January 11, 2010 Nintendo Downloads – WiiWare, Virtual Console and DSiWare Updates
January 11th, 2010 | 
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Wow, I haven’t done one of these updates in a long time. But during the holiday season, Nintendo released some great games to their downloadable library. I recently purchased Blaster Master. While the game didn’t impress me, not like it did back in the 80’s, it did help to get me back into the routine. Nintendo likes to update their library on Mondays, so I decided to check out the latest updates. The DSi picked up some some casual games, like Solitaire, Billiards and Word Search. Meanwhile, the WiiWare library was updated with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. You might recognize the iconic fingerpointing. It has become a popular Internet Meme.
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How to Add Menu Items to Android Apps
I’ve been looking at the new Android phones and a lot of them do not have keyboards. I don’t know why the industry is still playing “me too” with iPhone-like interfaces. But as an app developer, I have to be aware of this issue. Considering that keyboard-less android phones have few buttons, the menu button becomes more important. That meant I had to get past a developer hurdle – learning how to add menus to my android apps.
Installing Windows on My Mac Mini
Back in the 90’s, I was a die-hard Mac fan. That’s only natural when your college is loaded with software and hardware from Apple. Even shortly after college, my graphic design work was mostly done on a Mac. But a decade later, I’m a Windows guy. The hardware is cheaper and the software is plentiful… including video games. Although, I recently bough a Mac Mini. I wanted to see if the grass was greener on the other side. It wasn’t, not for me. Having re-experienced the Mac OS side of things, I found more success with Android development than iPhone OS development. My Mac Mini went unused. The neglect was so bad that I didn’t even have it hooked up to the Internet. My shiny new Mac had turned into a dust collecting box. It needed new life… so I installed Windows on it!
Video Game Management Style
Ever wonder why so many people try to escape reality by going into video games? True, I love video games… but the real world should be more desirable. I was puzzled by this oddity. Why does virtual loot become more valuable to people than real loot? More specifically, why is eight hours of killing rats in World of Warcraft considered so addicting, but eight hours of office work is so dreaded? That’s when I had an epiphany. It’s the management style. Video Games are about managing people. What do the players do with their time, how do they work/play together and what are fair rewards? These are important principles that office managers tend to miss. That’s why I’ve created this Video Game Management Style article. Perhaps it could lead to more productive and happy workers.
Google and the Mystery of the Penny
So OK, I’ve been doing the mobile development thing for about a year now and I’m finally starting to see some money being generated by my apps. Throughout 2009, the coins would add up. Five cents here, 10 cents there… whoa… $2.09 from a book sale… the cash would accumulate in my account. I was holding off on redeeming my earnings because Google Checkout wanted my bank account number. Suddenly, it was no longer a fun game with arcade like scoring. No, once I cashed out the money, there would be real world consequences… like income tax forms and trips to the mall. Hey, wait a minute, I like buying stuff… so Google, where’s my money? Before I could get paid, there was the little matter of account verification.