MyAppleMenu

The Always-On Edition Friday, December 9, 2016

A Chat With Shigeru Miyamoto On The Eve Of Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s First Smartphone Game, by Andrew Webster, The Verge

Miyamoto says that Nintendo has been toying with the idea of a one-button Mario game since the days of Wii. “As we were doing those experiments, we thought that that kind of approach would perhaps best be suited to iPhone,” he says. “So that became the basis for Super Mario Run.” But whether it was for Wii or iPhone, the goal behind this streamlined Mario was the same: to bring the distinct flavor of Super Mario to as many people as possible. “Nintendo has been making Mario games for a long time, and the longer you continue to make a series, the more complex the gameplay becomes, and the harder it becomes for new players to be able to get into the series,” Miyamoto says. “We felt that by having this simple tap interaction to make Mario jump, we’d be able to make a game that the broadest audience of people could play.”

Shigeru Miyamoto Explains Why Nintendo Finally Brought Mario To The iPhone, by Joseph Bernstein, BuzzFeed

Indeed, coming off the disappointing sales of its Wii U console, and ahead of the March release of its NX console, Nintendo may be realizing that its future as a hardware manufacturer may be linked to getting their characters in front of a new generation of players, even if that means meeting them halfway.

'Super Mario Run' Apparently Requires An Always-on Internet Connection, by Adam Rosenberg, Mashable

Unlike our dedicated game devices, the game is not releasing in a limited number of countries. We're launching in 150 countries and each of those countries has different network environments and things like that. So it was important for us to be able to have it secure for all users.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Live At The SoHo Apple Store Event In NYC, On Nintendo History And 'Super Mario Run', by Brian Carter, TouchArcade

“You play and you try something and fail and try again and it’s that thinking process, that’s fun. The second is when somebody is watching you play, and they say ‘give me the controller, I can do better!’ So, what you’re showing has to be simple enough to see what you need to do, and that’s why in my first game [Donkey Kong] the gorilla is at the top and it’s very apparent that you have to follow the sloped girders to get up to the gorilla and that’s where Mario first appeared — at that point he was a carpenter.”

Apple Shows Enormity Of Rapidly Progressing Campus 2 With Interior Shots Ahead Of Move-in, by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

As part of the memo to employees, Apple reportedly said that around 5200 people are currently working the site. The photos, which are some of the first of the building’s interior, shows the enormity of the structure from a ground-level perspective.

Stuff

Thoughts On Ulysses And Scrivener, by Matt Gemmell

Ulysses is more than I thought it was — I cheerfully admit that — and in terms of entirely being what it’s designed to be, it’s understandably much further along the road than the still-young mobile version of Scrivener. Scriv feels like the 1.0 that it is, albeit a spectacular one, based on years of thought and experience in this genre of tools. Ulysses also feels like the 2.7 that it is. Neither one is perfect, because nothing can be, but nor is either one ideal. I’m giving Ulysses a shot for now, but with some reservations. We’ll see.

Do I still recommend Scrivener? Oh yes. It’s lovely. And would I recommend Ulysses? Absolutely. They’re different. How do you feel about aluminium?

Adobe Updates Lightroom For iPhone With One-Handed Editing Interface, by Mitchel Broussard, MacRumors

The company's biggest priority was to introduce a system that was functional to operate with just one hand. As such, users can now see the entire image while editing it and have access to "often used tools," such as viewing before and after iterations of a photo, without needing a second hand.

The Pok3r, by Ben Brooks

This is a fantastic keyboard, not just for iPad users but for computing in general. I do wish there was a bluetooth version, but I also find Bluetooth keyboards problematic on iOS, so perhaps it’s better not to be given the option.

Notes

Apple Says It Is Working Closely With The Chinese Government To Kill Coal, by Kif Leswing, Business Insider

Apple recently bought a significant stake in several projects led by Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, the world's largest wind power turbine maker.

Steve Wozniak Was My Computer Teacher In 1995, by Syambra Moitozo, Motherboard

In our recent conversation, when I shared that memory with Steve, he chuckled and then added, “Why not let young students go in the directions they want to? Let them go off and do what they like to do and don’t force them to be going at the same speed as somebody else. Most of school might as well just be daycare anyway. If people have something in their heart, you shouldn’t slow them down...I liked being a super geek, but I definitely never pushed my values on other people.”