Game consoles 101 [i]

I've gotten a few questions recently about audio, video, and game systems. Here's everything I learned from NES to Wii in a few paragraphs.

Peripherals:
With few exceptions, the best controllers, wheels, guns, and chargers come from the console manufacturers. The MadCatz and Sidewinder gadgets will save you ten bucks but are rarely a smart purchase. They tend to feel cheap, fail sooner, and have buttons in all the wrong places - likely because you're so used to the OE controllers. And if you buy a third-party gamepad, you'll inevitably get stuck using it in the next Halo deathmatch being the prime candidate for a handicap.

The one company that makes peripherals on par with or exceeding OE quality is Logitech. I'd still recommend trying out a floor model before purchase, but they're very good at ergonomics and durability.

There are a few niche games for which there is no first-party controller. Microsoft doesn't make a guitar and, for a while, Sony didn't have a force feedback wheel. In this case, definitely try before you buy. Your happiness/frustration with a game is heavily impacted by how easily you interface with it (think your first Wii experience or Drinking Kart).


Connectors:
I shouldn't need to say that Monster cables are known to be the biggest ripoff in the history of electronics, moreso than imperfect Pentiums or even mystical ion healers. But what about composite/component/hdmi? For those that prefer to be in front of the tv rather than behind, check the diagram below.

You have your choice of hdmi, component, or composite. Don't plug them all in. Use the hdmi if your tv has hdmi, component if your tv has component, composite otherwise. Component gives you separate channels for each color and hd capability. HDMI is a higher bandwidth digital signal. For the first month I had hd cable I was using component and the color was funky. As soon as I swapped in an hdmi cable all was well. Beware a $5 hdmi cable, but I assure you the $50 Sony wire is no different from the $30 on the lower shelf.

Consoles and cars [p]

2007Q1 console sales:
Wii: 1,000,000
X360: 720,000
PS3: 500,000
(With DS outselling every system and PS2 outselling X360 and PS3.)

It's nice Sony and Microsoft are getting theirs. To paraphrase the past few years of trash talk:

• Motion control? That's a gimmick.
  
• Motion control? That can't fit the paradigm of modern games.
• Motion control? We invented it! We call it Sixaxis.
• The Cell processor basically gives Playstation 3 the power of a supercomputer.
  
• We're going to change the way people interact with games. X360 will create an environment where gameplay is driven by human energy.
• We're not in competition with Nintendo, they sell childrens' games.
• Playstation 3 will launch this November to compete with X360.
• The next generation doesn't start until we say it does.
  
• When Playstation 3 launches next Christmas, Halo 3 will be there to steal all the attention.
• The reports that we're implementing the Miis are lies and we will no longer talk to Kotaku... Okay we'll talk to Kotaku again.

That said, I have a fever for a racing game. And the only prescription is a Gran Turismo or Forza. If there's one group that's as annoying as the trash talking SCEA and X360 brass, it's Polyphony. Extraordinary delays, repeated feature sets, and the greatest sin of all: almost charging for content on a re-release. They were the best, and then stopped trying. I believe the verb is 'to EA'.

History indicates the second Forza will follow the Halo series and be the same game with more polygons. It'd be nice to see some innovation, but that's just not going to happen with Microsoft so worried about taking risks with their franchise titles.

Still if the gameplay is solid I'll unshun Microsoft and pick up their system. The Forza car list has been released. Ultimately the quality of the list depends on how it's used. If you have no business buying 90% of the cars because the other 10% blow their class away, your huge list just became very short.

I'm of course saddened that rally hasn't yet been introduced into the series. But other than that I'm impressed. They have a great sampling from so many generations of motorsports. The multiplicity of a single model exists in having numerous race versions rather than the ten different consumer models. The mid-90's lineup is strong, as are the LeMans GT series cars.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to playing with a wheel. It's been all dual shock for me until now. A precision analog wheel and pedal set should make the experience much more enjoyable.

Some highlights of the list...
2002 M3 GTR / 2006 Corvette C6R / 1964 250 GTO / 2003 Mugen S2000 / 1993 XJ-220 / 2005 Exige / 1998 FTO / 1997 GTO / 2002 Skyline Nur / 2007 Peugot 207 / 1995 911 GT2 / 1998 Tommy Kaira Impreza / 1969 2000GT / 1998 VeilSide Supra / 2001 Tuscan R / 2003 R32

Sadly missing...
Nismo Skyline GTR / Veyron / AMG CL35 / M6 / R10 LMP / R34 / Astra

[Insert forced Wii pun here] [r]

The Wiil deal, Wiimendous fun, I dream of Wiinie. And so forth.

Impressions:
This weekend was a pre-Thanksgiving with the roomies and friends. So the wiimote changed hands many a-time, and I've gotten to play about ninety minutes of Zelda. Alas.

But everyone had a good time, even the girls. It wasn't the intense, violent, Mario Kart battle royale good time that the Cube afforded us. Wii Sports is simple, but that made it easy for everyone to get into.

The software has yet to catch up to the hardware, and that's my biggest worry. Zelda was written for the Cube, so its motion control features are fairly shallow. I hope this won't be the case for new games and cross-platform games. In the case of Wii Sports, you're able to swing your club, throw a punch, etc. either using the real-life motion, or a flick of the wrist.


This leaves the control a bit too sensitive at times. Hopefully future games will have a setting for people who actually want to use the motion control features and a setting for lazy asses.

Outlook:
Wii sold out. In the good way. So did PS3 and x36. But there were a lot more Nintendo units to sell. Does this mean Nintendo has stolen market share from its pricier competitors? Does this mean Wii has established itself as the real deal for the new-gen console war (a.k.a. holiday sales)?

Let's hope so. Not because it might do damage to Sony and MS; the three-front console war has done great things. Let's hope so because if Nintendo sells big, developers will take advantage of the motion-control technology.

The hardware works. And it's the future. It makes pc gamers' precious mouselook seem sluggish and unwieldy. And it has the potential to solve the camera angle problem that has plagued nearly every post-Mario 64 game. I recall hearing rave reviews about the technology from Hideo Kojima - the greatest camera angle perpetrator of all time.

Throwing and ducking punches is very entertaining, and my arms are just a little bit sore.