Valleywag
distractions
Posts Tagged “
Wii
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distractions
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Dell and Sony discover gold in the old
A relentless neophilia is Silicon Valley's signature characteristic. One must have a new iPhone, a new Twitter, a new electric car. You're either in beta or in the grave. That's why I'm intrigued by two decisions by Dell and Sony. Dell has figured out a way to wriggle around Microsoft's licensing rules and still sell its discontinued Windows XP operating system. Sony, meanwhile, is profitably selling its nine-year-old PlayStation 2 videogame console in markets like India. This just isn't done. More »
1:00 PM on Thu Jul 3 2008
By Owen Thomas
813 views,
1 comment
Latest by Shadowlayer: "That's exactly what Nintendo has done with the Wii" Yeah yeah, except that the Gamecube was $99 in 2004!, while the more »
"I forgot to mention something important earlier: I don't think Wii Fit's purpose is to make you fit." Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, on the origins of Wii Fit. Too bad it's already sold 1.2 million in Japan based on the notion that it does. The non-exercise videogame is out in the U.S. later this year. [Wii.com]
videogames
On Wii and PS3's home turf, Microsoft cuts Xbox price 20 percent
In Japan, Microsoft has dropped the price of its entry-level Xbox 360 to around $260 — less than it costs in America. The software giant hopes to gain some traction in the tough Japanese market. Microsoft has had tremendous difficulties selling the Xbox in Japan, moving only 257,800 consoles last year, compared to Sony's 1.2 million PlayStation 3s and 3.6 million Nintendo Wiis. Somehow, we suspect just dropping the price won't get the job done.
the future
2018, with more wireless and even less privacy
Holographic TV? Restaurant recommendations from Google via your car? In today's paper, Wall Street Journal technology reporters guess what 10 years into the future will hold for shopping, games, TV, films, social networks, search, news and privacy. It's been 10 years since the last time the Journal tried to predict the future. In 1998, they predicted electronic books would win "sweeping acceptance" and that online bill payment systems wouldn't gain much traction. Oops. Those errors, it seems, led the Journal to make all-too-cautious prognostications for the near future. More »
Silicon Valley's armchair athletes may want to rethink their training regimen. A recent study shows that Nintendo's Wii tennis is no substitute for real exercise. In fact, it's only 2 percent more taxing than playing Halo 3. [Ars Technica]
accounting
Wii child, all you'll get for Xmas is a slip of paper
Little Jimmy's at the tree extracting an oblong box from the stash. Ripping off the paper, his jaw drops in astonishment. It's no Wii; it's a raincheck. His parents didn't quite purchase a Nintendo Wii, you see. Little Jimmy can't exchange the slip of paper until the red-hot videogame consoles are in stock again, supposedly sometime in January. Yes, even a full year after launch, retailers can't keep Wiis on shelves. Analysts estimate Nintendo has lost $1 billion in sales this holiday because of the shortage. So while Nintendo USA topper Reggie Fils-Aimé says the raincheck program is a way for parents to put a Wii under the tree, we doubt Little Jimmy will be fooled. Wall Street analysts, on the other hands, may well be. More »
surly media nerds
Annalee Newitz -- the 100-word version
sparkly-crap mobile circuit-board garbage gizmo mass-produced by machines that stole jobs from nonunionized workers who stole jobs from the natives. I want a Nintendo Wii.And I wouldn't have her any other way.
biosphere-destroying violent imagery consumer electronics death monster truly represents the future of technology Wii DJ Bluetooth just another thing with built-in obsolescence consigning it to an unknowable half-life as indigestible silicon shards. It sucks when great future innovations are doomed to become garbage. Donating to cool charities and supporting local artists is something you should be doing all year. capitalist juggernaut. Annalee Newitz is a surly media nerd.
