NDS apps review

[Ben2303]

Here are my NDS apps reviews, I'll use the International Penguin Notation Scheme.
A little chart to explain things :

	Awesome !
	Excellent !
	Good
	Average
	Not good
	Bad
	Brain damaging

I'll use a similar table as my games reviews, except the final rank is now on the first line, just right to the app name.

I have no wifi point, so I couldn't test these apps :

JabberDS DSBash

	My Project-Reno Studio
	Presentation This tool features a notepad system and a simplistic paint application. It has also handwritting recognition.
	Features On notepad side, you can type using an ugly keyboard, or with handwritting recognition (the one included in PA Lib if I'm right). handwritting is based on the same think old pdas are, and I don't like it that much... Anyway, that's a notepad, you got the point. According to the author, the main purpose is chinese writting, and looks like chinese is well implemented as far as I can see (and understand...). The sketching side is simple but nice. It's working pretty good imho. You can draw, fill and do the basic stuffs, yet it's far from the DS drawing apps we all know...
	Usefullness This can be usefull to take a few notes or a simple sketch (like the license plate of that guy who parked too close to your car, or the phone number of the girl you always meet in the supermarket lines).
	Interface Ouch. Interface is incredibly clumsy, and I had to fight not to shut down the app and give it a bad bad rank... It will hurt your eyes, hurt your logic, hurt your fingers and probably more...

	Flashcart OS: N 2.1
	Presentation Similar to R4 menu, this one's a fle browser/launcher.
	Features Well, it's pretty self explanary, you can brows and launch. For me nothing really worked though.. Lacks too many things like file sorting or filtering (like the R4 does).
	Usefullness It can be nice for people with lame linker menus... I have a R4 so...
	Interface Interface is really good looking. Keys are repeating too fast, and again filtering/sorting, paging, etc... are missing

	FAT PLAYER MIKMOD v3
	Presentation A mikmod frontend, Most of the glory goes to mikmod so I givet it a special "Penguin plays guitar" rank cos it's not easy to judge... If I was a bad person I'll give mikmod port 9/10 and this frontend 4/10, so that gives 13/20 which equals the penguin guitar player.
	Features Well, it plays everything mikmod plays. There's also a visualizer for people interested in that kind of things.
	Usefullness Very nice to have a mod, xm, etc jukebox !
	Interface Basic play/stop, but the font is not appealing at all... This part could easily be enhanced.

	DS-DOS
	Presentation Some kind of DOS interpreter. You know DOS, the command line thing everybody hates ? That's it.
	Features Features look good on paper, but nothing worked for me. I couldn't input anything with the keyboard, so I tried the pad.. Everything went black...
	Usefullness DOS is a bad shell, and there are graphical interfaces in the same category.
	Interface It's like MS-DOS, but worst. That's a shame cos it needed a lot of work I'm sure, but it's just not working. Don't blame me for my hard words, I'm an old man, I worked a lot on unix command line (ksh, bash, ...) and I really liked that. But that was the past.

	DSF
	Presentation After looking at samels link, I now understand (a little more). This think is the most minimalist interpreter you'll find, you can program with only a few characters. You thought ASM was not easy to read ? Try this one and you'll loooove reading ASM. Anyway, the challenge is ok.
	Features Didn't play much with it (too difficult for me), but pasting code from other site actually worked. Well I guess it worked...
	Usefullness OK, that one is for the geekest of us all. Those who like it will be happy. You can't actually program anything valuable, neither anything maintanable (unless you're a star trek fan maybe).
	Interface There's a keyboard. That's a good point, we could have had to scroll letters to type words or use some ascii table...

	DSision
	Presentation A replacement shell. This one offers nice customization features.
	Features Well, that's a shell, you launch nds files. But you've got a bonus : an analog watch. We never know when we need to know what time it is... Loading is a little slow.
	Usefullness Usefull to people who want a fully customizable interface, a shell that no one else can have.
	Interface I just like it. Simple, slick, fully customizable and skinnable, really really nice. The scrolling file browser is really great for the eyes.

	Mediatheque DS
	Presentation An inventory utility that can handle your book collection, your DVDs, games, .... Anything that can be categorized and stored.
	Features Great filters with quick access, coverpics, search, it has everything needed.
	Usefullness Well, depends on people. I won't use it cos it's way less handy than PC equivalent. I don't have to walk around with my collections, but if you need, this is the tool for you.
	Interface Damin, the same fonts as fat player mikmod... I don't like them, they're hard to read. Interface is not really goodlooking, but it is still functionnal, even if touching an item in the list don't work and that makes me mad.

	Motion Plotter
	Presentation Basic Etch a sketch. But without the sand sounds.
	Features DS Motion only, you draw lines by tilting your DS. Lines are always a little too "stright" for me, you can't actually draw circles by tilting so. But you can change colors too ! What do you have to say to that single color-etch-a-sketch ??
	Usefullness Without the sand sounds, I'd say totaly useless.
	Interface DS Motion works good, there are actually no visual interface, but DS Motion is here, so is a little rank boost....

	Spinal's Media Player
	Presentation A movie player with a converter included.
	Features Plays movies with sounds, fast forward, seek search, and have a very interesting bookmark system so you can see the movie from previous saved point. This system is great. You can dim the screen not used too.
	Usefullness Good DPG/Moonshell alternative imho. Did I said I liked the bookmark feature ?
	Interface Pretty good, pretty functionnal, I liked it.

	TabBed
	Presentation A weird mix, you can see tabs, track some drums... I don't play the guitar nor drums, and I'm not sure I understood everything.
	Features Looks many things possible to me. Again I don't understand everything, but I like plotting points so it makes drums, or look at charts I have no idea they represent. Yes, I'm french.
	Usefullness I'm sure guitar lovers will find great. I keep it in my pocket until I buy a guitar and begin to learn "Hotel California" (Gipsy Kings /the big Lebowsky version)
	Interface Not good looking. The navigation system is good.

	Wee Basic
	Presentation Basic interpreter with debugger. Sounds quite complete.
	Features I didn't have time to dig, but on paper things are pretty interesting.
	Usefullness I don't really know. Maybe kids can make their project at home and show them to their friends at school ?
	Interface Didn't look too much either, but again on paper looks good because of the debugger.

[MagNet]

Good choice of the rating categories, and pesoguins yay .
Pity you don't have wifi tho, also DSF is a brain**** interpreter, which is a computerized Turing machine, look it up.

[sumiguchi]

the phone number of the girl you always meet in the supermarket lines

lol - not sure any girl will give you her phone number if she sees you using a ds in the supermarket 

nice reviews

[samel]

DSF
Presentation
I didn't really understand what it can do in fact...

I know DSF is not that great app, but if you don't understand try at last to document yourself before spread judgement.

[Ben2303]

I know DSF is not that great app, but if you don't understand try at last to document yourself before spread judgement.

You're right, I should have but  didn't take the time. I tried some google but it all sends me to very very complex maths things, do you have any links for begeinners who don't want to spend hours on getting the purpose ?

[samel]

Here
http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/bf/
you can find all you need to understand brain**** and some program to test.
Hope this can help

[Ben2303]

Thanks for the link, my searchs with "computerized Turing machine" were unsuccessful.
This thing is a surprising gadget. I can't believe I never met some guy during my computer science course who loved it... I say that cos I met some people who always challenge themselves on the most uncomprehensible way to code. With that brainf*** I would have kill them.. if only I liked to play their games.
Anyway, thanks for opening my mind a little more than it was, I still find your app to be some kind of weird ufo, but now I know it's an ufo with a pilot.

Keep going your way despite what people say 

[samel]

I still find your app to be some kind of weird ufo, but now I know it's an ufo with a pilot.

So I've hit the goal!

[spinal]

Usefullness
Good DPG/Moonshell alternative imho. Did I said I liked the bookmark feature ?

Bookmarks were the main feature I wanted from a movie player, I can never remember how far I got into a movie, and hopelessly prodding the progress bar  is no good when in other players it takes time to seek.