Rants *enter at own risk*

[Andrew D]

RANT: Well done Microsoft, you've went down Nintendo's route, to a stupid avatar system, to a stupid dashboard system, and lots of other pointless features I'm never going to use.

Normal themes now look horrible, and the new 2.0 themes are also horrible. Slate system again, please.

And, then the marketplace system is going to be great to try and navigate through, it's more complex than the old system.

Thankfully, the PC will never go to casual gaming, otherwise, the games industry will go to hell. And for Nintendo, it already has.

[david.atwell]

My rant: Microsoft and Sony gaming "purists." The Wii is fun, dangit. ;-)

[Crazy Man Dan]

The Wii is for certain people. I am not one of those people.

We don't want to take the Wii away from you, we just don't want our systems to go the way yours went.

Ranty rant-rant.

[Bobofthedead]

My rant: Whatever happened to gaming consoles being about the games? The clue is hidden somewhere in the name...

[david.atwell]

The Wii is for certain people. I am not one of those people.

We don't want to take the Wii away from you, we just don't want our systems to go the way yours went.

Ranty rant-rant.

You ARE one of those people, you just don't realize it yet. :-P

[Aethec]

The new Xbox 360 interface is bad. Really bad

Why don't they say "hey, if you want the new interface you have it, and if you don't want it you don't have it" ? >_<

[vista?]

The Wii is for certain people. I am not one of those people.

We don't want to take the Wii away from you, we just don't want our systems to go the way yours went.

Ranty rant-rant.

You ARE one of those people, you just don't realize it yet. :-P

Let's put CMD into a room all on his own only with a Wii. It won't take long for him get addicted to it . . .

[Crazy Man Dan]

You ARE one of those people, you just don't realize it yet. :-P

The main thing I'd like about the Wii is the Virtual Console. I love classic games - I just purchased the SEGA Genesis Collection for my PSP the other day; I will be getting a DSi as soon as possible if the download service for the DSi will include the Virtual Console games - I can't imagine the DSi won't be able to handle emulating the SNES...

However, Wii-specific games are hit and miss and miss and miss. Waving a white wand at a TV to get it to do stuff is not my idea of great control. The oft clumsy, hackneyed "motion control" is ultimately just waving your arms around in stead of pressing a button. Nintendo mostly gets it right on its first-party games, but many third-party developers just slap motion sensitivity in there. I can derive a modicum of enjoyment out of clumsily produced Dual-Analog shooter - even such abominations as Conflict: Denied Ops or History Channel: Battle for the Pacific - but when motion controls don't work, it's just frustrating. You're waving your arms like mad, frantically pressing and releasing the B button, just trying to get it to register something.

Yes, I've played the Wii - its charm was short-lived on me. I've always been a fan of the dual-analog setup, preferring it even over mouse and keyboard as crazy as that seems, and the Wii has not changed my mind. I've given it a shot, it has not impressed. The Wii is a "Revolution" in marketing alone.

And yes, I know you're half-joking when you press the issue here, but seriously, I'm not a Wii kind of person.

By the way, if I come off a little short, I apologize. I'm not mad, just tired.

[Bobofthedead]

I reckon the Wii would be so much better if Nintendo would just. Stop. Putting. Out. Those. Bloody. Happy-family. Adverts. In the UK, at least. No one wants to see a happy ickle unrecognisable celebrity family speaking in their effluent-like tones about "Oh, oi orlwarys enjoi beetin' yoo!!1eleven!". It just ruins Nintendo's image for me. I know that they are a family-orientated brand, but please, for the love of all that is holy, quit it with the damn happy families sitting in a soul-less living room set playing a game that you barely see. The focus should be on the game and the console, not the hard-up former celebrities whom Nintendo can shanghai into their ad campaigns.

Mind you, the Virtual Console is a good idea. There are so many classics that no one has much access to, but should have. And, yes Dan, I agree with you on the motion controls, though I heard that Nintendo are revising their designs on the Wii-mote, using gyroscopes or some such wizardry to make games like Red Steel playable... The dual-stick design is a winner though, especially Sony's Dualshocks which have always seemed the most comfortable for my smaller-than-average hands.

[aeonix]

My family is pathetic.

My sister earned an "F" in biology,and she isn't grounded.

Now if I was to get a "C", I would never hear the end of it.

[Simon Brown]

I reckon the Wii would be so much better if Nintendo would just. Stop. Putting. Out. Those. Bloody. Happy-family. Adverts.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYBmAVuBns

[Bobofthedead]

Now that says it all. Brilliant advert though, it really makes me want to buy that little white thing that you stand on!

[Andrew D]

My rant: Microsoft and Sony gaming "purists." The Wii is fun, dangit. ;-)

As Dan said, we don't want it to take over the consoles which were never intended for 5 year old kids.

[Pride]

I like all 3 consoles.

SSBB, Fallout 3, and Tekken.

[ShK_828]

One words - PSP

It's not as good as they say it is

but Wii -

THE Best Console

[Bobofthedead]

Dude, the PSP hasn't had any good, original A-list games out for it for really quite a while. I haven't heard of one since FF7: Crisis Core, certainly, and the PSP Plus feature is just sheer stupidity. Why hook a PSP, a portable console, up to the large black Frigidaire that is the PS3, just to play PSP games with the PS3 console when you can just play a superior game with the PS3?

[Crazy Man Dan]

...the large black Frigidaire that is the PS3...

^ XBOX360 fan, eh?

I guess it's only fair, seeing as how we got to poke fun at the original XBOX for being the size of a house last generation, but still, the PS3 really isn't that much bigger than the 360, it's just convex instead of concave, making it taller.

But I have to disagree on a larger point - the PSP is my favorite console. I'm on the road a lot, and the PSP is the closest thing there is to a portable media center. The built-in web browser isn't great, but for a mobile browser it holds its own and allows you to stay connected. You've got the modern games on UMD - all types of genres from Medal of Honor Heroes to Kingdom of Paradise to Burnout Dominator to Mercury Meltdown - a selection of PSone classics you can download - including some truly awesome games like the original Spyro and Crash Bandicoot 2 that are totally worth playing through again - downloadable television shows and movies through the Playstation Store via the Media Manager, and direct access to the Games side of the Playstation Store through any WiFi access point.

Every PSP owner will admit to the unfortunate slump in quality titles recently, but I know I at least have plenty of games yet to play all the way through - Medal of Honor Heroes and Heroes 2, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 2, Killzone Liberation, et cetera - as well as plenty of titles I want which I still have yet to purchase - SOCOM Fireteam Bravo (the original), GRAW2, LocoRoco, Crush, THUG2, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, Sypon Filter: Logan's Shadow et cetera - meaning I have plenty of portable game to get on before something big - like Resistance Retribution - drops onto the scene next year.

PSP = Awesome. Plus, a new firmware version was announced this week late on Tuesday. It was released today, on Playstation Store update day, and that, combined with how short the notice was, makes me think that maybe, just maybe, something interesting is coming in the store update tonight that necessitated the firmware update this morning. Fingers crossed.

So yeah, does it count as a rant if you're ranting about how underrated something is?

[cazaron]

...So yeah, does it count as a rant if you're ranting...

ummm... no?

[Bobofthedead]

Actually Dan, I prefer the PS3's game list and UI to that of the Xbox 360, but my overwhelming feeling when seeing a PS3 goes something like "I wonder what they keep in that fridge?". The problem I have with the PSP now is that Sony have brought out two new iterations of the PSP and are releasing a third, none of which have the power to use key indices in wireless network configuration: something which my Dad's PC man advised him to do. So, now there ain't no internet connection available.

Mind you, we all know what the best handheld console is: the Gameboy Colour! I still have the yellow one which I got after asking my grandfather for "a Gameboy and Pokemon Yellow," he thought I meant a yellow Gameboy, with no game... Ah well, Stalker Pikachu just had to wait a while, whilst I amused my parents by turning it on and off in front of them, and showing off the Nintendo splash screen. Ah, happy days...

*Nostalgia*

[Kemaru]

Rant A: My headphone cords keep on freezing every morning

Rant B: My MP3 player suffers from low temperature.

[Andrew D]

Mind you, we all know what the best handheld console is: the Gameboy Colour! I still have the yellow one which I got after asking my grandfather for "a Gameboy and Pokemon Yellow," he thought I meant a yellow Gameboy, with no game... Ah well, Stalker Pikachu just had to wait a while, whilst I amused my parents by turning it on and off in front of them, and showing off the Nintendo splash screen. Ah, happy days...

*Nostalgia*

When your older (or, if you an adult, now), buy your children/grandchildren a Game Boy Advance.

That was the best game console ever. Better than the 360.

[Crazy Man Dan]

When your older (or, if you an adult, now), buy your children/grandchildren a Game Boy Advance.

That was the best game console ever. Better than the 360.

^ That.

I've had every GameBoy since the original brick (save the Pocket, which shared the same game library, so it doesn't count against my statistic), and the GameBoy Advance still boasts my largest handheld games library.

I really need to get the Micro - the hinge on my Advance SP is wearing out, and the compact size, combined with the sharper, back-lit screen make it very appealing.

[Andrew D]

RANT: http://www.nextgenwalkthroughs.com/

The new layout is bad, but, that's generally more to do with the fact it was nearly a year late, and it's generally messy style wise.

[Crazy Man Dan]

Check out the Favicon. They're just running Drupal.

But yeah, it's pretty... meh. Is this one their old layout? That one still looks pretty formed-pressed (looks like the default Joomla structure), but it at least looks nice.

[Crazy Man Dan]

Rant:

Well, not only was there NOT anything big for the PSP in the Playstation Store update this week, there was NOTHING AT ALL for the PSP in the Playstation Store update this week.

I am seething right now, and now it's time for me to drive home. Not a good combination.

I still love the PSP. I HATE Sony for forgetting they have a handheld console too.