The Nintendo Wii is NOT the Game Cube

by: Kit Allen

As Nintendo chief Miyamoto says about the Wii…

‘The hardware is basically a GC. We’ve upgraded our development tools to new versions but, you can still use GC programs as they are. With that in mind, I thought we could remake GC titles for the Wii and modify them to work with the Wii remote so that they’re more fun to play.’

This statement been making its speedy journey around the web, with the predictable result.

‘i tuld u tha Wee sux0rs!’ ‘Thus proving the Wii is infact.. a repackaged gamecube’ ‘Rofl @ Nintendo’

The argument need to be split in half to avoid confusion. Lumping the two arguments together ends in a negative situation, where neither of the debating parties can influence the opposition.

Firstly, The Wii is GameCube 1.5?

Miyamoto, in his cute little ‘Wish we had an international auxillary language to stop english speaking ‘l33t’ gamers from mocking our consumers’ way, was accurate with his statement. The hardware is similar to the GameCube. WAIT! Don’t go running away just yet, for here is a word equation that will float your boat.

The Nintendo Wii hardware is similar to the Gamecube, as A gaming PC is similar to a Windows 95 word processing computer.

What! Says you, but my ‘uber el33tzo0r’ Gaming PC has 4 GB of Ram! It has 6.7 Gigahertz of processing power! THINK. Instead of thinking about the technological specifics of ‘hardware capabilities’, when the above statement is made, one is referring to the style in which hardware and software are created. The Architecture of the device.

Going out on another tangent, Nintendo would not be stupid enough to make the GameCube mistake again. The GC was not a high point for flailing Nintendo. Why now, riding on the success of the Nintendo DS, an innovative handheld device that has taken the world by storm, would Nintendo choose to release an updated version of a failure?

Wii Vs Xbox360 Vs Playstation3

To be blatantly honest, the next-gen console battle will be fought between the Xbox360, and the Playstation3. Unfortunately for Sony and Microsoft, they have launched products capable of the same types of activities, with the same types of controls and the same types of games. It’s a marketing battle to see who will triumph. But for those looking for new, innovative [ie: Not BluRay] technology with an element of fun and a totally unique experience will choose the Wii. There is nothing else on the market to compete with it.

So who would buy the Wii? Just little kids right? Nintendo has many different demographics to target. From the very young, to the very old. The DS has opened the eyes of previously video game free generations, and inspired those just entering the market, as well as gameboy fans looking for a quality handheld. Half-core gamers want something fresh. they want to play with their friends and have fun. They don’t want to shell out big bucks for a gaming system, but would be happy to pay a much lower price for entertainment.

You can not compare consoles on specifications alone. You must use implementation examples to compare things. On paper, the Playstation 3 is the strongest console. Better than the Wii, better than the Xbox360. But does it have quality games? Will there be many games? Will Sony finally be able to create a game that creates a third of the hype that Halo does? Until all consoles have been released internationally, it is futile to argue over which console is ’superior’ and which will succeed.

The Nintendo Wii is not a Game Cube. As the old saying goes, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Both are in the same general class, yet there are fundamental differences that make comparing them pointless.

About The Author

Kit Allen, the chief contributor to Nintendo Blog,
http://nintendocommunity.com wrote this article to inform the
world about the Nintendo Wii.

Edirol R-09 Wave/MP3 Recorder Review

by: Digital Man

My Sony Hi-MD (mini disc) kicked the bucket somewhat prematurely. It chews and chews on a disc without engaging. I suppose the mechanism got mangled on one of my trans-Atlantic flights. I had to drag myself into the modern recording age and invest 300 quid in a flash recorder, AND stump up another 25 for an SD memory card. And do you know what? It was worth it.

The Edirol R-09 by Roland of seventies synthesizer fame won’t win any prizes in a beauty contest. It looks more like an electric shaver than a digital recorder - but that hasn’t stopped me falling in love with it. I’m suspicious of in-built microphones, but those silver grills on the top are pretty good - fine for journalistic notes at any rate. The plastic record and play buttons are big and chunky, but they are dead easy to use without reference to the manual. Even someone like me who is all thumbs and struggles to send a text message can use them with ease. There are buttons on the back for mono or stereo, automatic recording levels, etc. Volume controls are on the side. In other words, you can do most things without scrolling through a menu on the LCD screen. Transfer of sound onto the laptop is a doddle. You plug it into the USB and it becomes an external disc. I just open up SoundForge on my computer and start editing away. I have a 2 Gig SD card so it holds several hours of audio.

And what about the quality? It records in mp3 or WAV, the latter being uncompressed and very high quality indeed. It’s 24 bit, which is ample. You might want more bits for recoding the Boston Philharmonic, but short of that it will do for most things. I find it works best with my microphone routed into the sound mixer via the Line In. When I plugged my Sure SM58 directly into the R-09 I got a certain amount of hiss. Not much, but discernible. Perhaps the impedance does not quite match (or some such technical guff). Edirol recommend buying one of their own external condenser mics, but they would say that, wouldn’t they. I might try a transformer. I would hate to buy yet another mic for out and about interviews, but it might come to that...

About The Author
Digital Man, a sales manager of Gigasonic, has more than 10 years experience dealing with music gears.

For more information and products, go to http://www.gigasonic.com.

Amp'd Mobile Phones: Can Your Phone Do This?

by: DeWayne H. Strickland

Amp'd Mobile has phone features that are extraordinary and will meet the expections of the younger generation! Something that will being ringing in our ears will be, "Don't you wish your cell phone was hot like this?" Say good bye to live Larry King streaming video!

Amp'd Mobile is springing forward with such powerful features, that other cell phone companies will watch and learn. The most ingenuis marketing move is using viral videos. Amp'd Mobile phones will allow the use of not just listening to music, but also downloading crazy videos. The use of humor in marketing is extremely effective and is the driving force behind the success of many large corporations. When you see a person laughing at their phone, it just might be a funny video!

Amp'd Mobile cell phones will let you surf the web, play games, access sports information, download music at speeds that will make your jaw drop. Amp'd Mobile does claim to have the fastest speeds in North America! If your looking for some flashy style, that will make your friends take notice, then Amp'd Mobile will meet your desires. Be prepared for the ultimate in dazzling entertainment from Amp'd Mobile.

Let's take a quick look at Amp'd Mobiles cutting edge technology: Text and multi-media messaging support, a vivid 256k color display, EV-DO high-speed data access, a built-in camera with flash and video capture, push-to-talk/walkie-talkie functionality, and a built-in speakerphone. This has got to be the hottest high-tech candy for entertainment on earth!

Let's face it, we have become a society that is so strongly dependent on cell phone technology, that we cannot live without a cell phone. Asurion insurance is the company, that covers the Amp'd Mobile cell phones. If your phone is lost, stolen or damaged Asurion is the ultimate insurance provider. Keep in mind you will need to file a police report for lost or stolen phones.

Wireless Network Magazine said, "Amp'd Mobile brings communications to the next level by providing a smorgasbord of entertainment options to the cellular phones of their subscribers."

Imagine your out somewhere and you set your Amp'd Mobile cell phone down on a table, next thing you know it is gone! This is happening to a lot of Amp'd Mobile cell phone users and this will continue to increase. The Amp'd Mobile phones are very expensive and this makes them a desirable target for stealing.

If you have an Amp'd Mobile cell phone, do not set it down anywhere! Do not leave your cell phone in a car or lay it down in a cab seat! I have heard of cell phones being stolen out of a persons house, while entertaining friends! You may being asking yourself, "why would someone steal a cell phone?" People can use the phone and rack up thousands of minutes, so you want to contact your service provider and have it deactivated immediately. It is wise to have a back up for your cell phone contacts, just in case your cell phone is stolen.

If your phone is stolen and has a lot of personal pictures in it, then someone will be enjoying your personal life! Not to mention, your pictures could be uploaded to the internet! Again, you have to implement a strategy for protecting your cell phone. Worthless belt clips will lead to insurance claims and partying in night clubs is an easy way for someone to snatch your cell phone!

About The Author

DeWayne H. Strickland has been a Film Freak since the time he could walk.
Read crazy movie reviews and learn more about Ampd Mobile phones at: http://www.moviedownloadmatrix.com.

Making it Easy to Compare Cellular Plans

by: Morgan Hamilton

If you are planning to buy a brand new cell phone, there is a good chance that you will be surprised at the number of different service providers available in the today’s market.

Several years ago, only Motorola and Sprint were available to the public. Nowadays, there are many different service providers that are offering a lot of different deals. It can be overwhelming for the everyday shopper. In order to make a good decision, a buyer would need a convenient method to compare cellular plans.

I used to think that the only way to compare cellular plans would be to visit every cell phone sales booth or to transact with other authorized dealers personally. This method takes up a lot of time and I would usually stop after examining the merchandise of a couple of stores. I am well aware of the advantages of comparison shopping, but I don’t want to consume several days on the activity.

I chose to go home and find out if it is possible to compare cellular plans on the World-Wide-Web. I have no idea why I didn’t think of this idea before. After all, people can do pretty much everything on cyberspace these days, and my task wasn’t exactly an unusual one. As I had hoped, it was quite simple and easy to compare cellular plans on the Internet.

I discovered that it would be a lot simpler to go directly to a couple of different consumer-oriented sites instead of visiting each individual service provider’s website. These consumer-oriented sites enabled me to compare cellular plans from different providers all on the same page. This format makes it convenient to see which deal were the best and which deals were too damaging to my budget. After I found a suitable plan from the comparison chart, all I need to do was visit the nearest shop and order what I need.

I was able to save money on my service contract because I took time to compare cellular plans before paying for a phone. I was only required to pay for the features that I would actually use and did not get locked into a long-term deal. I was really satisfied with the cell phone plan that I was able to get. Before you buy a new cell phone or sign with a new provider, I advise you to compare cellular plans first. Doing so will give you the satisfaction of getting the best deal possible.

About The Author

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips in all aspects concerning Cellular Plans. Get more information at http://www.guideforonlineshoppers.com/online-shopping/online-shopping-information/making-it-easy-to-compare-cellular-plans.html

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Comparing The Playstation 3, Xbox 360, And Nintendo WII

by: Gary Ruplinger

Finally, they’re all here. The Xbox 360 has had the next generation gaming market to itself for a year. Now its two competitors, the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, are here. No more speculating about speed. No more guessing about memory. Now we can take a look and see exactly how they stack up compared to each other.

Let the console wars begin again.

Price

The PS3 has two configurations much like the Xbox 360. The PS3 comes in a $499 version that comes with a 20 GB hard drive and a $599 version that comes with a 60 GB hard drive; Wi-Fi; and memory stick, SD, and Compact Flash slots.

The Xbox 360 has two configurations. It comes in a $299 core version and a $399 version that comes with a 20GB hard drive.

The Nintendo Wii is the cheapest of the bunch with just one configuration that costs $250.

Processing Power

The Playstation 3 comes with its Cell processor. It’s a PowerPC based core that runs at 3.2 GHz that also have seven DSPs that run at 3.2 GHz. This configuration can do about 2 Teraflops.

The Xbox 360 has a Custom IBM PowerPC processor. This processor also runs at 3.2 GHz. However, Xbox went with a true 3 core processor compared to the one general processor of the Cell and seven additional DSPs. This configuration can do about 1 Teraflop.

The Nintendo Wii includes its Broadway processor, a PowerPC based processor running at 729 MHz.

Disc Media

Part of the reason the PS3 is so much more expensive than the Xbox 360 is because the Sony decided to include a Blu-ray drive on the system. The drive can play both Blu-ray movies and regular DVDs. The Xbox 360 comes with a DVD player and an HD-DVD add-on is planned. The Nintendo Wii uses a DVD drive; however, the system will not work for playback of movies, just Nintendo games.

Backwards Compatibility

The Playstation 3 is just like the PS2 was. You’ll be able to play both PS2 and PSone games on the PS3. Nintendo is taking things a bit further. Their system will be compatible with the Gamecube games and also the Gamecube controllers since the two systems use very different controllers. Not only that, but the Wii will also have the ability to download games from the original Nintendo (NES), Super Nintendo (SNES), and the Nintendo 64.

Sweet Features

If you want high definition gaming, then the PS3 is the way to go. It comes with a Blu-ray drive built in and can output in 1080p. Although the PS3 controller may look familiar, it’s had some updates. The controller is now motion sensing so in some games you’ll be able to move your character or fly a plane just by moving the controller.

The Xbox 360 was built to work with Windows XP media center. If you have a computer that already has media center on it, you’ll be able to view pictures, videos, and even recorded TV by using your Xbox. You won’t need to put your PC in your living room to take advantage of having a Media Center PC.

The Nintendo Wii decided to completely change the way gaming controllers are built. In the past, one controller was always held with both hands. The Wii’s controller looks more like a TV remote control than a game controller. It has a built in motion sensor so, for example, to swing a sword, you simply move you hand just like you were really swinging a sword.

Hopefully this review has helped you compare the three next generation gaming systems. Each has its pluses and minuses, and feature that are unique to it. Ultimately, your decision will likely come down to which system has the games that most appeal to you. And that is a decision that only you can make when deciding on a system to buy.

About The Author

Gary Ruplinger is the editor of http://www.ps3asap.com, a resource for getting the in demand PS3 system. He also is a writer for http://www.gamesystemreviews.com where you can learn about all of the next generation systems.

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