Malik
(9/12/11)
Football is crazy this
year. I mean the unexpected was accepted as a possibility to begin
with after the shortened pre-season and no real training camps.
Still, some things this weekend went beyond what anyone would
expect.
With the shorter kickoff
space, it was expected to see a lot more touchbacks. Not the case
from what I've seen. There were at least three kickoffs I know of
that were returned for touchdowns, including one at the starting
kickoff in the Vikings game yesterday, one in the Packers defeat of
the Saints, and one devastating one to start the defeat of the
Seahawks. I don't think the rule change will get rid of touchdowns
and attempts to return a kick for extra yards. In fact, three
touchdowns in the opening week of play says quite the opposite. I
don't think this is an effect of the rule change as much as a
consequence of the rule making returners feel like they need to
prove their worth under the new rule set.
It was also interesting
to see that some of the winners yesterday went well beyond
expectations. The Bills looked amazing when they beat the Chiefs by
a few dozen points. The Bears beat the living hell out of the
Falcons despite the Falcons looking like a far better team and the
Bears looking mediocre on paper. The Bengals looked pretty solid
(true, they did play the Browns) for being the supposed worst team
in some analyst's minds. The Steelers were flat-out horrible with
more than a half dozen turnovers, including three picks off of Big
Ben (which looks good since the Seahawks go to Pittsburgh next
week). The only powerhouse to fail that was expected was the Colts
since the Colts are Peyton Manning, and without Manning this is not
a team to put your money on.
In the end, all that
really mattered to me was the Seattle game. Despite knowing this
will be an ugly season (with T-Jack at the helm, can it be any
different?), I am going to watch each game until the end. I have to
say, despite thinking he could still do better than T-Jack, I am
glad Hasselbeck is not behind the Seattle O-line this year. With how
fragile the Seahawks were at defending T-Jack, I know Hasselbeck
would have been hauled off on a stretcher in the opening half.
Despite all the talk of making a better O-line for the last two
years, the line is no better (one might say it's worse) than it has
been before the Pete Carroll era began. You can argue that with
Gallery injured that the line will get better...but one man cannot
make that big of a difference when the entire line crumbled like a
stale cookie each and every down.
I see this continuing
for the entire season. It would be great to see Whitehurst get a
chance (never would have thought I'd say that last year), and it
will happen. However, Whitehurst will not come in until T-Jack is
injured...which is an eventual outcome when the O-line cannot keep
him protected for even two seconds. It also is an eventual reality
when T-Jack cannot understand that you don't get ten seconds to wait
for a receiver to open to throw to. You throw the ball or you get
the play over in some other way. You cannot just hold the ball and
wait for a sack or a fumble to happen. Also, despite what Carroll
and T-Jack may think, T-Jack is not agile enough to be a running QB...and
the NFL is no place for it anyway.
The only thing I can say
positive about the Seahawks after yesterday is that Earl Thomas is
still a beast and is, without a doubt, the best player Seattle has
on the field. Too bad we can't clone him and make an entire defense
out of one man...since the rest of the team, be it offense, defense,
or special teams, all looks like a middle tier college team.
Malik |
Malik
(9/14/11)
Here it is again...more
talk about how the 3DS is in big trouble. It's almost like the
worst situation has occurred from a few variables. You have a
business news world with no good news to report, who are hoping to
at least have mild good news in the paper to offset the complete
economical doom and gloom crap that we have been seeing non-stop
since three years ago. You also have a Nintendo item, which can
normally be count on to be a bright spot in the economics world,
looking weak out of the gate. Lastly, you have a nice blending of
short sighted opinions stated as facts and some blatantly ignorant
stereotypes.
Anyway, Nintendo
will be seeing a lot more 3DS sales in the near future. The price
cut in August will help, but the true marker of what will sell the
3DS is coming in about three months; some top tier games and the
holiday season colliding into a perfect no-lose situation for
Nintendo.
Anyway, if
Nintendo wants to boost sales, and I'm pretty sure they do (I say
entirely dead-pan), they just need a holiday season. It applies to
all game consoles. Any system launched off-season (especially
outside September through January) will look bad for it's first
quarter or two of sales. It also always helps that the best titles
are launched in time for the holiday season. I mean the 3DS is
without top class games and has been available only from February
(in Japan) through now. The best game on the system is a polished
port of a game that has already been seen on the N64, GCN, and Wii
in various formats. I'm talking about a Zelda that is about four
games out of the current world in terms of Zelda games...not
counting portable Zelda titles.
The big shift in
sales will come when we see the next Super Mario game (this fall), a
new Mario Kart (this fall), a solid multiplayer game (Star Fox
64...this month), and some fun games that don't make for a stressful
experience (Animal Crossing...and that one needs a solid release
date since it will sell the 3DS to casual gamers).
You also need for
some games that truly show that the 3D on the 3DS is optional and
can be turned off to play any of the titles, since many people have
reservations on 3D (hopefully in a sign that this trend will die
soon, much like 3D died off a few different times over the more than
a century of TV and movies that the world has been through). While
I, as a 3DS owner, have seen both the charm of 3D and how well a 3DS
game can play without the 3D slider turned on, Nintendo needs to
better advertise this option...and the best way would be for
Nintendo to release a top tier game without any 3D programmed on the
game. Nintendo has already said that 3D has to be optional (cannot
be required for a game to be licensed to the 3DS), but has also said
that they would have no problem making a game that didn't have any
3D. Why not show it in a hurry to help lay the fears of 3D avoiders
to rest?
On a final 3DS
thought...I love how Nintendo still thinks sales can be achieved
through different colors. Really, a pink 3DS to entice women? The
new red 3DS to show that the 3DS is exciting and young? If only
Nintendo would spend as much time and effort on their games as they
do looking at color swatches, we may see more than one and a half
new Zelda games per console generation.
Anyway, mark my
words. Come the end of the holiday season and we will see Nintendo
with solid sales on the 3DS. At the same time, if the Sony Vita
comes along around the first half of 2012, like it is looking, we'll
see the same stagnant sales for the Vita that we've supposedly have
seen for the 3DS. Off-season console launches are the best way to
frighten business analysts and investors in the game industry. Then,
after many months of talk about the Vita being a failure, Sony will
probably make a minor concession (a small price cut, or more likely
a bundled in game) in time for the holiday season, see better sales,
and call that non-fix the solution to their sales problems.
Malik |
Malik
(9/15/11)
Forget it! I think I was
wrong...to an extent, at least. When I've said repeatedly that the
3DS will do fine, I may have spoken too soon...or Nintendo spoke too
many times. I still feel the main problems for the 3DS came down to
no solid top tier games (but that will be solved in the next few
months as the holidays approach), and being released at the exact
wrong time of year in a bad world economy (about to be partially
rectified by the arrival of the holiday season). This still stands
true. Also, Nintendo needs to make it more evident to 3D haters that
the gimmick is just that...a nice little added gimmick but not a
requirement for the 3DS.
However, Nintendo
seems to be heading towards crazy town about right now.
I'm talking about their pre-TGS press conference (scroll down
the link a bit to find the Nintendo stuff). Nintendo is no longer
saying, or even implying, that the 3DS is a good machine but it
launched at the wrong time, with the wrong games, and with the wrong
price (honestly, the price was never as bad as they made it seem
with the drastic price drop in August). Now they are implying that
the 3DS is just flat out wrong.
How else can one
take that ridiculous looking extra analogue stick/nub accessory? It
looks bad. It will add cost to play some 3DS titles (if any require
it). It makes the 3DS bulkier for a potentially uncomfortable shape
in one's hands to use both analogue nubs and the face buttons. It
also says, without a doubt, that Nintendo is not happy with how they
designed the 3DS since it now, apparently in Nintendo's mind, has
too few input (controller/button) options.
I think Nintendo
has forgotten a few lessons on PR. If you want your company to do
good, never let your customers (or potential customers) see you
sweating. Never let them think you're uncertain about a product that
you are asking your target demographic to invest a large amount of
money in. Nintendo has gone against this simple PR rule a few too
many times in the last couple of months. First you said that the 3DS
would launch with the eStore and a web browser, but failed to
release these interfaces until a few months after the launch. Then
you said it was launched with a bad selection of games. Then you
said the price was wrong. Then you said that you can get a stronger
female audience with a pink 3DS (which, as a man, makes me wonder if
I'm out of touch or if this is sexism...seems like sexism to
me..."girls love pink things!"...). Now you seem to say that the
controller is not good enough and your audience should shell out
more money for an added analogue nub.
My free advice to
Nintendo; stop it! Just stop with this crap right now. You are in
business to make money and earn customer loyalty. You are not doing
so when you seem to imply every part of this product release was
done incorrectly. Just quit trying to improve how you look through
words, and instead take a good strong action. In this case, release
your new Mario game, the Mario Kart game, get Animal Crossing out
there before Christmas. Make sure a new Zelda is coming along for
the 3DS. Lastly, offer flash of some sort on the web browser or get
a Youtube app of some sort to make the web browser seem less
antiquated.
Simple enough,
Nintendo? I hope so because I have always felt that the $250 I paid
for a 3DS was a good investment for the future...but I am getting a
little uncertain after that analogue nub add-on crap. It's like you
are just admitting you messed up everything with the 3DS, and this
doesn't reward my loyalty as a Nintendo portable customer.
Also, if you want
a PR person who can give you a bit less of a messed up dysfunctional
image to your target audiences, I'd be happy to take on the job. I'm
sure I wouldn't be nearly as insane as your current PR and marketing
people.
Malik |
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