Random Rantings
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Posts tagged with "gaming"
First Look at Xbox One
While everyone else was scrambling to get stories written as quickly as possible following the Xbox One unveiling, Wired’s Peter Rubin got the “exclusive” early look. And Wired’s presentation is quite nice.
I’m still not sure what to think of the new Xbox. Certainly, Microsoft did a better job presenting it to the world than Sony did a few weeks back with the Playstation 4. But even Rubin’s thoughtful walk-through makes the whole thing sound fairly complicated. I’m still just not sure that tablets and smartphones haven’t changed the gaming and living room space more than any of the old guard in the console arena cares to admit. (Though it’s looking like Nintendo will have to sooner rather than later.)
I had both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. Overall, I found them to be solid systems with a number of UI/UX frustrations that I simply don’t think I have the patience for anymore. And then, of course, the red ring of death. Maybe Microsoft has greatly improved the experience here. We’ll see.
Certainly some of the new Kinect stuff sounds interesting. But the “wow” factor of the first Kinect seemed to subside faster than anyone thought it would. Just like the Wii before it. I’ll take simplicity and great user experience over something that gives good demo any day.
With that in mind, I’m still more optimistic about whatever Apple brings to the table here whether it’s later this year or early next year. Surprise, surprise, I know. But there is zero chance I’m going to deal with IR-blasters to have a “seamless” experience.
This. Pretty much my feels exactly. Although, I’m also interested in what android gaming consoles develop into.
Nintendo's Hardware Problem
Some good follow-up thoughts by Marco Arment on my thoughts about Nintendo.
Arment is of course right that Nintendo wants to remain in the hardware business because when things are going well, it’s a much better business to be in. But things aren’t going well. And I’m not sure they ever will again for Nintendo, sadly. As Arment notes, the Wii turned out to be a fad.
The Wii U is just a very strange product. Nintendo’s can’t compete with Microsoft and Sony on high-end gaming hardware. And they can’t compete with Apple on touchscreen-based gaming. So they seemingly did a half-assed job on both.
While the Wii was a fad, it worked very well for a time because it was different. It forced the competitors to come to them. Nintendo no longer had to chase down the big guys in battles they couldn’t win (see: above). That’s the only way Nintendo stays alive. They need to truly innovate in videogame hardware.
Like Arment, I’m worried that instead they’ll go down the Sega road and just pump out cheap versions of their great old franchises to anyone who will take them. That’s why I’d love to see Apple step in and buy Nintendo, and let them operate as the independent iOS gaming wing of the company. If Apple wants to move hardware, it’s hard to imagine a better way than having exclusives on all of the Nintendo titles going forward (as well as the back catalog).
It should be like Pixar within Disney. Remember, Pixar started out trying to make hardware as well.
If Apple bought Nintendo, it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread.
About Random Rantings
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A new goofy thing about the wild turkeys I’ve seen (and heard) this spring. Here’s this comic on my site.
Thanks for your...
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i accidentally bought the luigi board instead of the ouija board and now all it spells out is ‘it’s a me, green mario’
