Oct

Japanese owners of the Nintendo DS have been using it for all sorts of uses outside of games, like learning how to cook with Shaberu! Dīesu Oryōri Nabi or using it as a sweet synthesizer with the Korg DS-10.  It looks like this trend is finally coming to the U.S. as people begin to discover how versatile the hardware can be for education.

A recent example of this is the new game called My Chinese Coach, published by Ubisoft.  This game falls under a whole series of titles that teach language with the Nintendo DS.  Previous titles include My French Coach, My Spanish Coach, My Word Coach, and My Japanese Coach is expected to be released in October.

I am ethnically Chinese but I have grown up speaking a dialect of Chinese known as Fukienese or Fujianese, which is so different from Mandarin that it is almost like learning a completely new language.  So I went in without much prior knowledge other than the basic fortune-cookie Chinese of Ni hao (Hello) and Xie Xie (Thank you).

I was expecting My Chinese Coach to be a rather shallow program but boy was I wrong.  The first lesson introduced me to Pinyin, which is the romanized version of Chinese.  It does this by playing a sample of each sound through the speakers and then allows you to record your own voice with the DS’s built-in microphone.  You can then play it back and view the waveforms of the recording and compare and retry until you have the correct pronunciation.

The next lesson introduced the 5 different tones and how to read them in Pinyin.  A word like ma can be said differently with rising or lowering intonation to mean different things.  For example, ma said with a low tone to a higher tone like a question can mean “hemp,” while ma with a high to low tone means “scold.”

These lessons were followed by mini games where you rack up points and “level up” each word.  The first minigame is a multiple choice quiz where you have to match the Pinyin or Chinese characters with the English word and vice versa.  The next game is a whack-a-mole style game where you are told to only whack the mole that pops up with a specific Chinese character.  I found that this greatly forced me to recognize a Chinese character in a short period of time.  Another game makes you write the Chinese character with the correct stroke order on top of an example in the background.   Each time you write it, the character that you are tracing begins to disappear faster until you are forced to write the character without any guidance.  As someone who has had to write Japanese characters over and over in the past, this is an excellent way of learning how to write properly.

As you “level up” each word with each one you get right, you eventually master the word after you get enough right.  After you master all the words, it will unlock the new lesson.  There is a addictively rewarding satisfaction in unlocking new lessons similar to leveling up your character in World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy.  This is also good because it really does require you to master everything and prevents you from skipping through all the lessons. One thing I was worried about was that the game would not be robust enough for people who were experienced with the language.  So I asked my Mom, who’s fluent in Chinese, to try it out.  She was able to skip through the really basic lessons by taking a proficiency test at the beginning.  She really liked how it taught her the proper tones and pronunciation and she told me that she had actually learned a lot of things wrong when she learned it in the Philippines.  I was shocked to find that it teaches you over 12,000 words!

Here’s a little vid of the placement test:

My Chinese Coach may not be a complete substitute for a college level language course, but for people who can’t afford classes or don’t have time for them, it’s a great way to get your feet wet and familiarize yourself with a language so you will be primed and ready if you do decide to take some classes.  I liken it to having a portable Rosetta Stone with you when you’re waiting in line or taking the bus or train.  These games are also great for people who have learned a language in the past and need a refresher.  My Chinese Coach is $29.99 and available wherever Nintendo DS games are sold.

As someone who is also studying Japanese, I also can’t wait for My Japanese Coach, which uses the same format to teach Japanese and arrives later this month on October 15.  I will be sure to post my impressions.

Sep

Here’s an excellent cover of Daft Punk’s “Something About Us.” It’s done by Randy George via Reddit.

He’s using a Nintendo DS with Jam Sessions (known as Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 originally in Japan), a Moog theremin (I had no idea that Moog even made theremins!), and vocoder and keyboard powered by Ableton Live.

Randy George Cover:

Original “Something About Us” Music Video:

Mar

What ever happened to good old fashioned riddles? As a gamer, I see an occasional puzzle or riddle here and there in between killing zombies or saving princesses in my green tunic. What about a game that was so full of riddles, you couldn’t walk anywhere or progress at all unless you solved each one? And how about throwing in some of the best animation ever seen on the Nintendo DS? And a Detective Conan-esque subplot? Mix that all up and stir it around and you’ve got yourself Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

Professor Layton is a new game for Nintendo DS, created by Level-5, that requires you to solve puzzles and riddles along the way to unveil bits and pieces to help you solve a greater mystery going on. It was one of the best selling games in Japan last year especially due to the older casual gamers and just recently got translated for folks in the US.

You follow Professor Layton and his assistant around St. Mystere talking to the townfolk, which all have riddles or puzzles that need to be solved. It is all done in an adventure game style (a la 90s Lucas Arts games) and utilizes the touch screen perfectly to navigate and search for secrets like coins. These coins are hidden in random locations like barrels or paintings and can be used to give you hints in case you stumble upon a riddle that is just impossible to solve.

EXAMPLE: One riddle gives you 8 weights. They all look identical except 1 weight is lighter than the rest while the rest weigh the same. There is an old fashioned balance scale nearby that you may only use twice. How can you determine which one is the lighter one? I’ll let you guys answer in the comments section.

No matter how much you play the Brain Age games, the most they’ll do is train you to excel at the same activities through repetition. If you really want to wrack your brains with logical and analytical skills, I definitely recommend giving Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village a try. You can ever try an online demo of the game here (click on Game Demo on the top right).