Blah Blah Blah
I'm really in love with SONY's marketing prowess. Really, I am. They've taken what has been a pretty "eh" debut for their system, slapped as much glitz and glamor and celebrity commercials as they could on it, and made me feel less a man for not having the $500 it would cost for me to own a servicable copy of their handheld system ($250 for the system, $150 for the memory sticks, $50 for Metal Gear, $50 for some other game to play that isn't Metal Gear). I mean, it's just plain unfathomable to believe that I should pay that much just for a gaming rig like that. That's roughly half of what I spent on my PC, which can do about a thousand other different things other than "run out of batteries in the middle of my game".
Now before you get started, understand that I do believe there is a future for the PSP. I think SONY is on to something here with the multi-functionality, the pretty screen, the marketing, but not at twice what one would be expected to pay for a home console (any one of which has dozens more and better games than are currently available for the PSP). Part of what chaps my proverbial hide, I think, is the fact that SONY despirately desires to throw what a technical marvel the PSP is into Nintendo's face. Nintendo, however, despite having a similar software shortage, is selling just as many of its "one note" systems with the DS, not to mention the mind boggling catalog that people have for the GBA (which comes in at less that a third of the price of the PSP, with worse graphics to be sure, but with a much better library.
I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
On the Wisconsin Film Festival:
I had a blast...I think? I don't know. Here's a rundown of what I saw:
-The "Craig Stadler Project was a very interesting collection of old videos done pre-MTV by a Minnesota local. Lots of kind of weird and eclectic acts in there. Devo, Elvis Costello, Tiny Tim, a guy rocking a saw, and a video done by some guys from Devo, done about what Devo would have been like when they were kids. Apparently a flying midget would have been involved. I'm sad that we missed that period.
-Chris Gore of Filmthreat.com and ChrisGore.com was a very interesting lecture. He obviously knows the inside outs of the Indie Film Scene, but he manages to be one of the few people I've met there that didn't come off as pompous and/or rude. In fact, his talk, which went for a couple hours at least, was both informative and *gasp* entertaining. I had a chance to talk with him and take a few pictures afterwards. Very nice guy.
-I...uh...don't remember much about the "Shynola Retrospective." I do remember some kittens playing instruments and some monkeys and a guy getting eaten by a squirrel. I was told that I had a good time.
-The people on the Film Festival scene need to tone down the snobbery. It's that attitude that often gets them the Indie rap they so desire, though, I guess. I had fun playing the part walking through to some of the events. Really though, your film about three guys sitting in a room talking about how much America sucks isn't making money for a reason.
-I really wish I could have caught the documentary on Madison-Area legend "Piccolo Guy". This is a guy who dresses up in a blaze orange hunting suit, and almost every day for my entire college career, sat on Library Mall and played a really weird variety of songs. On a piccolo. I guess the Library Mall vendors hate him, and he's built up a lot of enemies.
-I saw a really funky MIDI technology that tunes in to the speed, intensity and tone of the notes of various orchestra instruments (the demonstration was only for piano, but could be applied elsewhere). The demo only showed it being able to move and display simple still images, but the possibilities are pretty much endless. One could, for example, choreographic an entire animated fight scene, using just the various sections of the orchestra to determine the intensity, momentum, and just the general ebb and flow of the fight. The future is awesome!
Being in Madison made me remember how badly I need a job and a girlfriend. And how much I'd love to move back into town. But, such is life, I guess.
That's it for now, I think. I'll write again later. Lord of the Rings stuff coming up next week. I'm very excited.
Now before you get started, understand that I do believe there is a future for the PSP. I think SONY is on to something here with the multi-functionality, the pretty screen, the marketing, but not at twice what one would be expected to pay for a home console (any one of which has dozens more and better games than are currently available for the PSP). Part of what chaps my proverbial hide, I think, is the fact that SONY despirately desires to throw what a technical marvel the PSP is into Nintendo's face. Nintendo, however, despite having a similar software shortage, is selling just as many of its "one note" systems with the DS, not to mention the mind boggling catalog that people have for the GBA (which comes in at less that a third of the price of the PSP, with worse graphics to be sure, but with a much better library.
I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
On the Wisconsin Film Festival:
I had a blast...I think? I don't know. Here's a rundown of what I saw:
-The "Craig Stadler Project was a very interesting collection of old videos done pre-MTV by a Minnesota local. Lots of kind of weird and eclectic acts in there. Devo, Elvis Costello, Tiny Tim, a guy rocking a saw, and a video done by some guys from Devo, done about what Devo would have been like when they were kids. Apparently a flying midget would have been involved. I'm sad that we missed that period.
-Chris Gore of Filmthreat.com and ChrisGore.com was a very interesting lecture. He obviously knows the inside outs of the Indie Film Scene, but he manages to be one of the few people I've met there that didn't come off as pompous and/or rude. In fact, his talk, which went for a couple hours at least, was both informative and *gasp* entertaining. I had a chance to talk with him and take a few pictures afterwards. Very nice guy.
-I...uh...don't remember much about the "Shynola Retrospective." I do remember some kittens playing instruments and some monkeys and a guy getting eaten by a squirrel. I was told that I had a good time.
-The people on the Film Festival scene need to tone down the snobbery. It's that attitude that often gets them the Indie rap they so desire, though, I guess. I had fun playing the part walking through to some of the events. Really though, your film about three guys sitting in a room talking about how much America sucks isn't making money for a reason.
-I really wish I could have caught the documentary on Madison-Area legend "Piccolo Guy". This is a guy who dresses up in a blaze orange hunting suit, and almost every day for my entire college career, sat on Library Mall and played a really weird variety of songs. On a piccolo. I guess the Library Mall vendors hate him, and he's built up a lot of enemies.
-I saw a really funky MIDI technology that tunes in to the speed, intensity and tone of the notes of various orchestra instruments (the demonstration was only for piano, but could be applied elsewhere). The demo only showed it being able to move and display simple still images, but the possibilities are pretty much endless. One could, for example, choreographic an entire animated fight scene, using just the various sections of the orchestra to determine the intensity, momentum, and just the general ebb and flow of the fight. The future is awesome!
Being in Madison made me remember how badly I need a job and a girlfriend. And how much I'd love to move back into town. But, such is life, I guess.
That's it for now, I think. I'll write again later. Lord of the Rings stuff coming up next week. I'm very excited.
posted by El Pollo Diablo at 2:22 AM
1 Comments:
Balls to the PSP!! You are very right! Glad that someone agrees with me finally.
Loyal Satire Reader
Ben
(DriftThroughTime on OO message boards)
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