Since I first learned about Virtual Console I've been wishing for "Kid Icarus" to be realeased. Now it is and I can't download it because my ADSL hasn't been reconnected yet! I think I'm gonna explode right now! Or maybe I'll just go play some "Mario Kart 64" instead. All hail the awesome Virtual Console!
Holy cow! I just gotta get my internet-access back soon! One of my favorite NES-games of all time is finally available for Virtual Console!
However, at this point in time the 360 is not for me. And the reason is pretty simple - I don't see how it is in reality much better than the original Xbox that I already own. This has not as much to do with what the original Xbox was once it left the factory as with what a little modchip and a huge harddrive has turned it into. The rest of the great things about my Xbox I do give the people at Redmond mad props for though, and they are the original and still primary reasons for me wanting to own one ever since I saw it demonstrated at some tech show on TV years ago. The Xbox too has an awesome array of games available for it, and being the "previous generation" console those games are since the release of the 360 available for as low as $10, sometimes even lower, if you just know where to look (eBay for example). Part of what makes these awesome games possible is the hardware, software and pinch of magic put into the machine, and that's why I really owe Microsoft a huge thanks for finally serving up a quality product after centuries of dishing out sub-standard software. I do at the same time have to flip them the bird though, for fighting the hackers that hacked and improved the machine and made it truly, really and unforgettably awesome. The original Xbox was a mindblowing machine when it was released and it keeps blowing my mind even today. As I see it the only things the 360 has on the original black monster is better graphics and improved online play (which I don't care much for). It is far from as hacker-friendly and upgradable as its predecessor. It does however have new games coming out for it which the old Xbox doesn't (Or are the studios still developing for it? Enlighten me.), but that's not really a selling point either since there are still myriads of awesome games for the original Xbox that I haven't played. You could sum it all up by saying that I'm not "done" with the original Xbox yet and the 360 is therefore superfluous to me and in its not-so-hacked state actually has less to offer me. One day that might change, but probably not very soon. Hell, I haven't even tended to "Tenchu, Return to darkness" properly yet!
Despite my previous post I'm not anti-360 in any way. I think the Xbox 360 seems like an awesome machine with a tremendous selection of great games for it. I've tried a few and I was, and still am, really impressed. The online stuff seems cool too. That I have yet to take for a testdrive though. The fairly inexpensive HD-DVD drive for it is a nice addition too, if you're into chasing that perfectly crisp movie experience.
My Xbox plays DVDs and other digital media (thanks to Xbox Media Center), and not just the Microsoft-approved kinds at that. It is integrated into my home network, has wireless controllers, runs homebrew applications, old-school console emulators and games from any region and thanks to the upgraded harddrive I can store all of my games on the actual machine so that I don't have to have a bunch of game discs floating about the place. None of these are thanks to the creators of the Xbox hardware though.
Not that many of my friends are a whole lot into video games. It's just a select few and out of those few even fewer share my enthusiasm for the Nintendo Wii and even fewer still own one themselves. Sadly that number recently went down by one too. One of my friends, the traitor shall remain nameless, recently sold his Wii with the explanation that he's "gonna by an Xbox 360 instead". Further, he went on claiming that there are almost no good games on the market or on the way for the Wii. Also, he claimed that all the games out there are "basically for kids". Needless to say, I let him have it in a big verbal way. Agreed, Nintendo as always had a lot more "child-friendly" image and over all strategy but even if all Nintendo-games were cute and cuddly (which they aren't), far from all games for their consoles are published by Nintendo themselves. There are plenty of third-party companies developing games for the GameCube, GameBoy Advance, DS and Wii. So basically my friend's claims are bullshit. And another thing, buying a new console is not a valid reason for selling one of the consoles you already own. Sure you can buy an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3, but unless you're short on cash you don't have to sell your Wii, Dreamcast or whatever in order to do so. It's perfectly fine to own two, three or fourteen consoles! And since lack of funds was not given as an excuse this one doesn't hold valid in my friend's case either. When inquired about the reasons for choosing an Xbox 360 the number of existing good games was given and the fact that he wanted to play online with another friend of ours, both perfectly valid reasons that I have no real problems with. There are a lot of good games for the 360, it's been out a year longer than the Wii so that's only natural, and I hear Xbox Live is pretty neat (I haven't tried it out myself though). But why sell your Wii you moron?!?!?!?! I feel betrayed. Yes, I'm a huge Wii-fanboy. Got a problem with that? Well, fuck you then.
This article really blew my mind. It almost frightens me how goddamn stupid some people are. OK, so kids play video games. I get that some people might not think that it is the most productive way for them to spend time but hey, kids like playing video games. So shouldn't parents be happy that at least the Wii gets them off their asses and moving about at least a little bit? (You don't have to play like a madman with arms and legs flailing after all, although I find myself that it sometimes helps quite a bit *LOL* Just make sure you're at safe distance from anything that can get harmed if you hit it... (see previous post)) Things could after all be worse. Practically no other console offers and demands the amount of movement during normal game play that the Nintendo Wii does. So parents should rejoice while the Wii makes their otherwise lazy kids sweat a little. Or at least shut the fuck up, OK?
This thread in the forums at SomethingAwful really put a smile on my face. Mainly because I've said the same thing myself more than once. The fact of the matter is that the whole "Wii-damage-and-injury"-affair is retarded and exaggerated to the extreme. Nobody in their right mind plays their Wii in such a violent fashion that there is any real risk of people or property getting damaged. And the people suing Nintendo for damages claiming that they only played the console as instructed by the accompanying users manual are full of it. Please tell me where in the documentation supplied with the Nintendo Wii it says that you should play like a total spazz? And specifically, where does it say that you should let go of the Wiimote? Or throw it as hard as you possibly can towards your TV? Morons. You see, if you don't do any of the above things you, everyone around you and your belongings will be totally fine, I assure you.
