Tech
What's Happened to Paul Thurrott...?
13/03/07 20:19 |
Permalink
As most of you will have figured out, I'm a Mac user.
I love my Macs. They Rock, Go Mac! However, I'm not
blind to the allure of Windows and its benefits or
the developments that have been achieved with Vista.
I've always used Paul Thurrott as my "Windows Guide"
letting me know what's hot, and what's not, with an
objective perspective on Windows development in the
broader market place.
However, just recently it seems to have turned into a crusade against Mac's and Linux. For me whether or not he has a point is lost in the "oh oh I have something negative to report above non Windows platforms". Perhaps he's trying to provide some balance (us Mac users love our rumours, and as the under dogs, we're always striving to see the good news), but for me he's ceased to be useful as a source of information and valuable perspective.
I've no interest in putting the man down, his blog, his right to say what he wants. I guess I just feel it's a shame. Come on Paul, you're better than this.
However, just recently it seems to have turned into a crusade against Mac's and Linux. For me whether or not he has a point is lost in the "oh oh I have something negative to report above non Windows platforms". Perhaps he's trying to provide some balance (us Mac users love our rumours, and as the under dogs, we're always striving to see the good news), but for me he's ceased to be useful as a source of information and valuable perspective.
I've no interest in putting the man down, his blog, his right to say what he wants. I guess I just feel it's a shame. Come on Paul, you're better than this.
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Nintendo Wii: Gimmic or Gaming Platform?
30/12/06 09:14 |
Permalink
Our kids unwrapped their Wii on Christmas day, and
there's no doubt it was an instant hit with them and
the family. I thought I would wait a couple of days
to see how usage changed over the following 5 days
before posting a review.
The Wii was unwrapped with great excitement, with the kids clamoring to get their hands on it. We had bought them the main console (includes Wii Sports here in Europe) as well as Wii Play (with the extra controller), Zelda, and Monster 4x4 World Circuit (each targeted at the normal game type liked by one of the kids). The initial plug-in was easy, wireless setup to our home router easy, and although I've read some complaints, it was a 5 minute job to download the two system updates, and we were in business.
Wii Sports went in first, and I have to say from the first moment, to just now when I finished my Wii Fitness Program for the day it is one of the classic pieces of gaming software developed, and the Wii will stand or fall based on how close to this level of perfection they get. One of the first things we noticed was that we didn't have our own Mii's. Mii's are characters you enter (give them names, define their faces and physical proportions etc) to tie your game saves to. This means Wii Sports (and Wii Play) can track your progress, and of course adds an extra edge when playing two player games; the characters even look like you! So with our newly defined Mii's we huffed and puffed our way to Tennis greatness. Since then we've pushed out further and are big fans of Tennis, Baseball, and Bowling. Golf is great, but it's not a game we take much interest in in the family so I guess it's hard to get as "into" it as we might if we played golf. Boxing... hasn't pushed our buttons at all, again we don't do it or watch it as a family, but I find the controls the least instinctive of all. That said, Boxing does excel as one of the "you'll be exhausted at the end of the game" games. This leads me back to the Wii Fitness and Training. These are mini-master strokes, each day the Wii will set you 3 challenges and measure your sports "Age" with 20 being the optimum (eek, I'm 15 years off my peak!). I've dragged my age down from 64 through the 30's to 27 today! All of the challenges can be practiced in Wii training, and I'm making sure I spend 30 minutes a day doing the various mini-games. I only just get to the stage where you might be considered to be breaking a sweat, but I certainly am breathing harder than usual, and I have muscles that ache. This is a good thing, and leads to my final good thing. The kids stop playing with the console when they are physically tired! Their sessions seem naturally limited to around an hour on Wii Sports before they feel like a bit of a rest and doing something else (they're not bored!). You can bet they'll be fighting over which game they will play first in a couple of hours, but I really like that the console seems to limit how much they play without taking a break.
Wii-Play comes with a spare Wii-Remote (needed for the two player shenanigans) and is intended as a training ground for the Wii remote. That it may be, but few of the games are that engaging. Duck-Shooting deserves a mention, great two player fun, fishing has been popular with the kids, and the pool game has gone down well with the older members of our family. Overall for me, this is a no-score draw of a game, the tedious out-weighs the great (and both are present) and I have been left wanting to play more "levels" of say duck-shoot rather than being subjected to the "Find the matching Mii's" game. Yawn.
Monster 4x4 World Circuit does what it says on the tin. It comes with a steering wheel that has to be assembled (not hard) and then has the wiimote plugged into it and away you go, it's like being a kid again pretending to hold a steering wheel and throwing it left and right as you drive along. The game itself is pretty basic, not bringing anything new to the "not-very-real-racing" genre. Stunts can be performed, Mario Kart-esque upgrades etc, but as I hoped, the control system lends itself to a 4 year old being able to play it with ease. It may not be setting the older kids world alight, but it's great for the very young.
Finally, onto the big launch title, Zelda: Twighlight Princess. I've never been into Zelda, and there are very few of these types of game that I enjoy. Zelda doesn't really do anything to change that for me. The graphics look like a very good PS2 title (although smoother) with lots of High Dynamic Range lighting and they are fast an fluid with attractive spot effects. The music is what you would expect, but all eyes turn to the control system, and the game play.
Sure enough the Wii's unique control system is put to good use. The combat system works very well, more instinctively than I expected. On screen your character's sword is strapped to his back... so how do you equip it ready for a fight? Well you reach over your shoulder with the Wii-mote of course. Very nice, and leads to one of many Wii moments when the kids were trying to work out which button to press, before one of them says "just do what you'd do" and hey presto it works (another was serving in Wii Sports tennis. Just literally toss up and smash... almost too obvious!). The game... oh the game. Kids are enjoying it, although it bores me to tears, gushing emotion, cut scenes you can't quickly skip through. Our eldest daughter laps it up though, and is clearly having a lot of fun. For me, the control system remains the highlight (fishing very good, oh yes).
That's some of the key launch titles covered, what about the other Wii features? The beta internet channel works very very well (better than it has any right to) and I find myself looking forward to being able to surf on the Wii with Google Reader to keep up on my blogs. Very nicely done Nintendo/Opera. The weather channel is a very nice gimmick, filling up space on what, at launch, is a very empty menu system. The photo-channel is cute, slot in a SD card with some photos on, draw all over them and post them on the Wii message board for the other members of your family to see. Cute. which leads neatly onto the Wii Message board. Your Wii sends you messages, letting you know how long which games have been played, new personal bests in the Wii Sports/Wii Play games, and it can be synced with an actual email address. You can even send e-mail to others from it which is a nice touch. Which brings us to how keyboard entry works, no great surprise there is an onscreen keyboard you point and click at. It works very well, and even sports predictive typing which can really speed things up. One can't help but feel Nintendo are deploying lessons learned from the DS which has an almost identical system.
Finally, the hardware. Nintendo have taken a risk, they've not packed the console full of more graphics power than an SGI christmas party. What they have packed it full of is standard interfaces. The Wiimotes are Bluetooth (wireless keyboards and mice to come then), the memory cards are standard SD cards (meaning we didn't bother buying one for the Wii, just used an old 1Gb one lying around from a smart phone), and of course there are USB ports and the 802.11 wireless network. What this means is that Nintendo have made it very easy for companies to build add-ons. As we've seen with the iPod this can be critically important to have a healthy eco-system of supporting products. You can also use all of your GameCube controllers with a "flip-flap" opening to reveal for controller ports and two memory slots. That pleased the kids too. But what of the graphics and sound? Absence of a hard-drive? To be honest, I don't care. I'm sure we will buy a 360 or PS3 at some point when the price has come down, but right now the Wii offers the first novel gaming experience since the PS1 launched. To be blunt, screw the graphics they are good enough. Sounds is what sound is, although hard-core gamers may be searching for 5.1 surround sound, our kids don't care and they are rather keen on the full 3D control system.
So what's the summary? The Wii itself is genius, and provides a unique platform for future gaming and media fun. It's going to initially capture imaginations and sell like hot cakes. However, the next 12 months are critical. Nintendo need to build a solid base of 4 or 5 killer Wii only games that make use of the unique control system and ensure that the number of consoles out there keep growing. I can see them leaning on their DS experience to do that (and some synergy there would be great), but it's not an easy shot. The PS3 will gain market share, and the XBox 360 is another master piece for the older gamer. For me, the weakest machine at this point is the PS3, but if Nintendo play it right, they'll ensure the 360 and PS3 fight it out between them while it races ahead. Get it wrong, and in 18 months the Wii will be an interesting milestone is game console history, and little more.
Right, I'm off to see if I can get to Pro level at Wii Tennis.
The Wii was unwrapped with great excitement, with the kids clamoring to get their hands on it. We had bought them the main console (includes Wii Sports here in Europe) as well as Wii Play (with the extra controller), Zelda, and Monster 4x4 World Circuit (each targeted at the normal game type liked by one of the kids). The initial plug-in was easy, wireless setup to our home router easy, and although I've read some complaints, it was a 5 minute job to download the two system updates, and we were in business.
Wii Sports went in first, and I have to say from the first moment, to just now when I finished my Wii Fitness Program for the day it is one of the classic pieces of gaming software developed, and the Wii will stand or fall based on how close to this level of perfection they get. One of the first things we noticed was that we didn't have our own Mii's. Mii's are characters you enter (give them names, define their faces and physical proportions etc) to tie your game saves to. This means Wii Sports (and Wii Play) can track your progress, and of course adds an extra edge when playing two player games; the characters even look like you! So with our newly defined Mii's we huffed and puffed our way to Tennis greatness. Since then we've pushed out further and are big fans of Tennis, Baseball, and Bowling. Golf is great, but it's not a game we take much interest in in the family so I guess it's hard to get as "into" it as we might if we played golf. Boxing... hasn't pushed our buttons at all, again we don't do it or watch it as a family, but I find the controls the least instinctive of all. That said, Boxing does excel as one of the "you'll be exhausted at the end of the game" games. This leads me back to the Wii Fitness and Training. These are mini-master strokes, each day the Wii will set you 3 challenges and measure your sports "Age" with 20 being the optimum (eek, I'm 15 years off my peak!). I've dragged my age down from 64 through the 30's to 27 today! All of the challenges can be practiced in Wii training, and I'm making sure I spend 30 minutes a day doing the various mini-games. I only just get to the stage where you might be considered to be breaking a sweat, but I certainly am breathing harder than usual, and I have muscles that ache. This is a good thing, and leads to my final good thing. The kids stop playing with the console when they are physically tired! Their sessions seem naturally limited to around an hour on Wii Sports before they feel like a bit of a rest and doing something else (they're not bored!). You can bet they'll be fighting over which game they will play first in a couple of hours, but I really like that the console seems to limit how much they play without taking a break.
Wii-Play comes with a spare Wii-Remote (needed for the two player shenanigans) and is intended as a training ground for the Wii remote. That it may be, but few of the games are that engaging. Duck-Shooting deserves a mention, great two player fun, fishing has been popular with the kids, and the pool game has gone down well with the older members of our family. Overall for me, this is a no-score draw of a game, the tedious out-weighs the great (and both are present) and I have been left wanting to play more "levels" of say duck-shoot rather than being subjected to the "Find the matching Mii's" game. Yawn.
Monster 4x4 World Circuit does what it says on the tin. It comes with a steering wheel that has to be assembled (not hard) and then has the wiimote plugged into it and away you go, it's like being a kid again pretending to hold a steering wheel and throwing it left and right as you drive along. The game itself is pretty basic, not bringing anything new to the "not-very-real-racing" genre. Stunts can be performed, Mario Kart-esque upgrades etc, but as I hoped, the control system lends itself to a 4 year old being able to play it with ease. It may not be setting the older kids world alight, but it's great for the very young.
Finally, onto the big launch title, Zelda: Twighlight Princess. I've never been into Zelda, and there are very few of these types of game that I enjoy. Zelda doesn't really do anything to change that for me. The graphics look like a very good PS2 title (although smoother) with lots of High Dynamic Range lighting and they are fast an fluid with attractive spot effects. The music is what you would expect, but all eyes turn to the control system, and the game play.
Sure enough the Wii's unique control system is put to good use. The combat system works very well, more instinctively than I expected. On screen your character's sword is strapped to his back... so how do you equip it ready for a fight? Well you reach over your shoulder with the Wii-mote of course. Very nice, and leads to one of many Wii moments when the kids were trying to work out which button to press, before one of them says "just do what you'd do" and hey presto it works (another was serving in Wii Sports tennis. Just literally toss up and smash... almost too obvious!). The game... oh the game. Kids are enjoying it, although it bores me to tears, gushing emotion, cut scenes you can't quickly skip through. Our eldest daughter laps it up though, and is clearly having a lot of fun. For me, the control system remains the highlight (fishing very good, oh yes).
That's some of the key launch titles covered, what about the other Wii features? The beta internet channel works very very well (better than it has any right to) and I find myself looking forward to being able to surf on the Wii with Google Reader to keep up on my blogs. Very nicely done Nintendo/Opera. The weather channel is a very nice gimmick, filling up space on what, at launch, is a very empty menu system. The photo-channel is cute, slot in a SD card with some photos on, draw all over them and post them on the Wii message board for the other members of your family to see. Cute. which leads neatly onto the Wii Message board. Your Wii sends you messages, letting you know how long which games have been played, new personal bests in the Wii Sports/Wii Play games, and it can be synced with an actual email address. You can even send e-mail to others from it which is a nice touch. Which brings us to how keyboard entry works, no great surprise there is an onscreen keyboard you point and click at. It works very well, and even sports predictive typing which can really speed things up. One can't help but feel Nintendo are deploying lessons learned from the DS which has an almost identical system.
Finally, the hardware. Nintendo have taken a risk, they've not packed the console full of more graphics power than an SGI christmas party. What they have packed it full of is standard interfaces. The Wiimotes are Bluetooth (wireless keyboards and mice to come then), the memory cards are standard SD cards (meaning we didn't bother buying one for the Wii, just used an old 1Gb one lying around from a smart phone), and of course there are USB ports and the 802.11 wireless network. What this means is that Nintendo have made it very easy for companies to build add-ons. As we've seen with the iPod this can be critically important to have a healthy eco-system of supporting products. You can also use all of your GameCube controllers with a "flip-flap" opening to reveal for controller ports and two memory slots. That pleased the kids too. But what of the graphics and sound? Absence of a hard-drive? To be honest, I don't care. I'm sure we will buy a 360 or PS3 at some point when the price has come down, but right now the Wii offers the first novel gaming experience since the PS1 launched. To be blunt, screw the graphics they are good enough. Sounds is what sound is, although hard-core gamers may be searching for 5.1 surround sound, our kids don't care and they are rather keen on the full 3D control system.
So what's the summary? The Wii itself is genius, and provides a unique platform for future gaming and media fun. It's going to initially capture imaginations and sell like hot cakes. However, the next 12 months are critical. Nintendo need to build a solid base of 4 or 5 killer Wii only games that make use of the unique control system and ensure that the number of consoles out there keep growing. I can see them leaning on their DS experience to do that (and some synergy there would be great), but it's not an easy shot. The PS3 will gain market share, and the XBox 360 is another master piece for the older gamer. For me, the weakest machine at this point is the PS3, but if Nintendo play it right, they'll ensure the 360 and PS3 fight it out between them while it races ahead. Get it wrong, and in 18 months the Wii will be an interesting milestone is game console history, and little more.
Right, I'm off to see if I can get to Pro level at Wii Tennis.
So when you sue Nintendo now, does the writ start
"Wii the undersigned.."?
19/12/06 21:30 |
Permalink
I'm always up for a bit of a giggle... but a class
action? I came across this story and you just have to
ask..
It's a sorry state of affairs when the fact that something flies out of your hand when you are throwing yourself around the living room results in a (potential) class action. Does anybody sue slazenger because one of their tennis balls flew out and hit a spectator on the head? I hope not anyway! Yes Nintendo should make the straps stronger if they can, but a bit of basic common sense would be good...
1. You are waving your arms around having real fun playing a video game for the first time in 5 years
2. You are exercising in a way that you haven't since you were in high-school
3. You hands are sweaty...
Do you
a) Carry on, you've been after an excuse to buy a new TV
b) Ease up a bit, you're two games up anyway
c) Stop, wipe your hands, and get back to it?
d) What truck?
If you answered:
a) Well OK, but you asked for it
b) Smart-ass
c) Very sensible, you can borrow the car
d) Don't play video games on the Interstate
My kids will be unwrapping their Wii on Monday, and I'll be wearing a crash helmet. It's physical exercise, and anything that involves the human body in motion can result in accident or injury. I'm very sorry if your TV/Nose is broken, but is it not incumbent upon us to use our brains anymore?
And this is the last Wii joke title, I promise.
Maybe.
It's a sorry state of affairs when the fact that something flies out of your hand when you are throwing yourself around the living room results in a (potential) class action. Does anybody sue slazenger because one of their tennis balls flew out and hit a spectator on the head? I hope not anyway! Yes Nintendo should make the straps stronger if they can, but a bit of basic common sense would be good...
1. You are waving your arms around having real fun playing a video game for the first time in 5 years
2. You are exercising in a way that you haven't since you were in high-school
3. You hands are sweaty...
Do you
a) Carry on, you've been after an excuse to buy a new TV
b) Ease up a bit, you're two games up anyway
c) Stop, wipe your hands, and get back to it?
d) What truck?
If you answered:
a) Well OK, but you asked for it
b) Smart-ass
c) Very sensible, you can borrow the car
d) Don't play video games on the Interstate
My kids will be unwrapping their Wii on Monday, and I'll be wearing a crash helmet. It's physical exercise, and anything that involves the human body in motion can result in accident or injury. I'm very sorry if your TV/Nose is broken, but is it not incumbent upon us to use our brains anymore?
And this is the last Wii joke title, I promise.
Maybe.
Wii-call of Wii Controllers
18/12/06 08:55 |
Permalink
]Nintendo are offering replacement straps for their
Wii controllers, which is great... but personally I'm
just pleased that gamers out there are just getting
so into it that they have the things flying around
the living room. Personally.... I'm looking forward
to Christmas and seeing the kids playing with ours,
and I have a crash helmet ready!