To Wii or not to Wii

Having taken the plunge in december to try out Nintendo's latest game console (the Wii) I was mesmerized by its revolutionary game play. Having followed the both the hype and competition between the Wii and the Playstation 3, I was curious to see how events would unfold.

Well a little more than 6 months later, the Wii is still a spectacular success, for both gamers and Nintendo's bottom line. Both Microsoft and Sony have significantly lowered the price tags of their respective consoles. All to little avail must be said (for now)

The Wii is really not a console to be compared with the playstation 3 or the Xbox 360. Its target audience is much broader in the way that its appeal is well beyond the traditional "hardcore" gamer. With that approach Nintendo have cleverly expanded their target group by miles, all this whilst Microsoft and Playstation are battling each other on a small piece of turf. In many ways Microsoft is selling Porshes, Sony is selling Ferari's and well Nintendo is selling Volkswagens.

On the other hand the Playstation 3, remarkable advanced specs, means that it will be in the console race for quite some time. Furthermore, it is not unthinkable that Sony will be able to include Wii styled gameplay on their console, albeit with much more powerful processing and graphics. It is therefore far too soon to write off the playstation 3. It may be an expensive toy, but it is an impressive one, and will be until the next big thing. The playstation 3 is still early in its life cycle, the Xbox 360 is well into its mid career. And although the Wii is as young as the playstation 3, its hardware and graphics capabilities are rather dated.

For Nintendo's current strategy the Wii is well placed to compete. But at some point the novelty that defines the Wii gameplay will be copied. Does Nintendo have what it takes to power the next generation of game consoles, or will it be taken over by a strong mid career performance of the playstation 3 as we steadily merge into a world of HD entertainment.

Blueray vs HD DVD = Darfur

The whole discussion between blue ray and HD DVD is going to be rather superfluous when we look back at the so called "disc" wars of 2007/2008. The comparison's the the failed betamax and video 2000 versus the victorious VHS is an overused parallel. In fact, I don't believe they are as much comparable as "lazy" publi-shits claim them to be. Secondly, the whole battle is a rather useless one looking at the current trends of media consumption. So my word of advice is: it simply doesn't matter. The very conflict between the two media types is merely a clever marketing trick to bring either format to the fore of your attention.

Don't get me wrong, blue ray and HD DVD are a stark improvement when compared to either VHS or DVD. But the very struggle is somewhat reminiscent to a far away conflict in Africa: everybody has an opinion, but for the rest not much is happening. And in that regard history will soon judge the uselessness of the whole choice between HD DVD and Blue Ray.

The Internet, not a content monopoly utility such as HD DVD/Blue Ray is going to define the way that we enjoy entertainment in the future. Blue Ray and HD DVD's are just a quick fix for those with deep enough wallets and too little patience to wait for the next big thing. In my opinion, all discs, be it DCD, CD, Blue Ray or HD DVD are at the end of their life cycle. In the same way that cd's are obsolete, so are digital video disks. The difference is that most people haven't realized this yet. In that respect I'd rather give my money to Darfur than spend it on obsolete technology.

iPhone Mania: Is it Worth the Wait?

Honestly, who wasn't "wowed" when uncle Steve presented Apple's latest "wannahave" the iPhone. After months of intense speculation and a successful bid at maintaining secrecy Apple did reveal the iPhone. Unfortunately Apple and gadget lovers alike will still have to wait a few months before they can get their hands on one.

Even the most grumpiest geek will admit that the iPhone clearly has some great features packed into (it seems) a very enjoyable user interface. However, if we look purely at features, then there is really not that much worth waiting for. Most Sony, LG, Motorola, Blackberry and Nokia phones come fairly close feature wise. Secondly, those phones are available now, and are in almost all cases cheaper then the iPhone. Thirdly there is also the battery life issue, some people have claimed that it is absolutely abysmal. The iPhone will become most definitly a city slickers whanahave and really not be very useful for people on long journeys. Will Apple also supply a mobile power generator for recharging their device? They could call it the iPower or iCharge for all it matters.

All this waiting for the iPhone is making a hungry public hungrier. Let's hope that the iPhone can live up to its expectations without too many stomach aches: at 500$ price tag it surely is hurting my pocket. But what about 25% of America's Teenagers who confessed to wanting an iPhone? How are they going to cough up the cash to buy an iPhone? Even if the iPhone is more hype than product, Apple sure can expect to make a lot of money. And maybe...just maybe they'll come up with something that will solve that prickly battery life issue.