Friday, November 17, 2006

Shall we play a game ?

Some of you may remember that famous movie line, boy have things changed in the computer gaming world.

Today was the North American launch of
Sony Playstation 3 (PS3).
Sunday is the launch of Nintendo's Wii.
I think Microsoft Xbox have something planned for January.

My son wants them all.


I'm not helping the situation, because I've got caught up in the hype.


The pictures are from the Game Fest happening today at Yonge Dundas Square. Yeah, I was there, looking over shoulders at the latest in game technology and trying to win a PS3 for my son.

PS3 HD graphics are fab and it plays Blu-Ray - more reasons to break the bank for the HD TV.

Wii interactivity is definitely worth talking about. Get those lazy kids off the couch
(although that's not a prob from my son - latest count: basketball 3 times a week; soccer once a week, swimming, house-league game-of-the-week and full live action game replay of every Raptor, Leaf and NFL game on right now). The latest marketing angle I just found is brilliant.

I'm sure previous releases have been as big, but perhaps it's the attention of my son that is focusing me a little. Although, all us guys like a cool toy ! Here's a a little
snippet on the sub-text of the line-up story this week.

But all isn't oows and aahs, I recently caught a segment on Toronto's edgy Edge 102 radio where the guys were wooping it up about the latest fight/war game -
"the new weapons are so cool; pretty graphic stuff; you can really do some damage with...". That's when this phenom starts to grind a little - how easy is it to cross the line of fiction and end up as a CNN moment ?

But, what's more fun the gyrating your pathetic excuse for a bod trying to beat some malformed head of an animated character hitting a phosphorous tennis ball trailer at you - in the comfort of your own home with a beer in your free hand ?


What ever happened to
pong or a good board or parlour game - charades anyone ?

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