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Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

February 20, 2012 – 12:39 pm | 3 Comments

Tiny Diggers has just been released on the iPad and soon the Mac computer. Here’s the details on this fun, educational game from TouchTilt Games.
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Home » Nintendo DS

Quit making us blow into the mic!

Submitted by on April 11, 2007 – 1:29 am4 Comments

bigbadwolf.jpgMattG at Press The Buttons is annoyed, and I share his sentiment. Having to blow at your DS, while holding it close enough that you can’t see the screen, hoping not to get spittle on it, and trying not to make yourself dizzy, sucks.

Talking into the microphone, a la Brain Age, is one thing. Blowing into it is perhaps the dumbest feature the DS has. My favorite comment on the issue, cited in the PTB article, is from MTV’s Stephen Totilo:

“Short of a Breathalyzer mini-game in a Grand Theft Auto, I don’t see the point.”

What do you think – does all this huffing and puffing annoy you?

via Press The Buttons

  • Matt

    I hate blowing into the mic. It never works unless I’m right up on it and then my eyes cross if I try to look at the screen. It makes Mario Kart DS Battle almost unplayable.

  • Adibobea9

    I have never had a problem and I enjoy it for games like Mario Kart DS and Feel The Magic. Does this problem have to do with the DSLite because I thought the new placement was supposed to be better? Anyway as long as it it utilized in a unique matter, then I love it…

  • http://www.froglord.com/forums/ Goose

    The only game I’ve had to blow into the mic for was the Yoshi-balloon mini-game in New Super Mario Bros. In that case, I actually found blowing into the mic worked better if you held the DS about 40cm from my face, making the screen clearly visible. Any closer, and all the huffing and puffing in the world wouldn’t get me very far, but at that distant, a mild breeze was all that was necessary for things to work.

    If other games are programmed in a similar way, it could be that you’re just trying to hard.

  • Stephen

    I also have had no problems with this. It’s all about focus. If you’re blowing on the screen, you’re wasting energy. Direct your breath at the mic and you need very little force. All you need to do is make wind noise in the mic. It’s a cheap programming effort: all they need is the noise level above a certain point.

    You mention Feel the Magic, Adibobea9… there was one part in that where you were supposed to shout “I love you” or something into the Mic. I just blew into it instead. Much more reasonable for playing in mixed company, and worked fine.