Weekly News We Care About Wrap Up – 12.8.06

Analyst predicts doom for blu-ray
A study has found that HD DVD has more positive buzz than the Blu-ray, at least partially because Sony is backing the Blu-ray format. I will now do my part to add to the negative Blu-ray buzz — Boo Blu-ray!

Maybe real issues would be taken seriously if there were violent video games about them.

Democrats focused on what really matters – videogames
“We all share in the responsibility of making sure our children play age-appropriate video games, and I’m pleased that the ESRB and retailers are working together to educate parents about the video game ratings and make sure they are enforced. As we enter the holiday shopping season, it is important that parents have the information they need to make informed choices that are right for their families,” said Senator Clinton.

How’s that war going? Global warming is over, right?

The Democratic Party will not be worth anything until they solidify the moderates and the liberals in the country. The only Senators who pay attention to violence in the media should be Republicans with Bibles under their arms, not Democrats. For every moderate Republican who comes to respect these wolves in sheep’s clothing, two liberals become disillusioned with their party.

Nintendo blames users for broken wrist straps
“Some people are getting a lot more excited than we’d expected. We need to better communicate to people how to deal with Wii as a new form of entertainment,” said Iwata. Nintendo may just be trying to avoid lawsuits but I think they’re really making a mistake. People are actually into a Nintendo console for the first time in ages. Run with that, don’t tell your fans to calm down! Make stronger wrist straps and tell people to have the time of their lives. It’s painful to watch such stupidity come from a company with billions of dollars.

Nintendo possibly in legal trouble over Wiimote
This sounds familiar. Sony handled their lawsuit poorly. Whether or not their loss in court was just, their new system lacks the technology they were sued over. Nintendo may have known about the patent they supposedly ripped off, but either way, it’s a brilliant strategy for Interlink. Sony’s whole system was not build around the concept of rumble, but Nintendo’s Wii is entirely based on the remote technology. If the console succeeds and they lose the lawsuit, they cannot just ditch the motion sensing.

It’s also possible that patent laws in the states are too stringent. At what point does the person or company with a patent have to actually create something to retain their patent? How many thousands of possible inventions have been patented “just in case” by companies who can’t or won’t actually ever try to build the patented invention?

Are you rapture ready?

Guy behind Left Behind game claims reviews are inaccurate
It’s good to know this guy thinks his game is family friendly.

Worst thing since the global flood
Though, survivors of this video would find the comparison offensive. I missed this last week, but it’s never too late to make careless comparisons to atrocities. So what’s wrong with this video?

1. It is a take off on a really terrible Justin Timberlake song. Justin knew this and went through great trouble to make sure he only has about 12 words total.

2. The woman in this video cannot sing. The melody of the vocal line is not just irritating anymore, it’s irritating and poorly sung.

3. The woman in the video is frightening. She should comb her hair.

4. The lyrics are inaccurate. She sings that the PS3 isn’t “compatible backwardsly” (which isn’t a word) but it launched with better backwards compatibility than the 360 has currently. She also sings that “Link wants his D pad and buttons back.” The control scheme has changed somewhat, but his newest outing uses both a D pad and buttons, and will even be released on the Gamecube in a few days with the traditional control scheme.

5. The lyrics that aren’t inaccurate still aren’t funny. “Gears of War can’t be topped and that’s a fact,” apparently. And, “Halo 3, what more do I need to say, seriously?” The 360 offers a wide variety of games, from first person shooters to third person shooters, and possibly even second person shooters.

6. The text coupled with the video is passive aggressive. “P.S. Much love to both Sony and Nintendo. Respect,” sounds like something thrown in to silence angry fans. Getting her facts right about the other consoles would be more respectful than simply saying “respect.” Is she using this language ironically, or is she Ali G?

7. Microsoft owns the site this video was posted on so they financed it and should have noticed problems 1 through 6. Nintendo was right when they called their competition arrogant.

And finally, while this may not be the video’s fault, that entire site is stupid. I present you with exhibit A, the description of what their site is. Prepare for some of the worst marketing bullshit you’ve ever read.

It’s nice to have a new person to dislike. I was getting tired of calling Phil Harrison an asshole.

“With 10 we have a dream: create a place for people with both a passion for technology and also a desire to change the world. As a compass to help guide us forward we’ve written what we call the 10 Manifesto:

* One band of passionate digital citizens reaching out to enthusiasts around the globe.
* Two-way communication that is based on mutual respect will lead to success.
* Three degrees make up the interview: The medium, the subject, and the conversation.
* Four corners of the world encompass millions of ideas and a shared global imagination.
* Five by five is how we communicate; with maximum strength and clarity.
* Six minutes of headlines and links isn’t enough. We want to create opinions, depth, and focus.
* Seven days a week we hunt for discussions on seven continents. Work and life can be synthesized.
* Eight bits of media will grow into more than just bytes of data. They should inform and enthrall.
* Nine plus Ten is much more than nineteen. Together we can teach, listen, and learn together.

10 is all of these things, but most important it is what our users make it. Listen to everyone.

Thank you for being a part of 10, we’re looking forward to your feedback as we begin this journey together.”

I like the numbers they couldn’t think of anything that makes any sense for. Nine plus Ten is more than nineteen. You got it.

Jesus versus Zelda at Game Revolution
Religion is a touchy subject. Despite politics actually impacting people’s lives and being real, it is fine to mock another person’s political beliefs. The less defensible something is the more offensive it seems to be to question it. Game Revolution’s founder recently posted a review of Left Behind and mocked Christianity as well as other religions. Of course, this caused a large backlash. Telling people they and their family will burn forever is not very offensive, but claiming you and your family won’t burn forever is obscene.

Duke Ferris of GR also recently reviewed the new Zelda but did not give it a perfect score. Cue the rabid Nintendo fans. In a brilliant marketing move, Ferris has posted hate mail from both Zelda fans and God fans and is letting his readers decide who is more insane. I haven’t heard of anyone being murdered in Link’s name so it’s pretty apparent which side wins.

Is this willingness of a large site to openly mock superstition a sign of changing times? Has Richard Dawkins “The God Delusion,” gotten Ferris as riled up as I am? I’m eternally a pessimist and expect Game Revolution’s articles to be seen primarily as “stunts” being pulled by people jumping on a “bandwagon.” You know, that bandwagon that Epicurus jumped on 2,300 years ago that was also ridden by most of America’s founding fathers. They just wanted to look cool.