James Duncan Davidson on gourmet cupcakes:
I wandered around SoHo and the Village, ending up at Magnolia Bakery. Of course I got a cupcake. It was indeed good, but I have to say that Portland’s Saint Cupcake has them beat, hands down on the cupcake front.
Fucking cupcake bitches, call me back when they have cup-pies.
I played a Wii for the first time last week, and I’ve been mulling over my reaction and after much though it could really be summed up rather simply:
“Meh.”
I mean, I only played Wii Sports, but I really don’t understand what the big deal is about. I see Wii like computer solitaire: a complete waste of my time. Are people that hard-up for simple games? (Answer: yes, apparently so, because the casual gaming market is in the middle midst of an explosion.)
Yes, the motion controller is kind of cool. Yes, it does bring some new dimension to the games. But no one seems to realize there is a trade-off that comes from this controller. Designing a game around the motion control means you leave the traditional schemes behind, and with that you sacrifice a lot of depth because the Wiimote is not really a precision input device like a button. Sure it makes a great pointer but so does a mouse (plus, a mouse is hundreds of times more sensitive). So you loose a lot of accuracy from the motion control and this means you have to make your game ‘looser’ to compensate.
It’s akin to the difference between playing Halo with your Xbox controller joystick or playing with the mouse a keyboard: when you play with a joystick the game takes this into account and gives you a margin of error (auto-aim). On the flip side, mice are accurate to the point that an auto-aim feature in a shooter would be considered kiddie mode or outright cheating. The difference between the Wiimote and a joystick works on the same level. The game has to make assumptions that you’re doing the right thing as long as you’re close enough even more so than a the joystick. This makes the experience feel sloppy to me and it ruins the whole illusion that “Wow, it’s like I’m really swinging the bat.”
So yeah, I’m done with the Wii at least until they get the next Super Smash Brothers out (which I’ll be playing with a GameCube controller anyway).
Disclaimer: I’m a mouse and keyboard PC gamer (I’m lumping Macs with PCs here). I was raised on the likes of SimCity, Civilization, and WarCraft. My favorite games are mostly hard RPGs (D&D) and real time or turn based strategy games. I like games where there is a lot of tactical decision making, where you have to think a lot, and where you have to work the math and numbers on your units/characters to succeed against your opponent. I’m exactly the wrong type of gamer for the Wii I think.
But honestly, if I really wanted to bowl, I would go bowl. At least then I would feel like my physical actions were having a strong impact on the outcome of the game.
A new communiqué from Steve Jobs: A Greener Apple on Apple’s environmental efforts landed today. It’s well worth reading.
Even better, check this Translation From PR-Speak to English of Selected Portions of Steve Jobs’s ‘A Greener Apple’ Article. Here’s my favorite excerpt:
Dear Greenpeace,
Fuck you.
Love,
Steve.
(PR Translation from Jesper via Daring Fireball.)
Fucking Broadway:
With the expected success of the spring blockbuster Spider-Man 3, Marvel Comics will be bringing the masked web slinger to Broadway. The new musical will be directed by Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor (The Lion King), and will feature new songs written by Bono and Edge of U2. Although no opening date has been set, auditions and a summer reading are already in place.
Damn fuckin’ damn it! Is nothing scarred, is no story safe from The Musicalists? Keep your lame dances and mildly comedic songs off my comic book!
(Via CMJ.)
Greenpeace continues target Apple on environmental issues:
The latest report from environmental group Greenpeace again rates Apple in last place of all technology companies the organization ranks.
“Apple, having made no progress since the launch of the Guide in August 2006, continues to languish in last place, far behind all other major manufacturers,” reads a statement from Greenpeace.
Damn, Greenpeace, I’m sorry that Apple hasn’t made any progress on the arbitrary, lip-service goals you set for them. I guess they were all to busy with that iPhone thingamajig… oh, and being ‘named a “Forward Green Leader,” one of the top ten environmentally progressive companies recognized by the Sierra Club in 2006.’
What a bunch of PR-Whoring Jackasses.
(Via Macworld.)