Set the traps! We have an infestation!

Of course, I don't mean an actual living mouse (or mice, as the case may be). I am, of course, instead referring to the pointing device that connects to a person's computer. Over the years, I've gotten very familiar with the personal computer, and I have seen several different types of these buggers over the years, especially while working in the field of recycling electronic waste. Probably the biggest improvement we've made this century is eliminating the need for that stupid ball that every high school kid (except me) has stolen at least once, and replacing it with an optical sensor that is almost akin to a robotic eye, as seen below.

Mechanical v. Optical mice, as shown in this diagram.

Most of these come in the form of two or three buttons. Others, especially those made by Apple, usually only have one gigantic button, or a sensor that can mirror either one button or two. In recent years, although probably as far back as Windows 98, manufacturers started replacing the middle button with a scroll wheel instead of the full middle button. This made browsing web pages easier, as well as file folders and other programs where all of the information presented to the user could not fit on the screen at one time. Somewhere along the line as well, some internet user(s) that designed mice for a living also decided that they were too lazy to click the browser buttons on their computers, and so we also started seeing "browser buttons" on mice as well, such as the IBM Optical Navigator Mouse (not actually manufactured by IBM, but whatever).

Logitech trackball with scroll wheel. 

Before the rise of the optical mouse, however, we saw the rise of the trackball. Apple was probably the only manufacturer to actually include it on a laptop, but don't quote me on that. With practice, proper care, as well as proper usage, they can prove themselves to be quite useful, especially for the trade of computer graphic design. I remember using one a lot throughout my childhood because my father preferred them to traditional mice. In that respect, they are still easier to clean than a mouse, but still not practical unless you're the exact niche audience for using one. Personally, I still say get me an optical mouse any day over this.

An example of a touch pad, as outlined above. 

And then there's this thing. Originally a laptop exclusive, Apple has tried making them mainstream in their desktop market, although the success rate, as far as I'm concerned, is unknown, because I am not an Apple enthusiast. In recent years, manufacturers have tinkered around with how to "improve" them, such as streamlining the buttons, which makes the scrolling surface bigger, to adopting previous niche features, such as Apple's two-finger click  for right-clicking. Personally, I still prefer a mouse, but if I had to use a touch pad, I'd prefer one with two physical buttons and a smaller scrolling area. Sure, that might make me a simpleton, but if it isn't broke, don't go looking for a fix to it "just because."

uDraw? So do I!

Okay, now that I have the bad pun out of the way, on to the post! So today I went to the Second and Charles location in Aurora with my brother and his family, and after some careful decision making, I splurged and bought myself a uDraw tablet for the Wii. Initially, I had considered purchasing the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version, because both of those would be easier to connect to a Windows computer. However, today felt different. Before all of this started, we went to the Denver Fire Fighter's Museum (more on that in my Memoir, 'Exodus,'). At some point we also had lunch at McDonald's and then we finally went to the above mentioned store.

uDraw tablet with stylus and Wii Remote attachment showing.

uDraw Tablet and uDraw Studio GameBox.

Last time I had been to the store, they had the uDraw tablet available for at least two, but possibly three consoles: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii--the PS3 version is the one I can't necessarily vouch for. This time, I had only been able to spot the Wii version, and the price was reasonable. For only ten dollars (plus the obligatory sales tax) I was able to get the Wii version of the tablet, which, except for the attached stylus, is basically a hollow plastic shell with a nun chuck-style cord dangling off of it, and a rectangular hole for the Wii remote to stay in place, and the game uDraw Studio. After trying the game, I noticed that in a nutshell, it was a glorified coloring book with a few other features, and was almost as fun as Mario Paint (in fact, I kind of wish they would port a version of that particular game to use with the accessory). 

uDraw tablet with stylus docked and Wii Remote docked.

Since it relies on the Wii Remote for base control, having to aim the tablet just right was a bit of a challenge at first, but within minutes, I was able to aim the tablet correctly and use the stylus to color in pictures with minimal issues. As of this writing, I am still figuring out which tool does what, as well as how to color in using the stylus, but the potential for the product seems promising, especially because there is a variation of the board game 'Pictionary' available as a separate purchase. 

Drawing tools interface of uDraw Studio, as show through the Wii U GamePad.

Namco and Nintendo: Let's Rekindle a Match Made in Heaven!

My brother Matt over at Syntactic Sugar was having a discussion with me earlier today, and the subject of games for the Wii U came up. Well, since I own the console, and use it quite often, this is one of my favorite subjects, because I like to see what kind of games can utilize its hardware to its fullest potential. After much discussion, I settled on five that I would love to see at some point, either in disc form, or downloadable content from the Nintendo e-Shop:

5) Pac Pix -- This is one that my brother initially suggested, and given that Nintendo has bee porting Nintendo DS games to the Wii U's virtual Console, I see it as a distinct possibility. While it wouldn't be my first choice of game, I could see myself playing it on the condition of Namco fixing the stupid rule that the player absolutely has to draw Pac-Man a certain way or lose a life.

Screenshot of Pac Pix for Nintendo DS

4) Pac Man Championship Edition -- Initially, my first experience playing this game was on an arcade machine at either Dave & Buster's or Scene 75--probably the latter, since I have been there more recently. My first impression was excitement with a hint of giddiness, as well as disappointment when I initially couldn't play it at home. After I obtained the Roku 2 XS, however, this disappointment changed to excitement and happiness when I realized that the game was available in the Roku Channel Store. Regardless, however, it would be nice to play the game without having the television running.

Screenshot of Pac Man Championship Edition - Xbox 360 Version

3) Pac And Roll -- This is another Nintendo DS game that would work perfectly well if it was ported to the Nintendo DS, and compared with Pac Pix, it doesn't have any stupid or arbitrary rules for how to set up Pac Man in a certain way. Again, since Nintendo has started porting the Nintendo DS library to the Wii U, I see more likeliness of this game happening than not. I'm not crossing my fingers, or holding my breath, but it's nice to show a little optimism sometimes, providing it doesn't come back to haunt later. From the screenshot, the closest way to describe it is "Super Monkey Ball with Pac Man."

Screenshot of Pac and Roll. Looks like Super Monkey Ball, right?!

2) Katamari Damacy -- As much as I hate to disrupt the theme of Pac-Man, my second best choice for a Namco game being ported to the Wii U would be this. Between the Wii U having the dual-analog controls, as well as the convenience of off-television play, this game seems as though it would be a no-brainer for the console. Plus, to make things even more interesting, there could be an extra mode or controller setting that allowed the player to use the Wii U's gyroscopic motion controls along with or instead of the dual analogue joysticks. Perhaps I'm the only one whom feels this way, however, maybe if enough people read this, demand will start to churn.

Screenshot from the PlayStation 2 Game 'Katamari Damacy'

1) Pac Man Vs. -- With other games for the Wii U supporting five players at once, such as Super Mario Brothers/Luigi U, I feel that the fact that this game DOESN'T exist for the Wii U is a crime against humanity. With both the GameCube and Nintendo DS versions, only three players could play ghosts while one person played a round of Pac-Man. My theory is that a person can use the Wii U Game Pad as a fifth controller, in the same respect that New Super Mario/Luigi U does, however, instead of just providing extra platforms in the respect that 'New Super' does, instead, the fifth player plays a round of the game Pac-Man on the Game Pad screen while the other four players -- yes, four (the GameCube version had three) play as the otherwise non-playable ghosts 'Blinky', 'Pinky', 'Inky', and 'Clyde' -- or 'Sue' if you're playing Ms. Pac-Man.

And that's another thing. Since we already had Pac Man Vs. on both home console and portable, I feel that this new port of Pac Man Vs. should be 'Ms. Pac-Man' themed. Not only would it be a nice change of pace, but it would also round up fans who preferred the sequel anyway. And with that, I leave you with this final screenshot of Pac Man Vs. for the Nintendo GameCube. It was the first result to pop up on Google Images:

Pac Man Vs. for Nintendo GameCube. This screenshot shows the TV and GBA screens.