Long hiatus but I'm back probably for good, also some gaming commentary

Well It has been another 2 year break from trying to get this blog off of the ground. Now, I am a known procrastinator but this blog has been very neglected and I'm not usually this bad about staying on things.

Ok lets get started.

Sony has recently announced their new handheld device which currently they are calling the "Next Generation Portable" or NGP for short. For those of you who dont know anything about this device it is pretty decked out.

Dual analogs, 3G, touch screen, sixaxis control. Lets face it, this handheld is very svelte.

Now, I'm no recognized gaming journalist, so I have only seen videos of this thing in action on various tech blogs and other gaming blogs but this thing seems to be awesome. However, as anyone who games, especially portable gaming should remember that the PSP and PSP Go were both abysmal failures. Look I like sony as much as the next guy but those systems did not do well.

Now if we set aside all of the wow factors about this system for one moment. Lets discuss what wasnt revealed by Sony and what will also make or break this system.

PRICE.

Yep thats right price.

The way this system is looking with all of it's specs and ability, this could potentially be a $300 portable system. Unfortunately, with the slumping U.S. economy and weak economies in other countries, Sony may be coming out with the most expensive failure ever made. Nintendo has announced that the price for their new 3DS system will be $250 in North America. I think that some of the rabid Nintendo fan base is already feeling sticker shock by a Nintendo handheld at that price.

If I remember correctly, it was only a few years ago when analysts and the gaming press alike were calling $300 dollars the "magic" number for CONSOLE prices let alone a handheld.

Sony really needs to attempt to stay at or under the 3DS price point. Unfortunately, with all of the features of the NGP I do not think they will be able to do that. I know Sony hasn't announced a price yet but this is starting to look like the original DS v.s. the original PSP all over again. the 3DS will win based on price point alone. Look, all the die-hard Ninty fans have been purchasing shovelware for their DS and Wii for a while now. The Nintendo fans have been conditioned to buy crap software for a while now. So Nintendo will do what they always do, rehash tired, old IP like they have been doing since the SNES days and the sheep will buy it all up. I'm not trying to attack Nintendo but you can only play Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Mario games and Metroid for so long before they seem stale.

Personally, I hope they both do well but I'm hoping that the NGP does better than Sony is expecting. Sony seems to have done their homework to improve their handheld offering, I just hope the research didn't stop when they got to price.

News This Week with me

Well I ordered a Rock pedal From Rockpedal.com.
For those who really aren't that hardcore into the rock band 3rd party aftermarket, the rock pedal is THE kick pedal replacement for the Rock band video game drum kit. I think it's supposed to get to my place on Monday but I'm really excited for it to get here. I've been afraid to really get really started on "expert" difficulty without a more "loose" kick pedal.
One thing i have been noticing,since i don't play songs on the easy or medium skill levels anymore, is that the stock rock band kick pedal is way too "tight."
By tight i mean the amount of force it takes for your foot to push down the pedal. When you get to the harder difficulties on RB there are a lot of double and triple kicks (rapid kick pedal parts in succession) and I am light footed enough that it has become almost impossible for me to do some songs because of it. "My Curse" by Killswitch engaged being one of them. Hopefully the rock pedal will be loose enough to instill myself with some more confidence.

So anyway, enough with the rock band stuff.

News from GDC states that Sony, instead of discounting the PS3 decided to give another price cut to the PS2 down to 99 dollars.

Yeah.... This is stupid. Why would you further discount your previous console when your current one is struggling in sales and PS2's are still flying out the door? I think a major change in long term corporate strategy is in order at Sony. Hopefully there will be some better news at E3 this year.....

Starting a non startable from scratch

Well I started this blog in june of 2007. I never did once update it and now after almost 2 years of procrastination. It's time to get this stuff rolling.
It's the gaming rag!!!!

Nothing on the gaming front to post about today. For anyone who keeps up with the gaming community as a whole, im sure you are all aware that GDC is on right now.
Iwata gave the nintendo keynote yesterday, but i gave up on old ninty after my wii started collecting dust long ago.
So once the sony keynote happens ill try to recap and post my reaction to the speaking captains of the sinking ship which is the PS3.
Maybe ill comment on the microsoft keynote too if they actually have something to say that's relevant.

Later Ya'll