The Nintendo New 2DS XL

I have been wanting a 2DS with a specific colour scheme...

with a larger screen...

for over a month actually...

and 2 hours ago Nintendo announced this:

[Nintendo 2DS XL]

Before noting my distaste for the hardware in this announcement (oh, so much for not making note of it) I would like describe why I wanted a 2DS in the first place. 

[Nintendo 2DS]

This device may not be the most attractive brick of plastic released in the decade of 2010 but there is elegance in the simplicity of it. There are no moving parts to break, or special features hidden away within the case. What you see is what you get. The longer body provides more room to rest larger hands on without cramping fingers, and there is a nostalgic retro feel to the design. The launch colour schemes consisted of a basic pair of black with red or blue, with the clean lines and corners of the case tying it all together.

The game library is phenomenal. Not only does it have access to the entire current Nintendo 3DS library, but also the Nintendo DS/DS lite/DSi (previous console generation) library is compatible. There is over a decade of games available dating back to 2004. Oh right... the Nintendo virtual shop with games from the entire Game Boy line and the NES is packed inside. Lost is the 3D image feature from the 3DS, an NFC reader (dropping the ability to scan amiibos that hold DLC like content or work like an external memory card), and the system is downgraded to a single mono speaker (although still packing stereo audio with headphones). If you are in the market for playing some awesome games while ignoring the fireworks, this system works as a great option against the flagship 3DS.

All this for less than half the cost of a New 3DS XL (50% to 30% the cost, depending on the market -- Canada and USA are used for these figures). My only impulse purchase prevention was that the 2DS sports a 3.5 inch screen. What can I say, a 4.5 inch screen in the form of a "2DS XL" would be great!

Enter the New 2DS XL. The perfect system. A 2DS with slightly upgraded hardware for new potential 3DS games, and a glorious 4.5 inch screen. No. Wrong.

Yes the new system does have upgraded hardware, a 4.8 inch screen as found in the 3DS XL, an NFC reader, 2 stereo speakers, the 3DS clam shell design -- wait how does this differ from a 3DS? The only component lacking from the New 2DS XL is the 3D video. All of the included features, personally good or bad, would be acceptable if the main selling point of the 2DS was still relevant; the low price. Buying a New 2DS XL gets you over 3/4 of the way to a New 3DS XL (85% to 75% the cost of the 3DS XL, again depending on sale location). In other words, you could purchase almost two 2DS systems for the price of one New 2DS XL, and almost three 2DS systems for the price of one New 3DS XL.

The easy affordable access to one of the worlds greatest line ups of games utilizing interesting hybrid touch screen mechanics is gone. A New 2DS XL offers a flagship 3DS at a negligibly lower cost, while dropping the biggest feature of the 3DS (the 3D feature is in the name, come on!).

"Fine. Ignore the New 2DS XL if you do not like it."

Introducing this device can only be inferred as the first step to phase out the original 2DS, which has been on the market for over 3 years. The new system inherits the "New" branding, featured by the only currently purchasable 3DS consoles direct from Nintendo. All other initial 3DS models have been phased out, creating a similar framework for the 2DS line. Also, any newly produced games for the 3DS are no longer guaranteed to run on a 2 or 3DS who are not members of the "New" brand.

I am pointed towards regarding this announcement as a step against a simple accessible economic method of play, which is what I loved dearly about the initial 2DS (after the post launch price drop). I hope the entry level void left by the first 2DS with be filled with a "New 2DS" (not XL) possessing a similar design and price philosophy of the initial system, since sadly the New 2DS XL does not fit the same niche as the original Nintendo 2DS.

Subtextual Beauty: Minecraft Custom Builds

We've seen them. The grand castles, sprawling landscapes, fantastic caverns. What an awful example for what beauty is.

*Preparing self for backlash*

[Minecraft: from Fyre UK]

I am not above name drops for this post.

The most effective way for me to demonstrate my perspective -- my angle -- is to use actual examples. This castle construction above is considered to be a creation from one of the highest quality sources available. 

[Minecraft: from DarthEngima]

As for the above, I have never heard of this individual. I have no personal [negative] opinion of them leading into viewing their work, unlike the vast majority of content in the Minecraft scope. This image was shown to me as I was launching the game to play at my modest abode; a structure with a 3x3 block footprint.

[Minecraft: from yours truly]

The look of the forest from DarthEnigma captured my imagination and caused me to considered the idea that I am writing about now. Yet I still prefer my build, no matter how lame, simple, and uninspiring it is (I really do not care at all for the castle build so it will remain unmentioned through to the end of this post).

The simple point that I have noticed is the following; a beautiful build in Minecraft consists of large high detailed creations which mask the blocky simple aesthetic of the medium itself.

Referring back to early forum posts upon the release of the initial Minecraft experience, a room full of wooden blocks was interpreted by the builder to be a room of chests, containing valuable treasure. The magic of Minecraft was in the mind of the player where they were allowed to easily interpret and conclude what an object's meaning and physical form was. 

Using another example from an early forum post; what is this?

[Minecraft: again myself, top level builder]

A few wooden blocks? A floating raft? A simple boat? Perhaps a member in a fleet of pirate ships? When something is simple, it allows you to expand personally on what it means or is. When given a complex structure that removes this mask of mystery, the magic is lost, and you only have what you are given, which is the same experience as anyone else.

________________________________

Returning back (a few days later now also) to my simple build, the lack of any definite details allow the viewer to generate the details themselves. More often than not these created details are in the form of stories, and stories are powerful.

[Minecraft: behind my hut, a bed would not fit]

Take this hammock as an example. Perhaps the wooden post the head rest is connected too was once a mighty tree, whose sapling has now grown into the pillar of a tree now used as the foot support. Maybe the owner of the hammock spends their lazy summer afternoons, floating in the breeze after a successful day of fishing by the river. The lack of explicit detail creates an open canvas for powerful creativity. Looking back to my image subtitle, there is even a story within, with the fact that a bed would not even fit in the house!

This concept (of course!) transcends the building-scape of Minecraft to all aesthetics. The photo realism of the newest first person shooter vs the world of Limbo, is a fantastic video game example of stories from minimalism in aesthetic. 

[LIMBO]

With the idea of expanding of scope, I now leave you with a quote at the end of this article.

"The universe is made of stories, not of atoms"

FTL: Faster Than Light; Exploration and Discovery

[Warning Spoilers? on a 5 year old game? maybe?]

FTL: Faster Than Light is potentially my most favourite game, top 3 easily. There are many aspects of this game that I love, but I want to mention the designed natural discovery process that takes place; I know, contradictory.

This is a rouge like, heavy play oriented game, where the only portions of written story are the random events that occur when warping to a new location. "This space station is on fire, select 1 to save them, select 2 to leave, select 3 to use your fireproof alien race crew member" and so on is what you can expect from these events. But then I warped to a specific star system and found a rebel ship yard that contained blueprints for a new unlockable ship. The horizon of potential adventure opens up from here, with multiwarp point quests that can span the entire length of the game world.

[FTL: Faster Than Light]

Discovery through exploration is created so simply here by not tell you when or where events/quests are going to happen. The game world is randomly generated every play through while only giving you 2 pieces of information; where the exit to the next level is, and where you are now (I included an example sector's beacon map as a... well... as an example). Every star system in between is open for potential adventure. The layout of the star systems are non-linear, enforcing an exploration heavy path, and indirectly pushing you towards new discoveries.

There seems to be a conflict in game design about discovery. We have both extremes shown in the Legend of Zelda series, where a secret is literally an arrow pointing towards it (a crack in an outlined section of wall), or a secret is in any given tile that needs to be bombed to open a new door (or a tree tile that needs to be burned down). FTL lands itself in an enjoyable middle location of this spectrum where the player is not directly pushed towards a secret, or forced to press up, down, left, left, etc, to unlock a mystery. The level design and layout allows exploration to happen naturally through play in a way that is not obvious, which in return generates the self satisfying sense of discovery when you are forced to land on a random star system that contains a new quest.

[Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, The Wind Waker]

FTL is awesome, if I can give the game anything, it is not justice for how fantastic it is. Have yourself an adventure and check it out.