Nintendo is the Giant

I know that I have at least one Nintendo fan reading my blog so it's only appropriate that I talk about an article that totally caught me off guard. Many gamers consider Nintendo to be in a slump since in the past two generation of consoles with the Playstation and Playstation 2 dominated them. However, NintendoInsider points out that they're about more than the Gamecube: there's also the DS and the GameBoy Advance. If you look at the numbers they put together, they've sold more systems as a company than Sony or Microsoft even though their Gamecube's market share is lagging. It's a four-part series and in part two he shows that Nintendo's net profits are more than Microsoft and Sony combined. It sounds wacko, right? But it's 100% true. By playing it safe Nintendo has managed to quietly trump its competitors and actually turn a profit on every Gamecube sold unitl the price drop because they didn't pack in a lot of features. Going the minimal route got them more sales, which leads to more profits (remember, the PS2 and Xbox were sold at a loss in exchange for software royalties). I certainly applaud Nintendo's tactics because they manage to come out ahead without being cutthroat. I may have a bias towards the PS2 and PS3, but I hate Sony as a company. However, everyone loves Nintendo and most gamers have owned at least one Nintendo console in their lifetime. Unless nice guys, nice companies don't always finish last.

I didn't say that Microsoft had a good image either, and they're actually starting their own version of Google Base now called Fremont. When will they stop being such copycats? I don't subscribe to cable programming in my apartment because I don't want to pay $30 for only about three channels that I would actually watch, and now the FCC is actually pushing for ala carte pricing. This would alleviate my situation but it's more targeted towards parents with young children, but cable tv companies don't seem too thrilled about the idea. Wouldn't it garner more customers for them though? Every so often I post an article about the importance of comments in your code and now I've found one once again, and it's shorter than most. I really loathe reading commentless code. Lastly, I think it's funny that there's a device now to ward off teenagers without lethal force.

The movie news isn't too exciting today, but if you want to see some crazy stuff then the German site for Hostel has a rather gory trailer for the movie, and it's not hard to find (I guess "trailer" is the same word in German). It's worth it if you're a horror geek. If you never got a chance to the see the bootleg version of the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 trailer then it's online legally now, but it's not as taboo and rebellious as before to watch. If you wondered what happened to the Independence Day sequel that was in talks a few years ago then you can sleep soundly knowing that it has been scrapped altogether. The world is safe from one more crappy movie. Not much going on with the sequel for Batman Begins, but you can be sure that the Joker will be grittier and there are rumors that the Penguin could be involved with the Russian mafia. Since everyone likes Shrek I figured that you guys might want to know that they're leaning towards an Arthurian tale with regard to finding an heir to the throne of Far, Far Away and Shrek may even have a child to worry about. However, there will be a new director so there's no way to tell how good it will be in comparison to the second. Lastly, here's a new poster from that movie feature two hot chicks:



And now for the awesomeness of the Wednesday Mind Hump:

1. What was your favorite subject in high school?
I think I'll say Economics because I really enjoyed doing Economics Challenge and it was nice to really get the material. Thanks to the competition, I was always ahead of most of the class so I could just sit back and relax in class half the time, and read the Wall Street Journal.

2. Are you a dog person, cat person, both or neither? How many pets do you have?
I don't particularly dislike cats, but I definitely prefer the love that dogs offer. Cats are too withdrawn and needy. I have no pets because my dad never liked the idea of having a pet.

3. How was your Thanksgiving?
It was good. It probably could've been better since it has been in years past, but it was a nice break from school even though I felt guilty for not getting more work done.

4. What are you asking Santa for this year?
Many things, and they're all on my Amazon.com wish list because it's just the easiest way for me to remember them. It's largely an assortment of DVDs, CDs, and books. If Santa's pockets were full grown though he'd get me an iPod or a digital camera.