Coffee Talk #422: Happy Birthday Shigeru Miyamoto!

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, stupid Pacquiao fans making ignorant excuses for their man even though he “won”, guessing Lisa Munn’s muff, or Android getting the new Netflix UI before iOS, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today is Shigeru Miyamoto’s birthday! The legendary Nintendo game designer has been making amazing videogames for decades. Few people in the world perform at such a high level for so long, especially in entertainment. He’s truly incredible. I’m not saying he does it all by himself, but a significant part of what makes Nintendo so great and lovable is Shigeru Miyamoto’s “magic”. To me, he’s the Jim Henson or Steve Jobs of videogames.

Let’s celebrate this gaming treasure by talking about your favorite Shigeru Miyamoto games and what he means to you as a gamer. Fire away!

John Dvorak on the 11 Stages of Kinect for Xbox 360

Longtime PC Magazine columnist and receiver of crank emails from PC Magazine Labs analysts (not me…okay maybe it was me…but I had help) John Dvorak recently posted a really fascinating column about the 11 stages of Kinect for Xbox 360. I highly suggest reading it. It’s an interesting, though highly arguable, view of the gaming world through a longtime tech pundit.

According to Dvorak, Kinect is currently in phase 10. My favorite part is how he called out Microsoft’s PR people for pushing a weak and unimaginative message on what Kinect can do. Check it out:

The Kinect is now in phase ten and new uses are being ascribed, mainly 3D telecommunications. You can spot the hand of the PR folks involved by the repetitious and redundant messages seen in far too many of the stories. In this case, it’s that 3D Kinect is “now cooler than Skype.”

To see how ridiculously obvious and transparent this is, try Googling “Kinect Cooler Than Skype” and see the exact same headline and phrasing over and over and over in various publications. It’s kind of pathetic since this sort of thing should be subtle.

Dvorak’s prediction for Kinect isn’t the rosiest, but I’m not convinced it has jumped the shark (yet). Dude has predicted lots of things over the last few decades. He has been right a lot and he has been wrong a lot. He initially predicted that Kinect would fail and he was very much wrong about that. If anything, its popularity is still growing. Kinect Dance game are still popular, titles like Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster and Kinect: Disneyland Adventures are hits with the mainstream, and I believe (perhaps naively) that a creative developer will make a cool Kinect game that resonates with enthusiast gamers.

Of course that’s just my opinion. What about you America (and other countries…especially Iceland)? Do you think Kinect will languish? Or will its untapped potential be realized?

Source

Are You Sure Nintendo is “Teh Doomed”?

Nintendo recently sent out a press release with numbers that surprised me. Apparently the Nintendo 3DS is on pace to outsell the Nintendo DS. Using the U.S. sales figures for the DS and the first eight months of the 3DS’ sales, Nintendo’s number crunchers came up with some interesting findings. Check ’em out:

In its eighth month on the market, the Nintendo 3DS system crossed 1.65 million units sold in the U.S., according to the NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. This milestone puts the platform on track to surpass the first-year total of Nintendo DS, the best-selling game platform in U.S. history.

The Nintendo DS system sold 2.37 million units in its first 12 months (November 2004-October 2005), with approximately 50 percent of those sales occurring in the holiday time frame. With its first holiday season and the launches of the Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 games on the horizon, Nintendo 3DS is poised to eclipse that number and establish a new benchmark for hand-held gaming launches in the United States.

I’m not smart enough to argue with NPD numbers, but I’m sure some of you are (or married to someone that is), so have at it! The one thing to keep in mind is that Nintendo is talking strictly in terms of unit sales. Given the complexity of the 3DS, the current economic climate, the increased cost of fuel, and the soaring yen (not my stage name), I’m sure that revenue and profits are another matter entirely.

What do you make of Nintendo’s claim? Are you surprised that the 3DS is on pace to outsell the DS?

PETA vs. Mario: The Great Tanooki Controversy

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has gone after an unlikely target: Nintendo’s Mario. As many of you know, Mario dons a tanooki costume in Super Mario Bros. 3 and more recently in Super Mario 3D Land. PETA sees Nintendo’s use of the tanooki suit as encouraging animal cruelty. The organization even made a game called Super Tanooki Skin 2D that denounces Nintendo. Here’s more from the site:

When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy — even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers.

Tanooki may be just a “suit” in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur.

I’m not a fan of fur by any means, but PETA’s campaign seems completely misguided to me. Nintendo is one of the most family-friendly developers and publishers in gaming. Mario is one of the most wholesome videogame characters in history. Legendary designer and Super Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto is a known animal lover. Surely there are better companies for the organization to target, no?

Never for a second did I think that Nintendo had malicious intentions with the tanooki suit. It’s simply a cute costume that gives Mario silly powers. Does PETA honestly think that kids are going to be all, “Hey, know what would be awesome? Wearing fur!” after playing as Mario in the tanooki suit?

Naturally, I want to hear your opinion on this matter. While PETA certainly has a point in a literal sense, is it being misguided in going after Nintendo? Do kids get the message that wearing fur is okay from seeing Tanooki Mario in Super Mario Bros. 3?

Source

WBC President Jose Sulaiman Explains Pacquiao Performance

World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman was quoted as saying, “I was practically embarrassed,” in regards to Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday. Although the official records list Pacquiao as the victor, many boxing journalists, current fighters, and retired boxers saw the fight as a Marquez victory or a draw. In a Twitter exchange with me, Sulaiman cleared up his comments and blamed Pacquiao’s performance on politics:

I believe this was a fight in which I didn’t see the real Pacquiao (That does not demerit Marquez who fought like a champion). I did say that this was probably the worst version of Pacquiao since I know him, I believe you can’t blame it on boxing. He is a federal senator and I believe he’s focused and has other priorities over boxing now that are somehow taking what he has been as a fighter. That you can quote.

It’s an interesting explanation and there’s probably some truth to Pacquiao being less focused on boxing than he was even five years ago. That said, I believe that Juan Manuel Marquez was simply the better boxer on Saturday. It’s actually embarrassing to see other Filipinos blindly sticking up for Pacquiao without reason or logic (and in some cases, without even knowing how fights are scored).

Even though I believe Marquez won, a draw would have been an acceptable score too. I thought Pacquiao lost face by saying that he “clearly” won. That’s just complete garbage. At best, it was a very close fight. At worst, Pacquiao was out-boxed by Marquez, who displayed cleaner punching, showed superior defense, controlled the pace and spacing of the fight, and neutralized Pacquiao’s formidable left hand for the majority of the bout.

At least Sulaiman didn’t use the word “embarrassed” in our exchange. With all the garbage the WBC has pulled over the years, I don’t think he should be embarrassed about any fighter’s performance.

This Week’s Videogame Releases (Mario! Zelda!)

It’s a Nintendo sandwich this week with Super Mario 3D Land kicking things off and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword wrapping it up. In between those Nintendo games are fine titles like Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Need for Speed: The Run, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Saints Row: The Third, Rayman Origins, and Kinect: Disneyland Adventures.

Any of you picking up new games this (absolutely loaded) week?

Coffee Talk #421: “Shreds” Videos and You

Several years ago I came across several “Shreds” videos by a YouTube user called StSanders. He overdubbed horrendously bad guitar playing over memorable performances. His clip of Jake E. Lee “shredding” while Ozzy Osbourne clapped just about…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Groundwork’s Bolivia Aipac La Paz , Juan Manuel Marquez getting jobbed out of a win over Manny Pacquiao, or the impressive uselessness of Buboy Fernandez, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Several years ago I came across several “Shreds” videos by a YouTube user called StSanders. He overdubbed horrendously bad guitar playing over memorable performances…and made art. His clip of Jake E. Lee “shredding” while Ozzy Osbourne clapped just about killed me. His overdub of Metallica’s “One” completely cracked me up and was extra funny to me since I knew how to play most of the song.

Today I’m going to kick off the week with a laugh. Here are three of my favorite “Shreds” videos. Feel free to post your own YouTube links in the comments section. If you find these funny, head on over to StSanders’ web site and give him some props.

“99 Percent” By Justin Leeper

Check out this video for the song “99 Percent” by longtime RPad.tv friend Justin Leeper, author of the book Still Man Fights. He wrote it in support of the “Occupy” movement sweeping the nation. After you give it a listen, please leave him some feedback on the song in the comments section.

Also, let’s have some fun with it too! I challenge you to rewrite Justin’s lyrics for thoughtful or mirthful purposes. For example, my favorite verse is around the 0:58 mark:

“Corporations,
Ruining the nation,
The greed that they spawn,
Is Armageddon.”

My version goes like this:

“Corporations,
Spicy Cajuns,
Stone Cold Steve Austin,
Cheap Lisa Munn.”

Now it’s your turn! Channel your inner Lennon/McCartney and play with the lyrics.

Sony Unveils UMD Passport Program For PlayStation Vita

Sony Computer Entertainment has unveiled information on the UMD Passport program, which allows PlayStation Portable owners to re-download their games on the PlayStation Vita for a reduced cost. Details for the program apply to the Japanese market, but hopefully a…

Sony Computer Entertainment has unveiled information on the UMD Passport program, which allows PlayStation Portable owners to re-download their games on the PlayStation Vita for a reduced cost. Details for the program apply to the Japanese market, but hopefully a similar (or better) solution will be available globally.

PSP owners will have to download a program, insert their UMD games into their system, and connect to the PlayStation Store. Once this is done, a downloadable version of their (participating) game will be available on the Vita for ¥500 to ¥2,400 (roughly $6.50 to $30). An initial list of participating publishers and games was posted by Sony but, again, this applies to the Japanese market.

I like that Sony is rewarding its PSP customers with this program. I also expect many gamers to bitch about having to re-purchase their games. The reality is that there was no easy solution for this “problem”. No matter what Sony did, it was going to get dinged. I see it as a, “Hey, they’re trying!” situation.

What do you think of the UMD Passport program for PlayStation Vita? Is Sony doing its best to reward loyal customers? Or is it double dipping?

Source