Doom & Gloom

It seems that today has been full of bad news, which is surprising for a Friday. Sony started the ball rolling by announcing that their revenues were lower than expected for the quarter. It seems that increased competition and falling retail prices have really cut into their profits. Even their massive re-org doesn't seem to be helping as much as expected. So, at least for the foreseeable future, until the PSP really kicks into full-swing, it doesn't appear that the electronics giant is going to be that well off. We'll have to see if Ken Kutaragi can do anything to help the company, as more and more focus is put on the SCEI branch.



In other dark news, the Chicago Tribune has released a story on the increasingly foggy future of Nintendo. IGN's Matt Casamassina even rings in with his growing disappointments in the company. You can read the article here, but you'll have to register first. As with many classic gamers, I love Nintendo as a game developer, but I hate them as a company. They make a lot of mistakes and still have way too much pride. I'm betting that hurts them a lot in the next generation.

Since I hate ending a blog post on a bad note, here's a couple of nice things to check out. The first is a picture of a friend visiting the Great Wall of China. It's an amazing picture and certainly shows off what people are capable of on this planet.



While I'm thinking about pictures, I just wanted to let you all know that there are new pictures of Miya and Chloe up on the Pictures section of my site. Go check them out.

Well, it's almost time for me to head home for a nice sushi dinner, but there's just a couple more links I wanted to share with you. Tim Burton fans should go and check out the trailer for Corpse Bride, while P2P fans should run and grab the early beta of Exeem, the new replacement for BitTorrent. The software is still early, obviously, but it has definite potential.



Well, that's it for today. Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to hug a stranger. You'll be a better person for doing it.

A Dog's Life

Recently, we received a visit from the breeder we got Miya from and it was nice to see that she thinks we're doing a good job. There's no doubt that raising an Akita can be challenging, especially since they tend to get bored easily, but we're definitely dedicated to making Miya one top-notch dog. There's only one more class left in our current puppy training course, so graduation is just around the corner. Sadly, we don't think Miya will win any awards, as she's a bully from time to time, but she does learn fast... And she's so darn cute.

Speaking of dogs, SEGA is apparently preparing their own competitor to the Aibo throne. It isn't going to be as advanced a robot as the Aibo, but it will definitely allow you to do some cool stuff with it, like create music. CNET has an article about this idog, if you want to know more.



On the videogame side of things, at least one interesting thing happened today. Activision finally acquired Vicarous Visions, makers of several handheld titles, such as the upcoming PSP version of Spider-Man and the GBA version of Batman Begins. However, it appears that the purchase was more about getting VV's Alchemy middleware than anything else. It's a pretty smart move, actually, especially after EA snatched up Renderware. Hmmm... it will be interesting to see if anyone grabs NDL's Gamebryo tech, especially as the next-gen wars start to heat up and every major publisher is desperate for that edge.



One cool site to check out, when you have a few free hours, is Digital Press. You can actually find out how rare your PSone titles are, which is pretty neat.

While I have you geeking out, let's see if you can tell if something is real or fake. This is a video clip I stumbled upon earlier today and it seems awful real. What do you think?

"Fantastic" Four? I Don't Think So.

I'm a fan of comic books and movies, so you can probably tell that I'll pretty much go see any comic-based movie there is. And, for the longest time, there was a good run going on. X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, X2, Hulk, Spider-Man 2 - most of those were amazing movies and even the questionable ones (Daredevil, Hulk) managed to grab my interest, at least for the first viewings. Now, however, it seems that the quality level is starting to come down quite a bit, as everyone and their mother is trying to cash in before this current trend starts fading. The new year started with Elektra, which I hope is not a sign of things to come... but it certainly looks that way. Just around the corner is Fantastic Four and that is looking anything but. Check out the trailer and see what I mean. I don't think there is a single scene that looks right. It's too bad, as I do think that Julian McMahon is great on Nip/Tuck. I just don't see him as Dr. Doom. Here's hoping that I'm wrong. At least we have Superman, Ghost Rider and another Spider-Man coming, right?



As you may have guessed, I'm a big techie. I love gadgets and reading about all sorts of consumer electronics. In fact, I'm often more excited about the technology and makeup of a console than the actual games. It amazes me that the PS2 has been able to pull off what it has, even in the face of newer technology (Xbox). 60fps at 1080i in Gran Turismo 4?!!! That's amazing and I salute Ken Kutaragi's team for making a system that, while difficult to program for, has an incredible amount of flexibility and hidden power within it. Moving on to the PS3, I am expecting those same qualities in the console, except that things should be a lot easier on the development side now. That's mainly due to Nvidia's help and the mature development libraries they've already developed. Check out an interview with Nvidia's VP of Corporate Marketing for some more interesting info.



Another challenge facing the videogame industry is the difficulty of creating original titles and new I.P., especially with development costs continuing to grow. This is going to be an issue that we tackle with from now on, as not many publishers are going to be willing to risk releasing an unproven title. Martyn Brown (of Team 17 fame) speaks out on just that topic.



To end this Wednesday on a good note, I thought I would share with you another great movie. I don't want to ruin it, but let's just say that this has got to be the worse weatherman in meteorology history. Enjoy.

Dancing Dogs & DS Nightmares

I'm heading off for another night of exciting puppy school, but I just wanted to share a great video with you all first. It goes to show you that dogs are sometimes a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. So, if you likes dogs and Grease then click here.



I also came across a great picture over at ura.nokonoko.net that pretty much sums up the battle between Sony's PSP and the Nintendo DS. Check it out.

You have to love some of the tv ads they play in Europe. You definitely couldn't get away with broadcasting them here.

As many of you know, my lovable employer (EA) has signed an exclusive deal with ESPN for the next 15 years. Many of us saw this coming, especially since football is one of EA's most important genres. I think it was a smart move, but this and the NFL deal are going to start a fire that isn't going to end anytime soon. Now, I'll bet you'll see every publisher (with enough money) trying to sign exclusive arrangements with everyone. It's going to be a mad dash to try and grab whatever piece of the pie you can and some of those pieces, obviously, are not going to be tasty. Wanna bet on how messy things are going to be at the end of it all?

Respect to MLK

As we enjoy this Monday off, I hope that at least a few of you will stop and think about what this day represents. In fact, let's take a few seconds right now to reflect back on all the great things a certain Mr. King Jr. has done. Now, that's not to say that he was a perfect man. He had his vices, problems and moments of weakness like all of us. However, I feel they pale in comparison to the good he has done. If you're interested, check out this article for an interesting perspective on the good and bad that is MLK Jr. To say the least, it's a pretty good read.

Moving on to other topics, I just wanted to let people know that both GameStop and EB are having a great deal on the Street Fighter Limited Edition Controllers (Ryu, Ken or Chun Li). Normally they're around $20, but you can pick them up now for $15, which is a nice price. Aside from some minor issues I have with the d-pad, I like the controllers, especially since they remind me of the Japanese-style Sega Saturn ones.



Oh, but if you're really hardcore into Street Fighter like I am, then you definitely have to run over to EB and grab one of the awesome Street Fighter Arcade Sticks. It's not as good as a true MAS one, but it's still decently high quality. Unfortunately, some people have complained of joystick issues, but that seems to limited to a small number of units. Also, keep in mind that while they're running only around $60 in-store right now, you can bet that they'll be closer to $100 a year from now on Ebay.



While I'm on the Street Fighter stream of thinking right now, can I go ahead and share a message with Capcom? Will you just go ahead and make a Street Fighter IV already? Sheesh. We've been waiting a while and fans can only take so much of your constant rehashes (Fighting Evolution) and endless team-up titles. Just suck it up and create some brand-new (and high-res) sprites and actually spend some time on the character designs. Let's take a step back to the simpler times and focus less on flash and more on strategy. I'm winded trying to learn 62-hit standard combos. Bring it all down a notch and try to capture the classic feel of the past. I miss home and I'm hoping that Capcom develops and releases a nicely balanced welcome mat that will make things alright again. They can do it... I know they can.

Shifting one dimension over to Virtua Fighter, I'm happy to say that I'm finally getting my wife to start playing my arcade machine. She's a bigger fan of the fast-paced (and flashier) Soul Calibur series, but I'm optimistic that she'll discover a character that she really likes and then sticks with it. I'll keep you updated on her status, so stay tuned.