The New York Times Blows a Raspberry at the PS3

At over $600, do you really want your new system to "fall far short ... of providing the world's most engaging overall entertainment experience"? That quote is from Seth Schiesel's PS3 review, and its not an undue criticism either. It ain't all about the "megaflops, gigabytes and other technical benchmarks", nor about advances in graphics. This of course leads back to what makes a game gameable and a player want to play, and the concept that seems to be the holy grail of gaming- emergence. Wikipedia defines it as "the process of complex pattern formation from simpler rules". Not simply another catch term for the already problematic concept of interactivity, emergence describes gameplay that feels smooth, with every reaction, new option, all choices feeling like a direct response to a player's action. This leads to seamless play, believable play, and above all immersive play (another holy grail). Too bad Sony didn't direct more attention to this.

See the NY Time review at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/arts/20game.html?ex=1321678800&en=9123d99977b60756&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss.

PS3 Can Cure Cancer? I Knew It!

It must be true, cuz Sony said so. To quote the extremely credulous CBC article, "when Cure(at)PLAYSTATION 3 is launched, PS3 owners can register their machines with Stanford, download specially designed software and leave their machines online to process data when they're not playing". This is all supposed to go down when the console is available worldwide, which means at least spring 2007.

Damn, and when I read that headline, I thought the stone cold foxes of Eyedentify would infiltrate yet another place they should not and magically laser tumors through your TV screen. Bummer.

Gamers Exhibit Patience

So midnight saw the first chance for North Americans to pick up the newest Sony platform, the Playstation 3 or PS3. For all you nongamers, this explains the snaking line of geeks and whipped parents trapped under tarps and on camping chairs around your neighborhood Best Buy. Stopped in myself at the Dundas branch of the store to pick up some techie xmas gifts and politely inquired as to whether the perky group outside would luck out with a midnight launch or would have to wait in the rain until the opening time of 8AM. The employee informed me that, despite having to camp the night (a second one for those closest to the entrance), they were 'blessed' (not my words or his, just deduced from the shining eyes of all the geeks, including my fiance, nearby) with not a mere 15 but 76 units. Rapid phone calling ensued...

Stay tuned, because I will be joining the ranks of the nerds when the Nintendo Wii launches Sunday. Ah, the things you do for love.

The pic comes courtesy of my favoritest geek over at Photendo.