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Penny for your thoughts?

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Penny-arcade.com LogoPenny Arcade continues to be on with their comical interpretations of all things technological. As one of the original successful web-comics, they have been commenting on everything from John Romero’s hair to their latest impression of video gamers as we near the launch of the Nintendo Wii.

Thus, for eight years viewers have watched Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins become better artists and Gabe and Tycho call out gaming companies and be controversial, angry, murderous, romantic and most of all, extremely funny.

We have also seen the site rise to 1,682 on Alexa. That’s what you call creating a buzz around your artwork.

Penny Arcade can be blunt, but I think one of the comic’s best traits is its ability to be implicit. One of my favorite comics is an oldie from 1999. I was reviewing the latest generation of what was then seperate 3D computer graphics cards, and the technology leader was a company called 3DFX. Their Voodoo 3D technology was a gaming standard for years. Well that company crashed big time. It was a true “here-today-gone-tomorrow” situation. Penny Arcade captured the scenario perfectly in their Jan. 29, 1999 comic.

It is also interesting to note that Penny Arcade was one of the first weblogs. To this day, the first thing the viewer sees on Penny-arcade.com is not the day’s comic strip, but the day’s news update. Since inception, the site has been a source of daily technology and gaming news with links to news stories and information on the latest trends that continues to be place to find common sense in a world with a lot of fluff.

The Penny Arcade team has also done considerable charitable work, raising over $650,000 for toys, games and monetary support for children’s hospitals.

The Sept. 15 comic, about the launch of next generation gaming consoles was especially entertaining for me in the way they portrayed Sony and Nintendo fans who are both nervous and excited for Wii and PS3. Check it out and make sure you read the news posts!

Micro Machines, micro graphics

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There is a good article today appearing on CNN.com written by Gannett’s Marc Saltzman on a new Micro Machines console and PC game.

People have been trying for 15 years to make a successful video game based on the miniature toy car world of Micro Machines, with mixed results. The latest features hundreds of cars and many interesting worlds to race in.

However, the game suffers from choppy graphics and poor camera movements. The visuals of the game appear to detract from the playability of the micro-driving title–especially with so many choices in the gaming market.

The importance of visuals should not be underestimated in a modern game. For now, vision remains the most important sense in the gaming culture.

Game Buzz – NFL Head Coach

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Put me in coach! I can play!
Well no, actually, you can’t.

EA Sports has released NFL Head Coach for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and PC CD-Rom.

This is being hailed by the folks at Electronic Arts as the first complete football strategy experience and if you’re an avid or rabid NFL fan, this is going to be a refreshing switch traditional sports game.

But if you are an avid or rabid fan of traditional sports games, or just want to turn a game on, pick your team and play a quick game with your bud, you’re going to want to buy any other sports game on the market.

If you are ready to try something new that combines elements of other genres and inserts them into the sports world, enter NFL Head Coach. This game allows you to take full command of an NFL franchise and develop the team, coaching staff and players.

The real beauty of Head Coach is the realism. Obviously, this is a different kind of game. Gamers are used to selecting a play, pressing the action button, dropping back with your QB and firing one down field. In this game, your job is to pick the perfect plays for situations and develop a quarterback who will make that throw perfectly and receivers who can bring it in using all your vast football knowledge.

Patience is the key here. This is a tedious game that doesn’t cheap out on the details. This is not a game that you play for an hour and turn off, satisfied, when the clock strikes zero. Be ready to put some serious time into it. To take advantage of the full experience—making your own playbook, creating/drafting/training a team from the ground-up, working with coaches, watching film, scouting out the opposition and working your way to the Superbowl—be prepared to put some serious hours into this one.

Players get better with practice time, which brings a new twist to the traditionally underused practice feature seen in other sports video games. As coach, you can have simulated conversations with your players and verbally motivate them to perform better. You can even shout out play calls using your headset and head feedback and play calling from your assistant coaches on the earphones.

All in all, a good game and a good first break into a new genre for Electronic Arts. NFL Head Coach is another way for you to show your loyalty to your favorite team, by making all the decisions and running all the plays you shout out to the TV on Sunday. A word to the wise, if you’re looking for multiplayer action, you’re going to definitely be shouting at the TV with this one, because the multiplayer is a chore and a bore.

Electronic Arts has marketed Head Coach with its usual variety of commercial advertising and media bits as well as a steady stream of videos and screenshots that we just love to splash on.

Wii will stay Wii: this is how rumors end.

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Many people thought that Nintendo was setting everyone up for a titanic practical joke when they unveiled “Wii” as the official and final name for the next generation Nintendo console.

Then E3 came and not only did Nintendo not “punk” everyone, they unveiled their totally “Wii’d” marketing platform, making “Wii” the official, final and E3 certified name for Nintendo’s next generation console.

Between Saturday and today Gamesforwii.net allowed a rumor to percolate that suggests that Nintendo will change the official, final and E3 certified name for their next generation console. The rumor was also picked up and commented on by I4U.

I have been a critic of the Wii, but in this case, I will stick up for it at least in name.

Nintendo is not changing the name of their official, final, E3 certified and now patented name for their next generation console.

The rumor cites someone named “Mike” who claims to work in the marketing department for Nintendo.

“We have received over 200,000 e-mails with complaints about the Wii, and the console name has been commonly associated with urine. We have been the target of many jokes, and we strongly believe that it’s a bad thing for the company’s reputation”, says Mike, who works at the marketing department of Nintendo.

Mike also adds that people are not taking this new console very seriously. In a recent poll, they found that 62% of gamers think “Wii” sounds childish, and 49% said they wouldn’t buy the console judging only by its name.

Of course “Mike” doesn’t cite where the recent poll came from. Certainly Nintendo did not conduct a poll asking people if they would not buy the Wii based on it’s name.

“Mike” is a hoax.

Do I have to embed the Wii E3 video again? It’s Wii, people!

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