And done.

Just finished Harry Potter 6. Check the "In My Opinion..." blog to see what I thought.

Netflix Feed

I have added an RSS link under my links to view my rental activity on Netflix.com. Not that you'd care, I just wanted to see if i could do it. If you have troulbe accessing it.... well I'm new to this so give me a minute.

Harry Potter

Betwixt my two shifts at the Gritty today I will go out and purchase Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I apologize in advance to the following people for not having time to talk to them for the next week or so;

• everybody

Best of luck to all of you in your future endeavors. Be sure to write everything down so you don't forget to tell me later.

The List

Starting in May 2004 I decided I'd keep a log of every movie I've seen. The experiment started small in a notebook, but quickly jumped onto my computer and excel. Over a year later I've still kept track. I've seen good and I've seen bad. A copy of, what has become known as, The List is located at the link. But I feel I should explain some things about it first.

• No movies I've seen prior to starting The List are on it. Perhaps one day I'll start a back log, but who knows.
• There are several columns; the title of the movie, the grade I gave it, the year it came out, and the language it is in (to the best of my knowledge).
• The grades can be translated to a 10 point scale easily;

A = 10, excellent, the most you can hope for
A-
B+
B = 7, good
B-
C+
C = 4, average, most movies
C-
D = 2, poor
F = 1, proof of the devil

• The hardest thing for people to do is admit that a movie is good or bad regardless of if they liked it. I don't want to get into the argument of judging films objectively here, but seriously - if you rated every movie against every other movie and then applied ratings on a bell curve most movies would be average.
• That being said, my grades are based on the movies from more of a technical than entertainment standpoint.
  
• If none of this makes sense I'm sorry. I'll be happy to put a grade into a rating system you can understand if you ask. Email me at jmducat@gmail.com.
  
• Remember that the list is ever growing. I'll try to keep monthly updates from now on.
• Or you can just take a look at my Netflix history to get an idea of what I'm doing... soon.
  

The 3rd Party - UNFINISHED

This post was started many moons ago. Since then I've abandoned trying to complete it. My apologies.

Several things factor into a personal study of third party support for video game consoles. One: the system you own. Two: your game preference. And three: what you expect the next cycle of hardware will bring.

Adressing these issues in order, if you own an Xbox or PS2 you most likely have not found any fault with third party support. Most games that come out on multiple platforms come out on these two more often than any other combination. You'll find most sports games available on all three consoles, but certain titles, like the Winning Eleven series, Sega's sports line-up, and even a select few EA games, never make the jump to Nintendo's GameCube. Sports games seem the be the great unifier, while other genres are more limited in the audience they reach; probably because these games take longer to develop and aren't aided by annual updates.

So if you're a Nintendo owner how do you cope? An informed consumer might shy away from the Cube for this reason, and for those people that own one the options are limited. You can purchase another console, trade in your Cube, or bite the bullet and accept that this hardware cycle was not one of Nintendo's best.

Which brings us to point number two. If you feel that your purchase of a GameCube was the wrong decision then you should ask yourself what matters most to you when playing games. For superior selection you may want to join Sony's camp next time. If you enjoy online gaming perhaps Microsft's way should be your way. But as discussed before, since many third party titles are available for both of these consoles the decision should probably be based on first party, or select third party, software. Nintendo's problem is that they generaly offer the best in-house software and have the weakest third party support. "Youth oriented" or "kiddie" imaging aside, the most fun games to play in almost every genre are developed by Nintendo.* But if you feel the need for the other systems, for whatever reason, then you should do what you believe is right and what will work out best for you.

But chances are you've made your decision for this generation. The thing to consider now is what you will do for the next generation. It still seems to early to say which console will have the best support. This will rely on many factors, but I believe the key one is which system is easiest to develop for. Game making is a business, so if it costs too much or takes too long to develop a game then that system will be at an immediate disadvantage.

For example, the aging PS2 was generally regarded as very difficult to program for. Its leg-up was that it was the only next-gen system for an entire year, so programmers got to play with it longer. Just now, near the end of its life-cycle, are we seeing that it can go toe-to-toe with the Xbox and GameCube, despite having "inferior" hardware. It's all about learning the intricacies of the console and exploiting them. Imagine what Xbox games would look like if they still had top development teams making them for another year.

The point is that

I recently received several messages on AIM addressing my previous post and my pro-Nintendo stance. Perhaps I was a bit hasty in that decision, since all the facts aren't in yet. But I made that statement from a first party software standpoint, and I stand by it. Enjoying the games you have and have available to you is what matters most. Yes, Marshall, Winning Eleven 8 is a stellar game that Cube owners missed. I wonder, however, how many titles that are just as good or better those Cube owners were privied to that PS2 and Xbox owners weren't. Quality or quantity? There will be occasions when first tier games don't reach Nintendo fans, but every Nintendo gem will never reach PS2 or Xbox.

*As an avid fan of games from all walks of console life, owning all three major systems, and playing games for all I can say, unbiasedly, that this statement is true.

Nintendo Bias

My first video game system was the NES. Way back in my impressionable youth Nintendo was lucky enough to hook me. Now I'd like to think I'm objective in a lot of things, but Nintendo still has a place in my heart as THE video game company; emphasis on game. In the wake of E3 I can't help but wonder what the future holds for the big N.

First and foremost Nintendo had a pretty quiet E3, compared with the other two companies. They unveiled what the Revolution will look like, and a few details about it, and another GameBoy device. I think they're beating a dead horse with another GB, but it could be a move to flood the handheld market to distract from the PSP (which I have some issues with, as well). The Revolution sounds promising with its backwards compatability and new online strategy, but I'm wondering how the "cool" demographic will accept it.

Which brings me to my second point: Nintendo has, hands down, the best first party games of console maker, but people ignore this fact for the images the other two consoles project. They have quality across the board, but the purple casing of the original 'Cube and youthful looking (but still fun) games didn't help move units. It's unfortunate that so many people only factor in what others think when the get games versus how much fun they will have while playing them. Will people buy Xbox 360 or PS3 for the bling factor or will they go with Nintendo for the games? Nintendo is banking on the game people, but there's a lot of stupid people out there that are that don't know what they're missing and will be fooled by flash.

The smart money is on Microsoft or Sony, but the money well spent will be on Nintendo. Graphics aside, because all the systems will have the capacity for killer visuals, the promises of what Xbox 360 will deliver as far as home content are fantastically awesome, like they'd have you believe. As a proud owner of a moded Xbox I can stream content from any computer on our network here to my TV. It's nice, but I don't think it should be an issue with consumers. Obviously Microsoft has a media center PC that plays Xbox games. It may sound cool, but it isn't anything you'll relish you have after the novely wears off. I have Xbox Live, too, and there isn't much more offered there either. Micro purchases for games? Fully integrated friends lists? Who cares? It's really about the games, right? Microsoft is approaching games from an entertainment standpoint.

Sony seems to be countering with a content-centric approach. That is, Sony preaches about cinema quality visuals, hinting that games will soon be on par with the movie industry as either art or a wholly accepted medium, because games are already profitable. The horsepower the PS3 will crank out is impressive, and Sony does have the ability to deliver some really great titles, but I think they seem a bit preoccupied with Microsoft's media center approach and are forgetting that games should still be fun. Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate for games as art and I'd love to see some projects explore emotions and veer away from violence and gunplay. But these games still need to be engaging, otherwise why not just watch a movie? Sony is probably closest to Nintendo as far as content goes, but they might be spreading themselves too thin with the PS3, at this point. On a side note, is the ability to link 7 controllers wirelessly to the PS3 seem a bit superfluous to anybody else? Only once in my life can I recall the want or need for more than four players at once, and that was on the PS2 with two of those 4-tap adapters (their name escapes me presently). Way to hype a seemingly useless feature, Sony. And then drop the ball by accepting fewer controllers than the PS2 could.

Coming full circle to Nintendo. As a cash strapped college student I will not be able to afford an Xbox 360 on launch. Hopefully after graduating in December I'll get a job and might be able to buy one of the three consoles after they are all on the market. At that point I'll most likely purchase a Nintendo Revolution. Call me crazy but I like my games fun, engaging, and still meaningful; things Nintendo has always consistently delivered on. The big name titles and developers usually develop for all three anyways, so when you boil it down first party stuff is the heart of any system. It's unfortunate more people didn't realize that with the 'Cube, and let's hope people will avoid the +$400 systems and opt for a true gaming machine when the time comes.