For Petey

If there's one thing Petey was known for around town, it was his gaming abilities. He was always a big fan of Nintendo and Atari, but not in that kitschy retro way. He holds the high score record on many of the old cartridges that were divided up among his friends. Truly, Petey was one of a kind.
It is for Petey that I post this article on the Nintendo Revolution.
You will not be forgotten, and neither will your skills, Petey. I only wish you could be here when the Revolution is released, so you can show us all how to work it l337 like.

So, I just watched the video for the Nintendo Revolution controller.
Apparently, there's a bit of a schism between people that think it looks lame and people that think it looks like the new sliced bread.
Personally, I'm giddy as a schoolboy.
Since the release of the Gamecube, Nintendo has been heading away from the limelight of video-game-addiction-forerunner-greatest-console-on-earth-for-all-uses-sit-for-hours-playing-a-game and into its own unique niche market.
Sure, there are plenty of single player games for the GC, but its true field is in the realm of same-room, bring your friends over and start up a game multiplayer. Even games without overt multiplayer still carried a sense of friendship interaction, like Animal Crossing's shared world and interactivity.
Now, with the playful design of their new remote, it further pushes it away from the concept of a console and toward what Nintendo once stood for: innovation, change, and new ways to have fun. It's no longer just about better graphics, it's not just about more inovative AI..it's about something new, something revolutionary.

As a gamer, the way gaming has exploded into mainstream popculture was somewhat unnerving for me. It annoys me to see gaming consoles being thrown around like they're just another tool for the common masses. It's no longer geeky to game, it's no longer about skill and knowing how to do something most kids don't know how to do.
Gaming has, for a large part, become about playing either online or against your friends. It's about quick kills and quick races to the finish line while you wait for your friend to open up the new hip hop album of the week.
There emerged from the explosion this new breed of frat boy. There emerged from the explosion this new breed of rapper that has his face on the latest fighting game.
It all became so mixed together that there was neither head nor tails.
The fact is, sex-heavy, violence-heavy gaming from the PC world met with the popular appeal of the console and it turned out bad. When I want grit, when I want dirty, I play PC games in my computer room alone, just me and my mouse. The living room TV set is not the place for that kind of gaming - yet that's all it has become.
Now however, with Nintendo evolving its niche, the old clean feeling of playing fun games with your mates is returning. It took me at least a year after the Gamecube came out to finally play with one, and I felt so refreshed and happy with it I could barely contain myself.
I see the stuff coming out of Nintendo these days, and I see crisp, clean, happy fun. I see what belongs in the living room. I see what you come in and play around with before you go back out and ride your bike to the swingset.

And I love it. In Memory of Petey
[Steven]
Time:8:37 PM

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