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Therefore, the use of this guide in any websites, publications, or any
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with your request.
===============
2. Introduction
===============
The Nintendo DS, Nintendo 's new portable gaming device, hit the market on
November 21st. Along with the system itself, gamers soon discovered to free
things that came with the system. There was Metroid Prime Hunters: First
Hunt, a demo cartridge that came in the box. There was also PictoChat, a
feature built into the system itself. PictoChat was not a game; instead it
was a program that let people communicate between two to sixteen DS
systems. This is a guide on how to use PictoChat. If you had questions on
PictoChat, you have come to the right place. Check it out!
PictoChat is easy to use. To access PictoChat, start by opening up your DS.
Make sure that it is charged up, and then press the POWER button. The
system will turn on, and it will bring up the start-up screen. Tap the
touch screen or press a button to move onto the next screen. On the next
screen, touch the PictoChat button (or select it by using the D-Pad and
choose it with the A button). Next it will take you to the PictoChat
entrance screen. From that screen, select one of the four chat rooms. It
displays how many people are in each chat room on the right side of the
chat room buttons. After you have done that, you will enter PictoChat. Once
you have entered PictoChat, you can draw and send messages to other people
in the chat room. Refer to the control modes for more information on what
all of the buttons in PictoChat do.
=============================
4. Touch Screen Only Controls
=============================
There are two methods that people can use to use PictoChat. There is the
touch screen only method, and there is the button only method. Since
PictoChat was created partially to display the abilities of the Nintendo
DS, the touch screen only method has the most features.
When you run PictoChat, you will see that there are things on both screens.
The top screen is where you see messages that you or another person has
sent. The bottom screen, which is also the touch screen, is where you
compose messages to send to other people. Since the top screen is only for
display, the bottom screen is the only thing that is important for touch
screen only controls.
Top Screen
-------------------------------
Signal Strength>|_||NDS_Master| I guess this is |
|--|---------- PictoChat |<----Message Display
| |----------------------------| Area
| |DSFan | This is one of the |
| |------ best features for |
Scroll -------->| | the Nintendo DS!!! |
Indicator | |----------------------------|
| |NDS_Master| |
| |---------- \ / /\ |_| |
| | | /--\ | | |
-------------------------------
On the top half of the bottom screen, you will see a large white area. This
is the drawing area. There are a few, fine lines through the drawing area.
This is the area where you draw messages. Using the stylus, draw on the
drawing area. Where ever you touch with the stylus, it will draw a black
lines. Using the stylus, you can draw pictures and messages.
--------
Keyboard
--------
Directly under the drawing area, you will find a keyboard. It is easy to
use the keyboard. Simply touch a letter on the keyboard, and it will appear
on a line in the drawing area. If you hold the stylus against the touch
screen when you select a letter, you can drag the letter to the exact place
that you want it on the drawing area.
-----------
Send Button
-----------
To the right of the keyboard you will find three buttons. The top button
is the send button. When you press the send button, it will send whatever
is on the drawing area to the other people in the chat room.
----------------
Take Back Button
----------------
Below the send button, you will find the take back button. If you press
this button, the last message displayed to the message display area. By
using the scroll buttons, you can change which message is the last one in
the message display.
------------
Erase Button
------------
Under the take back button, you will find the erase button. Press the erase
button and it will erase everything in the drawing area. This is useful
when you simply want to erase everything you have wrote without sending the
message.
To the left of the keyboard, you will find several buttons that will change
the type of keyboard. There are five different keyboards that you can
choose. Some display characters from foreign languages, while other display
many types of symbols.
Above the keyboard select buttons, you will find the buttons that adjust
the thickness of the lines that you draw. You can choose from either thick
or thin lines. This does not affect lines that you have already drawn; it
only affects the lines that you draw after you press it.
----------
Erase/Draw
----------
Above the thickness buttons, there is the erase and draw buttons. If you
select the erase button, you will erase everything that you touch on the
drawing area. Be careful though, as the area that is erased is much larger
than the area that you draw. Choose the drawing button to resume drawing.
--------------
Scroll Buttons
--------------
At the top, left corner of the bottom screen, there are two scroll buttons.
If you press the up scroll button, you will scroll up through the messages.
If you press the down scroll button, you will scroll down through the
displayed messages. Using the scroll buttons, you can change which message
you bring into the drawing area with the take back button.
----------
User Names
----------
In a small area on the left side of the drawing area, you will find your
user name. Press it to see you special message. On the top of the touch
screen, you will find the user names of other people in the chat room.
Press their user names to see their messages.
-----------
Exit Button
-----------
On the top, right corner of the lower screen, you will find the exit
button. Choose this button and you will exit the chat room.
=======================
5. Button Only Controls
=======================
It is possible to use PictoChat without using the touch screen. If you only
use buttons, you can use every feature except the drawing feature and the
buttons that are associated with the drawing feature (erase/draw buttons,
thickness buttons). You also cannot view the special messages of people in
the chat room, and you cannot choose the exit button. The button only
control method provides an excellent way for people to use PictoChat
without going through the trouble of trying to use a stylus.
------------------
Using the Keyboard
------------------
When you use the button only method of controls, you will spend most of
your time using the D-Pad. Press the various directions on the D-Pad to
select different letters on the keyboard. Press the A button to put those
letters on the drawing area. If you want to change the keyboard, press the
Y button to cycle through the five different keyboards that are available.
When you press the X button, you will cycle from having Shift on, Caps on,
and both Shift and Caps off. This makes it easy to quickly select uppercase
and lowercase letters.
As soon as you have finished writing your message, press Start to send it.
You can also take back the lowest message displayed on the message display
area by pressing the Select button. If you hold down the select button for
a few seconds, it will erase everything that is in the drawing area.
---------
Scrolling
---------
To scroll through past messages, press the L and R buttons. The R button
scrolls up through past messages, and the L button scrolls down through
past messages.
====================
6. Uses of PictoChat
====================
Okay, so Nintendo has added this great feature to all of its DS systems.
This feature, PictoChat, allows you to chat with people within the wireless
range. The only problem is that the wireless range of the DS is small
(probably due to FCC regulations), and you can only communicate with people
that you could easily talk to. Since the DS has such a short wireless
range, the ways that you can use PictoChat are limited. Anyway, here are a
few ideas of when it is good to use PictoChat. I will add more ideas when I
think of them, and people can also submit ideas to me.
--------------
Movie Critique
--------------
This is the time that I find PictoChat most useful. When several people are
gathered to watch a movie and a few people have the Nintendo DS, then there
is something fun that you can do. During the movie the people with the
Nintendo DS can write about and comment on the movie without disturbing the
other people in the room. It is a great thing to use when you want to make
comments about a movie while other people want to silently watch the movie.
--------------------------
Room-to-Room Communication
--------------------------
This is another great way to use PictoChat. When two people have PictoChat,
they can talk with each other from different rooms of a house. This is one
time when you can use PictoChat without standing right next to the person
that you are talking to. If you are in two different rooms you could also
turn the sound up and leave PictoChat on. Whenever one person needs to talk
with the other, they can simply send a message and PictoChat will beep,
alerting the other person that someone sent a message to them.
--------
Have Fun
--------
Whether you are next to someone or not, the most important use of PictoChat
is to have fun with it. Since it has so many features, there are many fun
things that you can do with PictoChat even though you are close to the
person that you are talking to.
