People Comparing Nexus One Sales to iPhone Sales are Idiots

A lot of tech writers have been pointing to Flurry’s report on the “weak” sales of the Google Nexus One, saying that the phone is a failure because it didn’t sell as well as the iPhone, Droid, and MyTouch. That’s such an amazingly stupid comparison for several reasons.

First of all, the Nexus One is being sold by a company that’s new to consumer electronics. Secondly, the company is only selling the phone online. A newcomer that doesn’t have the advantage of physical stores? Of course the Nexus One wasn’t going to do iPhone numbers. Only a moron would have expected competitive sales figures.

More to the point, the Nexus One is a hero product that highlights the features of Android 2.1 and launched Google.com/phone. It’s not about a single product. It’s about the OS and an attempt to change the way consumers by mobile phones. It’s amazing that so many writers are being so shortsighted. The best they can come up with is “it didn’t sell as well as iPhone ergo fail!!!” That’s such a lazy and thoughtless conclusion.

It’s disappointing that so many tech writers went with the easy, knee-jerk reaction to Flurry’s findings. Too many of them are obsessed with mythical “iPhone killers” that they can’t see the bigger and/or more interesting picture.

Writers Guild of America Videogame Nominees are a Sham

The Writers Guild of America has announced its nominees for best videogame writing…and in a travesty, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 was not nominated. This is complete f*$&ing b*llsh*t. While the five nominees feature some superb writing, Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 clearly belongs in the mix. This is a crime against videogames and America. Let me calm down a bit and give you the five nominees:

  • Assassin’s Creed II
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  • Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Wet
  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I urge you to contact the Writers Guild of America to complain about this criminal ommission.

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Top 10 PSN Games of December 2009

Sony has revealed the top 10 PlayStation Network games of December 2009. It’s an interesting list with some obvious winners (Final Fantasy VIII) and some surprises. Check it out!

  1. Final Fantasy VIII
  2. PixelJunk Shooter
  3. Final Fantasy VII
  4. Resident Evil: Nemesis
  5. Resident Evil 2
  6. Frogger Returns
  7. Call of Duty Classic
  8. Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned (Borderlands DLC)
  9. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
  10. Battlefield 1943

Frogger Returns?!? Returns from what? Why didn’t he stay there?

Anything on the list surprise you?

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AIAS to Induct Mark Cerny into its Hall of Fame

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has announced that Mark Cerny will be its 13th inductee into its hall of fame. I’m totally jazzed by this news. I have the utmost respect for Cerny and think he’s an amazing talent. For whatever reason, he’s always flown under the radar compared to his contemporaries and has been woefully underrated by Joe Gamer. Thankfully the AIAS is here to bring this awesome talent to everyone’s attention. Since I’m a Cerny mark, I implore you to read this lengthy bit from the AIAS’ press release:

In 1985 Cerny joined Sega, relocating to its Tokyo offices and transitioning from arcade games to cartridge-based games for home systems. At the time, he spoke no Japanese, however he quickly became proficient in the language. In addition to creating conventional games such as Shooting Gallery for the Sega Master System, Cerny worked in the extreme high-tech end of the 1980’s console business, setting up a line of 3-D games using active shutter glasses, and an online games network — both projects ahead of their time. After three years in Tokyo he returned to the US, where he founded and managed the Sega Technical Institute and oversaw the development of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Cerny joined Universal Studios in 1994 to set up product development at their interactive group, as VP and later President. Shifting to a producer role, Cerny managed the design and development of the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series for PlayStation, focusing on enhancing the games’ appeal for the Japanese market. The games were blockbuster hits, selling over 30 million units internationally. In Japan, the Crash Bandicoot series became the most successful foreign developed, character-based video game of all time, a distinction it still holds today.

In 1998, Cerny founded Cerny Games where he consulted on behalf of Universal Studios of subsequent Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot titles. He then worked with Insomniac and Naughty Dog on their debut titles for PlayStation 2 as engine programmer for Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and game designer for Ratchet & Clank.

His resume is pretty awesome, don’t you agree? Congrats to Mr. Cerny for this well deserved honor.

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Razer USA President Robert Krakoff Talks Xbox 360 Controllers

One of the leading companies in competitive PC gaming products, Razer recently announced that it was entering the console market with a pair of Xbox 360 peripherals. I recently chatted with Razer USA president Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff to discuss the Onza controller and Chimaera headset. In addition to detailed features on these products, Krakoff told me why Razer decided to enter the console space and discussed the company’s plans for other consoles. Check it out!

(Huge thanks to N8R for putting this together!)

Coffee Talk #65: I Hate Luke Wilson’s AT&T Commercials

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, the curse of the Los Angeles Clippers, what the hell was inside Chewbacca’s bandolier, or what you can do to help out Haiti, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’m tired of seeing Luke Wilson in those crappy AT&T commercials. Most of you know that I detest AT&T Wireless. Seeing Wilson in commercials for the company makes me think less of him. He’s annoying. The message he’s conveying isn’t accurate. And most importantly, his nose isn’t nearly as funny as his brother’s. Having said that, the commercials did get me thinking about the features AT&T users like to boast about and how little they matter to me.

The first one is the ability to talk and web surf at the same time. Due to the limitations of CDMA, this can’t be done on Sprint and Verizon. My phone is capable of this feature and I’ve never used it. Perhaps it’s my inability to multitask or maybe I’m being overly courteous (it’s rude to web browse while talking to someone!), but I really don’t care about this feature. The only time I can see it being handy is when talking to a friend and using Google Maps to help him or her with directions.

Iphone users love to talk about how multitouch is a huge feature that makes their phone superior to anything in the known universe. Again, I just don’t care. Pinch-to-zoom isn’t that useful to me. I’m perfectly happy to scroll to the area I want to see and double tap. Maybe, I’m just weird with how I use my (Sim-less) iPhone, but that’s how it is. One area where multitouch clearly helps is with the virtual keyboard, but I really rather have a physical keyboard so this isn’t a big deal to me.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on the usefulness of the two aforementioned features, but I wanted to see if they’re important to you. Also, I wanted to see if you also think Luke Wilson is the inferior Wilson brother. Discuss!

Conan O’Brien Making the Most of NBC Being Pricks

You have to love Conan O’Brien. Even though he’s getting the shaft from NBC and Jay Leno, he’s using the situation to entertain his fans. After joking that he was preparing for a career as a barista, O’Brien said:

Hosting The Tonight Show has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me and I just want to say to the kids out there watching: You can do anything you want in life. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it too.

It’s funny and biting at the same time — brilliant stuff! Go #teamconan!!!

Theme Song of 2010: “Pants on the Ground”

Ladies and gentlemen, last night on American Idol, General Larry Platt unleashed what could go down in history as the song of the decade: “Pants on the Ground”. At the very least, it should be the theme song of 2010. What better way to start of a new decade than with your pants on the ground? Right?!?

Give it a listen and let me know what you think (please)!

New Final Fantasy XIII Trailer with English Voice Actors!

This excellent Final Fantasy XIII trailer features oodles of cutscenes with the English voice actors. Towards the end there’s more gameplay footage. Leona Lewis “My Hands” can be heard throughout the clip. It’s awesome. Watch it!!!