I knew the Wii would be a popular present this year and that it would be high on my siblings list. Consequently, I bought a Wii back in August, used. I paid $360 and got the Wii (with Wii sports), 4 controllers, 2 nunchucks, and 2 games (monkeyball and twilight princess). For all the people out there trying to find a Wii last minute, I laugh at you! I will consider selling my Wii package, and should anyone offer enough I will sell it.

Sony has been hyping up home for quite some time and has even featured it in some of their most recent ads. Still, with all the hype and the ongoing beta, I can't help but be pessimistic. Sony is well known for being unable to deliver on their promises and Home has already missed what could be the most influential season on the current generation console wars, holiday 2007. Can someone who is in on the Home beta give me some insight on to the progress of the project? Otherwise, I quite convinced Home may never see release.

Being a former retail electronic salesman, I was paid to convince people the HDTV was for them. I would enthusiastically explain the advantages of LCD, PDP, or DLP, and I would explain 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, should it be required. Of course, I'd be quick to show the simplicity of HDMI, but, in the same breath, also try to upsell them on a home theater system. It was with great zeal that I would convert those foolishly devoted to their standard definition tube TVs. However, looking back, only I was being foolish. Though HDTV is better than SD, and I'm sure everyone would enjoy having it, it is still not for everyone.

Take, for example, John Doe. John has been watching his favorite shows on the same TV for 10 years. He's perfectly happy with his current set-up; after all, he only just got it in 1997. However, John has seen the commercials for High Definition, and his cousin/co-worker/neighbor has told him all about how great the picture is. John decided to check out the local retail store, and after seeing the display models, he is bit by the HD bug and start planning on how he is going to buy one.

So, after a while, John buys his HDTV. He buys a big one, and spends a couple hundred dollars more than he was planning on, but, he figures, it is worth it for the added quality. Once, he gets home, he's ready to hook it all up, so he unpacks everything to get it set up. While trying to figure out how to hook up everything, John's wife (yes John is married) starts to complain about the amount of space the TV takes up, but she is actually upset about is how much he spent. John suggests buying a wall mount and cutting holes for all the cables. John's wife envisions her husband cutting holes in their wall and decided she doesn't like the idea.

Anyway, John figures out how to plug in the cable to the TV, but he doesn't like the picture. The DVDs don't look much better. He notices how bad it looks compared to what he remembered seeing in the store. Everything seems like its being "squished" to fit on the screen and everyone looks fat. He decided to go back to the store to figure out what he is doing wrong.

At the store, he finds the TV wall mounts. They're $359, so much for mounting the TV. Also, he asks a sales rep about the picture quality, and only then does John learn that he need to get an HD system through his cable company or with satellite. The rep tells him it will probably cost around $15 more a month, and possibly a $250 up-front charge, but he would have to call the company to be sure. The sales rep then tries to sell John on $120 worth of cables. Frustrated, John leaves without buying anything. He drives home considering if he should just return the whole thing.

I'm sure John not alone in his frustration. Upgrading to an HDTV system is an expensive and complicated process. There are a large number of things that must be considered that historically people just didn't have to think of. It also doesn't help that electronic elites, like me, insist on people getting the best. SDTV is no longer enough, and HDTV without at least a Dolby 5.1 sound system is a crime. Even the trusty ole' DVD player isn't good enough and needs tossed out, in favor of a new HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc player.

The world of HDTV can be overwhelming and the pressure is on to move into the future of television. For those that are wavering, I want tell you what the retail sales people won't tell you. That is, it is ok not to move to HD! Although, it is true that HDTV is better and the TVs are more affordable than ever before, neither of these will change by waiting another year or two. If the standard definition television you have now is enough for you, then by all means, use it! Use it until it dies! Then, once you're ready for something new, get HD. By that time, you may not have a choice.

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If anyone is curious about HD and has questions I'd be glad to answer them. I have 4 years in retail experience, in the United States (no PAL), so I am more qualified then the new hires you'll meet at the store this Christmas (and also I don't care if I sell you anything). I can tell you the best way to hook up your cables, but I can't tell you how to hide them behind a wall. For detailed install questions pertaining to a specific home, it would be best to talk to your local CEDIA certified installer.

I was gone all last week on a business trip to the Dayton, OH, area and one stop in Madison, IN. There were some cool parts like getting to eat out all the time for free and getting to drive a 2008 Ford Edge the whole time, but I'm really glad to be home. I was working so hard I didn't even get to enjoy Dayton, and I didn't really get to sleep either. I should be getting paid a lot for being gone, so I guess it evens out. ;)

This is an editorial I originally posted back in September. I thought it seemed quite timely now, with the additional pressures on the ESRB and the release of two very prominent games (namely Halo 3 and Mario Galaxy). If you've read it before, I'm sorry for the repost, but for those who missed it, enjoy.

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Gamespot's recent article M Rated Games Sell Best got me thinking a little. I'm a conservative in every sense of the words. Which means the while I am definitely not for government censorship, I do find the strong language, sexual themes, and (to a lesser extent) violence, slightly disturbing. Its those apprehensions that keep me from owning games like Bioshock and Gears of War. Almost contradictorily, I do own Rainbow Six Vegas and Perfect Dark, which oddly enough is rated M. Additionally, have always been a fan of the Resident Evil and Time Splitters series. So, while I'm not against buying a game just because it is rated M, I will not buy it just because it IS rated M.

The reason I believe M rated titles have been doing so well, is because of the large amount of very good M titles that have been released recently. Take a look at this quote:

"One of the more noteworthy findings from the study was that titles that received a M for Mature rating had the highest average review scores and the highest average gross sales in the US."

continued...

"The study also noted that games that score above 90 on Metacritic grossed sales of up to 531 percent more than the industry average, even though games of such caliber accounted for less than 2 percent of the titles released"

The truth of this study is that in recent history the best rated games coming out on any of the three major systems have mostly been M rated. While some people use this as a point to argue that reviews are more inclined toward more adult titles, the truth is that these games are just better. "Good Games Sell Best" would probably have been a better title for the article, but then that would have gotten my attention, and definitely not warranted me writing this blog post. So why are these games better? Is it because they have more blood and gore? Is it because of the foul language and sexual themes? While those might play a part in the overall game experience the real reason these games are better is because the developers are putting more work into them. Even looking at the Wii, a notoriously child oriented system, we find Gamespot puts Resident Evil 4 at the top of the list of games. So if the developers are putting their best best work into M rated game Then the question really becomes, "Why?".

The short answer would be because that's where the money is a, but that isn't really the whole truth. A discerning adult, such as myself, has to really consider what games to buy and what games not to buy. I don't want to waste my hard earned $60 on a game I'll be bored with in a few short hours. To appeal to an adult audience a game MUST BE GOOD! To earn my dollars a developer must create something worth buying,and because this is true, a developer knows they can't hold back when approaching an M rated title.

This is not true though for a younger audience. Movie tie-ins are notorious for being poorly made, yet they continue to sell well because they target a younger audience. A game like Spider-Man 3 doesn't have to accomplish much more than being released and the appropriate time and allowing a six year old to pretend to be Spider-Man for a couple hours. Problems like repetitive gameplay and mediocre graphics wont prevent a title like that from being successful. So, there is less focus placed on the game itself and the final product suffers as result. This is not necessarily a bad situation for a manufacturer. Because of the limited resources spent on the title and the timely release, the game is overall more profitable than if it were held to AA or AAA standards.

In the end, the games that have the most potential are games that are made for everyone that have been polished to perfection. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one example of a game that was greatly enjoyed by young and old alike. However, its hard not to alienate the ever aging core gamer audience. Many fans of LoZ:OoT were not so very enthused about the sprite graphic Nintendo decided on for the next game in the series, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Also, it doesn't matter how good a game like Nintendogs is, I could never bring myself to play it. That, however,isn't enough to hinder the game's sales, over 14 million worldwide.

So, in the short term M rated games may rule the day. With as many good ones as have been released in recent history it is little surprise they are doing so well. The reason so many M rated games are good though might just be because if they weren't no one would buy them (Vampire Rain, anyone?). Children's titles can get away with a lot more, by playing off loved characters from movies, TV, or Video Games (games like Pokemon Dash are proof). The best selling titles, however, have been, and will always be, great games rated E or T.

Halo 3 will top the charts this year, but those Pokemon games wont stop selling, and once all those Wii owners have a chance to get their hands on Mario Galaxy, we will see drastically different numbers. There will always be great M rated titles, and they will continue to sell well (I will continue to buy them), but any victories they have in sales will be short lived.That's my opinion anyway.

Thanks for Reading!

-zgreenwell

So, if you check my gamercard you'll notice that I've been spending time with Viva Piñata again. For those who haven't played it, Viva Piñata is a game based around building a garden, and enticing paper Mache animals to be residents of said garden. Anyway it plays really well and should be a good fit to anyone who is fans of games like The Sims. That said, I've recently been trying to unlock the full 1000 achievement points for the game, and it is turning into a very complex endeavor.

On the plus side for the Achievements, I wouldn't have turned this game back on if they weren't there. I had originally set my own goal of building a garden full of Rorios, a lion piñata, and constantly feeding them Doenuts, which is a deer type piñata, or basically making a lion garden paradise of sorts. Anyway, while working toward this goal I was able to unlock a large portion of the games achievements. Normally on a game of this genre that would be enough for me and I could put down the game and be happy. However, while looking at my current game collection recently, I decided to pick up the few extra points I had left. For the most part it has bee a positive experience.

Now, the problem with unlocking Viva Piñata's achievements is how annoying some of them are. The amazingly brilliant staff at Rare decided to make far too many of the Achievements "Secret" and because the game gives you no hints on how to achieve them you're left to find out for yourself. Now, I just looked up a list online at gamefaqs and have been working specifically towards the achievements. It really puzzles me though how the developers expected you to find these out on your own. For an example, the secret achievement "Mallowolf Howl" is attained by chasing off the Ruffians, creatures that visit your garden to cause trouble, with a resident Mallowolf. Well, the game itself gives no indication that a Mallowolf would scare off ruffians, and of course the genius piñata will not do it without precise direction from you. The only hints you get in the game are from Leafos, your resident gossip column, and often times the advice she give you is wrong. The non-secret achievements are for things like unlocking the strongest shovel or unlocking the largest garden size. These are all actions you would do on your own without prompting as part of the "story" of the game. If they insisted on secret achievements they should have reversed which ones were secret and which ones were not.

So anyway, I've got a few left and I plan to finish unlocking them. Still, there is one additional annoyance with the secret achievements though. If anyone if curious enough to wonder what I did to earn those points and checks my profile, they will not be privy to the confidential actions required to gain that 100% completion. Hopefully Microsoft works out a better setup on their next Rare project. Until then, I'll just deal with it. It doesn't hurt my overall view of the game.

I'm upgrading my computer for Christmas and decided it wouldn't be worth it if I didn't get a game. I am having a hard time picking one out, because my mind is still stuck in console world. I'm hoping some more experienced compute gamers can help me out with some titles that might are worth my attention.

As a side note, I'm trying to write a new editorial and hope to have it posted soon. I haven't wrote one in a while because of lack of time, but I hope I can get this one out to you.

I'm starting the Thanksgiving holiday a little early. Unfortunatly, Thanksgiving is often overwhelmed by Christmas and the grateful attitude we should take is pushed aside while we are not so subtley suggesting gift ideas to every relative we know. I'm worse than most, check my amazon wishlists (I have five of them). Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to make a list of things I'm most thankful for. So, in no perticular order, here it is:

I'm thankful for...

1. My house. It isn't perfect, but its mine, and I'm very happy to have it.

2. My Job. Without it, how would I pay for my house?

3. My wife. She's a great wife.

4. My Son. Sometimes I'm not so thankful for him, but he's the best kid I've ever had and he loves me.

5. My parents. They still buy me food sometimes, and they babysit. What more could I ask for?

6. My siblings. I have a lot of them and I'm glad. They're all a lot of fun.

7. My Country. Its not perfect, but living in the USA has its perks, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

8. Jesus Christ. Even though I willingly rebelled against God he sent Jesus, who took the punishment that I deserved and because of his scarifice I know that should I die today that I would not face judgement for my sins. Without Jesus, I would be going to He11.

That's my list, and if I wanted to be cheesy I could add a whole lot more (like video games, and food, and such), but I wont. Anyway, I feel very fortunate to be where I am today and am glad we have this holiday to remind me how fourtunate I really am. I hope you all can find things to be thankful for in your own lives.

... Doesn't that sound nasty?

It is always a great day coming back to work! Well, not really, but I don't feel too bad about it. I had a great time off and am ready for another week or so of work. Of course Thanksgiving is next week so I'm looking forward to getting off for that. It isn't too long after that until Christmas! I love this time of year! Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday. Have a nice day!