Hello again, handheld hooligans! It's my first actual Nintendo DS post! I thought I was going to go insane after that Poo Smells Poopy post. Now that I have purged my inner child, I will continue on with today's DS news, the Opera Web Browser... DS. According to an article I spied my eye on in Gamespot, Japan seems frightfully divided over the browser on that lovable handheld. However, its release is still slated for late July in the land of our Asiatic cousins. If history is a reliable forture teller, it will tell us that any disinterest in video gaming paraphenalia in Japan means its virtual non-existence on North American shores (maybe even Europe). One such reason for DS Browser apathy include the inability to have a full web browsing experience on the handheld (e.g. audio/video playback, flash, etc.). Let's stop right there. We're talking about browsing the web on a portable device, people! It's not like Opera and Nintendo have the time and resources to fit all existing web technologies onto a single cartridge. That is so unfeasible, it's ridiculous. Additionally, I don't know of any handheld device that you can fully experience the web on, not even that so-called PSP (don't even get me started on when I tried to browse the web on my cellphone... sheesh!). If anyone finds such a device, let me know, I'd be very interested to know about it! That being said, web browsing on a portable device (other than a laptop) was meant for purely informational purposes, mild entertainment, and of course, porn. So what if the new DS Browser doesn't support all the bells and whistles of a PC web browser? If I wanted to experience the full web wherever I go, I would carry my 50 ton PC and a huge ass electrical generator in my backpack (they would complement my heavy textbooks quite nicely!). To conclude my little rant, I would like to say that I really, really, REALLY hope that the DS Browser makes it here in North America. We all should do our part to support this little piece of technological wonder. In an effort to convince Nintendo and Opera to release the DS Browser here, I will show off a little banner I found:

Posted by Handheld This! at 2:37 a.m. | Permalink

Howdy handheld hooligans, it's-a-me, Jarobi! Yeah, I know... I'm posting PSP news even though my alignment is with the DS. However, this little bit of news was intriguing enough for me to temporarily forget my handheld allegiences. A very controversal ad was released in the Netherlands for the new white PSP. This ad depicts a White female apparently dominating over a Black male. When I first looked at the ad, I didn't really see anything completely out of place, because I'm the kind of person who doesn't focus on race as opposed to one's own merits. Then I read several comments responding to the ad, and found that almost everyone was pissed right off! Sure the ad was a bit sleazy, but I had thought after reading the comments that PC (political correctness) just got a little out of hand. Upon closer examination of the advertisment, I realized that the woman looked as though she had a severe case of PMS, while the man looked as though he would wet himself with so much as a blink from his adversary. Clearly, the apparent theme of this ad, intentional or not, is domination. I think that Sony is sending the wrong message to its consumers by creating an ad that pretty much says that the white PSP is better than the black PSP, when in fact, this is not so. I also find the theme of domination unnecessary to market the differently hued handheld. Finally, I don't have a problem with people of different ethnicities in the same ad, but when the domination theme is included, it can conjure up images of a not so tolerant past. This is especially true for those who have experienced discrimination (racial or otherwise) before. I would bet a year's worth in goat's milk that many would agree that this ad says, "White is better than Black". Sure, PC can get a little out of hand from time to time. There are also people who look for racism where it doesn't exist and live their lives in contempt of everyone different from themselves. However, when someone says and/or does something offensive, regardless of intent, the act is still offensive. Instead of defending the ad, I think Sony should have kindly apologized after realizing their error. Whether this ad was intended to send a racist message or not will never be known unless we have mental powers akin to Professor X. Nor do I really care. What we do know is that this is a case of the wrong message sent as a result of sloppy marketing. For that, I will have to say boourns to you Sony, boourns.


P.S. Here's an idea: imagine an ad where you have the same Black and White couple, but instead of the fighting pose, have them in a loving embrace. Instead of conjured images of cotton fields, we will have images of Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney singing a duet, if you know what I mean!

Posted by Handheld This! at 9:44 p.m. | Permalink

Handheld This! Episode 1:

- Introducing the Show, what the hells is this show about

- Zero_D and Jarobi give their own reason why they support their own handheld console

- News and Games from Sony PSP and Nintendo DS

- Zero_D & Jarobi’s comments and critique

(Click here to download the MP3 file)

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Posted by Handheld This! at 1:50 p.m. | Permalink | Comments