Xbox vs. Wii: Guess who strikes out?

I tried to like the Wii. I really, really tried.

Wii was great for some things -- playing Wii fishing with the kids, or setting up Wii tennis and Wii boxing matches when friends came over. But for serious gaming, the Wii simply hasn't been able to compare to the Xbox, the Xbox 360, or PC games.

There are two things that are holding the Wii back. Ironically, one of them is the thing that makes it so special -- the motion-controlled apparatus which allows users to employ gestures and arm movements to complete actions on the screen. While the Wiimote/Nunchuck pairing is great for games that depend on a single repetitive action -- swinging a racket or bowling a ball -- it stumbles for more complex games. For Wii's Legend of Zelda, the storyline and characters were interesting, but every level came with a new set of motions to learn. Some tasks required very precise movements and button combinations which proved frustrating. After a certain point, it became a headache. I didn't want to go on.

The second thing that is holding back the Wii is graphics. I am not someone who gets worked up about GPU specs and ray tracing minutiae, but the Wii is ridiculous. Forget about comparing it to the Xbox 360 -- I don't thing the Wii comes close to the original Xbox. For the simple games in Wii Sports and Wii Play, graphics not a major issue. But for immersive environments that are typical for MMOG games and first person shooters, Wii's cartoon world won't cut it. I've been playing FPS titles since Doom I, and can't imagine the Wii doing justice to something like Return to Castle Wolfenstein or Half Life 2.

So, even though we've had a Wii in our house for about 9 months, I don't think wii'll (Geddit?) be using it much in the future, except when the kids are exceptionally bored. For the games that I like, I'll instead be using an Xbox 360, or playing PC games that my old iMac can handle. So far, I've only tried one Xbox 360 title -- Fallout 3 -- but have been very impressed. Microsoft gets lots of grief for Windows, but I have to say that the Xbox team really put together an impressive gaming platform. That's where I'll be for the foreseeable future ...

Image: Nintendo

An open letter to Gatehouse Media, editor Greg Reibman, and other Newton Tab staff

Dear Newton Tab editors, publishers, and staff:

Your lawsuit against the New York Times over the Boston.com "Your Town: Newton" minisite is misguided and harmful to your mission. What don't you like about inbound traffic to your sites? Or is this really about unwanted competition in your own back yard?

I predict the lawsuit will have a chilling effect on many other Web journalism ventures. I use news aggregators every day -- Techmeme and Google News -- which let me find out about stories and blogs that I might otherwise miss. Indeed, I found out about your lawsuit through Techmeme (see the image below, which includes a headline and link to the Newton Tab article by Neal Simpson). Many other people saw the link on Techmeme, too, including readers who have never seen your content before. You are no doubt experiencing a surge of traffic right now, and making money off of the display advertising, thanks to this aggregator. Are you going to sue Techmeme as well?

I've been a reader of the Newton Tab since the 1980s. I still get the print edition, but I actually consume a lot of your content on the Web. I have been very impressed with your efforts to expand online, including the Tab blog and Gatehouse's redesign of the Wicked Local: Newton site. I used to think that your team "got" the Web. Now I am not so sure.

Sincerely,

Ian Lamont

Apple's iMac hits the 10 year mark, but its days may be numbered

I posted an essay on the Industry Standard this morning about the iMac. It's a great product that turned 10 this year, but I am not confident it will last another year. Check out my reasoning and the related prediction:

• The beginning of the end for the Apple iMac?
• Apple announces iMac retirement by September 30 2009?

Despite the gloomy prediction, I am not a Mac hater: I've owned an iMac since 2003 (the lampshade model, see photo) and have transitioned every member of my family to Macs (eMac, Mac mini, and a G4 iBook). But the iMac can't outrun the realities of the marketplace.

The Public Dime "Hall of Flame" project

I've been a news junky since I was a kid. One type of article that has always caught my eye is the public corruption exposé -- a public servant gets caught with his hands in the till, a politician gets kickbacks or a job for a relative, or extra payments and benefits are given to members of powerful unions.

The Boston Herald has turned the corruption exposé into an art form, mixing gritty undercover reporting with outraged commentary about crooked pols and civil servants in Boston and eastern Massachusetts. But in my daily browsing of the country's major newspaper websites, I've noticed that many other places also have scandals and exposés. I've been using StumbleUpon to mark some of the more interesting stories, but earlier this year I was inspired by vote-driven media sites like Digg and Hacker News to create my own repository of corruption-related news.

To create the Public Dime Hall of Flame, I used Slinkset, which I found out about through Y Combinator. I also started a Public Dime blog, but I have found that it takes too much time to update compared to the Slinkset-based tool.

The growth of the Public Dime Hall of Flame has surprised me. It seems that practically every day there is a new article about elected officials at all levels of government either being on the take or using their influence to expand their power or subvert democratic processes.

Another common theme: civil servants or workers for mass transit systems conducting disability scams or other questionable activities to line their own nests. A few of the scandals you may already know about, but most will be news to you.

The scale and range of the scams is fascinating, and also somewhat depressing. I used to assume that the United States was a model of ethical government practices, thanks in large part to the many honest politicians and public employees, as well as the many laws and checks and balances that are designed to reduce corruption and influence. However, the longer the Public Dime Hall of Flame gets, the more I realize that our system still has many flaws. In the United States, corruption is pervasive, and takes many forms.

I've opened up the Public Dime Hall of Flame for submissions from members of the public. I am wary of partisan shills and people bent on falsely accusing honest politicians and civil servants, but in the interest of expanding the community and sharing news, I think it's best to keep the gates open. I encourage you to submit your own findings and vote on the others that you think are especially noteworthy by clicking on the "up" arrows next to headlines.

Nintendo: Yes, we know about the Wii shortages

This afternoon, I was able to get a quote from a Nintendo official about the continued Wii shortages.

You'd figure that after the widespread shortages of the console in the 2006 and 2007 holiday shopping season, Nintendo would flood the market with Wiis. Not so. While production has increased, it's still very apparent that demand is outstripping supply. Wii hoarding is also quite apparent, judging by Amazon.com's Wii purchase policy and the $100 markups by Amazon's partner companies.

I wrote about the shortages last year, after I attempted to get one for my own family:

"So you want to buy a Wii this holiday shopping season? Good luck!"

I wasn't able to get one last Christmas, but a friend got one for me in the spring of this year after spotting them on sale at the local Walmart. Interestingly, the biggest fans aren't my kids -- they're my thirty-something friends. One evening over the summer I had four of them playing Wii Sports and Wii Play until after midnight ... I practically had to kick them out of the house!

Mutant squirrels taking over Boston

Spotted in JP:



Money quote: "Hopefully he won't attack." I immediately thought of the Monty Python "killer rabbit" skit.

Expert commentary here.

Reference: Universal Hub