MacBook Pro: A Bite of the Apple

I've been using Windows PCs since 1996, beginning with a 'beige-box' 386 running Windows 95. I was mostly self-taught, but went to college during a period when dial-up Internet was taking off and Win95/98 were the operating systems of choice. I've only ever owned computers running the Windows OS, but now I've bought myself a fancy 15" MacBook Pro.

Sponsored Video: KINECT STAR WARS

I'm sure most people born in the '70s and '80s remember running around their bedrooms with a broom handle or cardboard tube, making "vwumming" noises, pretending they were Luke Skywalker with a lightsaber. A few may even have favoured putting a bucket on their head to become Darth Vader. It was all so quaint back then, relying on imagination and ingenuity.

In comparison, today's children are spoiled rotten by flashy video games like Star Wars Kinect for XBOX—which enables players to control characters via the Kinect's incredible full-body motion tracking. This means you get to hop, hack n' slash your way through the Star Wars galaxy from the comfort of your own living room. An old broom handle is easier on mum and dad's bank bank account, but I'm sure many parents will be tempted into buying this game (RRP £39.99/€49.99)—if only to send their kids to bed early and stay up trying to defeat the evil Empire themselves. I know for a fact this sometimes happens with Mario Kart.

To celebrate the recent release of Kinect Star Wars, there's now a cool app for iOS and Android smart-phones that allows you to view Facebook and Twitter feeds in the iconic Star Wars "text crawl" style. It even includes five mini-games. You can also get more information on Kinect Star Wars through this app, and click through to buy yourself a copy. The app's now available for immediate download in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Click here for more details.

This post has been sponsored by Kinect Star Wars.

Netflix coming to UK & Ireland in 2012?

US video rental and online streaming giant Netflix are preparing to launch European branches in early-2012, starting with the UK & Ireland and Spain, according to Variety.

25 million people across the US, Canada and Latin America use Netflix, which has become the dominant rental service in North America since launching in 1999. Here in the UK, Netflix will be competing with European market leader LoveFilm (owned by Amazon), Blockbuster, YouTube and iTunes. The US firm already has brand recognition, given how often Netflix is referenced in pop-culture, but how many Europeans will switch to this US-based service? Given the fact LoveFilm still have a long-running dispute with Universal over licensing costs—meaning that post-2009 Universal titles are still unavailable, or on DVD but not Blu-ray—I can certainly see an opportunity for Netflix to swoop in offering a more comprehensive catalogue. (I've still to see Public Enemies and The Invention Of Lying for this very reason.)

It may also help if Netflix streaming is made available in the UK on Playstation 3, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Android and iOS (which it the case in the US). Here in the UK, Amazon's LoveFilm is currently only available through PS3 and iOS, although an Xbox launch is due soon.

Of course, Netflix aren't in terrific shape just now. $7bn was wiped off the company's market capitalization since April 2011, reducing it to $5.7bn. This is because Netflix recently chose to start competing with US broadcasters, by buying first-run rights to shows like the remake of British drama House Of Cards. In response to this unforeseen rival, US broadcasters upped the price of their licensing deals with Netflix, forcing the likes of The Social Network to be dropped from the site's catalogue. And then there was the ill-advised decision for Netflix to split into two separate companies (Netflix for postal rentals, Qwikster for online streaming) because the former is becoming too expensive to run. This was met with such a tidal wave of disapproval from customers the plan was hastily scrapped, but it was something of a PR disaster.

What do you think? Will you sign up for Netflix UK when it arrives, simply because of its reputation? Will you join Netflix from a different rental company you're happy with? Or will you stay as you are, unless Netflix are noticeably cheaper, offer more titles, and/or have a more wide-ranging streaming lineup? Do you hate the idea of a big American company coming over and perhaps squashing the UK-based LoveFilm?

9 Websites That Changed My Online '00s Life

I first went online at home in 1997, but the prevalence of the internet certainly took hold in the '00s. So, because December's the traditional time for superfluous lists, here are 9 websites/online services that revolutionized my "online life" this past decade...

Amazon

These days, I trust internet shopping a lot more than I did around the turn-of-the-millennium, but I still get a paroxysm of terror when I type my credit card details into a site that's new to me just because they have a good deal. But, I trust Amazon 100%, because I've never had a bad experience with them and I love the design. I sometimes buy stuff from them that's slightly dearer in price, just because I know I can trust the speed and efficiency.

Blogger

Of course! Look where you're reading this! I didn't really "get" blogging at first, and I closed my first Blogger account after a few days treating it like an online diary. But then Web 2.0 exploded and blogs got interesting around 2006, as the designs and functionality became closer to that of decent websites. Blogger's still not as slick as the likes of Wordpress, but it's far easier to create a blog with them and the options available to you are 10x better than they were a few years ago.

eBay

I love it, but I don't use it much these days. There are two reasons for this: (1) I used it to sell everything I owned of value around 2003, so I have nothing left to sell now! (2) Owing to a silly misunderstanding with PayPal about 5 years ago, I can't open an account with them again... and eBay's tied to PayPal like prisoners in a chain-gang. But, earlier this decade, I used eBay a great deal and got some great bargains from them.

Google

I remember when Yahoo was the dominant search-engine of the late-'90s, but Google overtook it in the '00s. So much so that "Googling" has become a verb and it's a fixture as my homepage. I've never even given upstart Bing a second thought.

IMDb

Excellent resource for movie info, particularly cast/crew lists. I visit it nearly ever day, if only to peruse the celebrity birthdays. The only thing I dislike is what each film's individual page looks like. I'd prefer all the info to be there to see, but it's all hidden behind links and whatnot. The data IMDb has is exemplary, but not how it chooses to shows it.

Online Banking

I'm not going to tell you which bank I'm with, because I'm overly paranoid, but the concept of paying your bills and setting up direct debits online has revolutionized my financial lifestyle. I still like getting paper statements sent to me every month, though -- sorry, environment.

Twitter

I still can't quite wrap my head around it, but it's addictive. It's easy to do, you don't feel a slave to it, it's mobile, you can maybe get response from celebrity users, and it's great fun following tweets to TV shows like Big Brother.

Wikipedia

The best way to settle any argument is to call up a Wikipedia article. The simple idea of putting a user-maintained encyclopedia was a masterstroke. Remember when researching the 'net was fairly tricky and you had to keep a mental note of many different websites to refer back to? Well, Wikipedia changed all that. Sure, because it's user-generated you can't trust it 100%, but I've personally never had reason to refute anything it says.

YouTube

A very recent addition to the web, but it's quickly become the premier streaming video site. Remember when funny video clips were attached in huge e-mails and passed around offices? That still happens, thanks to most workplaces and schools blocking YouTube, but never at home. I tend to watch funny clips, film/TV trailers and interviews on YouTube, but it has something for everyone. The fact you can embed videos in your own blog/website has been an obvious bonus for me. The only downside is that the good stuff is so hidden away, so I tend to rely on links.

Intentional omissions: MySpace and Facebook (I've never seen the point in them, and both have terrible interfaces), BBC iPlayer (a great creation, but not something I use very much, and certainly not on a PC because I have Virgin's catch-up service)

How about you? Did any websites change your life in the '00s, or soak up a shocking amount of your freetime? Care to share?

Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe

I caught up with Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe yesterday, the one-off BBC4 special that used the format of Screenwipe and Newswipe to tackle the video-game industry. A few brief thoughts on my own gaming life and the show itself after the jump:

I'm not really much of a gamer these days. I have a Playstation 3 that spends its days playing video files and Blu-ray discs, not games. The only game I own for the PS3 is Street Fighter IV, and I've only played it three times. I also own the original, chunkier Nintendo DS (with five games) that's proving itself a great dust-collector. The only game I ever played with much regularity was Brain Training. I also have a GameCube purchased cheaply on Ebay purely to play Super Mario Kart Double Dash a few years ago; the result of a recurring five-year itch to relive my Mario-related youth.

Yes, I'm from the generation that grew up with Mario on the Nintendo NES in the '80s, before gaming took-off culturally in the early-'90s -- fuelled by the rivalry between Nintendo's Super NES and Sega's Megadrive (Genesis for any Americans reading.) The era when everyone at school owned a Gameboy and the Tetris soundtrack resonated around every playground. I bought video-game magazines, saved up months of pocket money to buy the latest SNES cartridge, and was a devout fan of Channel 4's Gamesmaster.

My gaming life started to dwindle when Sony's Playstation arrived in the mid-'90s. I was only about 16 at the time, so I still had plenty of years left in me, but I just grew bored of that pastime. I was a Nintendo brat, so seeing Sony come to dominate the marketplace just didn't sit right with me, and when the mighty internet entered many households around '97... well, my gaming life turned to computing and more "serious" ways to channel my creativity. As a result, I grew less passionate about gaming and even the arrival of the Playstation 2, with its slicker graphics and DVD-playing ability, couldn't lure me back to the gaming teat. Strangely, as the technology and graphics got better, my interest levels dropped...

Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe was a mix of nostalgia for classic '70s/'80s games (the requisite clips of Pong and Space Invaders), acerbic observations on grungy gaming culture (particularly the furor in the media over violent games), clips of odious games like 50 Cent's ugly and violent tie-in, amusing '80s anecdotes from the Scottish duo of "Consolevania" (who reflected on the days when British nerds created homemade, eccentric games that competed with massive US and Japanese corporations), intriguing ideas from comedian Dara O'Briain (who noted that video-games are the only entertainment medium that will intentionally deny you a beginning-to-end experience unless YOU prove yourself worthy) and writer Graham Linehan (who spoke on the awful storytelling in games, then highlighted the few that are immeasurably improved by treating characters and plot with respect), and it also served as a kind of Cliffs Notes exercise for newbies by explaining what each gaming genre's all about -- from the obvious "beat 'em up" to the bad round of Scrabble-sounding "MMORPG".

I found it a very entertaining fifty minutes, mainly because I've always enjoyed hearing about video-games and have long lamented the absence of a decent TV show on the subject. I'm not passionate enough to read gaming websites/magazines for news and reviews these days, but I'd certainly tune into a TV show on the subject. A restyled Gameswipe (more closely following the review style of Screenwipe) would be welcomed, if this can be considered a means of testing the water. But I suspect the grumpy middle-aged bias of Gameswipe would be something "the kids" wouldn't like. If they even manage to find BBC4.

For me, as a 30-year-old with one foot in his youth and the other in middle-age, I'd certainly watch a full series of Gameswipe -- but perhaps Brooker's patented sarcasm would grow tiring after awhile? It's a bit too easy for Brooker to ridicule terrible games in the same way he spits venom at bad TV. The difference is that TV creeps into everyone's home and we can all feel disillusioned by appalling programming, and take consolation in hearing a timely rant from Brooker. But with games, people have to decide to buy the game and play it, so in most cases people know what they're getting and hearing a rant from a man pushing 40 fall on deaf ears, and only cement an opinion in the minds of people who haven't actually played the game themselves.

Really, Gameswipe would need more balance to be of any worth as a series, but I'm not sure Brooker's all that entertaining when he's being nice. It's not really his thing, is it? It's like Adolf Hitler putting his oratory talent to good use and doing an episode of Jackanory. In leaning on Brooker's cynical verbosity, a lot of Gameswipe chose to focus on the evils of gaming because there's more mileage in that for contentious clips, so I wound up feeling that 80% of games are distastefully violent, 10% are misunderstood by hack journalists, and 10% are fluffy fun your gran would enjoy. None of that's strictly true, but it's the feeling I was left with after seeing Gameswipe, because the show tended to focus on the grubbier aspects of gaming so much, because there's more comedy there. Shame, really. There are more cheerful and life-affirming avenues to investigate about gaming, but they mostly went unexplored here.


29 September 2009
BBC Four, 10pm

Lappy days are here again!

My new laptop arrived today, so I've spent a few hours getting it loaded up with the software I use most often. I got a Dell Studio 15 laptop (customized with 3GB RAM, but otherwise the standard spec.) If you're interested, I found a YouTube video that reviewed my laptop (embedded above).

I was tempted by snazzy add-ons like a biometric finger-print reader and a Blu-ray drive, but ultimately couldn't justify this added expense. I'm sure I've missed out on a better deal somewhere online (it's Sod's Law), but this laptop will cater to my needs very well and was within my budget (£450). So I'm happy. Simple things like 4x USB2, 1x Firewire, Wireless, 1x SD-card slot, and 1x HDMI will be a massive help to me, for various reasons.

Of course, now comes the annoying part: transferring all my documents and files from the old laptop, to this new one. Nightmare. And I'm sure a few things won't work with Windows Vista, either. But, generally, I'm back in business and glaciers aren't forming when I open Firefox, so it's all good. I particularly like a "Dell Dock" feature (programs accessible via icons in a top-centre toolbar, a la Mac.)

As a brief update of blogging-related things: Fringe reviews will follow their US premieres (on Thursdays)... Lost reviews will follow the UK pace (Mondays, starting this week)... likewise 24 (Tuesdays)... and Battlestar Galactica (Wednesdays)... I'm going to stick with HBO's Flight Of The Conchords for now (probably Tuesdays)... will watch ITV1's Demons to the bitter end, 'cos I'm a masochist (Sundays)... Pushing Daisies is back on ITV1 soon, so S2 will finally get reviewed... my Damages reviews are being stored up until BBC1 show it next month... and Virgin1 will finally show Chuck S2 on 7 April!*

Still knee-deep in Star Trek film reviews (been polishing Wrath Of Khan this week), half-way through The Wire S1 review (been too distracted recently), and will revive my reviews of The Prisoner very soon (to honour the late Patrick McGoohan, and wet appetites for the AMC/ITV remake in the summer)... so, lots of stuff for my new laptop to help me with!

* I've waited far, far too long for this, so I won't be hanging around for Virgin1 to show season 3 next year. If, indeed, Chuck is picked up for 09/10.

Introducing: Nintendo DSi

I rarely cover gadgets, video-games and consoles at DMD. Truth is, I only use my PS3 to watch Blu-rays, and haven't touched my Nintendo DS since Super Mario Brothers and Brain Training eventually bored me. The Wii captured my imagination before its launch, but the console only really works in a party context, I find. If the Wii ever drops to around the £100 mark, I may get one to play Mario Kart, but that's it.

Anyway, I still thought it was worth mentioning the Nintendo DSi -- the next version of the DS Lite that's just been released in Japan. It has bigger screens, a SD card slot (losing the GBA slot), can play music files (not MP3), has two built-in cameras, etc. Click the video above to watch a good instructional guide from IGN. The DSi's European release is scheduled for next spring. Historically, that probably means "sometime in 2009; maybe nearer Christmas, if we're being honest."

The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters (2007)

Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Walter Day, Brian Kuh, Steve Sanders, Roy Schildt, Todd Rogers & Doris Self

A tale of obsession and rivalry in the arcade, as filmmaker Seth Gordon's documentary introduces us to the world of competitive video-gaming. Steve Wiebe (pronounced "Wee-Bee") is a family man living in Redmond, Washington with his wife Nicole and young son Derek; a once-promising baseball player who suffered an injury and is now a science teacher. But he spends most of his time in his garage, playing '80s arcade classic Donkey Kong...

If Wiebe's the underdog hero, then gaming legend Billy Mitchell is the "villain"; the world champion of Donkey Kong and widely considered the best video-game player of all time. He has the certificates and awards to prove it, not to mention the required taped evidence players must submit to Twin Galaxies for score authentication. Galaxies is run by bearded geezer Walter Day, who created the company back in 1981 and has seen it become the place to have your video-game high-score validated and officially recognized.

Trouble brews when Wiebe beats grandmaster Mitchell's score of 874,300 on Donkey Kong (set in 1982) -- taking it past a million points for the very first time. He has the required video-tape evidence and becomes a local celebrity overnight, but the close-knit team of Twin Galaxies suspect foul play when it's revealed Wiebe got his arcade machine from renowned Mitchell-hater Roy Schildt -- whose top-score on Missile Command was refused because of Mitchell's misgivings. History repeats itself and Wiebe's Donkey Kong score of 1,006,600 is unjustly discounted, setting the scene for bitter rivalry as the modest Wiebe struggles to gain acceptance and authentication by suspicious Walter's team...

Gordon's documentary is amusing, entertaining, yet tinged with a quiet sadness. Obviously the idea of grown men competing with each other on retro arcade games, often at the expense of their family life, has its clichés and instils a negative reaction. And yes, these guys are definitely nerds with social hang-ups -- but their passionate thirst for excellence in their pastime is totally relatable. Hey, one day I'll write the perfect screenplay! Wiebe comes across as a decent guy, whose hand-eye coordination and scientific mind, together with the spare time afforded by his sporting injury, steered him down this path of pixels.

Mitchell, a gawky Jesus look-alike in skinny black jeans, cuts a more tragic figure. He's a big fish in a small pond, who's sustained fame and reputation means there's only way for him to go: down. When someone's sat at the top of a tree for 30 years, most people perched on the branches become used to the shade. So, Mitchell being usurped by the unknown Wiebe had to sting. Despite Wiebe's score being discredited, it only fuels Wiebe's commitment to crack the million point barrier on Mitchell's home turf of Florida, in front of all his critics... as Mitchell contemplates someone officially snatching his crown as the king of Kong...

The King Of Kong walks a fine line between reality and fiction, as Walter Day later called into question a number of things the documentary states as fact, with the storyline likely tinkered to be more entertaining in the edit. It's worth mentioning that Gordon's film is currently being reworked as a "true story" drama -- a film that will likely hit the emotional highs this documentary couldn't quite achieve. You spend the movie hoping for thrilling competitive battles and a final face-off between Mitchell and Wiebe, but real life just doesn't work like that. I suspect the fictionalized version of this story will be more fulfilling, though.

A case in point: geeky Mitchell protégé Brian Kuh, a top player of Donkey Kong who has never reached the fabled "Kill Screen" (where limitations of system memory means you dies on the last screen at a random time) tries to drum-up a crowd to see Wiebe reach that stage... and gets very little reaction. It begged the question: are only the top players of Donkey Kong actually bothered about who's numero uno? The fictionalized remake will doubtless find Kuh amassing a huge crowd of square-eyed geeks, salivating behind Wiebe's shoulder. But "henchman" Kuh -- keeping tabs on Wiebe's gaming, and relating his progress to Mitchell via payphone -- should need no tinkering!

Overall, this will primarily appeal to gamers or anyone with a geeky side that needs a scratch, but there's definitely a compelling "underdog vs. top dog" storyline that everyone can enjoy and get caught up in. I suspect the drama based on this documentary will be more crowd-pleasing and an easier watch, while the evolving nature of gaming means King Of Kong is already outdated (see the DVD extra's for a post-doc catch-up on Billy vs. Steve's battle, or the Twin Galaxies website for the latest scores.) While Seth Gordon's documentary never attains greatness, it's an intriguing glimpse into a little-known world that got me psyched to test my own skill against the barrel-rolling ape...

Game over.


Picturehouse
79 minutes
www.billyvssteve.com

PS3: a blu-ray of sunshine

I have taken the plunge and bought myself a Playstation 3. That's what happens when you buy a HD TV, you develop this craving to actually watch stuff in HD. So, £280 bought me the 40GB version of the PS3 -- which basically means you only get 2 USB ports, no card drive, and no backwards compatibility with PS2 games. None of that matters to me in the slightest, so it was a good buy and saved me £50.

Strangely, I'm not going to use it to play games. I just don't play games nowadays. I hit some kind of block when I was 24 and now can’t summon enthusiasm for anything without the word "Mario" in the title. I got the PS3 purely for playing blu-rays, as it's still the cheapest player on the block, now supports DTS sound, and is good quality.

But while the blu-ray thing is great, I'm actually more excited about the fact the PS3 can play AVI, MP3, WMA, JPEG and GIF files. Yes, by connecting my external HDD, I can now watch a tonne of TV shows and music ordinarily only viewable/listenable on my PC. And you have no idea how fantastic that is. A sizeable chunk of things I watch is seen on a monitor, so it's brilliant to be back in a more comfortable living room, on a soft sofa, watching a 37" TV. Bliss. The quality is also far, far better than my monitor.

The funny thing is, I had no idea the PS3 even did this. Did you? When I connected my external HDD to a friend's PS3 out of curiosity, it didn't recognize any files. But it turns out you have to press "triangle" if that happens, and choose "Display All" -- et voila! Files! Sony should advertise this, as there are a lot of people still tied to their PCs or laboriously connecting laptops to TVs, who might be persuaded to get a PS3 because of this feature alone. Surely. I would have bought one sooner, had I known.

I'm happy anyway. The hi-def experience has arrived for me.

Mario, Me & The Wii

If there's one topic that makes me feel like an old fart, it's computer games. At 29 years of age, I've grown-up with computers my entire life. Between the ages of 4 and 11, I played on a VIC-20, Commodore 64, Amiga, Gameboy and NES. From 12-19, I moved onto a Super Nintendo, Playstation and Playstation 2. But, after leaving my teenage years and heading into my twenties, the internet and using computers for "serious work" (like, er, blogging) became more interesting to me...

I was tempted to get a Nintendo Wii last year (the future came early with its motion-sensitive remotes), and the Blu-Ray capabilities of the Playstation 3 might earn itself a purchase soon (if the price drops below £200). But, other than buying a £30 GameCube off Ebay a few years back, and receiving a ("non-Lite") Nintendo DS as a Christmas gift, my gaming life is practically dormant now.

But I have a weird connection to that lil' plumber Mario. The sole reason I got a DS was to play the brilliant old-school Super Mario Brothers game (no 3-D tosh, just side-scrolling coolness), and I also snapped up Super Mario Kart DS. Meanwhile, my GameCube basically became an arcade machine for Super Mario Kart: Double Dash.

I just love Mario. It's a childhood thing fuelled by nostalgia. But only the classic-style games, mind. I never liked Mario-64's 3-D world, and Mario Sunshine on the GameCube was dreadful. The Wii's Super Mario Galaxy does look inventive and challengng, but I prefer my Mario simple.

That's why Mario Kart is so utterly, utterly brilliant. The graphics get better every incarnation, but it's essentially the SNES original with improvements. Mario Kart 64 was weak, but every update since then has been wonderful. Mind you, it's strange how the battle modes have never replicated the giddy experience of the SNES ones, but that could be because multi-player gaming isn't anything special these days. Remember when the SNES multi-tap (four players!?) seemed like nirvana?

Super Mario Kart Wii is out today in the UK! Yipppeee! You can ride around on motorbikes! You can do mid-air stunts! You can be super-sized with a mushroom! You can get a speed-boost if you hang around in another kart's slipstream! There are more courses, including classics ones! You can buy a special steering wheel (just £7 each)! But the best thing about it all must be the online experience. Yes, you can race against karters from around the world! Nintendo even have a ranking system, so you can try and become the best karter in your neighbourhood, country, continent, or even the world! How amazing is that?!

And relax. Okay, perhaps I'm a bit too exciting about this. I'm scaring myself now. This is "a kid's game" after all, and I'm pushing 30. But I have such fond memories of playing Mario Kart on the SNES in the 90s. It really was the Best Game Ever. It was also the only game my dad would want to play with me and my brothers. I'd often find him lingering around my SNES, ready to thrust a gamepad into my hands, with a two-word greeting: "battle mode?"

I don't have a Wii, so I can't get the latest Kart game, sadly. I'm tempted to buy a console just because Mario Kart Wii is out, but I can't justify it. They're still £180 (more with a game?) and it would become an expensive dust-collector in 6 months. If I was 12, Mario Kart Wii would be played to death every day after school -- but I'm an adult now.

I'd perhaps manage to play on it for an hour after work, but then I have stuff to do: ironing, cooking, cleaning, shopping, other tedium, etc. Yawn. I understand why some people have kids now; it’s so they can loiter around their toys and relive their youth...

Wii Will Rock You?

Nintendo's seventh generation console, previously codenamed Revolution but now known as Wii, blew away all the competition at the recent E3 Convention in Los Angeles. That's right, Nintendo's latest gizmo was the talk of the town ahead of Microsoft's XBOX 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 -- a thrashing that harked back to the early-90's and its Nintendo versus Sega duels for supremacy.

So why has Wii proven to be such an unexpected convention success? Well, the XBOX 360 and PS3 don't bring a new gaming experience to the table. Yes, both consoles produce prettier graphics and come "future-proofed" for high-definition televisions, with the PS3 even equipped with a BluRay player, but beyond that it's just more of the same...

But Wii takes it to a different level. Nintendo's dinky system may be outclassed technically, but its visuals are still better than the GameCube (and not much behind PS3/XBOX 360, unless you're being snobbish). But -- and here's the crucial thing -- the Wii is a far more immersive console for your gaming experience. Why? Welcome to the Wiimote...

The Wiimote is how players interact with the Wii. Essentially, forget your gamepad (although standard pads will be available), because Nintendo have created a "nunchuk" design that can sense its position in 3D space through dozens of hidden sensors.

What does this mean exactly? Allow me to elaborate. Imagine playing a tennis game, but where you can actually use the Wiimote as a substitute racket! Yes, that's right, you can now stand in your living room and play tennis (virtually). The same goes for any sports-based game! Swing your Wiimote to play baseball, golf, table-tennis... even go virtual fishing!


The Wiimote even has a degree of forced-feedback/vibration, and a small speaker for sound effects. Just imagine a Star Wars game on Wii where you can actual brandish your own virtual light saber complete with humming sound effects! The upcoming Zelda game also allows the Wiimote to be used as a bow -- with the "twang" of your arrows moving audibly from the Wiimote's speaker to your TV!

The possibilities are endless! First Person Shooters, sports games, platformers, beat 'em ups, flying/driving games... all will be revolutionised by this more immersive system.

This level of interaction is something you just won't get with the XBOX 360 or PS3 (despite the fact Sony have belatedly stolen Nintendo's idea by updating their PS3 controllers with similar sensors, but with underwhelming results.) Still, expect the PS4 to have a Wiimote-esque interface... sometime in... ooh, 2011?

In addition, the Wii will be much cheaper (the PS3 is expected to be £400, whereas the Wii will be nearer £150) and Nintendo are going to launch Virtual Console (an online area accessible by Wii, where you can download selected games from their back-catalogue of retro games -- fantastic news for fans of classic gaming). It also goes without saying that the Wii can play GameCube games and interface with any GC peripherals you bought -- so your money wasn't wasted!

Of course, there are downsides to Wii over its rivals. As I said, the graphics aren't as good (but not exactly terrible) and it won't play next-generation HD-DVD/BluRay discs. But for pure fun and a fresh perspective on gaming... the Wii is where it's at!

Still don't believe me? Then checkout the Wii trailer and join the revolution against Sony and Microsoft's stranglehold on the market... and return Nintendo to its rightful place!

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS.

If one thing was guaranteed to get me excited when I was younger it was playing Super Mario Brothers on my NES and Super Nintendo. My two younger brothers and I were addicted to the classic side-scrolling platformers; from Mario Brothers 1-3 on the NES, to the mighty Super Mario World on the SNES. Super Mario Land and Wario World on the Gameboy were also great games that ate up days of leisure time.

Of course, Mario went 3-dimensional with the release of Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64. I never bought the console, having been converted to Sony's Playstation, so never played the game myself. But it seemed to me there was just something fundamentally wrong with Mario in 3D worlds. It was as if Nintendo were just showing off the 3D capabilities of the N64, without realizing that the Mario formula was fine as it was.


My gaming habits waned in the late-90s, but I bought a Playstation 2 with a hope to reinvigorate my gaming life. It wasn't to be. I don’t think there was a single PS2 game that could eclipse the memories of the NES/SNES days. Maybe I was just getting older, but even adult titles like Resident Evil never gave me the sense of fun I associate with video-games…

Then, a year ago, I saw a friend playing Mario Kart Double Dash on their Gamecube and realized there had been a Mario-shaped hole in my life for ten years! A huge wave of nostalgia kicked hit me like a tsunami and I bought myself a Gamecube off Ebay – purely to play Mario Kart DD! I was very impressed with how the game-play hadn't been sacrificed for snazzy graphics. However, I was massively disappointed with Super Mario Sunshine; those sprawling 3D worlds were still too slow and difficult to explore, therefore losing the adrenaline rush and simple fun of retro Mario.


So is this leading anywhere, I hear you cry? Yes, it certainly is! You see, it seems Nintendo now share my nostalgia for old-school Mario, as they are about to release New Super Mario Bros for the handheld Nintendo DS! That's right, a brand new side-scrolling Mario platform game with new levels, baddies and power-ups! This is pure gaming nirvana! The levels are all basically 2D, but with 3D characters and stacks of new moves to master. The graphics are what you'd expect if the N64 ever did a 2D Mario game instead of 3D, so the quality is great for a handheld device.

You can check out some fantastic Flash clips of the game here. I think you'll share my enthusiasm after viewing! Check out the giant Super Mario stomp those pipes! Of course, the only downside is that I don't own a Nintendo DS.

Mind you, I didn’t own a Gamecube until my second wave of Mario Kart mania hit me, so I wonder if Ebay has any going cheap…

VIDEO-GAME MOVIE ADAPTATIONS - Super Mario to Silent Hill

If there is one genre that divides audiences it's the movie adaptation of successful video-games. Computer games are designed to be addictive and offer players immediate visceral thrills, but translating a thrilling game into a great movie is something that has never quite been achieved.

With the release of Silent Hill looming, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at all the movies that started life as pixels on computer screens...

The genre began life not too long ago, with Super Mario Bros. (1993). Nintendo's plumber mascot Mario and brother Luigi are still the quintessential figureheads for gaming culture, despite Nintendo taking a battering in the gaming market ever since the Playstation replaced the Super Nintendo as the must-own gaming machine. But, back in '93, Mario ruled the world.

It was perhaps fitting that the diminuitive plumber take the first dive into movie territory, but it unfortunately resulted in a turgid mess. The plot behind the Mario games is difficult to adapt, or even make sense of, but the movie does an interesting job of presenting is with Dinohatten (a Manhatten in a parallel universe where dinosaurs never became extinct). Mario and Luigi, played by Bob Hoskins (good) and John Leguizamo (bad) cross over into Dinohatten to rescue their archaeologist friend Daisy (Samantha Mathis).

To be fair, the movie did an interesting job of providing a half-decent premise for the movie, but it was just too dark and unexciting for audiences expecting something fast-paced and colourful like the games. Still, Hoskins was well-cast as the moustachiod Italian, there are a number of neat injokes (watch out for the Nintendo SuperScope!) and Dennis Hopper chews the scenery as King Koopa.

Super Mario Bros. took just $20 million at the U.S box-office and is considered a massive turkey in film history, although it does have a loyal cult following.

A year later, in 1994, the video game that had been dominating the world for the past few years was given its own movie spin-off. Street Fighter: The Movie was the perfect choice for a movie adaptation because films already existed that were structured around various fighters competing in world tournaments. The Street Figher II game itself had detailed plots and histories for all its characters, and plenty of iconic images and fighting moves that would be fantastic to see performed in live-action.

However, the movie just got it all wrong. The creators chose to ignore the game's complex backstories and, perhaps for budgetary reasons, ignored many of the game's special moves and more challening characters. So, we never saw a Blanka with green skin electrocuting people, or Dhalsim stretching his limbs like Stretch Armstrong. Hey, we didn't even get a f*cking fireball from Ryu or Ken! Very poor stuff. Why was Jean Claude Van Damme playing Guile, when Ryu should have been the lead? Why was the great Raul Julia subjected to the indignity of playing villain Bison for this, his last ever screen role! Oh, the injustice!

Street Figher did marginally better than Mario, with a $33 million take at the U.S box office, but failed to entice general audiences and angered fans who expected so much more.

Further salt was rubbed into the wound with the 1994 release of Double Dragon, a classic side-scrolling beat 'em up translated as a bad movie starring Mark Dacascos. It took a paltry $2 million and is best forgotten.

A year later, the genre finally had its first success story with the release of Mortal Kombat, from British director Paul W.S Anderson. The key to Mortal Kombat's success was obvious. It treated the game with respect and gave fans what they wanted -- lots of martial arts and special-effects. While the movie wasn't as blood-spattered as the infamous game (no spines being ripped out, etc) it had a style that retained the game's creepy atmosphere. Kombat took a very impressive $70 million.

Two years later in 1997, a sequel was released entitled Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. However, while the general sensibilities of the original was kept, the plot and additional characters were more uninteresting. The lower budget also meant it couldn't compete with its own ambition. MK:A took $35 million, half that of the original.

Wing Commander (1999) continued the downward trend, starring Freddie Prinze Jr and Matthew Lillard. The movie had a ridiculously low budget that couldn't create a compelling atmosphere and was panned by critics and fans alike. It recouped a pathetic $11 million at the box-office.

An interesting twist occurred in 2001 with the release of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. This was a movie based on the successful series of Final Fantasy games, but differed from its movie predecessors because this was animated using CGI. Essentially, this meant the entire film felt like a big-budget Full-Motion Video (FMV) that usually bridges levels in games. The film was trumpeted as having photo-realistic CGI humans, but despite its impressive effects, the plot and characters were poor and ill-conceived. Final Fantasy took just $32 million.

Another iconic character bowed onto the silver screen in 2001 -- Lara Croft, the British archaelogist who had seemingly inherited the gaming icon crown from Mario and Co. since the birth of the Playstation generation. Angelina Jolie (a true movie star!) took the lead in a frothy adventure that boasted some entertaining sequences, but nothing else. But, strong marketing and character appeal ensures Tomb Raider became the first blockbuster movie adaptation of a video-game with an impressive haul of $131 million!

Writer-director Paul W.S Anderson returned to the genre after the success of his Mortal Kombat, with another property that seemed perfect for movies -- Resident Evil (2002). This time the game itself had been inspired by zombie movies, so the movie was an easy adaptation. However, Anderson put his own stamp on the property and used the game only as a reference point, meaning hardcore fans of Resident Evil were very disappointed. The lack of scares was also a contribution to Evil's failure, for while the game was infamously terrifying to play, Anderson's movie had more sci-fi action than horror tension. However, it managed to scare up $40 million which wasn't to be sniffed at.

Lara Croft returned in 2003 with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle Of Life, from director Jan De Bont (Speed). Sadly, audiences were tiring of the Lara Croft brand, so the sequel was a massive failure -- taking just $65 million, less than half the original.

Notably bad director Uwe Boll released House Of The Dead (2003) to total apathy. The movie was a prequel to the game (where players had to shoot creatures with a light-gun). However, the film did sell on DVD and made back $10 million.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) continued the franchise, again written by Paul W.S Anderson. Despite even worse reviews than the original, the sequel actually made more money ($51 million), perhaps because it featured more direct links to the games.

Uwe Boll returned after the panning of House Of The Dead, with an adaptation of Alone In The Dark (2005). Starring Christian Slater, the movie works as a sequel to the last game, but is most notable for receiving two Golden Raspberry awards for Worst Director and Worst Actress for Tara Reid. It made a pathetic $5 million.

Now in 2006, we have just seen the release of Doom with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Karl Urban. Doom was a classic game of its era, but many people felt the film was ten years too late. Despite this, it is reasonably enjoyable and contains an impressive sequence where the camera suddenly becomes the moving POV of a soldier in true First Person Shooter game-style. Doom made a poor $20 million at the box-office.

Refusing to go away, director Uwe Boll returned after the flops of his other movie adaptation with Bloodrayne. This vampire movie starred Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3) in the titular role, but was critically savaged upon release. It made a truly woeful $2 million at the box-office!

And this brings us to the latest adaptation -- Silent Hill. Another adaptation based on a horror game similar to Resident Evil. However, Silent Hill is directed by talented filmmaker Christopher Gans (Brotherhood Of The Wolf) and written by Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction). Despite its pedigree, reviews have been very mixed.

So there you have it. There are quite a few films in the new genre after just 13 years, but very few successes. And even the successes like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider aren't considered "good films". It seems the genre is still the domain of untalented hacks who think directing and writing films based on video-games is easy because the premise and characters are ready-made. But it's not that simple.

Video games have plots, whereas films need narrative. Put another way, lots of cool events and sequences can be strung together to make the plot of a game... but a film needs a narrative to bring these moments together into a cohesive and emotional whole with watchable characters. So far, no adaptation has achieved this this... but that's not to say it's impossible.

Particularly as the worlds of movies and games continue to grow closer in style...

Coming soon for fans of the genre: Mortal Kombat: Devastation will try and duplicate the success of the original, Vin Diesel is perfectly cast as Hitman, The Rock returns to the genre as Spy Hunter, supernatural action hero Dante makes his big-screen debut in Devil May Cry, Lord Of The Rings' Peter Jackson oversees the creation of Halo, Prince Of Persia becomes an adventure movie, Quake tries not to make the same Doom-sized mistakes, the espionage game Splinter Cell hits the screen, Tekken is another fight tournament movie hoping to succeed where Street Fighter failed, and Resident Evil: Extinction continues the strangely successful series.