So, the Wii has been out for a week now and after a very long wait since the Nintendo “Revolution” days its quite a wonder realising where it has all come from. If you’ve been living under a rock, this may be Nintendo’s last hearty attempts at gaining supremacy of the market that it had lost since the Xbox and PlayStation stepped into the arena (even if Nintendo do claim that they’re not in it to win).

So after a long Wii-kend (gaw!) playing with the Wii, what’s my super honest opinion on the machine? What’s the verdict on a machine that Nintendo has promised to revolutionise the the way we play “games”? The little white box that aims to capture the hearts of those who have never played games before and those who have lost faith in the ‘ol mighty Nintendo? Well, to be honest, the Nintendo Wii is somewhat under-whelming.

(more…)

If consoles/handheld game machines were blokes, then the Nintendo DS would be a pretty top bloke because apparently when you buy a pink DS (a sissy bloke I’m sure) all profits go to the Breast Cancer Foundation. When was the last time the other blokes donated to charity or some kind of foundation?

Now heres the million dollar question: does Nintendo really care? Or are they adding positive publicity to their marketing machine?

I gotta say, I’m really digging Nintendo’s Wii new marketing and packaging approach that screams simplicity and style. The impressive TVC’s are splashed with white and only a hint of the blue that matches the Wii’s CD slot’s glow. Simplistically beautiful. In the ads the idea is simple, much like the Wii. Use its remote-like controller to do something and it’ll carry across on-screen - a notion that’s captured and expressed perfectly in the body shots. Quite frankly I don’t think game footage is even required in these ads, but hey, I guess you gotta be safe…

And by looking at the Wii and Nintendo’s new universe as a whole, you can’t help but feel that Nintendo has gone abit Apple…

With a quick glance, here’s a quick review of Apple’s latest media distribution thingo. I’ll just get straight to the point.

(more…)

I’ve never been a big fan of the PSP. Though it’s one sexy machine, its lack of killer titles make it an expensive paper weight. Its analogue stick (the thing that looks like a speaker) is utterly useless and the only game that I actually enjoy playing on it is Wip3out. Metal Gear Solid looked promising until I found out it was a card game - ON THE PSP! Despite what Sony projected the PSP to be as the most “awesomest thing ever” and what critics have said about the gimmicky and technologically inferior Nintendo DS, Nintendo still reigns supremacy in the portable gaming market.

The PSP is good for one thing though - playing pirated games and movies.

My bitching stops here, though read the little article that sparked this rant.

I’m a sucker for anything sweet, especially this guy’s marriage proposal using the camera just outside the new 24hr Apple store (why you would need a 24hr Apple Store is anyone’s guess). Thanks to Tri for pointing it out.

If you were wondering if ripping music from a CD to your iPod or computer was illegal then guess what, IT IS! Or should I say, it was?

The music piracy laws are no longer in the stone age, and have finally caught up with today’s whizz bang music media systems. Here’s some interesting new changes that I lifted from Jo’s blog. Full article can be read here.

• Consumers can transfer material from CDs to iPods, MP3 players and computers. But passing on copied material to others remains a breach of copyright.

I’m assuming what they mean by “others” is other people. So yes, I think you can still transfer Shannon Noll tunes to your phat ghetto blaster tapes.

• They can legally record TV and radio programs for one-off private viewing but not to be played in public.

Can the feds really know how many times you’ve viewed it? I’m pretty sure that they don’t have a device that finds out how many times you’ve viewed your recording of Big Brother Adults Only.

• Copyright material can be used for parody or satire.

Like I commented on Jo’s blog, “fan-bloody-tastic!”. Now it gives podcast radio-wannabe jocks like me (more on that later) something to work with without living in fear that we’ll be sent to prison like Michael Scolfield if we’re caught.

So, Nintendo had its keynote speech this morning (Australian time). After reading the transcripts I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed. All the rumours, statements and ideas about the new console have been set in stone, which is a good thing, but yet I wanted something more.

The Wiimote works like a charm, something I’ve been anticipating since I first saw the controller not so many months ago. I’m still quite skeptical about how well it works though. Does it lag? Will it tell the difference if I rotate it a quarter of a degree? How accurate is it enough to shoot at a villain that’s taking a hostage as cover? All questions will be answered when I actually get to use the system myself.

One thing that puts me off at the moment is the fact that it’s the same weight as a Nintendo DS which maybe because it has two double-A batteries in it. This may be a problem, I’ve tried swinging my DS around like a sword and after 5 seconds it started to get heavy. Maybe I’m weak (well I do sit in front of a computer 10hrs a day), or maybe it’s just a bit on the heavy side. The Nunchuk connector weighs the same as a cell phone, but that’s ok because al it does is sit in your left hand close to your body. Hopefully though, the weight issue will be fixed as it’s “still” in prototype form.

No longer a kiddies machine*wink wink*

Another interesting addition to the Wiimote is the little speaker that sits just below the palm. Why? Because Nintendo thought it would a better experience to have sound coming out of it as if you were actually holding a sword/gun/bat/knife/person/something. Imagine letting go of your bow to the sound of a light “twang”, or a loud “pop” when you press the gun trigger. Sounds very cool. Lets hope it doesn’t shorten the battery life to 2 hrs.

Virtual Debbie Does Dallas

One bizarre revelation was the Wii’s “normal” controller, where you would slot the Wiimote into this controller - so it would look like a dick and two testicles. But that’s not the disappointing part. I’m still trying to figure out why they went for the “Sony Dual Shock” layout (analogue sticks at the bottom) rather than the old Gamecube/xbox layout (left analogue stick on top of d-pad). Maybe I’m just bitching, because I’m used to pushing the stick forward, rather than an awkward tilt you will find on the Dual Shock layout. One thing is for sure though, the button colours look damn sexy.

The testicles. Kinda looks like a SUPER Super Nintendo Controller

One thing that really made the presentation über (if it weren’t for this it would’ve been severely disappointing) was the revelation of the new Zelda which will be available on the Wii’s launch day. I can’t express how excited I am. I could write on forever about the last Zelda hit, and how it was an experience of a lifetime (hmm, getting a bit geeky there).

Anyway yes. Nintendo keynote speech was ok. News about new Zelda was better.

Stephen has informed me that Sony just had its keynote speech at E3 about it’s PlayStation 3. Having just browsed the WWW about it, I can say that there’s something wrong with Sony. First of all, the system looks somewhat identical to the PlayStation 2. What happened to the suave silver/white look? At least they got rid of the boomerang controller (which looked like an double dildo from the future) though, but going back to the original Dual Shock design? It’s as if the controller designers were desperate and lazy so they resorted to a “if it ain’t broken, why fix it” philosophy, with this time slapping on a wireless function. I am severely disappointed.

PlayStation 3: Fugly.

What’s more is that, wait for it, they’ve added a gyroscopic feature! Which makes the controller a poor man’s Nintendo Wii contoller! I have no idea how this will work though. I can only see it being used for games that only allow you to tilt and rotate the controller from side to side, which is no where near the freedom you have with the Wiimote. Phil Harrison (white PlayStation boss) admits that the controller will also judge movement. Why? I don’t know. Will it judge the fact that I need to chuck a shit? I think not.

What’s more of a concern is that they’ve managed to separate the system into two packages (basic and premium) - like the xbox 360. I find this very disappointing and disheartening. It’s kinda like separating the rich from the poor, the skinny from the fat, the whores from the virgins. We already have discrimination among the gaming systems, we don’t need it among the system packages. “Ha ha, Roger! You bought the “shitty” pack because you’re a poor bastard…. and your mother’s fat and a whore”. What’s worse with the Sony packages is that the “shitty” package is priced at $800 (WTF), and has basically none of the cool stuff you would find in a next generation console, such as HD support, and all that swanky stuff like multimedia cards and WiFi. It still has a hard-drive though only 20gb. So it won’t store as much porn as the 60gb hard-drive you would find in the “mad” package (priced near 1k – WTF!!). What’s worse? You can’t upgrade the “shitty” package, so you’re screwed for life.

Ken Katuragi (Jap PlayStation boss): Tosser.

Sony also claims that its new disc technology Blu-Ray will be all the rage. Ha, yeah right, that’s what you said about the UMD format as well. I don’t know if they’ve got the right people working on their team, but back in the PSP development days, who was the stupid wanker who thought it was a good idea to develop a media system that not only quickly drained battery life but also a system that required you to purchase $30 movies to watch ONLY on a PSP? With that money I could’ve bought a DVD that can be used anywhere, or a carton of beer!

Speaking of beer, its beer-o-clock. Can’t believe I wasted time talking about Sony. *shudders*

Anyway, here’s a summary made by a Nintendo fanboy of the PlayStation 3 keynote speech at E3. Below are some lines that I found quite ROFL.

• 8:17 - Harrison blabs about some business speak, and introduces the creator of Grand Turismo, Yamuchi & translator. Nobody likes Harrison.

• 8:32 - Harrison introduces a card-based battle game, supposed to appear tomorrow at the show floor. Richard Marx, eyetoy creator takes the stage. “Eye of Judgement” developed in Japan, shown. You place cards in front of the camera, and you get to interact and move it around with your actual fingers. Imagine, Yu-Gi-Oh in real life, with monsters poppin’ out of them and everything.

• 9:33 - Ken takes the stage with his crazy English. He’s the most exciting person tonight, unfortunately. He has one more secret. “Back in 94, controller was quite unique., and everyone was amazed by its control in a 3D world. We are going to enhance its … ability. […] ” He’s planning on bringing it into the 4D world.

Final controller is just a wireless dual shock controller.

• 9:35 - After a small silence, he shows that they added a GYROSCOPIC CONTROL. The Internet’s nerds explode with anger.

• 9:41 - Harrison goes back to Kaz, and he explains how the PS3 ‘transcends imagination.’ Recaps everything that the PS3 can do: judge movement, play any media, steal ideas and cook meat.

If you haven’t heard of the endless new possibilities with Nintendo’s revolutionary machine Wii, particularly it’s new method of interaction, then take a geez at this article from the lovely folk at N-sider. The first page is a bit of a read about “verbs” in a gaming context, so just skip forward to the remaining pages.

What I find interesting is that you can hold the controller in any way that heightens the experience. One way would be to hold it like a gun for a first-person shooter, or like a sword slashing at the enemies on screen. You would look like a tool swinging something that looks like a remote but it would be more fun then just tapping a button. One of the more bizarre methods is to use it as if you were chopping vegetables (I hope they bring out a Jamie Oliver game or something so I can practice my cooking skills - Ladies watch out!)

One of the more intriguing ways of using the controller is the “throwing” action. Imagine you’re in a baseball game and it’s the bottom of the last inning, 3 balls, 2 strikes and all bases are loaded. This last pitch will be the decider of who takes the championship. You take a look at your fellow teammates as the crowd goes wild as you wind up for one last time. You’re at the pose just before you hurl the ball just like a real pitcher at a game except you’re in your living room in your boxer shorts. As you launch the ball like a speeding bullet, you scream in horror because as captivating as it sounds, not only have you thrown a fireball at the batter, but accidentally, the controller at your $10 000 now-broken Plasma screen as well.