• 2Jun 09

  Battle of the motion sensors!

  I find it funny that when the Wii debuted people were so quick to call motion sensing a fad. They were saying that nobody wanted it and that the "hardcore" gamers that call the shots won't ever go for something like that.

  Well, I think that the last year an a half has taught us a few things:

  1. Motion control is bigger than anyone thought.
  2. Wagging a remote equals big money.
  3. So-called "hardcore" gamers don't even remotely call the shots.

  Motion control has been such a phenominal failure that Microsoft and Sony are trying to cash in on it while Nintendo is pushing out Motion-Plus to try to rake in even more cash.

  To me this all says that the more casual gamer who wants to hang with friends and just have a good, non-serious time is all about what the Wii has to offer. If that weren't the case we wouldn't be seeing Natal and the as-yet-unnamed glowing ball-on-a-stick controller that Sony's showing off.

  So what's going to be the best motion controller? Looks to me like with Motion-Plus that Sony and Nintendo are going to be playing in the same ballpark. You're going to have a much more immersive experience as you sit on the couch and waggle your hand. I think that Natal holds the most promise of immersive gameplay because it motion captures your body, not just your hand. But is the technology really there? And how much will it cost? I guess we'll have to see.

  • Posted Jun 2, 2009 2:52 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 2 Comments
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• 21Nov 08

  Playstation Home Beta

  I received a Playstation Home Beta invitation today. I'm going to download it in a little while and check it out. I haven't been eagerly anticipating it because I think that it's going to be a lot like Second Life, just without the stuff that makes Second Life remotely fun.

  Here's to hoping that it changes my mind. I'll try to remember to update and say whether it has changed my life or not.

  Update: It hasn't changed my mind. I'll try it a bit more, but so far it's incredibly boring.

  • Posted Nov 21, 2008 5:03 pm PT
  • Category: Other
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• 20Nov 08

  In light of the RROD, why do XBox 360 owners continue to support the console?

  Now that NXE has released and we're seeing a slew of RROD reports, the old argument about the problem has flared up once again. I see people across various forums asking why in the world people continue to support a console that is obviously as problem riddled as the Xbox 360.

  Do you guys want to know why people continue to support the 360? It's because the RROD really isn't as bad for actual 360 owners as the people who don't own one make it out to be. If you add all of the issues together then it looks like a pandemic. But on an individual level the typical scenario is that someone's 360 dies once, they go through the two-week swap process, and then they're back to playing.
  
  If video games aren't the center of your life then it isn't as devastating as the negative press makes it out to be. Sure, it's happened to a ton of people. There have been some highly publicized horror stories. I have friends, both online and offline, that went through multiple consoles. There are Gamespot users I've watched (ColoradoKindBud comes to mind) that gave up on the console at one point because theirs broke so many times.

  But for the majority of consumers Microsoft handles the issue politely and efficiently, and people are compensated for their time with a month of Xbox Live Gold service. So all you're really out when you get RROD is two weeks of your time that was probably better spent in the real world anyway. And if you're blessed enough to own more than one console you probably don't even miss it. It really isn't that hard to understand.
  
  I suspect that many individual attitudes may begin to change now that the RROD warranty for launch consoles is beginning to expire and people will be required to pay for repairs. But the vast majority of consoles are still covered by the 3 year warranty, so that won't happen all at once. People may just opt to buy an Arcade unit to take advantage of more stable hardware, HDMI and lower power consumption. That's what I'll probably do when the time comes.

  • Posted Nov 20, 2008 10:11 pm PT
  • Category: Opinion
  • 1 Comment
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