Opinions In Brief

Opinion 1: Activision Vs. Infinity Ward

First of all, Activision says that Infinity Ward heads West and Zampella were getting a little too big for their britches.  I can see this happening.  Not that I know West and Zampella (I don't), but sometimes people in a newly-minted successful position start making demands that they're not entitled to make.


That being said, the way that Activision mishandled the situation was outrageous. If Infinity Ward is to be believed, they withheld money, which is really the whole point of making a game.  You can make the "games are art, man!" argument all day, but the point of all of it is to do something you love and get paid for it.  If Activision withheld that monetary benefit, they negated the entire point of Infinity Ward's work.

Watch yourself, Bungie.  That's all I'm saying.

Opinion 2: The 3DS

Most of the objections to the 3DS are about a few things:  The price and the feeling that it's a bandwagon product.

First, no one knows the price yet.  Knowing Nintendo, they're not going to price this out of the hands of their consumers.  That's not their style.  Look at the Wii.  Instead of making a $300+ system with HD, their focus was on affordability.  50 million Wiis later, and it's safe to say they learned that lesson in a big way.  So, can we stop whining about the price?

Second, it's not like Nintendo just crapped out the 3DS after watching Avatar.  Their hardware process is a long and arduous route.  They spent a lot of money in R&D trying to determine whether or not this was a good way to go, and I think it'll succeed amazingly.

My major problem with 3D is always the glasses.  3D without glasses and hopefully at a proper price point?  I'm in.

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I can't think of any other news that jumps out at me right now, but if I think of anything else, it'll get a mention here for sure.

Where Have You Been?

Yeah, I know, I know.  It's been a while since I posted.  A few things conspired against me:

1)  I'm writing for Gaming Trend again.  So far I've thrown together reviews for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Little King's Story, Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Cave Story, and Rage of the Gladiator.  That would explain that.

2)  I'm starting a writing firm called Word Forge to do some freelance copywriting.  It's exciting stuff, but very time-consuming.

3)  We took a trip to Mexico.  A lot of fun.  I didn't burn at all.

4)  My job sucks and is stressful, so therefore you have reason #2.

I'll post some opinions soon.  I haven't died, just vanished for a bit.

Also, happy 4th anniversary, blog!  Here's to many more.