5 hours to get totally charged with the console off and a whopping 10 hours with the console on. So we suggest that you leave it for charging overnight. For faster charging times, we suggest you buy a classic charger with a USB port as an output and connect using it in place of the USB cable.

There is a battery status icon located on the upper right corner of the display. Though it is not linear, it shows the remaining energy and once you reach the minimum value it displays the low battery message. Unlike the GP2X100 it does not “die” when the power ends and energy saving is possible thanks to power saving measures such as reducing brightness of the display and the automatic shutdown screen (which switches off screen and is handy while listening to music). So the main thing is how long does the Wiz last? 4 hours 35 minutes was all it took for the battery to get empty.  One can replace the batteries easily without having the need to reset the date and time every time you do it.

Warranty:

The GP2X Wiz is provided with a warranty period of one year on service and labour.

Verdict:

The Wiz is an amazing successor to the GP2X and manages to meet our expectations. Though it is much better than its predecessor, it seems like a more enhanced version than a full fledged successor.  Apart from the fact that it has a small screen, the console has a great design and is perfectly sized for handheld gaming. Like most other handhelds the Wiz tries to cater to Audio and Video playback but with mediocrity. The Wiz sadly can handle emulators that the GP2X could handle as well but only slightly better.  Its closest rival is The Dingoo Digital A 320 is available at half the price with similar specifications and another rival the Pandora has not yet been launched.  If you owned any of the predecessors and feel like the Wiz addresses any of your past problems, it is highly recommended. As mentioned earlier, the console caters to emulators and home brew games and so if you like some hardcore popular titles such as the GTA, you can pick up the Sony PSP or the Nintendo.

GP2X Wiz Game System – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	GamePark Holdings
Model Name	GP2X Wiz
Dimensions (H x W x D) in	121 x 61 x 18
Weight	98g without battery and 136g with battery
Buttons	Up / Down / Right / Left A/ B/ X/ Y HOME/SELECT Volume Up/Down Power On/ Off / Hold
Display	2.8 inch AMOLED Touch Screen
Resolution	320×240
Processor type	533MHz ARM9 (overclockable to 800 MHz) 3D Accelerator
RAM	SDRAM 64MB
NAND Flash Memory	1 GB
Storage	SD Card with SDHC support
Connection to PC	USB 2.0 high-speed
OS	Linux
Expansion Port	24Pin
Max Resolution	1920 x 1080
Chipset	MagicEyes Pollux System-on-a-Chip
Video Formats supported	DivX, XviD for video MP3 and WAV for audio
Audio Formats supported	MP3, Ogg Vorbis and WAV
Photo format supported	JPG, PNG, GIF and BMP formats
Flash Player	Flash Player 8 with Action Script 2.0
Power	Internal 2000mAh Lithium Polymer Battery
Battery Life	4 hours 30 minutes
Warranty	One Year