One of the most popular gadgets these days is the digital camera. The concept of taking pictures with instant previews, easy computer uploads, and no photo development costs are something people are beginning to embrace en masse. Of course, usually all of this comes with a hefty price tag. A good digital camera can run you a couple hundred dollars easily.
Enter the Nyko WormCam. This device was designed to be a low-cost digital camera solution for Game Boy Advance owners. Obviously if you dont already own a Game Boy Advance, you would need to add the cost of one on to the price tag of the WormCam.
Take a look at the full feature list to get an idea of the gadgets value :
Features- Backup Battery stores up to 20 pictures when GBA is off.
- Pictures displays from a palette of 32,768 colors
- 180 degrees rotating lens with removable Bright Sun Filter.
- SpyCam mode that uses motion-detection pictures and more.
- PC software and link cable. Save pictures to your computer.
- Preview and edit pictures on the GBA.
Jason Nuyens: I was really excited to give the WormCam a thorough test run. I have been itching to get my hands on a digital camera so that I can show the rest of the world some of the wacky things I see in every day life. Upon opening the WormCam package, my first reaction was that the product looked relatively sleek. The lens is quite small and is attached to a tube-shaped bar that can rotate 180 degrees. I quickly rifled through the manual to make sure I understood the PC software and then promptly began testing. I was quite shocked at my results, and not necessarily in a good way.
The first thing I noticed was that the unit is an unlicensed product. This means it cannot use the cartridge slot. Of course this didnt stop Nyko from using the link port instead, as the closest alternative. Things just start going down hill here. As you all know, the cartridge slot has very fast access times, unlike the link port. The link port has a relatively slow access time, which leads to an abundance of waiting. When you first turn the system on, you need to wait for the interface to be downloaded to the GBA. When you take a picture, you have to wait for it to be transferred to the unit. Even switching from full-screen mode to thumb mode will result in more load times. It also means no shot preview either. You basically have to take pictures hoping you are aiming it just right. If there is one thing that Nintendo gamers cant stand, its a lot of load times. Its just not something we like to see in any products we deal with.
A completely related problem is the picture quality and lighting setups themselves (you will see why they are related further on.) If you scroll down a tad, you will see some sample pictures that I took. As you will see, the quality is not that great, and the size is quite tiny. But size of pictures doesnt really bug me since the GBA screen is only so big. Its the quality that bugs me. The quality is derived from the poor lighting setup and even more inferior coloring. There are only four lighting settings, and the difference between each one is quite drastic. Its like having an air conditioner that has four settings: basically off, slightly blowing, medium, and hurricane. Trying to get between medium and hurricane is impossible, and thus, flexibility is at a minimum. For instance, the better pictures I took there had me try roughly about five or six times for each shot. To top it all off, the palette of colors is 32,768 so your pictures end up looking pixilated and washed out.
So now we hit the issue of how these two problems are related. To illustrate, I will run you through a typical session with the camera. First, you plug the unit onto the top of the GBA. This is very easy and straight forward. Everything is grand so far. You turn on the power, and wait fifteen seconds to download the interface. If your target hasnt already run away yet consider yourself quite lucky. Hitting the L button, you go to full screen to take your shots. This takes another four seconds. Now heres where the two problems turn into one big hairy one. You press the R button to take the shot, and sit patiently waiting for the screen to download. After thirteen seconds of waiting you are allowed to actually press buttons again. Of course, since the lighting was off, you need to re-take your shot. So you go back to thumbnail mode and delete the shot you just took which takes about another ten seconds or so. Since you dont want to make the same mistake twice, you adjust your light setting up or down a notch to make the picture better. You go back to full screen mode (another four seconds later) and adjust your shot. Uh oh, this time when you took the shot the target was off center. Why, you ask? Because the camera doesnt give you a preview of what youre looking at. And oddly enough, even pointing it what you think is straight doesnt help. You seem to have to point the lens a curious amount downwards in order for your subject to be centered. Apply, rinse, and repeat roughly five or six times before you finally have your completed picture.
But all is not horrible I suppose. At least they added the functionality to do PC uploads. An open COM port is needed (something I actually didnt have at first) to connect the unit to your PC. The installation of the software was quick and painless. Also, Nyko offers software upgrades on their website to make the downloading and saving easier. Even the rotating camera lens works really well. You can take shots of yourself, or shots of something in front of you, all while looking at the GBA menu. I also had a chance to test the editor, and it is quite good, even if a bit limited. You can draw lines and boxes, put in text, etc. I didnt need to use it that much, but somebody who does would be at least happy that its included on the GBA side. If you want you can always just use your PC to edit the pictures as well.
And so I think it all boils down to the concept of you get what you paid for. The WormCam is priced at $39.99, which is a great deal cheaper than the robust stand-alone cameras. The pictures really speak for themselves. If you take a look at the photos I took and feel they are just what you are looking for, by all means pick this up. However, I personally didnt quite enjoy my time with the camera as much as I hoped. If the unit had been a licensed product, it would have been able to use the cartridge slot and ultimately may have even saved it. As it stands, its a $40 toy with little to no potential for professional shots. If this is all youre looking for, then this is definitely the product for you. As for me, Im putting this thing straight into my bedroom closet.