The Northwest Washington Fair was a hoot and a half. My kids loved the food, the animals (this cow is stinky!) and the rides. My adventurous daughter and mildly timid son jumped right on flying cars and roller coasters, by themselves no less, and had a blast. Special thanks to AV8_2 and GMAK for putting us up.
The Baudboys should really perform there next year.
Now to the news:
Cheap Wii?
According to engadget, Nintendo's Wii system will retail for even less than predicted: around $170. Compared to the inflated price tags of the other two "next-gen" systems, this makes the Wii nearly disposable in its entry price. I'll never get a PS3 (there's a challenge for you to make me eat my words, Sony!) but a brand new system with a game for less than 200 bucks? I might just get two of them.
From engadget:
"...a $170 Wii? You'd really have to hand it to Nintendo for having the chutzpah to so severely undercut the competition on price you'd almost be obligated to buy their console out of sheer value alone."
A look at the PS3 "OS" and the Xbox 360 Camera
IGN has an interesting video that introduces two new facets in the console gaming world: The Uber-simple PS3 navigation menu and the newest Xbox 360 add-on, the live vision camera.
I want to put my bias behind me, I really do, but I just don't see what makes the PS3 user interface menu that great. There's minimalist and then there's nearly nothing. This is the latest in 4D? This is supposed to be easy to read from a couch across the room? I think not.
The camera looks nice, but I think I'll pass. There just isn't a "killer app" feeling about it yet. Uno and custom gamer pics just aren't worth my precious money.
On a side note, the last part of the video features the newest Qosmio HD Laptop. I've had a Qosmio for about 5 months, and, while it's not the super cool one he shows off, it is unquestionably the best laptop I've ever used. Big, clear screen, fast processor, easy use and impressive in the conference room. The downside is finding a shoulder bag that carries a 220 pound laptop. Yes, I'm exaggerating. A little.
Vista on the cheap?
According to the Seattle PI, Microsoft is considering offering holiday discounts to encourage people to buy Vista-ready PCs this Christmas. Good move, but I just don't think it will be that affective. The big hit will be post-Superbowl when consumers can walk out of BestBuy with a Vista OEM machine under their arm.
From Seattlepi.com:
"Any end-of-the-year effort to spur PC purchases would likely please many retailers and computer manufacturers, who fear disappointing sales during the crucial holiday as consumers wait for the highly anticipated and long-delayed software."
More tomorrow.
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