Posts tagged with "videogames"

Nintendo Today App Debuts Just in Time for the Next Switch 2 Reveal

Earlier today, Nintendo held its last Direct for the original Nintendo Switch. Next week, Nintendo will share more about the Switch 2 during another Direct.

In addition to the many games showcased during today’s event was a new iOS and Android app called Nintendo Today. The app is a mix of Nintendo news, a game release calendar, and fun posts like Super Mario short movies and Metroid Dread concept art. Users can theme the app with images from their favorite Nintendo franchises and pick the games and characters they want to follow, which determines what you’ll see in the app’s Home and Calendar tabs. There are also settings to fine tune whether you get notifications about news and events.

Source: Nintendo.

Source: Nintendo.

The iOS app includes two styles of widgets, too. A medium widget displays content, such as video from today’s Nintendo Direct, news, and more. The larger widget displays the current month’s calendar and a list of upcoming game releases and other events, and is themed to match the franchise you pick when setting up the app.

Nintendo's widgets. Source: Nintendo.

Nintendo’s widgets. Source: Nintendo.

According to Nintendo, it intends to continue to announce games via Nintendo Directs. However, the company also says it will be releasing more information about the Switch 2 via the app after its April 2nd Switch 2 Direct, so fans can expect a mix of Directs and app announcements going forward.

Whether intentional or not, the app disclosed a small bit of information about the Switch 2 by labeling a new button on the Joy-Con with the letter ‘C.’ The C button has been rumored for quite a while, and no one knows for sure what it does, but the Nintendo Today app’s image of a Switch 2 appears to confirm that the button is in fact a ‘C’ button.

Nintendo Today is obviously meant to get Nintendo and its products in front of consumers more often via the device that most people are glued to throughout their days. So, yes, it’s marketing. However, it’s also a fun, playful app that’s beautifully designed and the kind of app that I expect Nintendo sickos like me will turn to daily for a little dose of their favorite franchises.

Nintendo Today is available on the App Store for the iPhone as a free download.


Recording Video and Gaming: A Setup Update

It’s been a couple of months since I updated my desk setup. In that time, I’ve concentrated on two areas: video recording and handheld gaming.

I wasn’t happy with the Elgato Facecam Pro 4K camera, so I switched to the iPhone 16e. The Facecam Pro is a great webcam, but the footage it shot for our podcasts was mediocre. In the few weeks that I’ve moved to the 16e, I’ve been very happy with it. My office is well lit, and the video I’ve shot with the 16e is clear, detailed, and vibrant.

The iPhone 16e sits behind an Elgato Prompter, a desktop teleprompter that can act as a second Mac display. That display can be used to read scripts, which I haven’t done much of yet, or for apps. I typically put my Zoom window on the Prompter’s display, so when I look at my co-hosts on Zoom, I am also looking into the camera.

The final piece of my video setup that I added since the beginning of the year is the Tourbox Elite Plus. It’s a funny looking contraption with lots of buttons and dials that fits comfortably in your hand. It’s a lot like a Stream Deck or Logitech MX Creative Console, but the many shapes and sizes of its buttons, dials, and knobs set it apart and make it easier to associate each with a certain action. Like similar devices, everything can be tied to keyboard shortcuts, macros, and automations, making it an excellent companion for audio and video editing.

On the gaming side of things, my biggest investment has been in a TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Mesh System. Living in a three-story condo makes setting up good Wi-Fi coverage hard. With my previous system I decided to skip putting a router on the third floor, which was fine unless I wanted to play games in bed in the evening. With a new three-router system that supports Wi-Fi 7 I have better coverage and speed, which has already made game streaming noticeably better.

Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro. Source: Ayn.

Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro. Source: Ayn.

The other changes are the addition of the Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro, which we’ve covered on NPC: Next Portable Console. I love its OLED screen and the fact that it runs Android, which makes streaming games and setting up emulators a breeze. It supports Wi-Fi 7, too, so it pairs nicely with my new Wi-Fi setup.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I often sit on my couch with a pillow in my lap to prop up my laptop or iPad Pro. That convinced me to add Mechanism’s Gaming Pillow to my setup, which I use in the evening from my couch or later in bed. Mechanism makes a bunch of brackets and other accessories to connect various devices to the pillow’s arm, which I plan to explore more in the coming weeks.

The 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Controller. Source: 8BitDo.

The 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Controller. Source: 8BitDo.

There are a handful of other changes that I’ve made to my setup that you can find along with everything else I’m currently using on our Setups page, but there are two other items I wanted to shout out here. The first is the JSAUX 16” FlipGo Pro Dual Monitor, which I recently reviewed. It’s two 16” stacked matte screens joined by a hinge. It’s a wonderfully weird and incredibly useful way to get a lot of screen real estate in a relatively small package. The second item is 8BitDo’s new Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller that works with Windows and Android. I was a fan of the original version of this controller, but this update preserves the original’s build quality and adds new features like L4 and R4 buttons, TMR joysticks that use less energy than Hall Effect joysticks, and 2.4G via a USB-C dongle and Bluetooth connection options.

That’s it for now. In the coming months, I hope to redo parts of my smart home setup, so stay tuned for another update later this summer or in the fall.

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Game Tracker: A Powerful App to Track, Organize, and Customize Your Videogame Library

Game Tracker is a new videogame tracking app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac from Simone Montalto, who is probably best known to MacStories readers for developing the excellent Book Tracker. In fact, Montalto has created an entire suite of tracking apps that also includes Movie Tracker, Music Tracker, and Habit Tracker. That experience with various tracking apps shows with Game Tracker, which does a fantastic job of tailoring to the particularities of videogames and leveraging metadata to allow users to make the app their own.

Let’s take a closer look.

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