Moogle

And just for comparison, HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray vs Xbox 360 vs PS3:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22HD+DVD%22+%7C+%22hd-dvd%22+%7C+hddvd%2C+%22Blu+Ray%22+%7C+%22Blu-ray%22+%7C+bluray%2C+%22xbox+360%22+%7C+xbox360%2C+PS3+%7C+%22playstation+3%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

No one cares about HD movies, is my interpretation of that one...

And I fail at life, forgot to even up the sides with a hd-dvd to match blu-ray.

All even'd up:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22HD+DVD%22+%7C+%22hd-dvd%22+%7C+hddvd%2C+%22Blu+Ray%22+%7C+%22Blu-ray%22+%7C+bluray&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

Frosty, that's because you're searching for DVD with HD anywhere in the page, and Ray with 'blu' anywhere in the page. HD in relation to DVD's will certainly beat 'blu' anywhere. Here's a better way to do it (notice the quotes and |'s (or's)):

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22HD+DVD%22+%7C+hddvd%2C+%22Blu+Ray%22+%7C+%22Blu-ray%22+%7C+bluray&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

Beloved Son is the intended meaning, IIRC.</stickinmud>

I've never been clear on what exactly the numbers being spouted for nintendo mean. North America or just US? Calendar year of fiscal year? Even what exactly this press release means (the joystiq titles says 'points to' shortages). I think others are jumping to conclusions to back up whatever nonsense they'd like to believe.

A friend just went to gamestop to try to get a Wii from their shipment today (they sold out before he got there). They apparently told him next week they're expecting a shipment larger than the original launch allocations, and that there's 3 million units being pumped out (presumably to North America) total.

Hypothesis if this has any basis in fact - the first shipment was testing the waters for demand, and as a result they've invested a lot in ratcheting up production levels and we'll be seeing the first wave of it soon.

"""Don't bring back the "I'm going to sue for hot coffee spilled on my lap" mentality. Please."""

Bah, the coffee in question *was* defective. 100% of people who try to drink coffee that hot fail or are badly burned. Hundreds of cases were recorded of people being severly burned and permanently scarred from dropping the coffee on themselves.

At least nintendo provided a wrist strap that the average consumer has difficulty breaking and won't have a problem with.

OTOH, tennis rackets, bats, golf clubs, etc, usually have a grip wrapping of some sort, not shiny smooth plastic. But then, they sell grippy Wiimote sleeves, if you have trouble holding on, buy some!

"kids" aren't breaking straps, 18 - 25 year olds that play sports are throwing the damn thing like they would a 80 mph fastball.

The accelerometers max out at about 3 Gs. They're wildly, astoundingly, amazingly, unbelievably outside the ranges the wiimote can even vaguely comprehend.

If there's anything Nintendo didn't expect, it's that people would make so much noise about their own stupidity.

About that Israel thing, I don't really understand the comment attached there, something about Israel and military bases being the same thing? Other than that, is there any other evidince that this is religious/political/race dependant at all?

Perhaps it could have something to do with various export treaties on certain kinda of software? It just seems like some people are freaking out and I don't see the evidence to justify it yet.

Anyway, the pointer is not a lightgun anyway so it doesn't matter if it points at a spot on screen instead of just turning the view. It's just going to take a while to figure out what people are most comfortable with.

Also VerdigriS should stop making me laugh at work. :)

"Now is certainly a convenient time for Clinton and Lieberman to bury the hatchet with the gaming industry."

I've never like that particular turn of phrase. It's suppose to mean putting aside differences, but usually it just makes me worry about *who* they're going to bury the hatchet in. In this case, I worry about how apt that interpretation is.

Oh, and insomnia bob makes me laugh. :)

Oh, right, on topic. $3000+ is too much to spend on a computer. You can build the best realistic rig available for less. We'll consider the monitor separate (30" might be worth $1500 to some).

Yay! An excuse to indulge in one of my hobbies - spec'ing PC hardware! Everything is from newegg:
Core 2 Duo E6600 == $309.99 (best high end price/perf)
ASUS P5B Deluxe == $209.99 (good onboard audio, wifi)
2 gb OCZ plat. ram == $234.99 (newegg suggestion, lazy)
Radeon X1950XTX 512mb == $399.99
Radeon X1950XTX 512mb == $399.99 (CrossFire ft$$$)
Seagate 320gb sata HDD == $94.99 (it's perpendicular!)
Case w/ 600W power supply == $56.99 (is it enough?)
LiteON DVD+-R == $29.99 (almost forgot)
WinXPproX64 == $139.99 (eh, why not)

Total = $1976.91
Equivalent AlienWare is over $4000 (no monitor). Pthhhhbt.

(That comp should be able to drive a 30" screen with the newest shiny FPS at 2560x1600 with everything turned on, probably at 50+ frames per sec. If that isn't good enough, you're kidding yourself)