Well I’ve been working hard to come up with a new site layout. I stumbled onto CSS Reboot the other day and decided to sign up. The only problem is I’m supposed to change my site over on Tuesday. I don’t know if I’ll make it with things fully finished, but I think I can have a new basic skeleton by then. So CSS Rebooters be patient with me. I did a little checking and this won’t technically be my first layout without using tables. The current template I’m using on Blogger uses all divs, but I’ve only done a little modification to a pre-existing design. This time will be brand new from the ground up.

I just read some interesting news about the Revolution. Apparently it’s been confirmed by Iwata that it will launch Worldwide next year. He mentioned the time frame as “sometime after April.” Let’s hope he means May 1.

Revolution Report has more good news about the controller. I don’t really plan on picking up a copy of Edge, but sounds like they have only good things to say about the controller. I especially like this part:

returning to TGS’s show floor after playing the [Revolution] demos [was] a faintly surreal process. Suddenly, the 360 looks incredibly old-fashioned. Picking up a DualShock for a quick play of Rogue Galaxy seems preposterous. The [Revolution] controller makes it instantly apparent how much of a cheap fudge the 3-D controls of the last two generations have been.

News isn’t all good, though. Mark Rein, VP of Epic Games (no relation to my employer) recently got a little mouthy about the controller. I think he’s confused. He thinks the next generation of gaming is all about the graphics. How much shinier can you make them? The next-gen consoles are already to the point where many of the games aren’t even going to be using the full potential of the hardware. What’s the point?

Hasn’t Nintendo said all along that their next system was going to be about games? What’s wrong with making good games? Graphics are nice, but they don’t make me go out and buy games. Isn’t the whole reason Nintendo wants to make things more intuitive for all kinds of gamers so they can focus on the games? And what’s wrong with a gimmick once in a while when it has so much potential for fun? I can understand him being skeptical, and I can even understand him speaking out about it. However, I can’t understand him saying something this stupid:

Rein then conducted a quick audience survey to find out how many people present owned a GameCube – and found that rather a large number of hands were raised.

He then asked everyone who also owned a PS2 or Xbox to put their hands down – and concluded that under ten per cent of the audience were Cube owners only.

“Hard to make a business on less than 10 per cent,” Rein said.

Wait…what’s that? Is he saying Nintendo has a hard time making money? If I recall Nintendo is the only one of the big three that makes a profit, and it’s a tidy one at that. Just because they aren’t fighting for market share using the same methods that Sony and Microsoft are doesn’t mean they don’t have a strong business model. While response to the Revolution controller has been overwhelmingly positive, it strikes me as odd that Rein would alienate himself and his company like this. It’s all OK in my mind though. He makes himself look like an idiot, and I have an even better reason not to buy his games. I don’t care about another version of Unreal Tournament. I’ve never played before, why would I start now? I’ll enjoy watching him eat his words.

That’s all for now. Hopefully the party on State Street isn’t totally insane yet. I’m going back to working on this new layout.

Currently Watching: Law & Order: Criminal Intent