Blowing on the DS sucks (or: the huff-and-puff games)

by Tony Carnevale { Apr 11th 2007 at 1:45PM }

MTV News' Stephen Totilo has discovered the first video game innovation he's ever hated: "blow control" on the Nintendo DS. When he was commanded to literally exhale air at the system's built-in microphone in WarioWare: Master of Disguise, Totilo decided, "I don't see the point. What I see is embarrassment at having to hyperventilate over my DS while riding the subway." That seems like the point to us.

Press the Buttons' Matthew Green agrees with Totilo, and calls Diddy Kong Racing DS the worst offender of the "huff-and-puff" games. "I did so much huffing and puffing to try and beat the clock that I made myself dizzy and had to go lie down for a while." From DS hyperventilation to Wii elbow, Nintendo really loves making gamers get in touch with their doughy, neglected bodies. Wii Yoga, anyone?

Tags: blowing, ds lite, DsLite, master of disguise, MasterOfDisguise, mtv multiplayer, MtvMultiplayer, totilo, wario, warioware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tim Harding @ Apr 11th 2007 1:48PM

If it's not overused it can be cool. Like in Phoenix Wrights when you use the powder to find fingerprints. It feels more realistic to blow away the powder to reveal the fingerprints. Again, it shouldn't be overused.

Crono @ Apr 11th 2007 1:50PM

The blow control in lost in blue 2 is genius, in my opinion.

It would be nice if developers decided to use the microphone for something other than "noise detection" though. I mean, its a fully functioning microphone. How about voice commands? Decent multiplayer chat? VoIP? C'mon, give us the telephone cart that turns the DS into a wi-fi VoIP phone! How about a karaoke game?

jeebus.

Je2037 @ Apr 11th 2007 1:50PM

I think you meant: "Blowing on the DS blows"

kyou @ Apr 11th 2007 1:58PM

That would indeed be a better title. Anyways, also blowing to inflate the balloons in mario kart was quite cool too.

Jonathan @ Apr 11th 2007 2:08PM

You don't have to really blow, though. In Feel The Magic, instead of blowing, I just said "ahhh!" like you do for the doctor and it worked fine.

It doesn't feel the wind of your blow, just the noise it makes. So you can really do anything.

Cutriss @ Apr 11th 2007 2:14PM

The problem is that people are blowing too hard, and the mic is picking up noise that doesn't sound like air rushing past.

I learned this lesson before long with Feel The Magic. You don't have to blow like a Singapore hooker - if you're blowing hard enough to whistle, it's probably too hard.

Ken @ Apr 11th 2007 2:16PM

Works well in Spectrobes too. When you excavate something, you can blow into the mic to blow away all the dust. Pretty nifty.

If done in moderation (like alcohol) it works fine. I've not played the Wario game, so I have no idea how it works.

ssuk @ Apr 11th 2007 2:16PM

These people love hip hop, can we really trust their oppinions on what sucks and what doesn't?

LuigiHann @ Apr 11th 2007 2:18PM

I thought it was clever a couple of times, but it is overused, and is one of the dumbest things ever. Having a whole set of minigames in WarioWare dedicated solely to blowing? Awful. I wish more developers would come up with ways to use the microphone that actually make sense, or just not use it at all.
Know what would be cool? If in a game like EBA, in addition to the normal tapping, there are points where you have to shout "Hey!"

Ken @ Apr 11th 2007 2:17PM

Plus, this guy's from MTV.

He should be used to blowing.

Arbuz Chokaro @ Apr 11th 2007 2:23PM

I don't know about other people, but after about 3 huffs and puffs I just give up. Makes playing Mario Kart in battle mode a bitch but honestly, its better then blowing on your DS for five minutes trying to get another baloon.

Anyone else notice that that feature works worse on the DS Lite than on the DS Phat?

Todd @ Apr 11th 2007 2:35PM

Is Stephen Totilo tubby?

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Apr 11th 2007 2:38PM

Blowing sucks.

Mic in general (except for multiplayer chat) sucks.

P.S. This is: Mario Karts mini games, Mario mini games. Example of Brain Age and its infamous "blue" is left as exercise to readers.

JodyAnthony @ Apr 11th 2007 2:41PM

you have to be stupid to be embarassed by something as silly as blowing on a DS.

ThrustinJ @ Apr 11th 2007 2:43PM

Yoshi Touch and Go had it first.

If you drew clouds that didn't end up working out for you, you could blow them away. Worked pretty well in quiet areas. I thought it was pretty smart.

chris furniss @ Apr 11th 2007 2:54PM

I agree. The blowing levels in Wario Ware for the DS was enough to make me throw my DS against a wall. Such a stupid gameplay mechanic.

But think of the poor gameplay testers!

Cutriss @ Apr 11th 2007 3:03PM

@ThrustinJ - Feel The Magic beat Yoshi Touch & Go by about three months.

wackychan @ Apr 11th 2007 3:11PM

Nintendo will have you guys blowing your own Wiis before too long.

lawls!

Leshrac @ Apr 11th 2007 3:25PM

Actually, I kind of hate this too. I, at least, wish that developers would be smart enough to allow consumers to disable this "feature". As fun as it can sometimes be to have you and your friends frantically blowing into the DS to inflate your balloons in Mario Kart, half the time it doesn't even work properly and it's just a matter of who gets lucky, and it'd be nice if they at least allowed for a more "pure" experience by giving the option to disable it.

-Leshrac
http://alinktothefuture.com

JayDiggler @ Apr 11th 2007 3:34PM

Whenever I see a blowing in the microphone feature I don't buy the game...I learned my lesson from the horrible battle mode for mario kart.

Plaid Ninja @ Apr 11th 2007 3:35PM

I refuse to play any game that requires me to give a blowjob.

required @ Apr 11th 2007 3:40PM

I agree, it is a stupid gimmick (like the stylus) though you can skip blowing by simply scratching or tapping the microphone area.

Farseer @ Apr 11th 2007 3:58PM

Hey, don't let the blowing feature turn you off to the Mario Kart battle mode.

You can inflate the balloons by holding the select button too.

Hell, until this thread, I didn't know you did it any other way.

mike @ Apr 11th 2007 3:59PM

whats with all the blowjob refrences? Last time I got a BJ, there was no blowing involved. Who the hell decided to call it a BJ anyway?

Ken @ Apr 11th 2007 4:08PM

Lol you didn't buy Mario Kart because you're too lazy to blow into the mic to fill the balloon.

Wow. I'm glad you didn't buy the game, a lazy ass like yourself doesn't deserve to play a great game like that. Jeeze.

Oh and @24

I think it started out as a "below job" and slowly formed into "blow job".

will @ Apr 11th 2007 5:04PM

I can't even play "blow" games on the subway because the subway in Mtl makes too much noise-- it thinks I am blowing all of the time. i'm not that gutted though because I WOULD feel like an idiot blowing and talking to my DS in public. @14, you are the mentalist.

kyou @ Apr 11th 2007 5:21PM

Also, you don't need to blow that hard. If you get tired by blowing to the mic to inflate the balloons in Mario Kart... you sir, are pathetic (and should probably quit smoking).

Blowing to my DS isn't embarassing at all to me, but, talking to my Nintendog or yelling "Objection!" or "Hold It!", that's too much for me even.

kyou @ Apr 11th 2007 5:27PM

Damn, I only know three bands. And one of them is SMAP only because they're regularly made fun of and parodied. They really do suck.

In the other hand I'm glad to see flow in there.

kyou @ Apr 11th 2007 5:28PM

Crap! Wrong place to post that. Yeah, that was for the ouendan thing.

ThatFuzzyBastard @ Apr 11th 2007 6:19PM

It worked well in Magnetica---on higher levels, clouds would fill the screen, and you had to blow *while* tossing balls hither and yon. It was fun, and added an extra layer of stress to the gameplay (this is a good thing).

bm @ Apr 11th 2007 6:38PM

"I agree, it is a stupid gimmick (like the stylus)"

lol! A rare breed of Sony/MS fanboy these days. Look kiddo, we're not at the DS's launch anymore. It's been quite a while now, and calling the stylus a "gimmick" makes you sound just as retarded as calling the analogue stick a gimmick. Then again, if you -are- a retard I guess you can't help sounding like one.

"These people love hip hop, can we really trust their oppinions on what sucks and what doesn't?"

This is a very valid point indeed.