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• Why the Wii's Hardware Sucks

  All three of the current-gen console systems have their drawbacks, but the Wii seems to be the most underpowered--and I'm not talking about graphics, here. From its clunky digital marketplace to the unfortunate lack of storage space (a man cannot live on 512 megs alone), there's a lot about the Wii that could be changed for the better--but, since they're still selling like crazy regardless of any issues, improving the Wii isn't exactly a priority for Nintendo. I at first assumed the Wii's issues were fixable and temporary--until I was broken out of my state of blissful ignorance thanks to a post over at hackmii.com. A blogger who goes by the hacker alias "marcan" recently wrote a lengthy and eye-opening diatribe about the general lousiness of the Wii's hardware. Marcan's rant is a little mired in technical terms, but his points are clear even without any knowledge of the jargon. Read More... Posted Mar 05 2009, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, wii, bob mackey, hardware, hacking, consoles

• Facepalm: PS3 Hard to Program for "On Purpose"

  Kaz Hirai: "We meant to do that." Read More... Posted Jan 21 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: sony, console wars, ps3, bob mackey, hardware, pr, insanity, kaz hirai

• Sign of the Times: Current Gen to Stick Around a Little Longer

  It wasn't too long ago when Sony produced a commercial for the fictional Playstation 9 during their initial Playstation 2 campaign; that's right--the company was once so successful, it had the funds to advertise things that didn't even exist. But these were far different times, before the dot-com bubble completely burst; back in those days, you simply had to log onto the Internet and wait for padded envelopes full of money to arrive at your house (who knows where they came from). But in our modern times of economic disparity and joblessness, the evolution of entertainment technology is not one of our biggest priorities. And, according to a San Jose Mercury News report from yesterday, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, recognizes the current problem with the standard five-year hardware cycle: "Just coming up with something that's faster and prettier isn't going to be sufficient. The life cycle for this generation of consoles — and I'm not just talking about Xbox, I'd include Wii and PS3 as well — is probably going to be a little longer than previous generations." If you've ever been around casual Wii gamers, then you probably realized that the one factor nearly every console war has been fought over is now completely irrelevant: graphics don't matter. Read More... Posted Jan 13 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: microsoft, xbox 360, sony, console wars, xbox, ps3, bob mackey, hardware, economy

• The Original XBox: The New Sega Saturn?

  Destructoid's report that GameStop will stop accepting XBox trade-ins starting February 9 poses some interesting problems for Microsoft's last-gen console.  When the 360 launched back in 2005, I was a rabid hater, mainly because of Microsoft's "we'll get to it when we get to it" policy on backwards compatibility (I've since buried the hatchet).  I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to repeat the mistake of disowning an entire generation of games, but just look at the situation with the PS3; I couldn't tell you which models offer PS2 compatibility without some serious Wikipedia research. So, basically, we've got a three-part problem on our hands: 1. GameStop is going to stop accepting XBox games, which means they'll soon stop carrying them altogether. 2. Microsoft has absolutely no motivation when it comes to making old games compatible with the 360. 3. Microsoft has absolutely no motivation when it comes to making old games available through their downloadable XBox Originals line. What bothers me about all this is that, as someone who thinks games should be archived and available to play regardless of current hardware, we may lose an entire generation of software just as we lost an entire generation of Saturn titles. Read More... Posted Jan 05 2009, 06:45 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: xbox, bob mackey, gamestop, hardware, xbox originals, jet set radio future

• My Life as a Red Ring Statistic

  I jumped on the current-gen bandwagon a little late; last February, to be specific, when my freelance writing skills suddenly and unexpectedly became profitable.  In order to stay relevant, I had to upgrade; so I picked up an XBox 360 and a Wii roughly around the same time of the year.  The Wii was something I always wanted but could never find, while the 360 always filled me with justifiable anxiety.  Undoubtedly, 2007 was the Year of the Red Ring of Death, and the talk of XBoxes expiring in mass quantities kept me far, far away from Microsoft's machine.  But by early 2008, I assumed all of the problems had been worked out.  Surely, after all of that mess, a newly-purchased 360 would be free of console cancer.  Right?  Right? You'll never guess what happened last night. Read More... Posted Dec 03 2008, 04:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: microsoft, xbox 360, bob mackey, hardware, recalls, red ring of death

• The New XBox Experience: A Brief Reaction

  The New XBox Experience is finally available to all XBox 360 users today, and I couldn't be happier.  Microsoft's old "blade" format had quite a few problems, most of which involved finding stuff on the marketplace; to use the old GUI effectively, you pretty much had to train yourself to think bass-ackwardsly.  And when you got to the right place, sometimes you couldn't even find what you were looking for; I remember a certain summer adventure when a friend and I wanted to play the newly released Commando 3, only to find it minutes later listed under WOTB--which caused me to forever think of the game as Woe Tub. The best idea out of all of the new changes has to be the Netflix streaming movie integration. As a loyal NetFlix customer, I was aware of their streaming service before the NXE announcement, but never really used it because I sit in front of my computer too damn much as-is. But now when I'm alone or entertaining (and most importantly, far from my computer desk), I can choose from a good selection of quality (and not-so quality) programming that further justifies me not having cable TV. My own cheapness can only excuse so much. Read More... Posted Nov 19 2008, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: xbox 360, xbox live, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, hardware

• Are We Ready for a New DS?

  Get ready for trade-in values to drop; a shocking weekend news post from Wired's Game|Life revealed that Nintendo may be in the mood for another renovation to their popular platform. Game|Life head honcho Chris Kohler breaks it down for all of us who are unfortunate enough to lack fluency in Japanese: Nikkei Net, the online arm of Japan's foremost economic newspaper, reports that the new model will launch this year in Japan and include a camera and music playback. Nikkei's take on the new machine is that Nintendo is moving outside the boundaries of the "game industry" and attempting to create a device that will compete with more general electronics like cell phones. Nikkei does point out that the camera function of DS could be integrated with gameplay, by allowing games to use the photos taken with the hardware. There's no doubt that the DS' 2006 remodel was a much-needed change; it made the system smaller, brighter, and look remarkably less like a toy. I'm one of many who handed down their fat DS to a loved one or stranger for the benefit of a much sleeker handheld--and the DS Lite has been so awesome that I feel no resentment for Nintendo. The changes to this supposed new model aren't quite as drastic as what would be in the DS2 (or whatever Nintendo decides to call it), though they're pretty big nonetheless. But will Americans really fall for a third model of the same product? Read More... Posted Sep 29 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, ds, game boy advance, hardware