[post spawned from discussion with my boyfriend Nick and some with Neonie and things I hear all too often in other people's discussions]

Nintendo exemplifies industrial passion for games. Hell, they SAVED the industry from absolute destruction when Atari couldn't hack it any longer. Sure, they are a manufacturer and want to make as much money as possible. That is normal and acceptable, as long as they don't line their wallets at the expense of quality.

Which they don't, obviously, since Nintendo's conservative approach to graphic horsepower (the main culprit in console most defects) is as well-known as their flagship IPs. Anyone who faults Nintendo for not running the cutting edge of graphics is a tool who hasn't the first idea what it means to be a real gamer. Power's effect on gameplay (ie: loading times) is the only thing anyone should be seriously concerned about and, why look! Nintendo is the king of agile transitions. HD is just icing; personally, if I had to choose, I would rather munch the fluffy, delicious innards of the cake than the sickly-sweet frosting. Sure its nice to have both, but if you have to choose... Gameplay over graphics, kiddos. This is basic stuff.

Anyways, if Nintendo was in it ALL for the yen as some say because of their desire to tap the casual market, then they would more than likely be charging more than $250 fucking dollars for their new system. Sure, the core of the system isn't that expensive to create, but if you're a greedy bitch you could easily churn those babies out for $300 or $350 if you wanted. Hell, some people buy them for a couple thousand :p And if they're just selling stuff cheap to increase sales, what of it? It makes the consumer happy. The range of money people are willing to throw at a new console was found long before the Wii came out. They decided not only that they wouldn't run it up where the 360 set this gen's price bar, but that they wouldn't even run it at the ACCEPTED STANDARD. No, they went lower. And even if thats just to turn a profit on increased volume, as stated before, at least it isn't at the consumer's expense. Nintendo doesn't roll that way.

[Footnote:

Is tapping the casual market actually a bad thing? WTF are these idiots saying? Isn't it... uh... -good- that your girlfriend can get into playing videogames with you? That your elders not only stop looking down on gamers as lazy good-for-nothings, but join them in the fun? And what is with brainless fucktards shunning Nintendo for being too kiddie? What kind of person denies themself something insanely fun because its too cute? Shallow, immature, or retarded. Take your pick.]


The XBox is essentially a PC that just runs games. They didn't even create themselves a gaming system from the ground up like people who give a shit about quality would have. Everyone ought to know that Microsoft is all about forming monopolies (they got called out on it and would have had to split the company up, but then the case suddenly dropped. Hmmm, how inconspicuous.) The 360 continues along these lines.

While this iteration of XBox -was- created from the ground up, it has many of the same issues. Some background: Last generation, the PS2 rocked the industry with the -weakest- console. Why? GOOD FUCKING GAMES. Indisputable. Microsoft, however, somehow took the PS2's headstart on the competition to be the deciding factor, and chose to push the 360 out WAY too early to sell more units. The result? A console fraught with innumerable glitches (deny that the 360 is one of the glitchiest systems ever and you invalidate your entire argument, kthxbai).

To sum it up, Microsoft chose immediate financial gratification over producing a quality product. Money > consumer. Big surprise from the company who churns out the shittiest OS without any solid improvements for years and years, charging exorbitant prices and laughing all the way to the bank because they strike unholy back-room deals with PC and software companies to artificially boost sales and eliminate all competition.

As for the XBox exclusive library, what is the big deal? Halo < Halflife, Dead or Alive < Smash Bros/Guilty Gear, Fable < everything, and Bioshock on 360 < Bioshock on PC/Mac. Mistwalker's work isn't anything to get excited about either, apparently. If I missed something, tell me and I'll squash it. The only thing I see that the 360 has over other avenues of play is Live, because its an architecture with which you can connect all of your gaming experiences to the online world. Achievement points are novel, and sorta cool, but in no way relevant to... anything. The problem with Live, however, is that you can do anything it can do on a computer with a couple downloads. Oh, and Live costs money on top of the internet connection AND the game purchase. WoW is bad enough that way, but at least it provides an experience like nothing else. Fuck that shit.