NCS
Game
Synopsis
«©NCSX»
According to figures from the Ministry of Justice
and the Japan National Tourist Organization,
17,401,000 Japanese tourists flew and sailed to
destinations in Europe, North America, and Asia in
2005. Roughly 300,000 of those tourists visited
Germany and enjoyed attractions such as the Bavarian
Forest in Munich, Coburg Castle, the Baltic Coast,
Baden-Baden, and the museums in Heidelberg.
To help Japanese tourists get around, Nintendo's Tabi no Yubisashi
software allows for point 'n tap translation
services for communicating with German locals,
shopkeeps, and the man on the street. Greetings such
as Guten Tag (Good afternoon) and Guten Morgen
allerseits (Good morning everyone) are useful when
faced with hotel staff or a gang of soccer fans. With the software, travelers will
be able to point and tap to order food, purchase
goods, inquire about the whereabouts of the lavatory,
rent a car, and other basic questions when roaming the
wilds of a foreign land.
Simple Interface
Upon starting the software up, users may set the brightness of the
screen as well as the presentation mode. Once in the
actual software, the top screen of the NDS shows an
animal from the host country on the left side of the
screen while a bald-headed representation of the
Japanese visitor appears on the right. On the touch screen,
10 boxes representing different situations are
arranged neatly along with a "suitcase menu" icon
that is located on the
lower right corner of the screen. Each situation box contains
the Japanese text as well as the target
language below it to indicate what it's used for.
When tapped, each box reveals a
page or six of translated queries that may be
activated and then shown on the top screen. If
you're interacting with someone face to face, press
the L-TRIGGER to flip the top NDS screen so that the
orientation is right-side-up for him/her.
Express Yourself
Along with automatic Japanese to German text
translation, the software can also vocalize your
question in a clear female voice. To activate a
vocalized saying,
tap on the box for it and then tap the "suitcase menu" icon
on the lower-right corner which brings you to a
screen with seven icon-based actions. Tap on the
icon on the upper right corner which contains a
megaphone image and the NDS will intonate the
question or comment. NCS would have preferred a
speak option
directly on the language snippet selection screen
since there's a little wedge of space that's blank.
As it is, Nintendo added an extra two steps to
access the ability to speak the desired phrase or
question.
The top NDS screen depicts the conversation as icons are tapped
along with the two characters in various states of
action. When the toilet icon is tapped, the
bald-headed figure may be seen in an exaggerated
state to depict the local emergency about to occur.
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