Saturday, April 4, 2009

Toys

I am tuckered out! We - that's Nadine, John, Josh, and me - spent about five hours walking around the gorgeous Shomyo-ji temple at Kanazawa-Bunko. Unfortunately we had a camera battery issue and I don't have pictures to share - yet! I'll show you the sakura (cherry blossoms) when I nab some pics from Nadine's camera.

But speaking of cameras and such, I'm trying to decide what new toy to buy for myself. (Haha! What a tough life!) I have lots of toys - Nintendo Wii, an iPod, a cell phone, that kind of thing. But I'm yearning for a bunch more. I want Wii Fit, and I'd like to have some kind of portable game device, like a Nintendo DS or iPod Touch.

I'm such a hypocrite! I think of myself as rather frugal, and kind of anti-junk, but there's some junk that I just waaaaant! Let's break down the rationalizations, shall we?

1.Wii Fit: I want to get in better shape, and I hate the gym. It's free, yes, but it's full of Navy people and is twenty minutes away. And no one is allowed to go anywhere in Japan while wearing workout clothes, so I have to either drive straight there and home or pack extra clothes, shoes, shower shoes, shower stuff, a towel...you see the problem. Plus I hate the gym - and Wii Fit would mean I could exercise at my own pace, and it's like a game, not a stupid repetitive machine like the elliptical.

2.DS: This is like an updated Gameboy: two small screens, one is touch-sensitive, plus buttons and a stylus. Nadine kindly lent me hers and I've been playing with it for two days. There's a game, and this is the crux of it, called My Japanese Coach, and it teaches Japanese writing, pronunciation, grammar...everything! With games! And a stylus so you can learn to write on the touchscreen! I haven't seen anything like it.

3.iPod Touch: Well, I don't really want one of these. But Josh told me I should get it instead of the DS because I could access my email almost anywhere and download applications to practice Japanese.

So there you have it: my American is showing. I want all this crap and I'm not sure which is worth it. So many toys, so little time.

2 comments:

cSquared said...

Em- As far as handheld games go, the new DSi will be released Monday. Plays all the same games as the DSLite but has some cool new features which make it more like a portable Wii. You will be able to buy apps of the online Dsi shop, it has a built in camera, it hooks up to your home Wifi. Check it out! Remember you have a friend at Nintendo! ;)

EmilySullins said...

I didn't forget my friend at Nintendo! But boy, I love this iPod touch. I decided that email access, maps, and the Web made it worth it - and most of the games are free or a couple bucks instead of $30. The Wii is my only Nintendo for a while. :)