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THE MIX Monday, Jan. 30,2006 . ■ ^ JL T -JL B A _m_ Page 5 Nintendo DS: Company redesigns dual-screen gaming system to be smaller, lighter, brighter Jeremy Turnage THE GAMECOCK On Thursday, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced a redesign of the popular portable dual screened game system known as the Nintendo DS. This information comes days after Nintendo declared a possible redesign to be merely a rumor. Nintendo representatives and members of the gaming press in Japan have hinted at a redesign for months. Many video game news sites began reporting the design as early as Jan. 11. Only days later, a representative of Nintendo of Europe came out to say that the design was only a rumor. The new DS, known as the Nintendo DS Lite, is smaller and sleeker than its older brother. The redesign is reportedly 21 percent lighter and 42 percent smaller than the original DS. In comparison to the original design, which weighed 275 grams, the DS Lite comes in at 218 grams. A side-by-side comparison shows that the redesigned system appears to be close to 1/5 the size of the original and maintains all of the bells and whistles of the original system, as well. Consumers will note right away a new white color scheme for the handheld. Lifting up the top will reveal a somewhat new design to the control system. The directional pad has been changed from black to white. Looking over on the right side of the system, the user will see that the A through Y buttons have switched places with the select and start buttons. The start buttons are stacked vertically on the bottom of the system. The A through Y buttons are closer to the top of the system. In addition to some cosmetic changes, Nintendo unveiled many ergonomic changes to the system as well. The stylus, for use with the innovative touch screen, will be hidden on the side of the system. The original design hides the stylus at the top of the system near the game slot. The microphone has also moved its location to the top of the system on the hinge. The original design has the microphone placed below the touch screen. The lights, now larger and easier to see, have also moved to the outer hinge. The two lights display if the system is running, and show if the wireless connection is operating. The Game Boy Advance port is still available, but comes with a blank cartridge to insert into the port when not in use. The dual screens are also receiving an update. A new feature allows for four different levels of brightness. Gamers can choose to keep the brightness low to conserve battery life, or brighten it to see everything on the screens more o *** mm Special to THE GAMECOCK The redesign of the Nintendo DS features a new color scheme and a new button layout. The system debuts in Japan on March 2. A U.S. release date has yet to be announced. clearly. The highest level of brightness is superior to that of the original Nintendo DS. Gamers around the world have noted that the new design is very similar to the Nintendo Revolution controller. The white color scheme is the same as the first Revolution controller, and the directional pad looks as if it was lifted directly from the controller itself. Oddly enough, back in May of 2005, Iwata announced the Nintendo DS and Revolution would somehow communicate with each other wirelessly. How the two plan to work together is still unknown, though. The original Nintendo DS has sold remarkably well around the world. It was recently revealed that the system has sold well over 13 million units worldwide in a little more than a year on the market. In December, Nintendo of Japan said the. ninTcnoo • 6 CELL PHONES MIGHT SOON CARRY PORN Adult entertainment industry looks to grab slice of wireless pie Monica Hatcher Knight Kidder Tribune MIAMI — The latest pitch of the adult entertainment industry: Turn on your cell phone and your cell phone could turn you on. Pom-on-the-go, or “mobile adult content” — the industry term for both soft and hardcore images, video, text and sound for wireless phones, PDAs and portable Sony PlayStations — is big business globally, but has lagged in the United States. That’s about to change, according to those on hand at the Mobile Adult Content Congress, which met at the Radisson Hotel in Miami through Thursday. Lusting for a piece of what experts say is a soon to-be multibillion-dollar market, industry executives from Europe, Asia and the United States kicked off on Tuesday the first adult themed mobile content conference to examine, they said, issues standing in tire way of maximum profits. The event could have been mistaken for a gathering of accountants. ) Explicit Special to TIIE GAMECOCK Adult film star Ron Jeremy helps promote services that display pornography and other erotica on mobile phones at the Mobile Adult Content Congress Jan. 25 in Miami. content was not allowed in presentations, and the literature was relatively modest and focused on ways to generate industry growth. The overall goal: to make available more “moan tones,” Playmates of the day, live text messaging with webcam girls and other erotic content currently offered in other parts of the world. By the end of the decade, mobile sex content could generate $400 million in revenue, according to Jupiter Research. Globally it could exceed $3 billion, but some argue those are gross underestimates of the market. Of the $1.2 billion generated last year, $30 million came horn the United States, with the bulk coming from Asia. “Let’s face it,” said Harvey Kaplan, vice president of mobile-porn giant xobile. com. “People aren’t going to spend an extra long and extra hard time searching for the next Disney trailer.” Mobile erotica is perhaps one of the hottest issues in the wireless industry. “The biggest hurdle is age verification and just managing the services,” said Jason Healy, president of funbox.com, an Australian company offering reality based sexual fare. “We’re interested to see how the carriers are rolling this stuff out and how they are going to handle it in the U.S.” Carriers — think Cingular, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint — are unable to verify ages of customers, and that opens the companies up for lawsuits and the loss of customers who might switch to other companies in protest, Kaplan said. Cell phone companies “will not get into bed with an adult client because they don’t want to tarnish their reputations as being porn peddlers,” Kaplan said. Charmaine Yoest, vice president for external relations of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, said cell carriers were going to have to choose between parents and pomographers. “We are very concerned and we are paying attention,” Yoest said. Computer games provide training for tech-savvy armed forces recruits Military uses virtual worlds to stage safe, cheap combat practice Roberts. Boyd Knight Ridder WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is turning young Americans’ fascination with computer games into a serious training tool for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. “They love it,” said Col. Casey Wardynski, the director of the “America’s Army” video game, which he developed at West Point Military Academy. Young men and women are “used to thinking about the world this way,” he said. “You can call them 'digital natives.’” Each military service is acquiring or using computer games to instruct its members, safely and cheaply, on the tactics of modem warfare. The Air Force put out a request this month for Special to THE (»AMK(!(K',K Video-game expert Elaine Raybourn (in profile at left) checks an image from a computer game used to train Army Special Forces officers preparing to go to Iraq. private companies to create a video game to practice combat in space. The object is to “develop and demonstrate a game based approach to detect, identify, track and disrupt activities from space vehicles,” the proposal said. The Navy has procured a “Kill Chain Naval Tactical Simulation” game developed by Neil Byrne, a retired Navy captain, to demonstrate battle tactics involving helicopters and surface ships such as destroyers. The Navy also wants to acquire a game to practice its Tactical Tomahawk missile-control system. Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., produced a computer game for the Army to teach special operations officers to bridge the cultural gaps between Americans and Iraqis. For example, they’re shown how to deal with an Iraqi family at a checkpoint. “We try to prepare them 6nmc • 6 Recipe of the Day Suburban Cowboy Delight Provided by: www.krafifoods.com What you need: 1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces 1/2 pound ground beef 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 (1.25-ounce) package chili seasoning mix 1 (14.5-ounce) can canned peeled and diced tomatoes 1 (15-ounce) can baked beans What to do: In a large skillet over medium heat, fry bacon pieces until browned. Crumble ground beef into the skillet with the bacon; stir in green pepper and onion. Continue to cook until beef is no longer pink. Drain off any excess grease. Stir in chili seasoning J mix until the meat is coated. Add tomatoes'and beans to the skillet, mix well, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes; ;