My favorite Nintendo character, Boo, received very little fan love. Disappointed with the lack of images out there, I set out to make my own vector version which I would ultimately put on a T-Shirt. Using a small 100 x 100 icon of "boo", I used the "Live Trace" feature within Adobe Illustrator CS2 to create him. I then used the "Live Paint" feature to color him. Isn’t he darling? In the middle you can see the T-Shirt design I created. In the top-right hand corner you can see a CMYK (i.e. printable) version  of the graphic.

Boxwave Flexiskin for Dell Axim x50v Price: US$29.95 (Web Special) Rating (4 out of 5):        

When it comes to cases for you Axim, plenty of companies have you covered (pun intended!). There’s plenty of leather cases, hard cases, and fabric cases to choose from. However, leather cases can be rather expensive; fabric cases are nice but don’t necessarily protect you from much. So, Boxwave offers the Flexiskin case (made of silicone) in attempt to give you decent protection, little additional weight, and smooth finish. Boxwave bills this case as being both “usable and protective” - but how does it fare under real world circumstances? We’ll find out.  

Note = Boxwave also offers this case in a Smoke Grey color (although, oddly enough, without a plastic flip cover). The case I reviewed was from the Axim x50v, but it will also fit the x51v as well.

What’s in the box?

As you can see from picture below, your case comes with everything pictures here: A wrist strap, a belt clip, and extra screw, and the case itself. If you look closely, there’s not actually an Axim x50v unit inside the actual case (not yet, anyway). The case comes padded out with a model one, complete with packaging foam and plastic over all the right places. Overall, I think it was a nice packaging job. It was very nice of them to include a wrist-strap!

Unfortunately, there are no instructions to be found. It wouldn’t have hurt to put in just a small amount of information regarding cleaning and maintenance. Maybe a small card viewable from the back of the box could work. Even my Boxwave headphones and screen protector came with instructions!  

Dress Rehearsal

Now it’s time to slip the case on and see how it looks! From the back, you can see what the case looks like both with and without the belt clip. Personally, I was looking forward to the belt clip, but was a bit disappointed. It doesn’t “click” in position, and consequently jiggles a lot while walking with it. If you don’t use the belt clip, you can remove the screw. However, the device does not lay completely flat (mentioned below)..

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As you can see from the pictures below, neither case sits flat on the table when resting with the screen facing up, especially with the belt clip. This can be both a good and bad thing. When resting it on the table, the unit will wobble as you mark on the screen. If you hold the unit primarily in the palm of your hand, this shouldn’t be an issue. The elevation is nice, however, when doing something stationery - such as watching a movie. It’s very convenient to place the unit horizontally, and watch a movie while elevated from the belt clip at a nice angle.

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Although it’s optional, the unit I tested did come with a clear flip cover. This cover can be attached, detached, and lifted up to provide extra protection for your case. As you can see below, the cover has two pegs on both sides that allow it to slide in and out of the holder efficiently.  The cover lifts easily from the holder with the latch attached to it. It can also be snapped back into place, thanks to two little holders on the bottom-front of the case.

Personally, I found the plastic flip cover to be a necessary evil. It certainly protects, but is an annoyance while doing so. After snapping the cover back in, the tiny feet touch the screen and cause the “new” or corner buttons to be activated. I soon got into the habit of either locking my device or turning it off, prior to putting the cover on.

It also is annoying to lift up all the time. If you’re doing a lot of stylus heavy work, it can be annoying to have a new plastic cover to worry about and hold upright while writing. Eventually, whenever my Axim was in use, I just slipped the plastic cover off for the time being. This is also the best way to take the unit out of the case, since it can pass through the wide opening very easily.    

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These workarounds may be annoying, but when the Axim was not in use (and in my purse), I found the screen protector a lifesaver. I couldn’t imagine keeping the unit in my pocket with the screen exposed. Even though I have clear screen protectors (coincidentally also made by Boxwave), I know they won’t protect from everything, especially sharp objects! After a few weeks of moderate use, the screen protector does have some minor signs of scratching. However, better this insert than the Axim screen itself!  

Cut it Out

The case has lots of little cutouts and impressions, each custom tailored for your Axim unit. Starting with the top both cutouts for the microphone and wireless light. Although, does the light really need to be exposed? The power button and logo have impressions, but are not exposed; the power button itself is very easy and comfortable to press.

The entire top of the case is open and some may want to take caution about this. The opening is very convenient - it allows you to easily access the card slots, headphone port, IR port, and stylus. It also accommodates for any external Compact Flash/Secure Digital accessories (e.g. a wireless card). However, it does not cover it and so dust and dirt could get in. Before this case, I used the basic Axim slip case which also had the cover exposed. Personally, I’ve never had a problem with any of my ports or cards, so I don’t mind it.

In the top corner, there is a cutout for the stylus itself. Next to the stylus hole is one of two rubber top-rests. For those that have had these black bands fall off on the actual unit (like me), they will appreciate that they are now molded into the design of the case. You’ll also see the holder for the included wriststrap, which I really like. It’s tight, long, and functional. It even had a clip to detach it on the end. 

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Boxwave has also taken into consideration keeping the unit itself from overheating. There are two rubber holes on the bottom and three slits on the unit to allow air to pass through. The back side is also very flexible, and makes for a neat storage compartment for small items such as extra SD or CF cards.  

Quit Pushing My Buttons

One thing I’ve never liked about Axim cases is that they’re not very considerate of the bottom buttons. Even a lot of leather cases don’t make button pressing easy. I’m glad to say the Boxwave case handles the four main buttons and D-pad nicely. They are molded well and are enjoyable to press. I actually like them more than pressing the buttons on the actual unit. It’s also nice not have an impression of a “calendar” after an hour or two of gaming.

If you look closely, you can see some speckles of dirt on the case. One unfortunate thing about silicone is that it attracts dust and dirt. Thankfully, these cases can be washed and easily restored. Boxwave was smart to make this a smokey-white color, so dirt isn’t as easily noticeable.

The bottom is exposed just enough for you to stick the docking cord directly in. If you have a cradle, however, you’ll have to take the case off. After a few practice tries, it’s really quite easy! I recommend taking the plastic cover off first so you can slip it through the wide opening.

While the buttons on the bottom of the unit are well designed, the buttons on the side seem a bit of an after thought. The buttons simply do not feel comfortable, and it’s hard to tell whether you’ve pressed them or not. I wish there was little bit more indentation for these buttons.

You’ll also see that the reset button, button lock, and wrist strap all have cutouts on the case. The reset button is very nice, as I press it a little more than I’d like to admit. I’m not sure how useful the exposed wrist strap is, especially since the device already has one. I could imagine that even if you did have a wrist strip attached, it would get to be a pain taking the case on and off.  

Push and Pull

Finally, it’s time to pull on this case a little and see how stretchy this silicone can get!

If you decide to use the belt clip, be warned that it does detach a little bit from the case. It’s not enough to jiggle the unit, but it is noticeable. I highly recommend that if you plan to keep this device primarily on your belt, this may not be the best case for you. 

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The wriststrap gives a slight pull when tugged on as well. The unit stays still, but it does expose the edge very slightly. Both of these things are minor considerations, though, and are to be expected when dealing with something as flexible as silicone.

• Will not dock on cradle
• Pulls slightly with belt clip and wrist strap
• Plastic cover can be VERY annoying
• Attracts particles very easily
• Doesn’t feel very safe if dropped
• No instructions on how to handle or treat case

Developer/Vendor: pdamill Price: US $14.95 Rating (out of 5):

Think you’re having a bad day? You should meet Joker - the clown fish with managed to swim his way into an ocean of trouble! All he’s trying to do is collect all the pearls, but misfortune just seems to find him everywhere he goes. Inspired by Boulderdash (and Finding Nemo), your job is to help Joker navigate his way through the sea avoiding the nasty pitfalls and creatures along the way. And he’ll do it all with a smile on his face - What a fish!

Testing Environment I used my Axim X50v.

Installation Joker’s Quest was installed fine to my CF Card and occupied 5.4 MB of memory.

A Very Fishy Tale First things first, this story is the most confusing thing I’ve ever heard from a pocket game! Apparently there’s a queen fish, and the pearls got lost, which give off light .. and .. something about an octopus. I guess "Collect all the pearls and avoid all the enemies" just wasn’t complex enough. Gamers these days always demand such extensive backstory! The game even has its own pseudo full-motion video sequence before the menu screen (which you unfortunately have to skip through everytime you load up the game). The FMV is quite fitting, since it contains a lot of text you probably won’t read .. just like the rest of the game. Face it, if we wanted to read a lot of story, we’d load up an RPG. But thankfully, the game itself more than makes up for the massive paragraphs you have to wade through.

Cast of Characters Before you "dive" into the four levels of the game, you first have to complete a tutorial. Normally, tutorials ease you into the game, making things very simple when you first start out. As such, you’d expect the tutorial to be simple. The first level is a "collect the pearls - don’t die" type objective. But, that’s about where the simplicty ends.

This game has one too many characters with their own backstory and life history. Take the turtles for example, which are found on the second level of the tutorial. Apparently the king sent them because he thought they were hard workers, but they’re really lazy. There are sleeping turtles which behave like rocks and fall when there’s nothing under them. But then there’s active turtles which are swimming. Active turtles turn into sleeping turtles when they collide with other things but if they collide with something else they explode (as turtles naturally do). Sleeping turtles will fall but will rise to the surface if there’s bubbles under them because they are comfy to sleep on (I - too - prefer a nice bubble bed and pillow every now and then). To wake up the sleeping turtles you have to stand next to them and press a direction, but you can’t wake up active turtles because they are not sleeping.

So .. Did I confuse you yet? Truth of the matter is, the characters are very confusing. The descriptions were attempted to be written in a "friendly" and "approachable" manner, but they’ll make you do double and triple-takes just to figure it out. Plus, a lot of us play games on our mobile devices hoping to avoid reading all that text. The good news is, though, that the game is very intuitive. Even if you don’t read the extensive backstory presented with each character, you’ll soon figure out what everything does. Just don’t forget the action button!

Furthermore, the tutorial hits you with everything at once. And, although the following levels do incorporate everything, it’s still a lot to take in. Even the tutorials themselves can be difficult - and this is supposed to be the easy stuff. I think a better approach would have been to ease a few characters into each world. Although it was easy to keep track of what everything does, it may be harder for others to remember.

Under the Sea Once you get past the enormous cast of characters, the actual game itself is excellent! It’s obvious everyone involved with the game spent a lot of time in all aspects of the game. The graphics alone are simply amazing. The Jellyfish boss of the first level (that’s Mr. Flesh-Eating Jellyfish to you) looks incredible. Even though this is in QVGA resolution, you’ll barely notice it! Joker goes through the levels smoothly with no lag or interruption. The music is also pleasant, although when you play the game a lot it may start to get annoying.

If you’ve played Boulderdash before, you’ll understand the basic concept of the game. Collect the pearls and remember the basic effects of gravity. If you’ve never even heard of Boulderdash, and the screenshots seem a bit confusing to you, don’t worry - you’ll get the hang of it very quickly. The game is intuitive enough that anyone can pick it up and get the hang of it. And it doesn’t rely so much on quick reflexes as it does strategy. Although you can control the game with both the stylus and the d-pad, I think you’ll opt for the latter (as I did).

The game actually comes in two flavors - easy and hard mode. The main differences is in hard mode you’ll die a lot faster (which means starting the level over again). In the game, you have to collect 16 seahorses to fully uncover a picture of the final boss. In hard mode, once the 16-picture puzzle is revealed, you then have to solve the puzzle. Aw man - I hate sliding puzzles! Forget the other levls, this was the most challenging part of the game!

One major gripe about the game is that you have to play it in a linear fashion - that is .. you have to play every level. There are 24 levels, and even if you collect the necessary 16 seahorses in the beginning levels, you still have to play through the remaining 8. This also means if you’re having difficulty beating a level, there’s no way to skip it. I can forsee this in later levels giving a lot of people frustration! Perhaps in easy mode there should be a way to bypass some of the levels.

All in all, though, while the game may be frustraing, it is a lot of fun. It’s the same kind of frustration that will drain the battery on your handheld because you just need to get one pearl to complete the level. And rest easy - you can save your game (in multiple save slots too). Which means your family and friends can all join in on the fun, without interrupting your hard earned progress. Your hand may hurt, though, after extensive gameplay. One thing the Axim has never been kind about is "game thumb".

Back to the Sea The best part about this game? There’s a lot of room for replayability. This is not a "race to the finish" type game. Every little thing you do (and kill) and how well you do it is worth points! These points add up, and in each level you maintain a record. Joker will enthusiastically let you know when you’ve set a new level record! You can also easily go back and play any level you’ve already completed, including the tutorials! Just be prepared to hear "Rock On" a lot!

Another nifty feature is that you can watch all the mini-movies you’ve already seen. This means that if you initially skipped past all that text, you now have an opportunity to see read it again. Horray!

The game also has a nice little "humor" underlying it, which is very refreshing. Sure, the princess fish got kidnapped, but it’s nice to see all the characters in the sea have a sense of humor about it. If you actually take the time to read all the story, you may find yourself chuckling at a few of the lines. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone! There’s also other "little" things in the game that make it so pleasant. Like, the intermittent remarks Joker will make during gameplay. It’s obvious a lot of time and effort was put into making this (as with many other PDAMill games).

Room for Improvement Games like "Joker’s Quest" just scream for level editors, and I think this would be an excellent add-on (version 1.5 anyone?). If this could be created, I think it would be absolutely wonderful! The level possibilities are endless.

I also think it would be exciting if there was some way to upload your score for each level to the PDAMill website. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone. While it’s nice to challenge yourself, there really should be a better way to put those level records to use.

Conclusion To sum it all up - Joker’s Quest is an excellent and well-crafted game that you will spend countless hours attempting to beat. Those looking for a "quick and easy" puzzle game should look elsewhere. But for those who crave lots of levels, plenty of challenges, and one persistent fish - this is the game for you!

Pros

• Excellent graphics!
• Intuitive gameplay (despite the heavy text)
• Easy and hard mode
• Tutorial mode to get acquainted with the game
• Lots of levels (and lots of gameplay hours)
• Lots of bonus functions

Cons

• Complicated and confusing story with equally confusing characters
• Must play levels in sequential order
• Certainly not "easy" by any means
• Poor stylus control, and relying on the d-pad can hurt your fingers after a while
• No level editor
• No way to submit your score