I ran across this somewhat randomly today, and I’ve been watching it backwards so I’m getting this weird Lost Highway/Memento vibe with it. I don’t really know who most of these people are or why they are doing it this show, and even though I could look all that up I don’t really want to. I should probably try and start at the beginning but I want to watch the newest stuff and I’m not sure if I want to commit to spend the time to watch every episode yet. I like the really toned down Clerk’s era Kevin Smith quality it has. I’m trying to decide if it’s a soap opera or what. Any reactions? I’m wondering if the Thespians amongst us will be able to deal with the acting…

Chasing Windmills

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Last weekend I attended B-Fest 2007, a 24-Hour B (as in Bad) Movie Festival put on by A&O Productions, which is a student group my brother was a part of while attending Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. So basically I got real cheap tickets to Chicago, stayed with a friend Thursday night and spent Friday night through Saturday afternoon in a Theatre in the Student Center at Northwestern watching movie’s that by definition are not very good.

The Schedule is available here, but I’ll give you a walk-through of the event:
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Two generations ago Nintendo introduced the world to the analog thumbstick on the Nintendo 64 Controller (1996) and changed the way video games were interacted with. It gave console players an intuitive controller that allowed for more complexity than they’d experienced before. At the same time PC gaming was experiencing a revolution with the now standard mouse and keyboard coming into their own as incredibly deep and also intuitive game interface devices. Roughly one year later Sony introduced the Dual-Analog Controller to their Playstation and created the best controller that will ever be made that doesn’t feature motion sensing (I would probably consider the 360 controller the best if it weren’t a complete rip-off, an argument can be made that it’s wirelessness differentiates it enough to garner it the top ranking but I disagree. Leave a comment if you’re still pissed).

Whether Sony realized it or not their dual-shock effectively mimicked and simplified the keyboard/mouse pc standard and allowed Microsoft’s Xbox to step into the market with Halo and Halo 2. The games that most effectively used the dual shock style controller and allowed Microsoft to compete in a market where they could have easily failed.
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After trying a number of different friend code exchange sites I’ve discovered what I beleive to be the best one available:

WiiFriends

Most sites just give lists of friend codes that you can enter hoping some of those entered will enter your code as well. Some sites have a rudimentary messaging system that allows for friends to request each other which is a slight improvement over the former, but WiiFriends’ system is superior to both.

Once you create an account you’re presented with a three column chart. The left column is a list of current MiiFriends members to be clicked requesting a friend code exchange.  Once clicked their name disappears from the list to prevent redundancy and clicking on them a second time.  The name and friend code of the clicker is then sent to the middle column of the clickee indicating that someone is interested in exchanging codes.  The person receiving the request in the second column clicks on the name of the requester which removes that column entry and sends the name and friend code of the requestee back to the requestor’s third column indicating a friend code to be added.  BRILLITANT!
Kudos to the kids who came up with this little system and help them out by signing up and spreading the word.

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Going into the wii launch I was really excited about what appeared to be a great launch line-up. Wii Sports, Zelda, Monkey Ball, Rayman… and I thought there were a lot more… but it’s a month in and there aren’t. Elebits is on it’s way but one ain’t enough.

Perhaps I’m mouthing a look horse in the gift but at the 250$ price point I think Ninty could be selling a lot more games right now. Sure other consoles rarely launch with more than two good games and there can be an argument made that the Wii has at least 4. But the experience with the wii-mote is so fresh that I have this need to try more new games with it. It feels like when I first got my PS1 with the dual shock, I couldn’t stop playing every game that existed for it (granted that was well after launch but it was a compulsion none-the-less).

Wii Play seems to be available everywhere in the world but here!

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After playing through a chunk of Call of Duty on the Wii I’ve come to the conclusion that the wiimote makes a really good fps controller–at least as good as the dual-analog alternative. Although the Wii set up is adequate, adding a motion sensing headset would make it better.

A while back I read a blog by a kid who suggested the addition of another analog stick to control “looking” on the wiimote side. Giving the player movement control with nunchuck and look control with the analog stick on the wiimote then allowing free pointing around the screen with the wiimote itself.

It sounded good to me but the addition of another control on a hand that is used for one set of orientation seemed complicated and I don’t think it would catch on. It would probably work well but it would take a long time to learn and would be daunting to new players.

As I played COD3 last night I had a bit of an epiphany, if I could move the camera by moving my head then I could use the wiimote as a pointer (gun) naturally pointing it anywhere on the screen–even the corners. As I thought about this I remembered that when the Wii was still the Revolution one of the first accessories Nintendo showed was the headset. That was accompanied by a commitment to voice recognition built-in (programmed in?) to the Revolution. Then there was nothing more about it.

I doubt that Nintendo forgot about it, perhaps they just stopped working on it because the controller garnered so much attention, but if it’s still out there it seems to me that adding some gyroscope/tilt sensing stuff to it would be easy.

So that’s my hope for the third secret, a motion detecting device in the headset. Where is it Nintendo? I want it in Metroid (I also want matchmaking for Metroid as good as in Halo 2).

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So, I’ve only been out of college for a few years. Until today, I have avoided working in my very own Cubicle. Straight of school I had to share an office with an older women who had allergies and coughed all day, BUT it was a corner office with a lot of windows. After proving myself as an asset to the company they gave me a spacious office, with a window, and even let me put this up on one of the walls. It was a great little company, but several things made me need to leave it.

After taking down my mural, autographing a few pieces and leaving them for my coworkers, I went out looking for new opportunities. This time around I had half a dozen companies eager to get me into one of their Cubicles… I really had no choice.

After hoping around within this office for over a month, borrowing cubicles, they’ve cleared one up… JUST FOR ME!

So at this point I guess I’m looking for advice. I’m only on a contract, so I know that I have an easy way out of this Cubicle in about 10 monthes. What can I do to make the hours between eightandfive a little more bearable in here. (more…)

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As I looked on this weekend I saw two family members that have only condemned video games in the past stand up and without hesitation grasp the wiimote. Not only did they play Bowling in Wii Sports but they played it well. So well that they beat me, and I’d been playing the game for a week. In addition to playing bowling they gleefully played Golf and enjoyed it. In that I saw the power of the Wii and it was… well… powerful.

During the build up to launch Nintendo has sung out their desire to reach non-gamers and that the Wii will do it. I believed them but I was still shocked when I saw it happen. These guys of which I speak probably won’t be buying a Wii anytime soon but they really did play it and enjoyed it.

I expect that this incident was repeated at many residences over thanksgiving and will certainly be repeated in many more before and during Christmas. Nintendo made a brilliant move packaging Wii Sports and because of it consoles will sell; but will the Wii really result in the Blue Oceanthey wished? I suspect it will but games like Wii sports must keep coming and I’m not sure that that’s going to be easy.

Nintendo touts Brain-Training as a success with their blue ocean strategy which it was (and is). But the Wii is different than the DS. Games that monopolize the television need to be social which is why Wii Sports is great. Wii Sports excels at moving a family from their table games (cards and board games) to something on the Wii, not an easy task. For their blue ocean plan to work and actually get a lot of people to play games regularly that normally don’t they need do more than move people off the table, they need people to stop watching their favorite shows when they want to veg and Wii sports won’t make that happen. Games are work and the television is not. Until games become as easy as TV or more entertaining to justify the work (they have a ways to go) in the television crowds eyes the Wii won’t become something people use every night.

Nintendo is going to take a chunk of the table players and although I can’t envision the successor to Wii Sports I’m sure it’s coming and it will get people off the table. After the initial de-tableizaton there will be some internet games that the table crowd will play which allow socialization when proximity is difficult but this won’t be too significant (at least not for the next three years). So far, what Nintendo has demonstrated is great and it will be the best selling game console of the next three years, but will it be the Blue Ocean? Can they get the TV crowd?

Possibly. And if they do this is how it will happen:

Reality TV. There has been a trend in television towards interaction. If Nintendo can come up with some sort of interactive show that becomes a weekly event that people schedule then they will have truly won the blue ocean. It’s possible but it won’t be easy. When it happens (and it will–it’s a matter of how soon) people will begin to leave the television. It won’t be fast but it will be significant. 10 years from now the cable box will be the video game box. Will Nintendo be the ushers of the interactive TV revolution? They may. The News and Weather needs to be good so people have the opportunity to latch onto other channels (I wish there was a hard drive in the thing). If the TV crowd begins to go to the Wii for news and weather regularly then another channel has a chance of getting them.

In closing I’d like to wish Nintendo good luck. And I await the channels. Get them out before Christmas lest you miss out on the opportunity to get millions of free demonstrations of the magic of your console to those who won’t see it otherwise.

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If you’re cool you know the Wii will be available next Saturday at midnight in a number of different places. If you’re prepared you’re clutching your pre-order and having trouble sleeping. If you’re a tenacious procrastinator without a job (or significant other) you’re camping outside some retailer playing your DS starfox/advancewars/mariokart/pokemon (building up your collection in anticipation for diamond or pearl) waiting for your Wii. If you’re lucky your significant other is waiting with you.

I assume you’ve gotten your room ready. Pushed the couch back, perhaps even bought a smaller coffee table. Detached your Xbox from the component inputs on your receiver and put it into storage (lord knows there’s no reason to keep that relic). You’ve probably called your friends and set up a party for Sunday. If you’re really hard core you’ve been adjusting your sleeping schedule and stocking up on energy drinks to help facilitate your party at midnight (less likely to have the sun interfere with the wii-mote).

You’ve certainly pre-ordered some games. Zelda of course, sure the graphics will be a little disappointing but you know that the fishing mini-game is going to totally make up for it (is there a better application for the wii-mote?). You’ve probably ordered some other game as well, maybe a good party game like Rayman or Monkeyball in case Wii-Sports isn’t enough to keep your party going. Perhaps you were brave and risked the first person shooter knowing that the wii-mote will be the ultimate fps interface. Redsteel or Call of Duty? The risk is that the controls may take an iteration or two for the developers to really nail it–for sure Metroid will be awesome but that’s not a launch game. The guy at the counter probably told you to pick up Trauma Center because he played it at his conference and it was freaking great. Of course you’ve already beat it on the DS and you’re unsure of the value it could provide during your Wii-Day party. If you’re more conservative you may still pick up excite truck because of the reviews it’s getting, but if you were more conservative you probably wouldn’t be getting a Wii and you certainly wouldn’t be reading this blog (liberals only please).  Of course Wii-Sports will be included and you know it will be a blast. But what about the four-player games? Do they justify the purchase of the two extra remotes (with which you’d have to buy the nunchucks for your party game purchase) that gets expensive 40$ x 3 (wii-mote) + 20$ x 3 (nunchucks) = $180. Here’s my advice: Don’t buy all four now. Get one extra with a nunchuck. Wait for a third party version with rechargeable batteries and a cordless nunchuck (there will probably be a first party cordless nunchuck but not for a while). To keep your party going don’t rely on the Wii alone. Make sure there is plenty of drink and a number of Dual Screens running The New Super Mario Brothers.

You seem prepared. There are still some unanswered questions. What’s the final secret? Is there a final secret? I expect there is and my prediction is that it’s Wii-Play included with the Wii-Mote. I wouldn’t be suprised if there was some sort of voice over IP included as well (the only real justification for the wii-connect 24 that I can figure out). I’m still holding out for the 3D projection solution that has been rumored as I’m sure you are. Although together wii know that it’s unlikely. Perhaps for the next Nintendo console will have it (in three years) which will be more resolute than the PS3 and 360 combined (yeah I said it! 1800p BABY!) that console will sell for roughly 300$ making the purchase of the Wii and the Nintendo Next-Revolution less than the total cost of a premium PS3 (not to diss on the thrice, I will get one… as soon as I have a lot more money).

Wii-Day is near. Be patient, it’s hard I know. Ive been passing time by listening to wii-casts and pouring over the internets scraping up every nugget of info. Breathe… take a Lamaze class if you have to… focus… wii’re almost there.

So Say Wii All!

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