A Console War Worth Having?

The console war this round has been nothing short of interesting. But amongst all of the pizzazz and pretty pictures, it has also been nothing short of disappointing. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, i.e. the Big Three have been the reigning commandants in this generation of consoles. Nintendo is making use of its fifth console, the Wii. Sony reps it’s third console, aptly named the Playstation 3, and Microsoft continues its second run with the Xbox 360. And I’ve never disliked each company more than I do with this round of consoles. With all of the graphics capaibilities and new technologies, you'd think we'd be sitting on a mountain of gaming gold. Shooter fans certainly are, but aside from a few gems located sparingly throughout the years, this generation has been a bit disappointing so far. But not because of the games, rather because of the companies.

Let’s start with Nintendo. Of the three, I like Nintendo the best. Nintendo is extremely user-friendly, and they’ve stuck to the same ideals they originally had with the original Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES for those who only speak anagram). They’ve always created their own products. Nintendo as a company creates both hardware and a majority of their software, unlike the other two who simply acquire in-house software and stick to making the hardware themselves. They perfected the formula back with the original Super Mario Bros. and they haven’t strayed far from it. In fact, no matter how stupid their newest game looks, it’s almost guaranteed that it will be fun to play. Pair that with the fact that Nintendo’s always trying something new (see 3DS), and many would say Nintendo’s the only one doing things right.

So what’s my problem with Nintendo? Well, they were the first to jump into the whole “casual market” ideal. And aside from what they announced at this year’s E3, they’ve all but strictly stuck to it. When I look at the games on my shelf, I count six titles, the last of which I got in 2008. Early 2008. Granted, I’ve also been broke for the past three years, but there’s probably only been one or two big hits each year. Aside from the occasional Mario Kart or Metroid title, they’ve stuck to the soccer moms like glue, and more or less forgotten the people who’ve been giving them all of their business for the past 27 years. So here’s hoping that this year’s E3 is a good sign of change for Nintendo. Whether they sell well or not, Epic Mickey, Goldeneye, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and everything else is at least a major step up from Cooking Mama and Naruto titles.

Next up is Sony, another disappointment. I’ll say one thing; they know technology. The Playstation 3 is it’s own built-in blu-ray player (and we’re all willing to admit that was a worthwhile decision now), rechargeable wireless controllers (something Nintendo and Microsoft eventually added as additional buy products), free wi-fi (I don’t care if Xbox Live is better. Sony’s PSN is free and pretty decent considering), and the best graphics of the three (if only by a little compared to the Xbox 360). So they have the best product technically on the market. It comes with all of these things at no extra charge. So Sony’s problem? They’re stupid. They became overconfident after cleaning out the competition with their Playstation 1 and Playstation 2, and felt no matter what they did, people would purchase their PS3. They were right for a few die-hards. But aside from those rich idiots, how many people ran out and bought a 600 dollar PS3? Remember when it was that expensive? They had the worst sales of the three for the longest time.

Eventually their sales began to at least challenge the Xbox 360, but before that, they dropped the price to 500, but then made a PS3 with a bigger hard drive and kept it at 600 dollars. What was the point of that? I didn’t want a bigger hard drive, I wanted a cheaper console. They did that about three more times, to the point of having at least four or five different versions of the same console, keeping the price as expensive as ever. One thing they did do, however, to make the Playstation 3 cheaper was take out the backwards compatibility. Well that was stupid of them. Now anyone who doesn’t have a Playstation 2 still needs to buy one to play their games. The Xbox 360 can play at least most of the Xbox’s major library, and the Wii can play every Gamecube game, as well as select titles from the NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Neo Geo, and at three others. Now THAT is backwards compatibility. Sony just never seems to understand the two things that people want are easy access to good games, and affordable prices. Which brings me to my third point. Because their console was so expensive, they had no money to hold onto exclusive titles. Remember when Devil May Cry, Assassin’s Creed and Final Fantasy XIII were all exclusive titles helping boost Sony’s market potential? Yeah, now I can count on one hand how many major PS3 exclusive hits there are.  And that’s after three years. I’m not going to buy your console because you have the “best version” of Portal 2. I’ll buy it because you’re the only one who has it.

Finally there’s Microsoft. I’ll admit, when the choice came to it, 360 or PS3, I chose the 360 because it was 200 dollars cheaper. At the time, and even up to this day that hasn’t mattered much because just like the PS3, Microsoft’s list of exclusive hits can fit in a change purse. Positives for Microsoft? They’re genius marketers. They really know how to show off their console and act like was encased in plastic as it fell out of God’s Cracker Jacks box. One example is by saying that their console is 200 dollars cheaper than Sony’s, when after buying the brick, the internet service, the fan to keep it from exploding, the HDMI cords, etc, it runs about the same. However, that doesn’t make them a good company. I’ve hated Microsoft since the original Xbox, and I’ll admit that the Xbox 360 is significantly better than original Xbox. However, Microsoft as a company treats its employees like garbage. It’s no coincidence that all of Microsoft’s products are encased in green. Green is the color of money and it’s practically the only color they see. They are the only console on the market that offer an internet service that costs money. 50 dollars, excuse me, now 60 dollars a year is a great price, but not when both other competitors offer their service for free. Sony has recently started their Playstation Plus service, which is an optional pay-to-play service with more benefits than the free version. And that’s how it should be. This way, people can at least access the Playstation Network to download additional content, movies, games, and things of that nature. Microsoft used to be this way, offering Xbox Silver for free which at least gave you access to the Marketplace. Much to my dismay when Resident Evil 5’s DLC came out, I found that they cancelled that service. So now I have to pay just to buy downloadable content? That’s ridiculous. And with this price jump, now I have to pay $9.99 just for a single month if all I want is to download one thing.

But it doesn’t end there. Remember the Red Ring of Death? Of course you do, because after four years, it’s still around! Now, to be fair, Microsoft extended their warranty by three years for any problem, and anyone with Red Ring, they have a lifetime warranty. But that’s not really a point in their favor, is it? After the 33% epidemic, I would expect nothing less of them. But while they, like Sony were releasing additional console after additional console, each one with a bigger hard drive than the last, did they ever try to actually fix the Red Ring? No, and that was stupid of them. It probably would have been much less costly to just fix the problem anyway than have to replace one third of their consoles free of charge. I know people who’ve been through five Xbox 360s. Now that’s ridiculous.  Now, they’ve just released their new Xbox Slim console, but I don’t know if that console also has Red Ring or not. I also don’t know if it has the same warranty. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made this console just so they can cancel the lifetime warranty on Red Ring though. Oh, and I just found out the price on Kinect. Get this, one hundred and fifty dollars. Yes, one hundred and fifty. That’s more expensive than a Nintendo DS, and aside from Dance Central, all it can do right now is play the same casual crap I’ve been playing on the Wii for the past three years already.

So all I wanna know is why this war has been an uphill battle for all three sides. Remember when it was a war worth having? When the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis was better known as Team Mario versus Team Sonic? When the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation were comprised of two completely different libraries? When the Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox not only had different libraries but also different hardware? What’s even the point of the console war anymore? Of the nine or ten games I have for my Xbox 360, only one of them is console exclusive. For the past three years, the only choice has been PS3 or 360, and everyone got a Wii on the side. But now, all three have motion capabilities (Sony’s and Nintendo’s of which are now practically identical). When is Nintendo going to come out with a new IP (new series for those who don’t know). Pikmin I think was the last original hit series that they had, and the Wii Play series hardly counts. When is Sony going to make a good decision for their console. When will Sony get their own ideas again instead of directly copying Nintendo’s motion controls or Microsoft’s achievement system? When is Microsoft going to be fair to their customers? When is there going to be a DIFFERENCE in the consoles again?

I recently read that the Xbox 360 is only about halfway through its lifetime, which is fantastic news to me because that means that the other two likely are the same. This first half hasn’t been without its great titles (Mass Effect, Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, etc), however it’s also had a laundry list of fauls. Going into the second half of this console war, I’m hoping that these three companies will pick themselves up and make a turn around. Nintendo’s already on the right path after this year’s E3, so I can only hope that this will continue. The introduction of Move and Kinect has me both excited and more nervous than ever though because up close they look like they can deliver three different products. But from a distance, it’s all motion control. So they could easily suck Nintendo into having the same syndrome of “three labels, same product”.  But I’m not interested in playing only motion controlled games anyway. Now that Sony and Microsoft are both somewhat successful, maybe they’ll start buying exclusivity rights again. Though they seem to really be into the whole “best version” crap, so that makes me doubtful.

But I guess we will see.

Googoo for Gaga

So I just read an article on Spike.com featuring Lady Gaga and her inspirations. Upon starting the article, I had assumed it was going to be literally about the seven musicians that inspired Gaga’s unique music, appearance, and performance styles in the music industry. I was disappointed to find out it was more of a Gaga bash, saying she’s all but directly copied the unique stylings of Peaches, David Bowie, Roisin Murphy, Elton John, Kate Bush, Grace Jones, and Madonna.

Article can be found at:

http://www.spike.com/blog/top-seven-musicians/98324

Now, first of all, I’ll agree that Gaga likely drew inspiration from at least a few of these individuals. But flat out copied them? I think that’s going too far. The two aforementioned artists that she most closely resembles are Grace Jones and Madonna, the latter of which, she has been called “our generation’s Madonna”. Regardless of this, Gaga still has her own style I feel. But even beside that point, it was stated in the article multiple times that Gaga is flat-out copying these artists which is just not true. I checked out the comparisons they made between Madona’s La Isla Bonita and Gaga’s Alejandro and they’re completely different. I checked out Murphy’s Overpowered and saw she was wearing only one outfit that looks entirely different from anything Gaga’s worn. None of these artists cycle through a many outrageous costumes in a single minute like Gaga. Despite this, while all of these artists are eccentric in their own manner (save for Kate Bush, who’s musicality was her focus and not her visual appearance), Gaga’s style still stands out among them. Plus, for each of them to say that Gaga has copied “their” style, wouldn’t that mean that they’ve copied each other? Gaga doesn’t have seven styles.

Let me just say that I don’t know a whole lot about most of those seven artists, so there may be things I’m missing about them. But what made me angry though was the fact that Roisin Murphy called Gaga “a poor imitation of [her]. She has directly copied [her] style.” And as for Grace Jones, Gaga invited her to perform with her, much like how she performed with Elton at one point (likely because she admits they are inspirations and wants to give the audience something they’ll enjoy). But Grace turned her down. Why? According to Grace, “ I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not copying me, actually”. I find Murphy’s and Grace’s statements quite conceited to say that they’re original and Gaga isn’t. They’re essentially implying that they were the first, and now everyone who wants to be eccentric has to be completely different to them. Nothing in this world is original but creation itself. And for them to think that their style is 100% original is incredibly conceited. Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and Gwen Stefani have all drawn major inspiration from Marilyn Monroe, yet no one faults them for it. Everyone draws inspiration whether they are conscious of it or not, and they should just be honored that they’ve inspired someone so much to make an entire performance style after their work.

Also, this may just be me personally, but I really don’t care for Jones’ style. Outlandish? Yes. Different? Yes. But also ugly. Now Gaga’s no stranger to ugly outfits. Her golden bodysuit in Bad Romance is just short of horrendous, and the only outfit in Alejandro that looks good is her nun outfit towards the end (which actually I think is just about the hottest thing I've ever seen [no I don't have a nun fetish, but I'll make an exception]). However, for the occasional ugly outfit, she makes up for it was plenty of really awesome outfits. Out of the fifteen outfits in her Bad Romance video, I love at least 10 of them (such as the polar bear coat, her red lace rags,

the black crown get up, and the diamond threads). Because of outfits like these, I can look past the soda can hairdo, the cigarette glasses, and the red queen. Grace Jones however, I really don’t like any of her outfits. I don’t care for David Bowie’s either to be honest, though I do like him. Point being however, that I think being outlandish is easy. Being outlandish and still looking good however, is not as such.

As far as music goes, Gaga would be the first to admit it’s hardly anything revolutionary, it’s just good music. Like past superstars such as Madonna, Elvis, Mariah Carey, the Beatles, and Spice Girls, just about every song she makes is a hit. Gaga at least has more musicality than most artists because she writes her own music. I’m sure she has help, but many artists out there practically have all the work done for them. Is her voice groundbreaking? No, but it’s real. Aside from the occasional auto-tuned, you can tell that it’s her raw, unsynthesized voice. Not to mention she also plays a musical instrument in the piano. She’s an incredible performer, and she makes sure to make every performance, every video, every speech, and hell, every public appearance memorable.

One last thing on Gaga. At this point, it doesn’t even matter if she’s unique or not because she’s a superstar who’s always outdoing herself. But let’s just take a look at those seven names once again and see their success and the years entailing them. David Bowie’s prime was mostly in the 70s, and partially in the 80s. He never stopped making music until 2003, however the frequency of new music was in a fairly steady decline since the 90s. Elton John also has most of his albums in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but not as many in the 2000s. Roisin Murphy is a part of this new generation of music, making her debut in 2005. But as much as I personally like Roisin Murphy, how many people really know about her, at least over here stateside? The only time I ever hear of her outside of Ireland is the few times that Wade Robson has used her music for dance routines on So You Think You Can Dance. Regardless, she only has two albums, one from 2005 and the other from 2007, and four singles since then.

Kate Bush hit her prime in the 80s. Her last album was in 2005, but before that was 1993, a twelve year gap. So no matter how successful she was, she’s not a part of Gaga’s generation. Grace Jones was also mostly in the 80s, having released only one album in the past 21 years in 2008. Shame, performing with Gaga may have made for a great comeback spark. Madonna and Peaches are the only two who are still actively a part of Gaga’s generation of music. But Peaches I feel isn’t as big a hit as Madonna or Gaga. But Madonna’s been pretty consistent in her music lineup, releasing a new album on average every two or three years since 1983. Madonna, however, is not complaining about Gaga’s success. Regardless, what we’re seeing now is just the start of Gaga’s career, and I too think she’s the Madonna of our generation. I think her outlandish outfits and hit pop music will be around for a long time to come. Pair that with her active civil rights stance and huge following, and I think it’s safe to say that Gaga’s here to stay.

So fellow bloggers, give the article a read if you like, and get your own opinion on it. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun on Jones and Murphy's stances on this. Maybe I'm misinformed. Maybe I'm wrong entirely, but I view Gaga as someone fresh and new, not a recycled copy of what was cool yesterday. But for every major celebrity, there will always be haters. And in this case, I’m just not one of them.