Grade School

Jack Thompson decided to sue the news site Kotaku over comments attached to an article dissecting his claims about video games being connected to the VA Tech shootings. This is his complaint.

I call your attention to page 27 of the PDF, #78. And I quote:

"This was followed with other posts that Thompson should be struck with a bar, shot in the face by an irate gamer, castrated and his testicles stuffed down his throat, and the exercise of other basic 'constitutional' rights to advocate violence against an individual………………………………………………………………Not!"

This is in an official document submitted to court.

Awe.

Political Mishmash

I haven't commented on the VA Tech shooting here. It's partly because I'm overly opinionated, partly because I didn't think it was right to have one of those "BLOG MY REACTION" posts, and mostly because I've been in similar shoes to Cho's.

I'm not about to comment on the shooting here, though I have elsewhere. However, I will comment on comments about the shooting.

Firstly, I very much dislike the instantaneous reactions of people with an agenda. Almost instantly people were saying that the shootings were cause for <Insert Agenda Here>. There were people saying we needed changes in gun control, some more lax, some stricter and all different. There were people saying we needed mental health industry changes. There was Jack Thompson, who declared the whole thing Counter-Strike's fault before we even knew who the shooter was. Incidentally, last reports stated that Cho didn't play video games at all, he wrote dramatic plays.

I'm all for figuring out what went wrong and fixing it, but political grandstanding doesn't help anyone but the people grandstanding. I doubt it even helps them as much as they believe.

The best reaction we can have is that of compassion. Compassion for the survivors, compassion for the dead, and compassion for Cho and everyone like him. He killed 32 people, a terrible act, and left us question how such things could happen. The unfortunate, knee-jerk reaction is to seek out people similar to him and isolate them, ridicule them, and take out our frustration on them. This is the absolute worst thing we can possibly do.

I've been reading a lot about Cho, and the events surrounding the VA Tech shootings. He was made fun of out throughout middle school, high school, and even university. In short, isolated, ridiculed, and transformed into an object for others to vent their frustrations upon. While not the only factor in matters, increasing the level to which we do such things is in no way going to stop such events from reoccurring.

People in Cho's position need, first and foremost, the compassion and friendship of others. Isolating them further only harms the situation further. Demonizing Cho, however angry and vitriolic his diatribe and video clips, does not change what he did or the events that lead him to believe it was his only way out.

My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered because of this event, whether by a gun, the media, or those who would take out their sorrows on the people who need help the most.

Of Hedgehogs and Plumbers

Ah, yesteryear. The whims and blissful ignorance of youth. An age when cotton candy was the best reason for going to a theme park, girls had cooties, and Mario and Sonic fought battles to the death in the minds of future geeks, nerds and dorks. Ah, nostalgia.

Theories were always flown express between the battle lines, detailing how and why Mario was better than Sonic, how Sonic was better than Mario, and occaisionally why Luigi or Tails was the more underappreciated sidekick.

Perhaps the news I bring is but the precursor to even greater news, but by the end of the year we can settle at least one question regarding the great video game rivalry of the early 90s. Who would have won the Olympics?

As the universe has not been torn asunder with great rifts in reality, I can only assume that this is a Good Thing (TM). Perhaps this game will finally brook understanding between our Red and Blue brothers and sisters. Or it will give us some measure of opportunity to finally put all those arguments to the test.

This announcement brings with it a great hush. Yes, this game will allow Mario and Sonic to compete. However, there is a greater competition which our eyes draw too. On the horizon is Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, and it promises third party characters to fight with and against. All of nerdom holds its breath, wondering if perhaps we shall soon hear of a greater, less amicable battle to be fought. One where blood shall flow, or at least percentage points.

It will be totally awesome if we see an announcement stating that Sonic will be in Brawl, and this seems ever more likely. Until that is confirmed or denied, we will have this as substitute for our desires to see the age old rivalry played out in violent arenas of destruction, doom, and d-pads.

Cracking!

Our dear chaps Wallace and Gromit are apparently spearheading a push for invention in Great Britain.

Were I a native, I'd suggest a new form of transportation. A hamsterball you would ride on top of powered by a robotic hamster fueled by giant sunflower seeds. I'd call it the Hamsportation 1200 LX, featuring Sunflower SEED AI.

Instantly Improved Vision

I have glasses now. It's nice being able to sit on the couch and be able to read the tiny text in my video games. It's also nice being able to read road signs before the point of no return.

It'll take time to get used to having glasses. I don't need to wear them all the time, but just the idea that I am now in the subcategory of nerd with the attribute "wears glasses" is weird.

Anime Glasses Cliches:

1. Pushing glasses up to the bridge of the nose while expounding some insight or intellectual tidbit or otherwise showing mental supiriority.
2. Glasses completely sheen with light indicating a menacing, silent anger and vengeful machinations.
3. A quick flash of light crosses glasses just before an attempt to do something incredibly epic, incredibly overblown, or incredibly likely to be followed up by a swift kick to the nuts by a hot female.
4. Spirals for lenses portraying the "Coke bottle" varietry of eyewear.

Hai, nihonjin desu. Usojanai!

This afternoon I'm going to be posing as a japanese person in order to download a demo of a game onto my Xbox 360.

It makes some sense to me that there might be reasons for restricting game demos to certain regions (e.g Super Japanese Game, Never Coming to America TM) but in the case of one which is being released in all of 4 days... I'm not so sure.

In any case, there's a demo of Armored Core 4 that's been availible to the japanese for a week now. I'm going to get my hands on it before I leave for Baltimore this Wednesday. In order to do this, I must accomplish the following.

1) Create a silver Xbox Live account using a japanese hotmail address.
2) ???
3) Profit.

The not-so-obscure reference aside, the workaround is pretty simple. Take step one, add downloading the demo. The only difficult part is filling in information that is passably japanese without giving out some random japanese person's phone number. I wonder what my old cell phone number was...

Mech it so

Shock, awe, excitement. It's time to endlessly distract my brother with tales of Armored Core 4.... almost.

I don't think I've ever had a game series I enjoyed thoroughly ambush me before, but Armored Core just did. I found out, by accident, that the latest game in the series will be coming out 3 days before my birthday. Needless to say I am entirely psyched, and at the same time disappointed because I'm flying to Baltimore the 21st to visit my sister. Why do they have to release it right when I'm leaving?

Some time ago it was to be a PS3 exclusive, but I was happy to find out that it will also be on the Xbox 360. The previews say that for the most part it's sticking to the good old formula, and in my mind that's all good. This game is probably the epitomy of a hardcore mech title. Piecing together death machines carefully from a wide array of parts, throwing in some weapons of mass destruction, and then wielding the power of your creations has always been highly appealing. This is despite that fact that my brother is my supirior in the design aspect.

So now I have 300 to look forward to in theatres on Friday, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on my birthday, and this sandwiched between.

March loves me.

PS3 Phone Home

This will be brief, I've already bombarded what readers I have with two monolothic rants in the past few days, and I can be reasonably terse about this.

Sony has announced Home, a service meant to simultaneously rival both Xbox Live and Nintendo's Mii Channel. It's an impressive tool, and almost a game unto itself. It has graphics reminiscent of the Sims or Second Life, and features minigames, scenery and other interesting tidbits. There'll be lots of opportunities for those "microtransactions" that the industry loves these days.

My biggest critique of the system is that it missed the point of both Live and the Mii Channel. The power of both is in simple elegance. It is not difficult to use Live, or to use and create Miis. They are designed to be easy and effective. In this way, they can appeal to casual gamers. Home is neither of this things, and seems to offer more complication than simplification. This will definately be great for already established gamers. They've basically been training themselves to be adaptable to new user interfaces starting from when they first played. It's the casual gamers and the non-gamers, the ones who will be increasingly important as the industry moves forward, who won't want to bother.

Is Home bad? Nah. However, it's innovating in the wrong direction.

Rant: Lumping

Rar rant time.

Lumping is a term in Physics used to decribe when one combines two objects which, for the purpose of the problem or experiment, can be considered one object. This is most commonly seen in situations involving friction, acceleration, and blocks sliding on slopes. The first Physics class I took in high school the teacher taught us how to properly employ lumping. It was a useful tool with two entirely critical points to remember.

1) Although lumped, the two objects are merely represented by one object.
2) Unlumping must take place when there comes a point where the two objects can no longer be treated as one.

These two fundamental points did not sink into much of the class properly, and some very, very bad Physics resulted. The teacher rued the day he attempted to teach lumping and struck it from our syllabus. He outright forbade its use from then on, swearing heavy penalties for its use. No matter how many times he's reiterated these points, too many students continually forgot them.

There is a very good reason I went into that nerdy Physics stuff, and that is because it is an excellent analogy for another form of lumping.

I really enjoy debate. Thinking about other people's positions, wrestling with what answers will or will not make sense, asking the tough questions, these and more are aspects of a good debate I enjoy. There are a vast number of fallacies, idiocies and downright crazy things people do in debates that turn them sour. Lumping is one of these.

Lumping is closely related to the flaw of generalizations. Generalizations always have exceptions, otherwise they would be rules. As a brief aside, a commonly cited paradox is the "all generalizations are false" generalization. I have come to the conclusion that this is not a generalization itself, but is in fact a rule. Rules do not have exceptions, otherwise it defeats the purpose of a rule (see Sherlock Holmes).

To return to the topic at hand, lumping is when a person putting forth and argument or point "lumps" a group of people together. This happens all the time, it would be hard to talk about "the American people" or "martial artists" without lumping. However, much like its Physics counterpart it requires two points to be kept constantly in memory.

1) While lumped, the numerous people are merely represented by the category or term.
2) Unlumping must take place when there comes a point where the numerous people can no longer be treated as one.

I recently participated in a debate over the blindness of faith. For reference, here is my response to the parent comment which began this saga. Someone had made the statement that "faith requires lack of reasoning". I responded with a correctionary statement that "blind faith requires a lack of reasoning". They responded in turn to say that "All faith is blind". I probably should have seen the warning signs immediately, but I didn't.

I proceeded to lay out arguments that there is a fundamental difference between faith that is oblivious, willfully or otherwise, of any contradictions, and faith that actively acknowledges these and wrestles with them. I've been working on my terseness, so I kept it simple and short (although I worked in a somewhat subtle reference to The Raven). I did not meet the expected outcome. The partner in this debate saw no difference between the two.

I then compared the latter type of faith to the scientific method, noting the parallels in hypothesis, in testing, and in observation. I specifically brought up how theories and hypothesis are labeled such because they aren't conclusively proven, meaning that on some level a step or leap of faith must be taken to believe their veracity. I probably shouldn't have wasted any more of his or my time after this point, as it should have been painfully obvious what was going on. He proceded to dispute the idea that there were any parallels between science and religion at all, declaring science's ability to "turn on a dime" and trumpeting the dogmatic practices of religion.

The specific instance that spawned my concious realization of his fallacy came in his final response, final because I stopped responding. Aside from demonstrating he wasn't informed on Cold Fusion, he also brought up how when the Shroud of Turin was carbon dated, "Religion" denied the acquired date stating "carbon dating is a sham". This was when I had my epiphany as to what was going on, one other than him being a zealous, dogmatic, and simultaneously ignorant scientismist. That's judgemental of me, and possibly unfair. I probably looked quite the zealous defender of "Religion" myself, except I wasn't the one who brought up God, religion, or the Shroud of Turin. I was arguing in entirely scientific terms until non-scientific ones were brought in, with the possible exclusion of "faith" itself.

In any case, my opposite in this quarrel demonstrated a remarkable talent for improper lumping.

He used the extremely broad term "Religion" when referring to the reaction to the Shroud of Turin's carbon dating. To my knowledge, the only affected religion was Christianity. I'm not aware of any Daoists, Buddhists, Shintoists, Hindi, Wiccans, or Muslims who raised an outcry about this. I'm pretty sure Scientologists were equally indifferent.

That was only the outer-most level of it, while there were certainly Christians raising a cry over the result it certainly wasn't all Christians. I'm fairly confident that large portions of the Church did not participate in the outcry, did not care, or even accepted that the Shroud of Turin might not really be what it was cracked up to be. I'd even wager that there wasn't a single major denomination which was completely unified in its response.

What we have here is a failure to unlump. The actions of a small fraction of "Religion" or "Christianity" are attributed to the whole when the representation no long holds. This would have gotten a big ZERO on those Physics tests.

Perhaps I have misjudged the person, but their tone and message seemed rather clear to me. They seemed condescending, selective in their evidence and facts, and lumped people and events into "Science" and "Religion" in ways that were fair to neither. I will not claim that my points or ideas were perfect. However, I do feel that my "grey" arguments collided headlong into "black and white" thinking.

I suppose I frequently post these altercations here for a second opinion. I want to know if I'm being mean-spirited, dogmatic, "black and white" or otherwise judging unfairly. When I'm arguing over the internet, this is the only accountability I have.

Serrano

There was a recent entry of my sisters that sparked some interesting notions and ideas. In response to my comment, my sister linked the wikipedia entry for Serrano and an interview as well. My primary concern being his motivation and ideas, the wikipedia entry failed to help me much.

The first time I started reading the interview I literally closed the browser out after two sentences. Something fundamental about the man's attitude offended me, and I was entirely unable to even so much as look at the interview without the feeling resurging. It was an unnerving experience, though a silent one. An apt term might be that I mentally retched, not at the man himself but at the ideas he put forth.

The following is my nitpicky response to him. He may never read it, but it is necessary to rest my soul and to avoid a disservice to the man by not properly ingesting his words. On some level I may still be unfair to him as I will only cite sentences and small phrases, but it is still the entire context of what we are given in the interview on which I am basing my assumptions and statements.

"As a former Catholic, and as someone who even today is not opposed to being called a Christian, I felt I had every right to use the symbols of the Church and resented being told not to." - Serrano

I can understand the resentment he might feel, but it does not appear to me he understands the resentment others feel. This is exemplified in his use of the word "right". In his view it is an intrinsic right for all who are or have been Christians to use the symbols of the Church. I completely disagree on this point. The use of any symbol, the taking of any artistic license, is a privilage. It is a privilage protected by the right of free speech, but it is based on the good will and faith of the people. It was perfectly legitimate for him to use the symbols, but that does not make it a "right". His having been Catholic does not grant him any additional privilage or right over a Muslim, an Atheist or a Wiccan in using Christian symbols. Better insight, a relevant point of view perhaps. A greater likelihood to be taken to Christian discussions and forums perhaps. But no intrinsic right or advantage over his fellow man.

More importantly, having been Christian he should have known the importance of Christian symbols. These symbols do not belong to Christians but to God and Christ. We are caretakers and nothing more, and it is our witness and use of these symbols that are evaluated by the people around us and by God. They are not things to be taken lightly or passively akin to a company logo. They are sacred.

It was entirely possible in my mind that Piss Christ was a work whose intent was purely good, and whose message was obscured by the medium. Thus far, there is a taint of arrogance which sullies the purity of his labors. As he has stated thus far, this was merely formed from "obsession" rather than any endearing message. Perhaps I judge too quickly.

"I like to believe that rather than destroy icons, I make new ones." - Serrano

The issue at stake isn't the destruction of icons, it is the marring of symbols, it is the issue of harm, and it is the necessity of new icons. Is harming the imagery of the cross and other important symbols in Christianity worth the creation of new icons? Are these new icons necessary? What is the purpose of these new icons? I have not found an explanation of Serrano of the Piss Christ or any specific work, and that vexes me. Perhaps it is my computer-oriented mind enjoying definitions, perhaps not. In any case, I dislike the artistic tendency to obfuscate intended meaning. As a poet and writer, I find that the explicit statement of intended meaning does not prevent the stimulating exercise of finding alternative interpretations. He says that he is at least attempting to create new icons, something sacred, but his method is inherently sacrilegious. I feel as though he has not considered the harm his work may cause to the symbols he obsesses over, and to the people for whom those symbols are important.

"I am just an artist. That is the way that it should be." - Serrano

At least on this point I can agree. I have never believed that ethnicity should somehow be tied into profession as though it enhances it somehow. Different ethnicities and cultures may have tendencies, but merit alone should suffice. Michael Jordon is a basketball player, being black isn't important. Bill Gates was CEO of Microsoft, being white isn't important. Serrano is an artist.

Much of the later interview does not deal directly with what bothered me, and is also largely boring. One graceful moment is where Serrano acknoledges that the controversy forced him to connect with people and become less anti-social, that the whole tihng confused him and hurt him, and that it caused him grief.

I'm going to conclude that Serrano meant well with his work, but was ignorant of the consequences thereof. Refusing until that point to connect with people, he failed to understand that his work might be viewed in a radically different light than his own. I don't believe it was his intent to begin a controversy. However, the consequences of his actions are still his. He is imperfect, as I am, and will always be. He must deal both with what harm he has caused and what help he has given.

Despite my favorable evaluation of the man, I must express my dislike for much of his work. Though growing in connection with people, much of his art causes upset without direction for reconciliation. His ideas are interesting, but in action he does himself little justice. In closing, his photography of the KKK and homeless people intrigues me and gives me hope that more of his work will touch on sensitive subjects without drawing out conflict, but rather creates a small gnawing of discomfort that prefaces social change.

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring...

... banana phone!

For some time now, I have wished to imbue my nifty cell phone with nerdy and silly ring tones. To this end I scoured the internet attempting to find some method by which my extreme geekiness might be profoundly adapted to my portable communications device. At ever turn I was thwarted by inane policies, monthly subscription fees, and abominations pretending to be faithful renditions of 8-bit classics.

I had all but given up.

Last night I had an epiphany. I encountered a service that sent video game mp3s to your phone, for some stupid price again. However, the transparent nature of what was occuring lead me to conclude one thing, all I had to do was find a way to send an mp3 to my phone. Finding the mp3s that I desired would be no issue, I have such things in great numbers. All I needed was the delivery.

Eureka moment in hand, I immediately found a website which would send my mp3s to my phone at no cost. This tool is so freaking awesome.

It not only works with mp3s, but just about any other commonly used sound file format (such as ogg/vorbis). You can select the starting second, the duration (between 5 and 40 seconds) and more. It has a comprehensive list of all phone models and carriers, and simply is amazing. The only thing it asks is patience, as it cna take up to 72 minutes to send.

You can donate if you like, and doing so allots you some credits you can use to speed up the time it takes to send the files. I'm planning on donating a lot.

Why this altruism? Because quite simply it's the first site with a sane setup for dealing with ringtones, and also the most liberating of any. Every other website was charging some ungodly price for a midi file of the Super Mario Bros theme written by some failing music student who'd obviously ignored video games up until someone paid them $5 to massacre a tune. Some services even required you to start paying before you could even browse to see if they had anything remotely interesting. The whole ringtone thing is the most sinister plot to rob us of money in recent times.

This website lets me take MY mp3s and put them on MY phone! THIS SHOULDN'T BE SO DIFFICULT A CONCEPT. Why is it that so many companies want to make it hard for people to do what they want? It's simply baffling. That I have found a service that enables me to do the simple, obvious thing for no cost only lends credence to the idea that these other sites are the ringtone equivalent of those fake ebay and paypal e-mails. There is absolutely no intent but robbery.

Without further ado, here is the link to the website. I've already tested it and found it worthy. All that remains is to have my phone blurt out "OHNOESITSYOURBROTHERANDHEISCALLINGYOUQUICKPICKUPTHEPHONE
ANDTALKLOUDLYEVENTHOUGHITSGOINGTOMAKEEVERYONEMADORYOUWILL CRASHYOURCARORSOMETHINGOHNOES!" whenever my family calls.

BOFH

That acronym stands for "Bastard Operator From Hell".

The following links are much funnier if you are A) a nerd and B) have a fairly decent concept of UNIX and its administration. However, these are not necessary.

Also note that I am gullible, and at first believed these things. That was until the "accidents" started.

The first link is the early work, the second link is to the current site of the BOFH.

Archive
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Enjoy.

"Next-Gen"

This should be short.

For the longest time we've been referring to the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the Wii as "next-gen" systems. The following question is directed at the populace that continues to do so.

Why?

These systems are no longer "next-gen". They are current, they are now. We are no longer awaiting their release, although we may be awaiting an opportunity to get our hands on one. These systems are not being released in 2011.

It irks me on a fundamental level that people STILL, especially journalists, refer to these systems as "next-gen". The Xbox 720, PS4 and Wii Tuu are "next-gen". In fact, the whole "next-gen" term is completely new to the marketing hype surrounding the new generation. That it is still being used is evidence of how it is almost purely a meaningless marketing term.

So quite simply, stop. If you must refer to them as something, "current-gen" or "the new systems" work perfectly well. The systems also have names, proper nouns of a sort, which also have a job they can do. I swear if I read another journalist who uses the term "next-gen" I'm going to wail and gnash teeth.

The King is dead, long live the King!

I'm increasingly convinced that there are two paths availible to the previous video game king, Sony.

1) Come to terms with what is right and wrong with the Playstation 3.
2) Die, slowly, pitifully, and without friends.

I'm not going to bother listing the latest of the shenanigans on Sony's part. Penny-Arcade does a good enough job on the most recent offense. If you have the time, read the corresponding news section on the website. It works well as a source for much of the following thought.

Quite simply, the two paths I listed about are what every hardcore gamer MUST hope for. I highlight the word 'must' because it is absolutely imperative to the industry that Sony either realize their wayward ways or die. The alternative is horrific.

Penny-Arcade had an insight that set this off, and it was that right now it is the hardcore who are carrying Sony. Only a hardcore gamer will spend $600 on a PS3, or will have enough motivation to convince their parents to buy one for them. The casual people are interested, but they want to wait and see.

In this crucial time period, Sony is continually alienating the hardcore. Every comment that drips as acrid slime from their mouths spreads like wildfire through the internet and to the ears of the elite gamers, proud of their constant attunement to the latest news on all topics gaming. This is exactly the wrong thing to be doing, and if they succeed despite their arrogance a terrible and destructive message will be sent to those in charge of every company that has a presence in the industry.

Spineless.

In a sense, the hardcore are the ramparts of the gamers. We're the ones who pay attention, the ones who are "in the know". If we roll over for these companies, they will KNOW they can have their way, no matter what. If the hardcore do not resist, how can we expect the casual gamer to be bothered? They do not know that the man in charge of Sony Computer Entertainment of America is in complete denial that there are PS3s unsold in stores. They do not know that the crashing PS3 demo displays are a "feature" rather than a bug. They simply know there is a PS3, and often not even how much it costs.

If Sony survives, but does not amend their ways, it's as good as waiving our rights to decent treatment at the hands of the monolithic companies that drive the industry.

Perhaps I'm simply reacting drastically and without truly deep thought as it is late, but I can not see Sony's survival without reform as a positive influence in the industry. Should they learn, I will welcome them back into the fold with open arms. Should they perish, I will mourn their loss. But should they persist in their rancid words that defy both reality and insult the intelligence of the people they purport to understand, no supplication will be enough to reconcile me to them.

Taggerific

Accursed blog upgrades!

You may have noticed, as I did, that with the new blogger comes tags. Wonderous things they are, I am now compelled to (perhaps when I am not at work taking a 5 minute break) go through my vast history of jibberish and tag everything.

In other news, the examples for labels are "scooters, vacation, fall". Read into that what you will.

Vroom.

I've had a lot of fun in Excite Truck for the Wii, and before that I lit blue rubber fires in Mario Kart: Double Dash with my Bro Steve on the GameCube (Apologies to Waluigi and Yoshi for the smell of burning tires), but before even that was Mario Kart 64.

Today Mario Kart 64 joins the Wii's Virtual Console titles. My excitement is only dulled by the grim prospect of playing the game alone.

In any case, I needed something pointless to post about, and here it is.

Expect to hear the anguished cries of my racer as I expertly miss the vaunted Rainbow Road shortcut, thus flinging them into the abyss.

NintendOwned

Last week's video game sales charts from Japan paint a very interesting story...

In short, you need to go down fifteen places before you find a single game title that wasn't for a Nintendo console. In fact, nine of the Top Ten were first-party Nintendo titles, fifteen of the top twenty, and twenty of the top thirty.

Even more surprising is how OLD some of these games are. Animal Crossing was released over a year ago, and was still #7!

Worse yet for Sony, four out of their six titles on the list aren't even for a current-generation system! The PS3 doesn't make a single appearance on the list, while the PSP only has two titles able to break Nintendo's stranglehold on software sales. Meanwhile, Microsoft isn't anywhere to be seen at all.

Quite simply, if there was any doubt that Nintendo was going to pwn this generation you need only look to Japan. Nintendo is trashing all comers there, leading in both console and software sales by a long, distant shot.

Microsoft can trumpet their 10 million consoles until the end times, and rightly so. However, they don't have a single million in Japan, while Nintendo is screaming forward in all regions as fast as they can produce systems and games.

Sony is only at 1 million consoles worldwide, and already they are sitting on shelves here in North America.

I'm doing my "told you so" dance right now. We'll see how long it goes before something changes in the industry and I have to stop.

FAQ Grammar Paradox

One of the foundational lessons is grammar is that of a/an. When does that mysterious little n jump out of the woodwork and grip itself steadfastly on the right side of that a? As most of the internet will not be able to tell you, it is whenever the first letter of the following word is a vowel or vowel sound (e.g an eon or an hour).

Example: That is an operating system, an OS if you will.

However, you will notice something that sentence assumes, namely the pronounciation of acronyms. Some people would read OS aloud as "operating system", some would read it as "Oh-Es" and others just "Aus". This leads to the following confusing sentence.

Example: I wrote a FAQ on the Legend of Zelda.

Nothing wrong with this sentence, save for potential eternal wrangling over proper grammar. Now, I am no expert grammarian but my instincts here lead be to believe there is a problem. A problem coming from the acronym "FAQ".

Some people will say aloud "Frequently Asked Questions" but those are very few because of the great mouthful that is, so most will default to either "Fak" or "Ef-Ay-Kyew". Therein is the problem.

"Fak" is a distinct consonant, while "Ef-Ay-Kyew" sports a vowel sound at the beginning. This creates a very real and confusing dichotomy between whether we should use a or an.

Anyone who prefers "Fak" is going to read that sentence and be perfectly content and happy, barring a complete failure at basic grammar and spelling. However, people who prefer "Ef-Ay-Kyew" will twitch when they reach "a FAQ" because as far as they can tell the author screwed up in the attempted sentence.

What results is an impossible situation wherein any perfectionist writer aware of the problem will be forced to refer to all such acronyms in the definitive or else risk going insane.

The problem consonants are as follows:

F - Ef
H - Aych
L - El
M - Em
N - En
S - Es
X - Ex

Many acronyms starting with this letters will cause great issues for writers. Thankfully a large number lend themselves almost fully to one pronouciation or another (MADD would very rarely be pronounced "Em-Ay-Dee-Dee" while NAACP would almost never be pronounced "Naspa" or "Nakp") or are large organizations requiring definitives.

As it stands, FAQ is probably the worst and singularly common case of an acronym commonly used by the public which exemplifies this problem.

Now that I've ruined the word for all you grammatical perfectionists out there (I know I've sent some of you into seizures), I can rest for the day satisfied with a job well done, if overly verbose.

Empty

Vacation ends.

It's been wild, fun, exciting, crazy, and a whole slew of adjectives the likes of which the world has seen many times before. The myriad of interesting variations our inter-familial activities created in our interactions was astounding. The whole thing was a blast.

Yet there can be little as chilling as returning to one's apartment, finding none of the dear relatives who had been guests in the humble abode I call home. It is all so empty.

Everything I have, everything I see, it's all empty when I'm alone. There isn't a video game I own, a picture I can view, or word I can type that isn't a painful reminder that the people I care about most are beyond my daily reach. Whether they were present at this family reunion or not, the gaping holes left by friends and family distant fail to mask the void of a bachelor pad and a lonely bachelor.

I feel as though the very walls scream at me. Beating against me for my solitude, railing at the lack of social activity I muster to fill the stagnant rooms of my residence. Even as I type my concentration falters for the complete lack of people.

There are times where I enjoy being alone. I can say that as much as 50% of my waking hours and days are pretty much required to be away from society. Unfortunately my current conditions leave me precious little interaction with my peers. What little social activity I have is largely with people decades my senior, great people but far removed from the thoughts, needs, and desires of a man still fresh out of college. As it stands what should be free time spent inviting friends over for poker, Wii, or a movie are instead flittered away without company.

Honestly, I don't know how to make friends. I'm not the kind of person who goes out on their own motivations. Despite the ease of demeanor I display in social situations I am not one who begins them, but must instead be directed to them by others. When the number of others directing me to said situations is zero the nature of my problem becomes apparent.

I fully realize how ludicrous it seems. The simple answer it to force myself to go out there and meet people, find a group or something. However, the simple answer for what to do when bitten by a highly venomous creature is to completely sever the affected area from oneself immediately. Simple completely fails to address the difficulty associated with said solution and even the practicality thereof.

So I'm left with my conundrum, and the painfully empty apartment.

Greed before Need

Because my greedy and Scrooge-like sister went ahead and did it, I will feel no remorse in schilling for gifts as well.

And yes, I'm so miserly I'm stealing her formatting as well.

As a final note, these are also valid birthday presents.

The Well Dressed Nerd
1. Outrageously Funny - Choko Untld (Wark!)
2. Odd as All Else - Emergency Exit (It's funny, really. Okay, so maybe you need to have been in Japan...)
3. You Know it's True - Life (Twilight Princess rocks your socks)
4. Self-Defense - Shirt of Smiting (You never know when you need to mete out a good smiting)
5. Free Will - RPG (Choose wisely)

If Music is the Food of Love, Maybe this Will Get me a Date
1. A-Muse-zing - Absolution (Oh the pun hurts I know)
2. Nippon, ChaChaCha - Yoshida Brothers (Because their piece from the Wii commercial was so awesome, so get me all three)
3. Weird and All - Straight Outta Lynwood (Because I'm so White and Nerdy)
4. Shinigamiwa Atashiwo Korosu - Bleach (Because the anime kicks butt)

Since when was Pink a Natural Hair Color?
1. IM IN UR MEYTRIKZ, KRASHIN UR CODE - Stand Alone Complex (Because's it's as awesome as the movies)
2. From the, "I never saw THAT coming!" department - Berserk (And you thought Cloud had a big sword)
3. Be Afraid - Paranoia Agent (Same guy who did Perfect Blue = Want)

And so there you have it. I will break the pattern and not list 2 items and then 1 more item, because the 2 items would be things I'd want for myself, and only God can get me a significant other.

This lesson in greed has ended.

Haberdashery

I highly recommend going to www.churchsigngenerator.com. It is very diverting, with five different styles to choose from. Each and every sign looks completely authentic, whether you enscribe your favorite Monty Python moments or Burt Ward's best Robin quote.

I, of course, chose to practice my sardonic wit. I played around with a myriad of possibilities, but this one struck me as the most appropriate. I thought about changing "you" to "Jim" or even removing the blank area so I could reference one of my multiple personalities who has long been absent from this blog (Franklin), but ultimately the original had already sunk it's viral mandibles into my cerebrum.

Astroturf

You may or may not be aware of Sony's recent attempt to generate a grassroots campaign for their PSP. The whole thing was ridiculously obvious because the marketing company that was hired was incapable of using 13375p34k properly. That's right, what they generated was a hideous abomination of a hideous abomination.

Below is an analysis of on of the "blog" posts from the offending website. It should become very obvious that A) using ur and luv does not a 1337 g3m4r make and B) I know way too much about 13375p34k, gamers and the internet.

Begin analysis.

You don't need to have spent years on the internet to know that when someone makes common mistakes/shortcuts like luv and ur, they don't do it halfway. You'll never see the following sentence on the internet by someone doing it unintentionally.

Hello everyone, I was just thinking that ur all going to luv my latest blog entry.

This sentence of my creation highlights something everyone who's ever used IRC, read Barrens chat, or hacked the e-mail of a 14 year old knows. People who use ur and luv and similar shortcuts and mispellings will not be using proper punctuation, spelling and grammar. It doesn't happen.

Yet, here is what we have from the website. I will be pointlessly dissecting it.

here's the deal::: i (charlie) have a psp. my friend jeremy does not. but he wants one this year for xmas.

People do not use colons on the internet. That key is the jaded and lost son of the realm of QWERTY. People also make assumptions, assumptions such as their identity being well known. They won't be specifying that they are "charlie", you should already know that. If you don't, you're a noob. Jeremy fails to be derided for not having a PSP. Lastly, no one speaking like this would specify "this year", or type "one" out. Number keys are there 4 a reason.

so we started clowning with sum not-so-subtle hints to j's parents that a psp would be teh perfect gift. we created this site to spread the luv to those like j who want a psp!

No one on the internet can spell subtle, let alone know where to use hyphens. A common thing to notice is the use of larger words here were smaller ones would have sufficed. "started" could be "were" or "did". "created" is two syllabels longer than "made". The last sentence would more improperly be "we maed this site 2 giv luv 4 u who want a psp liek j!"

consider us your own personal psp hype machine, here to help you wage a holiday assault on ur parents, girl, granny, boss -- whoever -- so they know what you really want.

Again with the long words. Very few words over 2 syllabels are in the common lexicon on the internet. "consider", "personal", "holiday", "whoever", all unknown to the internet mind. Again with the hyphens as well. There are no "girl"s on the internet, only "gf"s, and when was the last time we saw "granny"? What kid this supposed age would have a "boss"?

we'll let you know how it works for us. pls return the favor.

more to come,
c&j.

Anyone who uses ur is not going to type out "you". "you" is four characters too many as it is. Also, the kind of comraderie shown in this last sentiment is completely foreign. This is the internet, not a high tea. There are no favors, there are only noobs and 1337 h4x.


Ironically, this horribly conceived effort at joining the netizens was least among the symptoms of the greater evil. Very quickly enterprising people spent all of five minutes finding the administrative contacts of the website, linking them to a marketing company, and matching up employee pictures to the people on the website. Almost as soon as the website was up the jig was up.

I wasn't originally going to blab about any of this, were it not for Sony's "apology" or "confession" contained below.

Busted. Nailed. Snagged. As many of you have figured out (maybe our speech was a little too funky fresh???), Peter isn't a real hip-hop maven and this site was actually developed by Sony. Guess we were trying to be just a little too clever. From this point forward, we will just stick to making cool products, and use this site to give you nothing but the facts on the PSP.

Sony Computer Entertainment America

I would like to take the opportunity to rail against this.

Firstly, many is a small reckoning. 99% of people aware of the website found out, instantly. The other 1% saw that everyone else had figured it out already and moved on to other things.

Secondly, stop. You weren't cool before, you aren't cool now. Your speech wasn't too funky fresh, in fact I can't think of anyone describing "ur", "luv" and similar shortcuts as such. No, your speech as a baldfaced attempt at pretending to be something you weren't and you failed miserably. Lets look at that again, you failed miserably to mispell words. That just boggles the mind.

Thirdly, it was deathly obvious from that incredible mind-destroying "rap" video that Peter was not, in fact a hip-hop maven. If you survived the video anyway.

Fourthly, a mere cursory look at the webpage immediately screams "marketing". Even Xbox 360 fansites don't plaster system related imagery everywhere like that.

Fifthly, it's not that you were trying to be a little too clever, it's that you A) went out of your way to lie to us and B) failed utterly and completely to fool anyone but yourselves.

Sixthly, your initial product (the webpage) wasn't cool. Making a cool product is a prerequisite to continue making cool products. I can't say I'll continue running away from you screaming at the horror of your creations unless I had already begun my speedy trek in a direction orthogonal to you.

Lastly, it's too late. Who with any sense whatsoever is going to believe anything you say from this point onward? We're supposed to get "just the facts" from a website whose initial point and purpose was an intentional and intricate deception? Snowball's chance on an overclocked CPU.

As an addendum, the worst part of the apology is that they still tried to act cool. When I apologize to someone for a trangression, I do not act as I normally do. My wit, jokes, sarcasm, jolly nature and other attributes are pushed aside because apologies and confessions are serious business. This is especially true when trying to reestablish someone's trust after something as destructive as a lie. Yet Sony, signing as Sony Computer Entertainment America no less, did not cut the crap and continued in part their charade even as they confessed.

I'm of the opinion that whoever is in charge of Sony's PR and marketing needs to be fired, around eight months ago. There hasn't been a single piece of good news generated by Sony's own PR machine starting May 2006 during and after E3. Things that could have been excellent news were lukewarm, and things that might have been only minor issues spiralled uncontrolled into whirlwinds of bad press. This is just another lead pipe on a thoroughly crushed camel.

Sony need to get their PR act together, because ultimately it's going to hurt them severely if they don't. It shouldn't be this hard to market the incumbent.

Terse

Firstly, that's something I'm not. However, it's also something the internet is not as well. This is a problem.

I have noted unconciously, until recently, a slow change in the internet. As the years have gone by websites have increased in complexity. Complexity is not in an of itself a problem. It is nice to have a complex setup, such as this blog, which enables users to do things simply. Complexity of that kind is good. It is complexity of a different kind that isn't. Namely, the web page itself.

Years ago web pages were extremely simplistic. There was very rarely anything beyond grey backgrounds, a few paragraphs of text, a hyperlink to the info-mac archinves, and one small 3k image of the person running the webpage. This was ideal for the time as anyone with a 14.4k modem was living in the lap of luxury. Slowly the capabilities of the internet were expanded, and with them webpages grew and blossomed.

Complexity of the function of web pages exploded. Whereas previously very few web pages were anything other than personal web pages or directories of files for download, now we had review sites, shareware developer home pages, news sites and more. It was still primitive, but that didn't last long either. After seperate, dedicated phone lines were no longer required to surf the sea of information, the internet created a huge demand for excellent web designers and pushed forward into the dot com boom/bust.

However, somewhere in that explosion all the good web designers vanished.

Don't believe me? First take a look at Google. In my mind, it is the epitomy of everything a web page should be. It is simple to use and navigate, while at the same time hosting a very deep and vast set of functions. When the web page loads there isn't any confusion as to what's going on. There are no distractions. There is only Google, a few options, a friendly search box and the "Search" and "Lucky" buttons. There are no ads, no special offers, nothing to clutter the page. It is, in short, a very orthogonally designed website.

Now take a look at Amazon. I'm not going to argue that Amazon isn't extremely functional, because it is. The features it attempts to grant the user do their jobs and do them well. Amazon is not the most famous online store for no reason. However, the website can not be said to be simple.

Before I cut deep into Amazon's web design, I will say that they are hardly the worst website out there. In fact, they are quite probably above average. This does not change my opinion that their website still leaves much to be desired.

When you load the Amazon web page you are immediately assaulted with options and advertisements. In the center of the screen are suggestions of things for you to buy. On either side of the search bar are a penguin and a golden chest screaming to you for a click that you might see what special deals they offer. There are tabs which are not immediately intuitive as to their function. Long lists of categories stream down the left side. Were you to try and assimilate everything on the very first page, it might take you fifteen minutes.

For someone first visiting the site, this can be extremely daunting. Lets say they wanted to find a toy. If they were intent on browsing for one, they're probably going to look confused at the screen for a moment as they try and figure out what is going on. Looking near a common center of attention, the search bar, they find links to deals, new releases, top sellers.... of what? What are these things? This person wants a toy, and if they click on these things thinking they might find one they will only find more confusion.

After some looking, they will probably find the "Browse" menu on the left. Unfortunately, toys are not listed immediately and must be scrolled down to be found. The whole time this is done ads and suggestions take up the other 3/4ths of the page, begging for attention. Just now I scrolled right past the toys, even though I knew exactly where it was, because of the distractions.

Similar insanity continues when you actually click on the toys link, but lets focus on the actual search.

If I search for "Transformers" the actual list of items is repeatedly usurped by sponsored links, and squished by categories, listmania and other oddities on the left. Clicking on a actual item isn't terrible, until you scroll down through the rest of the page and another array of confusing features without much organization presents itself. Thankfully the option to buy is situated in the primary area you first view, although accompanied by options to add it to any number of lists.

To be what I should have been in the first place, terse, the Amazon web page is not simple in the least, especially for someone who has never tried to navigate it before.

I'll repeat myself and say that Amazon is well above average in terms of its design. For all the complexity, it isn't a hideous abomination of web design as several of my college's web portals, a number of lesser online stores, and news sites are. The sheer amount of disorganized and useless clutter that can be found in so small a space as a web browser is staggering.

Web design, I believe, is largely a lost art. Much like Hollywood versus independant film-makers, we can not look to the large businesses to make the best stuff (with rare exceptions). There is an eloquent simplicity and depth to saucylittleone's livejournal, a straight utilitarian forcefulness to the Angry Christian Liberal, and my blog (simple as it is) contains more clutter than I care for.

I'm thinking very seriously about designing my own web page. I have a pretty solid idea for the main index, it's more the functions thereof and what I want to accomplish with it that need to be addressed. I want to avoid the "Lets throw in every last bell and whistle!" approach.

The major things that would be features of this webpage would be video game reviews (in depth, as in more than just a set of ratings and a justification for them but really nitty gritty details), this blog, a forum, and maybe a wiki to store all of the extremely technical and pointless knowledge of video game mechanics I uncover.

One of the chilling factors on this project at the moment is the effort. I'm not sure I'm prepared to spend the time managing, updating and generating content for the site. I also don't know a whole lot about finding web hosting, and the best thing I know for domain registration is whatever I can find via Google. Anyone with more extensive knowledge who might share said knowledge is kindly asked to impart said wisdom in the comments for this post.

In any case, I think I went more technical and less philosophical in this than I meant to. I'm not going to edit it though, because I'm lazy.

The Ballad of Broken Dreams and Forgotten Saves

Hear days of yore that came before all known of history,
and learn you well what fate befell a man of misery.
Of broken dreams I'll sing,
and save's remembering.

A lad too young had soon begun a journey wide and great,
though traveled long and growing strong he knew not his own fate.
A black and dire end,
forsaking kin and friend.

The land was doomed, a darkness loomed with curse and magic grim,
our hero bold would not be told this task was not for him.
He rode against the storm,
though verily twas warned.

Twelve beasts of hell with magic fel he battled through and through,
and each in turn his blade would burn and bring death's calling to.
For days he waged his fight,
An epic tale to write.

The world was saved, our hero bathed in glory and in power,
For weeks and years there were no fears but festivals each hour.
Rejoicing round the earth,
the lad of honor worth.

Alas, the boy too filled with joy neglected to record,
and mem'ry blank, his spirit sank, rivers of tears were poured.
He never saved his game,
only himself to blame.

So listen you and know to do one act as you have fun,
Early and soon, not late of moon, enscribe the deeds you've done.
Or suffer as our lad,
Whose destiny twas sad.

Whee

One word: HolyzarquonsingingfishIampsychedbeyondachocolatebunnieslifeexpectancyateaster.

I had some fun with the console last night. Setting it up would have been easier if it wasn't A) 12:30 AM B) terribly exciting and C) mind debilitatingly awesome. It only took half an hour to do, despite my being completely unprepared for any of the extremely simple setup instructions.

In any case, the thing rocks hard. I've barely had an hour's experience with it and I am already extremely happy. I will go straight back to my gamer's paradise box once this post is done.

For your enjoyment I took photos of my experience. Enjoy.

For you? For Wii.

22 hours to go.

For the first time in my life I'll have a video game system at launch. The prospect of one of the most hallowed moments for someone with my hobby is rather exciting, enough that I'm going rather crazy.

I think it's with good reason.

If ever there was a console to be psyched about, at least if you're me, it's the Wii. If you've ever seen me play soccer, play raquetball, play basketball, play badminton or just about anything that involves movement you know I move excessively. I love diving, stretching, and generally looking like a complete idiot.

Many other nerds are oddly self-concious about the whole deal. For a group whose stereotypes usually involve a lack of hygiene or other sense of appearance there have been a fair number of people who are afraid of the Wii because they are afraid of appearing silly.

I like silly.

I will not skip church, my usual awesome after church meal with my grandparents or any other important events over the Wii, but I will lose sleep tommorow night as I bring Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes to all the neat people who camped out for the system. I have a preorder, so I'm safe in the knowledge that I'll walk home tomorrow with a Wii. I just think after standing perhaps a day or more in line these people would like some sugar.

My nerdy shirts will be my primary weekend garb as I count down the hours, the minutes, and finally press my nose against the glass in jubilant anticipation.

Yes, I am fully aware I have become a walking advertisement for Nintendo. This isn't because I've seen every Wii commercial to be found on youtube. This is quite simply because I can already imagine the insanity that will occur when I show the Wii off to my relatives come Christmas. We will all look so very, very silly.

I part for sweet dreams of insanity by presenting you with what has to be one of the more interesting video game commercials in the history of the industry. I love the background music especially. All for one, and Wii for all.

Presentation

I'm going to remind you all how important presentation is. If you do a good job, a crappy idea can become reality. If you do a bad job, the following happens.

This is an actual e-mail I received today concerning an FAQ I wrote. My response is included.

Him:

> You obviously don't know the characters names, now do you? First of all,
> Shaman King's name isn't "Shaman King", it's Yoh Asakura. And second of
> all, the
> "Crying Girl" you're referring to is called Aya Tojo. Then it's not
> "Kasugi",
> it's spelled "Kazuki". And also, the "Death Note Girl" is called Misa
> Amane.
> And the "Girl from the Ice Cream Series" name is Kagura. And the series
> you're
> referring to is called Gin Tama. And the Police woman's name is Reiko. And
> the
> "Guard Breaking Guy" from Rurouni Kenshin's name is Sanosuke. And it's not
> "Yugioh", it's Yugi Muto. Or Yami Yugi. Whichever comes first.
>
> Get your facts straight before posting an FAQ.
>

Me:

I appreciate your clarifications but not your attitude.

I highly recommend you do some research on constructive criticism. The difference between "You should consider putting more effort into getting the names of characters and series correct" and "Get your facts straight before posting" is monumental.

Additionally, those are hardly all of the names I was lacking. If you are going to criticize me in this manner you might want to be more complete in your ridicule. "Whichever comes first" doesn't exactly strike me as "getting your facts straight" either.

In closing, there were many ways you could have written your email that would have presented both you and your message better. As it stands, I find that I have no desire to act on any of the information you presented.

In the future, think about how your tone and grammar will affect the reception of your message.

-Darian


I can't find fault with what he said, save for perhaps "Kazugi". If I remember correctly his name was in Katakana and was most definately a "gi" and not a "ki". His grammar wasn't the best, but he did capitalize and punctuate. However, his attitude was absolutely atrocious. From the get go he let me know that his opinion of my work was complete contempt. This tone was carried by the rest of his email up to the last line, where it reached a climax of condescending character.

I wasn't entirely nice in my response either. Mine sports more of a polite, severe reprimand feel. I stand by my decision to not entirely curb my indignation in that being less forceful might have failed to get my point across. I'm skeptical any manner of response would have an affect, but I did my best regardless.

This is the only negative e-mail I've ever received concerning any work I've posted to the internet. I've received criticisms and suggestions before, but never anything that outright condemned my work. I'm surprised honestly, given the constant lamentations seen on official forums for video games I'd have expected a greater amount of ill-conceived and worded flames.

Maybe I'll get more if I actually get around to making my website.

MrPicassoHead

Artsy people might remember this website. It's been around a while, and years ago I made a couple nifty pictures with it. Today I crafted this during lunch break.

When I return home to my desktop where my other creations are, I'll share them too. For now, enjoy a work spawned by my pining for eastern shores.

Maths

During my lunch break and other moments of rest at work today, I attempted to reengage a sagging and otherwise zombie like mind with some math. Math that many of you will find rather boring as it pertains to video game systems. These were posted in response to other inquiring minds in a revelant topic at slashdot.

There are two major entries here. One on the profitability of Nintendo versus Sony Computer Entertainment, and another on market share in the new generation (set to really get underway in November with the launches of the Wii and the PlayStation 3).

Enjoy, or ignore.

----------
Going to the actual Nintendo website and looking up their profits through each report from 2001 to 2005 I give you Nintendo's profits.

2005: $816,973,000
2004: $316,134,000
2003: $640,640,000
2002: $800,338,000
2001: $726,339,000

This is pure profit. Sales were often in excess of 4 billion dollars. 2004 is lower in profit due to costs incurred in the development of the DS.

None of this is assumption, this is straight numbers taken from Nintendo's fiscal reports free availible at:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/annual_report.jsp [nintendo.com]

Going to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc(SCEI)'s page, I could only immediately find the numbers for 2005 and 2004 in yen.

2005: 35.5 billion Yen ($302,333,504 by today's conversion rates)
2004: 57.1 billion Yen ($485,916,092 by today's conversion rates)

SCEI made more than Nintendo in 2004, but Nintendo did far, far better than SCEI in 2005.

There's a point to be made that some income and expenditure for both companies during this period would come from the GBA, DS and PSP. However, I think my original point remains that Nintendo remains competitive even with the low market share of the Gamecube. In fact, in that two year period Nintendo soundly beats SCEI.

Quite simply, Nintendo was more profitable than SCEI this past generation despite the incredible market share the PS2 had.
----------

Japanese Allotment: 80k
American Allotment: 400k

Population of Japan: 127.42 million
Previous Japanese Market Volume: 30.31 million (Dreamcast + Gamecube + PS2 in Japan)
Number of PS3s per person: 1 per 1593
Number of PS3s per gamer: 1 per 379
Potential Market Share at Launch: 0.26% (Allotment / Previous Volume)

Population of America: 300.00 million
Previous American Market Volume: 70.8 million (Xbox + Gamecube + PS2)
Number of PS3s per person: 1 per 750
Number of PS3s per gamer: 1 per 177
Potential Market Share at Launch: 0.56%

Combined Potential Market Share: 0.47% (480k) [5.66% relative Market Share]
Current 360 Market Share: 5.93% (6 million) [70.07% relative Market Share]
Potential Wii Launch Market Share: 1.98% (2 million) [23.59% relative Market Share]

Projected March 07 Market Share: 5.93% (6 million) [27.28% relative Market Share]
360 March 07 Market Share: 9.89% (10 million) [45.46% relative Market Share]
Wii March 07 Market Share: 5.93% (6 million) [27.28% relative Market Share]

Addendum:

I used the official company goals/projections. Unofficially Nintendo may have 6 million availible by January, and Sony may fall short of 6 million in March. It seemed unobjective to factor such things in.

6 million for Nintendo is not bad at all, seeing as how the Xbox 360 has been out for almost a year now and has only recently crossed the 6 million mark. The rate at which they produce new consoles in their projections is quite steady and reasonable.

What concerns me are the PS3 forecasts. If taken in two month segments, Sony is practically calling for their production to double or triple itself twice over (.5 + 1.5 + 4.5 ~ 6). Given their continuing supply problems, I'm not certain of how reasonable their 6 million March 07 projection is. If they can manage to succeed in that goal it will be a good thing for them, but I remain skeptical.

Contact

You may know of Earthbound. It was the super quirky and strange RPG for the SNES. Nintendo made a sequel to that for the Gameboy Advance in Japan which has yet to come here, one of the few things Nintendo has done to make me sad.

To advertise for the sequel, Nintendo did something rather odd. They made a game.

That game is Contact.

(Stolen shamelessly from the box)

Things you WON'T find in Contact:

A dull moment. Normalcy. A guy with spikey hair and/or amnesia. Dramatic monologues. The same battles you've been fighting since the 16-bit era.

Things you WILL find in Contact:

Monkeys. Cosmic terrorists. Powerful attack stickers. Fishing. Cooking. Humor. Fun with Nintendo Wi-Fi. Deeper meaning in life.* Costumes that increase your power and make you fun to be around.

*Results may vary.

Firstly, Monkeys people, Monkeys! The game has monkeys, that's a sale right there. Secondly, Osama can eat his heart out, we've got COSMIC terrorists. They wouldn't have flown jets into the twin towers, they would have flown UFOs into Nevada... wait. Thirdly, you can't argue when Dr. Andonuts himself peels the corner in order to say, "Psst! Buy the game- I need your help!"

I haven't played it yet, but given the universally good reviews ('Good' is the lowest rating I've seen for the game. 'Perfect', 'Superb' and 'Great' being far more common) I think it's safe to say I'm going to have a blast.

Eventification

Summary of recent events in 6 words apiece:

Raijin died, PSU explosion, sad motherboard.

Kevin sick tuesday, stayed home, misery.

Massive earwax, left ear deaf, hydrogen-peroxide.

Lost dictionary, japanese skills alones, nani?

Worked Saturday, all alone, powdered donuts.

Thank you, be here all week.

Massachusetts is Nuts

How do I miss thee? Let me count the ways...

I believe that this link [Link Broken] largely speaks for itself. That will not prevent me from speaking.

Quite simply I am not impressed with the dichotomy of telling kids they should go outside, do fun things with friends, and be social coupled with banning and deterring just about everything that is fun about outside. Swings? Someone could get hurt. Cops and Robbers? Someone might be offended. Education? Someone might start thinking.

Getting hurt is part of the human learning process. We don't learn to avoid the hot (and painful) portions of cookware by watching carefully reinacted, government sanctioned education videos depicting the unfortunate fate of someone "stupid" enough to grab an oven sheet with their bare hands. We learn by burning ourselves and dealing with the painful and inconvenient blisters.

If we aren't allowed to ever fall down, how can we learn brush off the pain, suck it up, and get done what needs doing? This isn't a slippery slope, this is a jump off a cliff.

Twink

I’m a min/max gamer. Anyone who ever watched me play Jump SuperStars, Armored Core 3, or any other game with tons of customization know that I work diligently to minimize my weaknesses and maximize my strengths. I do this obsessively, it’s a large draw for me to get the optimum setup. No tweak is too small, no change too minor. Any and everything within the game mechanics is accounted for and utilized.

I am not necessarily the best min/maxer for any given game, but between that and my level of skill I present to my opponents a worthy foe.

Another name for what I do is “twinking”, a term that harkens to Dungeons and Dragons. This term has become ubiquitous in MMORPGs for players who min/max, although other games lack the term (possibly due to a lack of connection to Dungeons and Dragons). Unfortunately, these same MMORPGs are giving twinking a bad name.

Before I delve into that, I’ll explain a key difference. In most games where twinking occurs you are balancing benefits of detriments. Doing X yields Y benefit at the cost of Z. Z may have an in-game monetary element, but generally that is negligible. The true cost of Z is in what you are excluded from doing. Z may prevent a different and desirable X with Y benefit you really want, or it might reduce the effectiveness of another Y, or any other number of undesirables. In these cases, twinking is getting the maximum total of Ys with the minimum effect of Zs. Additionally, an important factor is the individuals preferred playstyle. A player who likes to move fast and strike quickly will shape his customization differently than one who prefers a slower method of combat.

In MMOs Z tends to only (or almost only) encompass in-game monetary costs and time spent. As such, the effects of Y can become quite incredible because they do not have to be balanced against Z. Any other effects of Z are so small they are hardly noticeable. The bonuses of Y can become so overwhelming that playstyle becomes irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if you like slow or fast, durable or deadly, you can get every benefit at no cost. So long one has the most basic of skills, one can be a killing machine.

This second model appeals very greatly to a vast, immature group of players. These players most likely aren’t skilled, but through sheer time and currency can more than compensate for that. While the first model presents twinking as a skill in and of itself, the second presents it as a substitute for skill. The players themselves do not endear themselves to the populace, as they are quick to insult and berate anyone who even tries to have a discussion of the matter. They can be imperceptive to the point where they will cluelessly insult people on their side of debates simply because they are debating.

What is terribly interesting is the similarity in attitude they show to the attitude of cheaters. This interview with a cheater, while childish in it’s own way, is a prime example of the attitudes displayed by the majority of those who twink in the second model.

In the end, what bothers me about the second model is a lack of accomplishment. I don’t get the sense that I’ve accomplished anything worthwhile in being able to smash through people with ease by twinking in the second model, whereas in the first model there is a satisfaction in knowing that my skillful manipulations granted me advantage. For the first model, I’ve had people whose skill in actually playing one of these games was inferior to mine, but more than made up for it in superior twinking skills. Neither of these senses come across in the second model.

The final conclusion is that should I ever make a game with twinking, which is extremely likely, I’ll follow the first model quite vigilantly.

Talk like a Pirate!

Talk like a Pirate day is the 19th, which is also incidentally the release date for Saumrai Warriors on the XBox 360 but I digress. In honor of the holiday, I present you the following educational video so that you won't be found a landlubber.

Arrrr!

Talk like a Pirate

Texas = Big

This is my TV. It is a big TV. It was not a cheap TV.

This is really my splurge for the month, or would be if I didn't need to pick up a futon or sofa before my Dad comes to visit. However, Futon goes more under necessity rather than frivolous luxury, which a TV really is. Although one could even call a futon a luxury, but I think you understand.

It's a Sony, 46' 16:9 aspect ratio TV. Rear projection LCD. Capable of 720p and 1080i resolutions. More video hookups than I know what to do with. A very nice TV stand (some assembly required). Basically this should do me for about 20 years, barring it breaking down. I didn't want to skimp on something I was going to have for a long time. It's actually lighter than the 27' CRT I gave away, and doesn't bite into you when you try and grip it. The size does make it a little awkward to carry.

Anyway, my Playstation 2 which is capable of playing DVDs doesn't want to. It's decided that only games are good enough for it. So I'll have to pick up a DVD player eventually.

I'll also need to get some kind of cable soon, Uncle David is threatening to barge in for Monday night football. These Batchelders like to party.

State of the Warcraft address

This is, in effect, my wishlist for things I'd like to see done better in a future massively multiplayer online game, based on the problems I find in Worlf of Warcraft. Realize that these issues are not game crippling (at least not yet), but are things that reduce World of Warcraft from ZOMG PWN to very fun.

1) Massive?

Want: A single, continuous world on which ALL players (at least of a particular country/world region) play together.

There are at least 3 million US players of World of Warcraft, the other (almost) 4 million coming from China and Europe. However, the game isn't just split up by region or by language, but more fundamentally by servers. There are around 100 different servers which, depending on which one you decided upon, limits which other players you'll be with. Once you're on a server, you're stuck there unless you want to pay $25 to move elsewhere.

Being a computer guy, I can understand why this is necessary. Even if we were to assume that only 1 million of US players are on at peak hours, to have a single server/server cluster attempting to handle the massive amount of bandwith and processsing required would be rather enormous and cost prohibitive. It's a shame, but unless Blizzard was willing to pay 10x what they rake in through subscription fees they couldn't afford a single world, not to mention that the world isn't designed to handle that many people in it.

However, because of the current setup there's a problem I've noted. Eventually, servers get "full". When new players attempt to create their first character, a realm is automatically suggested for them. Invariably realms that are new or have low populations are suggested, and occaisionally medium ones. Once a server hits "high" population, players must specifically choose that realm by going against what was recommended. What this means is that there's a point where low level zones are practically deserted as everyone who actively plays on the server has reached max or near max level. This can happen, or show signs of it happening, as quickly as six months.

The reason this bothers me is that I have a large number of characters, spread out over many servers. Some of these characters are low levels on old, high population servers. This means that trying to find other players my level is often difficult. The problem is compounded by the fact that all new players are being directed away from the server, leaving the server to "stagnate".

Now, come the expansion people on all servers will be making new characters to take advantage of the new features/races etc. But that's a temporary solution to a more permanent problem. A problem that won't be fixed in World of Warcraft, but may be fixed in a sequel or competitor's offering.

2. 1337 5k33lz

Want: Pure skill based player versus player content.

I am not the most skilled video game player ever, but I am talented. It's something I egotistically pride myself on, and still enjoy taking an ego bruising now and again for. There are some things that do frustrate me.

You may remember a long time ago a post I made concerning a game called Gate 88, which, while interesting in concept, lent itself to give advantage to whomever won a confrontation. Not a small advantage, a freaking huge one that was completely unrecoverable from. This is not true of World of Warcraft, but there is an issue.

When fighting other players, their equipment is a very large factor. Having 1337 equipment that is hard to get grants a rather large, though not unsurmountable, obstacle to their foes. Evenly skilled players fighting will most often have a result of the player with better gear winning.

Now, were all gear equal and it more a matter of strategically choosing which gear to combine with what style of combat and then skillfully putting the theory into practice, I wouldn't care. If a player has devised a better combination of gear and combat style than my own, they deserve a win. Real life sports are won as a combination of preparation, strategy and skill, not just skill.

However, World of Warcraft sometimes runs into the "idiot with excaliber" scenario, wherein some moron has managed to get incredibly rediculous gear which is completely overpowering in comparison to everyone he's fighting. Without any strategy save "kill" and with the skill of a retarded monkey they plow through the field, successful only because of their equipment.

This is a scenario I have fought, lost to, over come, and everything in between. I like challenges, but I dislike ones where the challenge isn't a matter of skill but is instead a matter of things being unfairly weighted against you.

3. Dynamics

Want: A non static world.

The neatest thing about games like Worms, Scorched Earth and Vigilante 8 is that the world was always changing. When you dropped a bomb somewhere, you left a hole. Buildings crumbled, things blew up, and craters were created. The world was dynamic.

It would be nice if the same could be said of a game like World of Warcraft. I would like to see that my skillful efforts in battle would actually grant some advantage to my side. A days worth of crushing my enemies, seeing them driven before me, and hearing the lamentations of their women nets me nothing save the satisfaction of a job well done. Imagine at Troy, the armies have just errupted out of the horse, Troy lies open before them, the men unprepared and drunk, you are certain of victory. But instead of actually conquering anything you turn around and go home, knowing yours was a job well done. It sort of kills the buzz of conquest when nothing is conquered.

4. Customer service.

This is not to say that World of Warcraft's customer service is bad, but there is one area which I find lacking.

The essence of any community or relationship is communication. I can't claim to be perfect in this regard, but I grow everyday in the recognition that without communication there is hardly anything to call a community or a relationship. More and better communication = good.

Ther are two issues I have found with Blizzard's communication.

The first, and least important, is that it is slow. In game help can take a long time to arrive, and about 2/3rds of the time doesn't arrive while I'm still playing. If you know me, you know that I generally play my games in long stints as opposed to piecemeal. This is obviously an issue, but understandable to an extent because of the large number of players versus the feasible size of a support staff. However, improvement can still be had.

The second is more dire, and relates to the forums. Within those forums we find the people who care and know the most about the game. Very often, issues nestled deep in the players minds and thoughts are brought up. However, it is here that Blizzard's communication completely breaks down. The forum representatives, especially recently, are far more likely to respond to random zaniness in the general forum than they are to address legitimate concerns of the players in the entire breadth of the forums. I've maintained a close watch on the forums since before I left for Japan, and I can't say I'm impressed with what I've seen. In the past month, the number of "blue" posts in threads outside of the General Discussion is near zero. The ratio being 100:1 or more.

I'm not against Blizzard people from participating in the zaniness, but there's a real issue here. People want to be heard, even if the response is "No." When no response is made to issues that many forum people are concerned about, all we're left with is confusion. Is Blizzard working on this? Is this not an issue for them? Do they even care? Intentional or not, a failure to respond is equivalent in the minds of many as ignoring someone or some group. It's not good.

Now, there are all sorts of mitigating circumstances. The forumers don't know what kind of work goes into being a Blizzard representative. We do know they have all sorts of juicy tidbits about upcoming expansion details they can't tell us, and it's likely everything they say that isn't a silly quip or jest has to be carefully examined beforehand as to not let out any information being saved for a press release later. However, it would nice to let people know this kind of thing is going on. Give us a shout saying, "Because a great number of elements of the game are being changed in the expansion, many of which address current concerns and issues, we are not likely to be seen responding to requests made as it might reveal too soon exciting information before we're ready to give out all the details." Players would love that. As it is, in the middle of the Rogue Class review (a time for which communication is paramount) all Blizzard representatives simply vanished from the Rogue forum. I don't think I've seen a "blue" post in there since.

Quite simply, I've done the 9-5 monitor a forum thing. I was addicted to forums for a long time, and I know how long it takes to throw bones to people. Bureaucratic processes or not, there's no excuse for not making an excuse for disappearing altogether. There are plenty of excuses out there, good ones, for not addressing the issues people are bringing up. Give them please.

Thank you if you bothered to read all that. If you didn't, I don't know if you missed much.

Ware da funae goe?

I realize the Franklin, Dr. Weis, and Mr. Smee have all been absent for a long, long time now. The truth of the matter is, they all decided that they wouldn't bother me while I was moving and took it upon themselves to move themselves down here on their own power and initiative as not to inconvenience me.

I suspect that each met with an unpredictable element which gave rise to predictable responses. I have no doubt that Dr. Weis is off researching something he uncovered en route, or may well be hiding in my walls researching me. Franklin is bound to have been mistaken for a terrorist leader, a grass roots politician, or both, and thinks he's giving an elocution on the benefits of proper nail file management to a charity banquet when he's actually supposed to be giving a declaration of rebellion by some random militia hidden near the appalachian trail. Mr. Smee either got lost, nodded off, or is on some grand adventure he will be completely unable to quantify upon arriving.

I can't honestly say you can expect to see any of them in the near future, but maybe once my apartment is neater and less explodey, maybe after I have a sweet TV entertainment center, maybe after they're no longer oblidged to give me homewarming or christmas presents, they'll finally arrive.

In the meantime, don't worry about them. They'll take care of themselves.

Connections

I have come to the conclusion there is nothing worth doing on this green earth if it can not be connected to someone else.

Example: If there was no one I knew personally to play video games with, or to later discuss them with, I wouldn't play them. There'd be no point. It wouldn't feel good to beat Legend of Zelda if there was no one to connect that with.

It isn't limited to diversions, this applies to everything. Work, driving, running, swimming, philosophy, theology, music, everything. If there is never a connection, someone that shares or understands whatever it is, there's a deep and consuming sense of futility that gnaws. A cavernous hunger that devours whatever it is and takes from it all semblence of joy and mirth.

I'm currently suffering from a lack of connections. It's probably largely due to the newness of being in Texas, but I'm rather isolated. I have relatives nearby, but they don't "connect" like my friends and siblings did. I love them all so, but they aren't and shouldn't be a replacement for friends and a significant other.

It really comes down to the fact that I'm currently remote and far away from everyone whom I "connect" with. My best friend's in Massachusetts, my brother will be in College in New York, my sister's in Maryland, and my best buddy in college who truly understood me better than anyone else present there (and as well as anyone else for that matter) is a civil servant in Pennsylvania. Even those who, despite not having a full and deep "connect", were important are far away. The isolation is a weight that is hard to bear.

Talking to God while commuting helps, as does this.

Post-Post Modernism

The more I've observed people my age and teenagerish, the more I've come to the conclusion that ways of thinking are changing. There's a general discontent with how the world is ordered, and it only grows with age.

Post Modernism will be with us for a while yet, but I doubt that it will remain long enough to bother people 50 years from now. By then, it will be defined as a minor bump on the road between the end of the Enlightenment and the beginning of controlled anarchy.

What irks the youth of today are the continuing mixed messages we get. There are two sets of schools of thought competing for our allegience. The first set is made of the much derided relativistic schools. The second set is filled by the empirical schools. Both bombard us with their dogma, and the number of "bites" they are getting is diminishing.

The movement that is ever so subtlely beginning is one that rejects both "there are no absolutes" and "everything is absolute". In many ways it's a "common sense" movement. It goes without saying that there are absolutes and there are grey areas. Ultimately what will preserve Post Modernism for a while is the entrenchment of empiricism in established institutes, but when it has served its purpose in destroying empricism's credibility it will fade.

Right now the movement's in a celluar state, just fertilized and beginning to develop. Exactly what it will look like at birth, adulthood, and seniority are beyond anyone's ability to predict. However, some trends are clear. Young adults are rejecting institutions for their inefficiency and insincerity, yet find that anarchy is inefficient as well. Some bridging of the two will occur, assuming the second coming doesn't happen first.

That's all I can write for now. There's a large thunderstorm and I think it may knock out power just long enough to erase what I've written.

The Matrix Has Me

That's right, I'm back online. Took long enough.

I have stories to tell, and here they are.

1) I moved to Texas. I'm actually living in my own apartment now. It's a nice apartment. Pictures pre-Kevin's stuff cluttering everywhere will be provided later. It's cheap, huge, quality and extremely well positioned. 10-20 minutes to work, 20-30 minutes to relatives, a hop skip and a jump away from groceries. The only thing it's missing is a Mech of some kind for me to drive.

2) I got a car. It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla S. It's on a 4 year lease, with the option to buy, sell, return or trade at the end. I got some good deals and haggled down the payments too. I named it Tyrael. Tyrael kicks butt. Silver exterior, black interior, and sweet.

3) I dinged up my car. My advice to you all, looking at a ninety degree angle to the direction you are travelling is a bad idea. Green lights have a nasty habit of changing colors suddenly. Luckily I was driving slowly, and hit the brakes quickly, and only hit them at 10-15 miles per hour. I suffered only small cosmetic damage. The other car lost a bumper, had three panels bent in and a rear wheel tilted at a funny angle. I had it looked at recently. 1k. Ouch.

4) I just finished my first week of work. I'm in a place called the "Leper Colony" where they send all the techie people who don't have a security clearance yet. There isn't a whole lot to do other than orientation and watching videos about health, safety and ethics. I will have an interesting project coming up, but so far it hasn't be bad.

5) Not 30 minutes ago I finally got internet, having been here over a week. It was supposed to be installed before I arrived, but it wasn't. Then it was supposed to be installed Monday, but it wasn't. Finally, it was installed today after I took matters into my own hands. It's extremely relieving to be reconnected to the Matrix, my memories of the real world wiped clean.

And that's all. Wait, photos.

Apartment: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25706837@N00/sets/72157594225406242/

Car: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25706837@N00/sets/72157594225405687/

Unplugged

I'm at work, so this'll be brief because I have moral objections to counting things like blogging towards hours worked in a day.

Anyway, as of last night I am still without internet at home. I have no clue when I'll have it, but I should know later today because I'll be home from work early enough that the apartment office will still be open.

When I get the intarweb I'll be posting a massive update about stuff that most of you may have already heard, but will still be recorded here for completeness and posterity.

I need my Matrix fix.

Homeless

All my stuff was just now packed up, placed in a truck, and taken off to places uncharted and/or unknown. It took an hour and a half, three extremely buff and kind spanish-speaking movers, and a lot of standing around and feeling rather unhelpful and awkward.

Dad is probably relishing the reduced strain on the fuses from all the now departed electronics I was sporting.

In any case, to keep my mind off of the partially severed connection to my typical delights, I'll be getting myself a cell phone and probably going to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie with my best friend. After that I'll fly out on Tuesday to Dallas to make sure the apartment I have on reserve is as awesome as I think it is, buy a car, and set up a bank account. I'll be returning Friday so that I don't miss an important person's birthday party, and then leaving again around Wednesday.

Time is flying by.

A Death in the Family

Recently, a long time member of our household bit the dust. He then sat floating in a semi-yellow pool of unclean water for two days before we realized it.

If you're quiet in life, you will surely pass quietly and probably unnoticed. Newton was very quiet.

For all the perils and mishaps he survived, the grim reaper finally caught up with him. I guess he finally got bored of Iraq and other troubled parts of the world and found the time to slaughter a lonely newt.

Farewell Newton, enjoy the great sewer in the sky.

Jobification

If you're hearing about this for the first time here, it's a testament to the following:

1) How busy I've been.
2) How bad I really am at informing people.
3) Bear-riding mice wearing a fez.

In short, there is big news. I have a job.

In long, t h e r e i s b i g n e w s. I h a v e j o b.

In sanity, I recently (well, not recently anymore) had a job interview with Raytheon. The peculiar thing about this interview was that it was in Texas, 20 minutes away from where my grandparents and uncle's family live. Stranger still was that Raytheon deemed fit to fly me down there, equip me with a rental car, and pay for my meals. Oddity continued to climb when the rental car I was supposed to have reserved for me wasn't availible, and so I was given a free upgrade to a Monte Carlo LT (if an infinite number of monkeys can write shakespeare, what can an infinite number of horses do?).

Anyway, I interviewed down in Texas. The interview was far less stressful than I imagined it would be. I basically told two guys how awesome I was, an arduous task for me, and then listened to them try and convince me that Raytheon was equally awesome. Then they fingerprinted me and took a urine sample.

Odd, yes?

In any case, I got a job offer the Monday thereafter. I decided to be indecisive as rushing into what would obviously be an excellent experience for me, near to relatives and providing more than enough benefits and salary, would be too obvious. However, a cold, dagger-like wind came from the south every time I attempted to seriously consider turning down the job. I suspect that had I done so, certain southern folk by my mother's maiden name would have come for my head.

So yes, I have a job at Raytheon in Garland, Texas. I'll make gobs of money, have gobs of benefits, and be near gobs of relatives.

I also recently aquired an apartment about five to ten minutes away from work, and twenty from my relatives. $480 a month, 646 sq ft, no fireplace. I was adament about the fireplace. Up until that one I was astonished that every apartment in Texas had a fireplace where a bookshelf, a lamp or a TV would have been perfect. This is Texas folks, and not Texas from the Day After Tomorrow. It's not cold in Texas, ever.

So there you have it. I start work the 31st, I'll probably be down there the preceding Friday.

Part of me will miss being able to goof off all day. The rest of me is won over by te promise of great heaps of money.