TheWayoftheWeb

Somehow I’ve managed to hurt my wrist, so not much typing for me today. And before you say it….it’s my left wrist, and I’m right handed.

Following on from my previous post regarding the Nintendo Wii, I stumbled accros this delightful example of a Wiimote making a bid for freedom at www.wiihaveaproblem.com.

At least the TV escaped.

Years ago, scenes like this would have become urban legends to slowly make their way around the gaming scene via magazines, friends and rumour. Now they’re online within minutes.

Some personal observations first. Not only did a cross section of everyday humanity appear to be lining up for the midnight launch of the Nintendo Wii in Tescos last night, but also witnessed a girl reading a videogame magazine in public. The world has gone mad.

Personally I’ll be waiting to take a Wii. The concept is good, but there are quite a few Wii problems, aside from dreadful puns. It’s wireless only, so with a crappy connection and router, it will struggle. The controllers use normal batteries, and there’s no way to recharge like an Xbox 360 controller yet. There are a few reports of dying or broken machines, but nothing on the 360 level yet.

But my favourite is the discovery the Wii controller wrist straps can break, and send your controller flying across the room. There have already been reports of TV screens cracked and trashed. It seems odd noone ever spotted this potential danger and did something about it before launch…a rubber protector perhaps, like a Wii incontinence suit? Or a more sturdy strap?

I’m always found buying a console on launch day to be a little silly, as you’re paying over the odds for something which will have every design defect still intact. You get excitement and boasting rights for a couple of weeks, but you can get the same effect by buying the big games at launch etc. But to end up with your new LCD/Plasma telly smashed to buggery seems to be taking it a bit far…

From The Register
“Sky and Google have announced they are to work together to develop content for Sky’s broadband customers and share advertising revenue generated though those customers.
Sky will be creating its own video site on the lines of YouTube, using technology provided by Google (YouTube’s owner). Google will also provide the technology and servers for the Sky email service (addresses ending in what is described as the “popular @sky.com” moniker), which will have much the same interface and capabilities as Google Mail.
More interesting is the agreement that Google will provide access to applications such as contact management and calendar services as well as instant messaging. VoIP services are mentioned, but only as something that Sky is interested in examining for the future.”

Intriguing. Is this the start of Google making cash back from the much-deried decision to invest in Youtube? And does this mean Youtube vids could start appearing on Sky’s services?