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Project Natal

On June 1, 2009 Microsoft announced at E3 that they were developing a hands free controller. Microsoft referred to the new device as "Project Natal". Microsoft announced that "Project Natal would be released in the fourth quarter of 2010. Project Natal incorporates controller-free gaming with the Xbox 360 console. Project Natal incorporates a players body movements into games rendering the need of a controller. Project Natal is Microsoft's version of the Sony's Eye Toy. If you do not know what the Sony Eye Toy is then dont worry because only the die hard Sony Playstation fans do. No offense intended, but the reality is that the Sony Eye Toy was equivalent to the definition of an epic failure. Sony made two mistakes which prevented the device from attracting users and game developer. First of all the device was unable to pick some of the movements that the players made. The first problem played a major role in the second problem which is that only 21 games were designed for the device over a 5 year time period. Sony was unable to get game designers and developers on board to produce games for the Eye Toy. I mention the epic failure of the Sony Eye Toy as a reminder that motion sensor gaming was being used for gaming console before the Nintendo Wii. Project Natal is Microsofts answer to the Nintendo Wii. Microsoft realized that Nintendo revitalized there video gaming console reputation using motion sensor gaming with Wii console. Hopefully Mircosoft learned from Sony's mistakes and will prevent history from repeating it's self. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft's next gaming console incorporated more controller free user interaction. If Microsoft successfully implements Project Natal it will represent a stepping stone into the future of video gaming. Since the Xbox 360 has the largest selection of Online shooter games compared to the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii it would only make sense that Microsoft would incorporate first person and third person online shooting games. If any of you have seen the movie Gamer then you have a good idea of what I am imagining the future of gaming will be like. It is possible that Mircosft will make a device that will be utilized by corporate companies and the government as virtual training. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft has already signed deals with game developers like Ubitsoft, EA, etc. Aside from speculation there are a couple of things that are for certain.

The Project Natal device will connect through your Xbox 360 as a wired and wireless device. The Wireless version will most likely cost more and may not pick up on on some of your body movement depending on signal strength. The wired version will most likely cost less and will be more effective, but as some of you know USB 2.0 cables have a distance of limitation of 5 meters(15 feet). The length of the USB cable will determine the latancey time that it takes for your motion to each the console. Also you must take into account that the device will be powered by the USB if the device is wired. So considering those variable the cable length should be maxed at 3 meters(9 feet).

How the U.S. caused the 2008-2009 Global Economic Crisis.

On January 26, 2009, the citizens of Iceland heard the words that they have been waiting to hear from the prime minister for quite some time. The people of Iceland have been rioting across the country in hopes that their prime minster would finally listen to their cries. On January 26, 2009, Geir Haarde, the prime minister of Iceland, announced the resignation of his administration. Geir Haarde stated that his administration would stay in power and do their best to provide their nation with a fair and equal election that will take place on May 9, 2009. All of the citizens have one question on their minds; How did their economy collapse? Through this paper, I will be explaining and discussing the correlation between the United States' housing market crises and Iceland's economy. In this paper I will also be discussing how the United States plays a significant role in the world economy.

In 2003, the Geir Haarde administration made a decision to privatise the banks in Iceland. So in 2003 the young and inexperience bankers of the top three banks in Iceland held roughly only a couple billion dollars. Over the next three years, those three banks had turned roughly a couple billion dollars into over $140 billion. The three banks had achieved something so incredible and so miraculous that every Iceland citizen benefited from the growth. According to Vanity Fair, the bankers were able to achieve this growth because they lent to the Iceland citizens, more money to invest in the foreign, domestic, and housing markets. This decision made by the bankers increased the average Icelander's yearly income by three times the amount since 2003 to 2006. Also according to Vanity Fair, when the U.S. stock market was doubling, Iceland's Reykjavik stock exchange was multiplying by 9 times the amount. The United Nations ranked Iceland number one in the Human Development Index in 2007 and 2008.

According to Reuters, on October 7, 2008, the Geir Haarde administration dismissed the board of directors of Landsbanki bank and put the bank in receivership. The next day, the Geir Haarde administration took control of the Glitnir bank (Iceland's third-largest bank) by purchasing a 75 percent stake in the bank which made them the majority share holder. On October 9, 2008, the Geir Haarde administration took control of the Iceland's largest bank, Kaupthing, and halted trading on the Reykjavik stock exchange. The Reykjavik stock exchange reopened 4 days later on October 14, 2008. From October 7, 2008 through October 9, 2009, citizens across the world attempted to access their Kaupthing, Landsbanki , and/or Glitnir online banking account using the Internet, but were unable to. The Geir Haarde administration had closed down Kaupthing, Landsbanki , and Glitnir websites. So as more people were unable to access the site, they started to fear the worst. The people were correct to fear for the worst even with the Geir Haarde administration denying the take over of Kaupthing, Landsbanki , and/or Glitnir banks. After much international pressure, the Geir Haarde administration finally announced the take over of Kaupthing on October 10, 2009. October 7-9, 2008 marked the days the United States' mortgage crises finally burnt it's way to the country of Iceland. A once prosperous nation had fallen because of the United States' mortgage crises and it's global effect. The reason that the United States is at fault for the "Global financial crisis of 2008-2009" is because of the Clinton administration's decision to repeal Glass Steagall Act[1].


The Glass Steagall act was enacted in 1933 by congress to regulate the way bank, lending firm, investing firm, and financial firm invested their client's money in risky ways. According to Elizabeth Warren, the leader of the TARP fund's over site committee, stated on a television appearance on the The Daily Show hosted by John Stewart, that the United States went 50 years without a financial crises because of the Glass Steagall Act. Elizabeth Warren also stated that because the United States Congress deregulated the financial markets, banks were given the legal authority to risk the customer's money. Once congress slowly ratified the Glass Steagall Act, there was an increase in recessions and fraud. So the United State's went 50 years without any major financial issues until the United States' congress decided to meddle with the Glass Steagall Act's regulations. Elizabeth Warren also said "We keep pulling out the threads on the regulatory fabric". So on November 12, 1999 the Clinton administration pushed congress to repeal the 1933 Glass Steagall Act. An article from the Telegraph News Paper written on February, 16 2009 by Liam Halligan, stated "The removal of the Glass-Steagall firewall in both the US and UK, is the prime reason for the current crisis. By merging with commercial banks, leveraging their taxpayer-guaranteed deposits and using them to place reckless bets, the investment banks have destroyed the financial strength of the Western world. Any schoolboy economist can see that. Why can't Gordon Brown or Barack Obama? ". An article from The Motley Fool Stock Advisor posted on April 6, 2009 which was written by Morgan Housel and Christopher Barker, said "The repealers of the Glass-Steagall Act really really screwed things up. Every time you think of the damage Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) continue to inflict on our economy, please, think of those lawmakers and clench your fists.". The article also said "By setting banks and brokerages free from the regulated swimming pool, the repealers of Glass-Steagall knowingly unleashed a swarm of killer whales into the ocean of global finance. Thomas Jefferson considered banks "more dangerous than standing armies", while Andrew Jackson called them "a den of vipers and thieves", so the nature of the beast has been well known for centuries. For ignoring that danger and permitting systemic risk to multiply in the shadows -- most notably through the $1 quadrillion global market for derivatives -- the repealers of Glass-Steagall, unmistakably carry the greatest burden of blame for this ongoing crisis."


Since the United States is the center of world trade whatever happens there will cause a ripple effect on the world economy. The repeal of the Glass Steagall Act allowed U.S. banks to give out sub-prime loans to people who can't afford to pay back their loans. So when banks lend money to people who can't pay back their loans, they are forced to write off that loan as a "bad loan". So as time goes on, those people can not afford to pay back their loans and start to spend/consume less. When a large population of the sub-prime loans are unable to make their payment and consume products. When companies do not sell products they lose money. When those companies lose money, they are forced to layoff employees or make major financial cuts. So as companies layoff and/or fire their employees, they join the band wagon in which the people who failed to pay their mortgages back. If the employees who were laid off can not find a job, they start to cut back on their spending and slowly fail to pay their mortgages. At this point of time companies that are publicly trading, see a decrease in their company's stock which effects the share holders. Those share holders are located around the world. Some of those share holders were Icelanders and Companies in Iceland. Since the United States is the center of trade, they import more products than they import. So when people in the United States consume less, companies do not see a need to import as much. So the countries from which the products are made, start to make less. In due time those companies layoff employees. Those employees then grab a seat next to the people in the United States who are unable to payback their loans. At this point in time, those nations' stock markets are facing a crises. One of those nations was Iceland. Since Icelander's invested in domestic and foreign stock exchanges, they were effected faster then any other nation. When the United States' stock market started crashing, so did theirs.

So in conclusion, the repeal of The Glass Steagall Act by the support of the Clinton administration and United States' congress, "unleashed a swarm of killer whales into the ocean of global finance". The repeal of The Glass Steagall Act has effected everybody in some way or another. The repeal allowed banks to give out loans to people in the United States who could not afford them. People did not have to provide records in order to qualify and/or receive the loan. Since the United States plays a crucial role in the international realm, their decision to repeal The Glass Steagall Act has effected the entire world. If the United States' politicians did not meddle with the barriers that were put in place in 1933 by congress, then Iceland would most likely still have a stable economy. Humans are prone to make mistakes, but it is up to them to learn from their mistakes so that they won't make them again. In 1999 Congress showed us that they did not learn their lesson. The consequence of not learning their lesson cost people everything. The consequence of not learning their lesson caused a good friend of mine to commit suicide. David Kellerman was the acting CFO of Freddie Mac who committed suicide. His death came to everyone as a shock. He had a 5 year old daughter and a wife. He most likely committed suicide because he felt that he was going to be the fall out guy for the company's first quarter losses that he was suppose to announce later this week. Only one can hope that the United States has finally learned their lesson, but as they say history will repeat itself.

APA ****Citations


Lewis, Michael (2009, April). Wall Street on the Tundra . Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/f.../iceland200904

(2008). Human Development Indices: A statistical update 2008 - HDI rankings. Retrieved April 19, 2009, from http://hdr.undp.org Web site: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

(2009, April, 23). TIMELINE-Iceland holds crisis-induced early election. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssFi...BrandChannel=0

Heakal, Reem What Was The Glass-Steagall Act?. In Investopedia [Web]. Investopedia ULC. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/071603.asp

Stewart, John (2009, April, 15). Intro - Bailout Acronyms . Retrieved April 18, 2009, from www.thedailyshow.com Web site: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/in...-2&byDate=true

Halligan, Liam (2009, Febraury, 16). Outrage at bonuses won't solve the mess we're in. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...s-were-in.html

Housel, Barker, Morgan, Christopher (2009, April, 6). Who's More to Blame: Wall Street or the Repealers of the Glass-Steagall Act?. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...ealers-of.aspx

Holmes, Steven A. (1999, September, 30). Fannie Mae Ease Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/30/bu...%201999&st=cse


[1] Glass Steagel Act: In 1933, in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash and during a nationwide commercial bank failure and the Great Depression, two members of Congress put their names on what is known today as the Glass-Steagall Act (GSA). This act separated investment and commercial banking activities. At the time, "improper banking activity", or what was considered overzealous commercial bank involvement in stock market investment, was deemed the main culprit of the financial crash. According to that reasoning, commercial banks took on too much risk with depositors' money. Additional and sometimes non-related explanations for the Great Depression evolved over the years, and many questioned whether the GSA hindered the establishment of financial services firms that can equally compete against each other. We will take a look at why the GSA was established and what led to its final repeal in 1999.(http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/071603.asp)

Videogame addiction clinic opens

A clinic that offers treatment for people addicted to playing computer games has opened in the Netherlands.

The service, run by addiction consultancy Smith and Jones, offers a program lasting up to eight weeks.

The clinic estimates that up to 20% of gamers, many of which are children, could develop a dependency.

Compulsive gamers have similar symptoms to gambling addicts, they say, and risk damage to relationships, health, education and their careers.

"I lived in my room. I have 4 televisions around me, with one X-Box 360, PlayStation 2, X-Box 1 and a Game Cube and a lap-top, where I can play online games," said Tim, a 21 year old who has received treatment at the clinic.

Tim played games for up to 17 hours a day.

"I have no social life, I have no friends - only cyber-friends"

Obsessive behaviour

The new eight-bed residential clinic in Amsterdam was set up in response to a growing demand for people with gaming addictions. It is the first of its kind in Europe.

Initially gaming was a secondary issue for many of the patients who came to the clinic to seek help for other addictions.

Eventually the sheer number of addicts forced the clinic to set up a dedicated programme.

"They kept on coming in so we started taking it more and more seriously," said Keith Bakker, an addiction consultant at the centre.

Addicted gamers display many symptoms, including obsessive thinking and health problems. Others may use stimulants to keep awake during gaming marathons.

Some who play online multiplayer games may feel extreme guilt about leaving fellow gamers if they switch their console off.

Last year a man in South Korea died after spending 50 hours playing an online game.

Addicts may also experience "time warps" where all other activities are replaced with gaming. This can take extreme forms.

Tim could not even wrestle himself away from the screen for long enough to go to the toilet.

"I take an empty bottle and I pee into it," he said.

The treatment involves a period of detox when patients are not allowed access to any computer games.

This is followed by group therapy and sessions with psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists.

The clinic also tries to find replacement activities to fill the void left by giving up gaming.

"We help them find other ways to deal with life and they begin to develop true self esteem," says Mr Bakker.