I hoped, and wished, and waited… and it looks like the snow is finally here…
Of course I still need some bindings…
But we’re getting closer…
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Gaming the Wii
Just a brief follow-up to my Casual Gaming post. I played a Nintendo Wii last week, and I liked it.
The Wii is just a fun platform for gaming. We saw casual gamers play it. We saw people who would never sit down and play a video game play it, and they didn’t even have to sit down! From what I hear, that’s the whole idea behind the Wii, to open up the world of gaming to people who wouldn’t normally enter into that world.
I didn’t get a ton of Wii-time, but got to try out Wii Sports, including bowling and tennis, both of which were a lot of fun.
By the time we were done, the kids were hinting about a Wii for Xmas, which ain’t gonna happen this year (recent automobile repairs made sure of that) but we’ll keep an eye on the platform and when the GameCube needs replacing, we’ll see what happens.
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Coming Soon: Mobility
If all goes as planned, we should be mobile by next week with a 1GHz iBook G4/512MB/30GB/CD/AirPortCard…
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Nunchucks
Fact: Kids love nunchucks! Sure, some kids are into swords or maybe even throwing stars, but all kids love nunchucks…
Now you’re saying “Hold on there Mr. Maniac! Nunchucks ain’t safe!” To which I say, you just need to make them safe. Oh sure, you could just go out an buy Rubber Foam Nunchucks from karatedepot.com, but what fun is that? Wouldn’t you rather spend time with your children making your own (safe) nunchucks? Of course you would! What parent wouldn’t?
We can easily assemble kid-safe nunchucks out of some old cardboard tubes and some cord. The trickiest part is just tying the knot. Once you’ve got two pair put together, you’re ready for battle – I mean FUN! Let the kids solve their differences the way they do in kung-fu movies. Or get in on the game, and show the kids who the real martial arts master in the family is. These kid-safe nunchucks are just the answer to the often asked question: “How can I beat my sibling without hurting them too badly?”
(Disclaimer: Don’t be an idiot and hurt yourself or someone else…)
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Casual Gaming
Since just before BarCampMilwaukee, I talked with a few people about what I call the “casual gamer” which is pretty much the opposite of the “hardcore gamer” in terms of behavior.
Now that the Wii and the PlayStation 3 have (more or less) arrived, I’ll give you my thoughts on this, but remember, this is the view from a casual gamer, not someone who is completely obsessed with gaming, just someone who plays once in a while and/or wants a fun system for the whole family to play.
First of all, the casual gamer cares about bang for the buck, not about the lastest and greatest. For instance, we can often find GameCube games used for anywhere between $5 and $20. Brand new games for the GameCube seem to run about $20 to $40. Keep in mind that a year ago you could get a new GameCube with Mario Kart: Double Dash and 4 controllers for about $200, and today you can pick up a brand new GameCube for $99. So like I said, bang for the buck takes effect, and you could put together a complete gaming system for the whole family for well under $300.
Now, the Nintendo Wii appears to be priced at $250, and is backwards compatible with the GameCube games, so if I was buying today, this is what I would get. It would make sense to “move up” to the Wii from the GameCube. I’m also influenced by the Nintendo titles, which are more kid & family friendly. (I have two daughters who love gaming, and the GameCube is perfect for them.) As for the PlayStation 3, it comes in priced at $500, twice the price. Now, it does have some impressive technology in it, but for the casual gamer, this is lost. The new games for the PlayStation 3 seem to be priced at about $60, and the used (well, used PlayStation & PlayStation 2 games) seem to be priced cheap, well under $20.
Jus the other day I was taking with a friend of mine, and found out he too was a casual gamer (he has 3 kids) and I told him how we pick up used titles for cheap, and he said he’s gotten some good deals on ebay, like 10 games for $30. I think Nintendo realizes that there is a place for the casual gamer, and they’re looking to serve that market.
Thoughts…?