thoughthead

The Xbox 360 has been reported on several occasions as having an alarmingly high attach rate. Typically this is seen as a good thing, but somehow this has been construed to mean that the only people who’ve bought Xbox 360s are the hardcore gamers willing to buy lots of new games. The speculation is that the console is being neglected by the casual gamer and other hard to reach demographics (meant to imply that it’s reaching critical mass). Personally, I believe it’s something completely different. (more…)

          

I’m finding it difficult to really like the Wii. Maybe I’m too much of a video game snob or maybe I’m spoiled by the extra year I spent with my Xbox 360 but beyond the initial excitement I’m bored to tears with the console right now. Heck since purchasing the Wii I’ve actually played more of my Dreamcast then the Wii. The console just doesn’t have the substance yet. It seems that most games either offer a really well built control mechanism but fall short in terms of Substance or they have the necessary substance but fall short in terms of a well built control mechanism. (more…)

          

It’s that time again. Rockstar is gearing up to release the next version of their flagship Grand Theft Auto franchise, and Jack Thompson is gearing up to start more frivolous lawsuits and draft more unconstitutional laws. The whole video game rating system has been a bone of contention for quite some time now. Anyone who has paid attention to mass media for a length of time now will realize that video games are just the latest in a long line of art forms that have been pegged by the US government as unfit for minors. Comic Books, Music, and Movies have all had their share of the spotlight, they’ve all also dealt with it differently be it the Comic Book code, explicit content labels and radio edits or a rating system. (more…)

          

The biggest question mark over the Nintendo Wii is whether the new Wii Remote controller will make or break the console. Motion control has been attempted in the past, in general though it has been a failing strategy. Before it’s launch many of the outspoken who follow the industry seemed to be split on the issue, some thinking the new controller will sling-shot Nintendo back to their former glory as king of the proverbial video game console hill, others speculating that the controller is but a mere gimmick and will end up Nintendo’s greatest downfall. With the console having been available for nearly a month certainly we now have a better idea about how this will all play out… right? (more…)

          

There is no arguing that the most popular debate in video gaming over the last five or so years has been Playstation vs Xbox: which one has better graphics, which one has better games, which one has the better controller, ad nauseum. As somewhat of an off-shot of that debate is the debate over “next-gen” disc formats, being HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray Disc. I use the term next-gen loosely because calling it that in any kind of seriousness would imply that storage mediums somehow evolve in easily packaged generations the same way video game consoles do. In-fact just using this term is the first sign that people are approaching this issue all wrong. (more…)