Pokemon Video Game Championship Series

A couple of weeks ago I got up early to drive down to the Pokemon Video Game Northeastern Championship Series in King of Prussia (outside Philadelphia) with my daughter. Nintendo runs these competitions around the U.S. and Japan, culminating in a World Championship event being held this year in San Diego on August 14.

Nintendo splits the competition into two age groups - a Juniors Category for players born on or after January 1, 1997 and a Seniors Category for players born on December 31, 1996 or earlier. I've always found the age grouping odd - you often have 12 year old kids competing against much older adults which, to me as a parent, is a little bit creepy.

The competitor selection process is also setup in an odd way. There are only 128 competition slots in each age group with players randomly selected. We arrived around 7:00 and waited for registration to open - by the time registration ended there we're close to 500 people signed up for the 128 place older age group lottery. Names were randomly pulled and 128 people were selected to compete. Yes, there were 40-plus year old adults competing with 12 year old kids. There were also a lot of discouraged kids (and parents) who traveled some long distances only to not have their name pulled.

I ended up sitting for a while with a guy in his late thirties who had competed in the first round of the seniors category and lost. He told me he had not spent much time preparing for the competition and was really only there to throw his name into the lottery for a chance at the give-aways only the people that compete get. He was extremely proud of the DS (game) sticker he had "won" telling me "Only the people that compete get these special stickers".

I asked him if it bothered him that he had taken a competition slot from a 12 year old who had likely spent a lot more time preparing than he did - he told me "No, not at all".

My Flickr picture set for the event is linked here http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordonfsnyder/sets/72157620201140204/

Nintendo DSi - Maybe Not Just For Gamers?

Nintendo held their fall press conference yesterday where they announced a new version of the Nintendo DS called the DSi. I've been poking around on the web - here's some details I've been able to find on the new device:

• The DSi will not be backwards compatible with Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges - the GBA slot has been removed from the DSi.
• The DSi screens (there are still two, like the DS) are now 3.25 inches, that's 17% larger than the 3 inch screens on the DS. One of the screens is touch, like the DS.
• Nintendo has enhanced DSi audio.
• The DSi has a 3 Megapixel and a .3 Megapixel camera (there are two) built in.
• The DSi has an SD memory card slot.
• The DSi will come in White or Black.
• The DSi comes with a web browser and games can be downloaded using the web browser and saved on the DSi.
• Nintendo is launching an online DSi Shop where users can buy content and download directly over a WiFi connection.
• The DSi shop will use Nintendo Points (previously called Wii Points) for purchases.
• The DSi comes with 1000 Nintendo Points that can be used unitl March 2010.
• DSi content will be priced at 200, 500 and 800 points.
• Nintendo will provide free WiFi connectivity in Nintendo Zone hotspots found at McDonalds in Japan.
• The DSi will cost ¥18,900 ($178) and will be available in Japan on November.
• The DSi will be available in the U.S. sometime in 2009.

Here's a short video demo of the DSi:

I always thought that, with a few tweaks, the DS could work very well as hybrid/crossover somewhere between a personal digital assistant and an Ultra-mobile PC. The addition of the SD card slot and availability of applications for the device just might make this happen. We'll likely have to wait in the U.S. until next year to find out.