It’s great to a part of the Around the Controller Network.  I have to thank my friend Jim for inviting me to become a part of this family of gamers!  

The term ‘Gamer’ no longer applies to the lone adolescent males who sit in there room in front of the television.  Nowadays, just about everyone is a gamer, and people everywhere are witnessing a revolution. With the recent wave of games and consoles entering the marketplace in the past year, video games are finally entering into the mainstream.  Consoles are being bought not just by adolescents, but by adults as well.  Grandparents, soccer moms, and corporate executives are all purchasing consoles and handhelds, and not just for the kids or grandkids at home.  They are buying for themselves.

I started my gaming career many years ago, as many individuals in my generation did, with an Atari 2600. I spent hours playing Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Grand Prix, and Stampede. As technology and the gaming industry progressed, so did my console collection.  Over the years I have owned all of the Nintendo consoles and handhelds. I also owned the Sega’s Genesis & CD systems, PS One, Panasonic 3DO, and the Xbox.  Once I got married, I sold off most of my ‘toys’ just to save room, but my passion for the gaming industry remained.

Currently I am down to my DS, PSP, PS2, PC, & 360 and I love them all! I am also looking to pick up a PS3 in the coming month and a Wii if I can ever find one!  My most recent love has been my 360.  I purchased my 360 on March 15^th 2007 and I hate to admit, I have only touched my PS2 once since then.  I have turned into, what my friends call, an achievement whore, which I don’t entirely understand.  I have amassed a large 360 game collection and accumulated a 13,000 point Gamerscore in four and a half months. I cannot be the only one to do this… can I?  I simply love the games!

I enjoy Sports games, driving & flying games, action adventure games, and first person shooters.  I also am known to play the occasional role playing game.  I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and opinions through the sites of the Around the Controller Network, and I look forward to hearing feedback from all of you.

With the first hints of motion being the primary input of this future console code named the Nintendo “Revolution” the press went wild. Then the true name of the console was released and Wii all laughed, and the press went wild again. But shortly after the console debuted in November of 2006, Nintendo was laughing and they were laughing all the way to the bank. Even after taking into account all the press and anticipation prior to its release no one could have predicted the explosive success the Nintendo Wii would have. Eight months after its release spotting a Nintendo Wii in the wild on a store shelf is far more rare then an Elvis or UFO sighting. The Wii is sold off store shelves as soon as they arrive. Many have speculated and questioned how many Nintendo Wii units would sell if they could keep them in supply at your local retailer.

But all is not rosy. Rumblings on the Internet from many gamers have coined phrases like “Buyer’s Wiimorse”, and “Waggleware”. Many Wii games are simple ports from other consoles with dumb down graphics, and having the user simply shake the Wiimote or Nun-Chuck to take the place of pushing a button on other controllers. Where are the games that were promised to utilize real life motions to perform similar functions in the game? Wii Sports really captured this concept and its success rivals that of long standing franchises on other consoles. With its simple graphics, but captivating game play it has become an over night success in the video game world. Tiger Woods PGA Golf 2007, Trauma Center: Second Opinion and Cooking Mama are games that I feel really captured the vision of the Wiimote. While other games sense that the Wiimote was moved in some up to down or left to right motion and perform a completely different function in game then the real life movement. Many saw the quality of game graphics, stepped back and compared them to Sony PS1 or first generation Sony PS2 graphics. Many see games that come out on XBox 360, Playstation 3, and PSP are horrified by graphics in the Wii version. Eight months after the consoles release the online aspect of the Wii is still in its infant stages of development. And rumors are circulated that it will use the same structure that the Nintendo DS uses something that does not resonate with most gamers.

But these rumblings seem to come from only a small percentage of customers. Leading one to believe that most are very happy with their purchase of the Wii. One theory is that many long time gamers feel they have not received the real life game play experience they felt they were promised. In theory the vast majority of Wii customers may be first time gamers or people who played video games long ago but left the fold and now have been enticed back into gaming. People who were scared of controllers with ten buttons, two triggers, two control sticks, and directional pad thrown on there just to make the controller even that much more scary. You could say that Nintendo has succeeded in growing the gaming fold and helping to introduce many to recreational gaming. But if this is the majority of your customer base it makes me nervous about the how long term success of the Wii. Many casual gamers may only purchase one or two games and then play them over and over. Eric a friend of mine was given a PS2, and he still enjoys his copy of Tiger Woods Golf 2003. He has the same three games that he has had for years and has no interest in buying more. Now most of us know that game companies make money by selling games. But what you may not know that Console manufactures make a small amount of profit on each game or accessory sold for their platform. This questions what the long-term profitability of the Nintendo Wii may be. Suppose that a large percentage of their customer base just play Wii Sports or buy one or two additional games? This could cut into long-term profits of the Wii division at Nintendo. The sluggish sales of Virtual Consoles sales also lead one to believe two things. Many complain that the prices are too high, and that with no free demos available for download they are will not lay down $7.00 or more for games they may not enjoy. My second point is this, many play older classic games for the nostalgia factor. I find myself purchasing Virtual Console, XBox LIVE Arcade, and Playstation Network games that I enjoyed years ago when I was teenager, games that take me back in time and let me relive my childhood. But games that I never got around too playing in the past are not as much of a draw to me, they lack that nostalgic factor. Like me many new gamers may not be interested in older games that do not have that nostalgia them.

Can the Nintendo Wii survive the test of time? In two or three years will be the power house platform that it is charging up to be now, or will it peak quickly then slump like its older brother the GameCube?

With mega hits like Halo, Halo 2, the Rainbow Six series, one would think that game publishers would get the hint that gamers like to share the experience of gaming with other people. While there are many games out there that have multi player options such as Team Death match, every person for themselves, or other competitive online multiplayer. Not many games do Coop multiplayer, and even fewer do online Coop multiplayer.

A growing trend is to compare the entertainment experience or the story telling experience of video games to motion pictures. How many of us go to movies by ourselves? How much more do you enjoy watching a movie with a friend or significant other, as just watching it by yourself? I find gaming to be the same, if I can share that experience with a friend I find the experience exponentially more satisfying, rewarding, and more entertaining. For everyone who has had this experience they know what I am talking about, for the rest there is no way to describe the feeling of knowing that you made a mistake and the AI in game character have you and out of know where your partner saves you. Just last night Ryan and I were playing Rainbow Six: Vegas Coop. I walked right past a Terrorist and was reloading, the guy said some line of how he had me, the next thing I know he drops over dead and running up behind him is Ryan. The sense of comradery and relief is just nothing that I can put into words.

Even games that are not exactly the best games are enhanced by online Coop gameplay. Take Tenchu Z for example, while I have just started this game I would definitely not rate it an 8.0, 9.0, and definitely not a 10.0. But when you play with another person the game becomes very engrossing, and definitely takes on a whole new level of entertainment. Plotting, developing a strategy, and executing a plan as a team is an incredible sense of achievement. And who does not “love it when a plan comes together”.

I suppose you are wondering why I am writing a review of the Roomba & Scooba on a website aimed at video games.  Here is the short answer.  I am married, and my wife feels quite strongly that I should help with the house work, and I feel I should spend more time gaming.  How a gamer who works full time and on top of that is is a father, and husband find time to game as well as help around the house?  iRobot can help with that!

I was holding out for that cloning technology shown in the movie Multiplicity but that seemed like it was still a ways off in the future.  So I devised a plan.  I began negotiating with my wife about what tasks she would like help with, all the while trying to agree to as little as possible.  I knew about Roomba and Scooba from iRobot so cleaning the floors was the first tasks I agreed to do. I secretly purchased the Scooba first then the Roomba a little later.  And I have to say that both are incredible time saving devices.  And they both do a top notch job of cleaning.  Even my wife the cleaning Nazi was pleased with “the job I was doing”.

I found the Scooba on sale for $149.99, now I would be a little less likely to purchase this product at $299 or even $399.  But for the $149 price tag, it was a no brainier.  The Scooba runs out of cleaning fluid a little more often then I would like.  And is a little louder then I would like them to be, but over is a must have if you have allot of hard wood floors, tile, or linoleum.  The battery life is a little short lived, and the fluid tank of clean and dirty water is definitely kind of small.  But it still gets the job done. 

Pros
Cleans any hard surfaces, and you do not have to do the work, leaving more time to play video games.

Cons
Kind of loud while it runs
Needs to be refilled every 30 minutes with cleaning fluid
Price is still a little high

Roomba is setup a little nicer for larger rooms and floor plans.  The Roomba will run for about three hours, but will probably need to have the dirt tank emptied after an hour and half or so.  Of course the fact that our Roomba picks up allot of dog hair probably required the tank to be emptied a little more often then normal.  This little guy is quite the little dirt and dust collector.  The beater bar, and brushes will pick up dirt as well if not better then most full sized vacuums.  I found my Roomba on sale for $129, so the price is not so bad.

Pros
Cleans almost any carpeted area, and you do not have to do the work, leaving more time to play video games. (WOW sounds kind of familiar)

Cons
Kind of loud while it runs
If it was smaller and could get into tighter spaces, the device is still pretty large.

Now I realize the cost of over $300 in cleaning aides can seem like quite a bit.  But if you figure that is only five new console games (six if you are a Wii player), it seems like a good way to enjoy some extra time gaming.  And to justify the cost most of us could skip buying a new game and just go through our collection and play some of the old games we never got around to finishing, or just buy some used games at half the cost and now have time to play them!

For those of you who are interested, my wife was less then pleased when she realized that robots were doing the work instead of me doing it.  Just a FYI, if you try this at your home there is a good chance that your significant other will share the same opinion as my wife and feel that you should then assume more responsibilities, so be prepared to argue this point.  Just remember that person is no longer cleaning the floors and it should not matter how it is getting done, just that they do not have to do it anymore!  My final words of wisdom, stick to your gun so you can enjoy your gaming!

Last week saw the addition of a new member to our family and again today yet another new member joins the Around the Controller Network.  While not quite as nice to look at as our last edition, and definitely has more facial hair, Ryan Williams is joining our family of bloggers (and hopefully in the future podcasters).  Ryan is the guy that is finally going to give Mark a run for his money on who has the highest GamerScore.  I tried to my hardest (with the help of Ryan) catch up to Mark, but realized that is a hopeless battle.  In the time I can amass 500 GamerScore points Mark will get 2000 more.  But hey at least I am not in last place like Charlie!  Ryan also plays his Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Sony PS2, and tells me that he is eyeing that big shiny box called the PS3.  Ryan and I have played through Gears of War on Hardcore and Insane mode together.  I know first hand that Ryan is a Tiger Wood’s golf fan as he has handed me a good beating in that game more then once.  Currently we are working through Rainbow Six: Vegas together.  I am looking forward to reading Ryan’s thoughts about all that is going on in the world of gaming, and to quote Jennifer last week “Welcome to Geekdom!”

The Around the Controller Network family has another new member, Jennifer Baker. Jennifer otherwise known as techkitten on twitter is going to give her thoughts and views on the gaming. I am very excited to balance out all this Testosterone with a little Estrogen, and hear what the lady gamers of the world think about what is happening in the world of gaming. Jennifer some how got her hands on the almost impossible to find Nintendo Wii so she will be letting us know what she thinks about the Wii, Wii Games, Virtual Console, and all that is Nintendo. She also has an XBox version one and a Playstation 2 so I would bet she will chime in on some of those discussions also. There is also talk about an XBox 360 in her future…..so some day we can all play on LIVE together. And maybe if we are all really nice she will agree to join our Podcasts when we get them going.

Welcome Jennifer

MSN Real Estate has an interesting article about getting your home high tech. The article is an interesting read that mixes everything from the type of bed you sleep on to the type of trash can you can purchase. But they mention Nintendo as mixing exercise with gaming, and keeping that brain sharp and running smoothly. I did how ever notice they over looked different items like media centers and cleaning robots like Roomba and Scooba which I have personally found very helpful. Give it a look over and see if there are any areas that your house may need to get Geeked up a bit!

Via MSN Real Estate