Yuumoushin.com (勇猛心)

Looking for something to do on the cheap in Vegas? Check out The Drive. It’s ten bucks and you get two rides. You can (a) drive one of the sportier cars (I would suggest not doing this because they don’t let you shift higher than 2nd gear, although they do let you floor it and zoom around the track pretty quickly); (b) drive one of the Hummers on a special course, designed to show you just how functional those things are. I recommend option (b), and I recommend doing it twice – once in the H3 and once in the H2. Man, it was cool and friends ride free so if you go in a group (like we did) you can cruise with each other over the different tracks. Mark’s had plenty of experience driving H2s so he opted to use his two rides on sports cars. Jeremy drove the Corvette and the H3. I went with the Saturn Sky and the H2. I have to give it to GM, what a great way to market your rides. And I will also say this – the Hummer series is DOPE, but only if you use it as it was intended: as an off road vehicle with an AMAZINGLY low center of gravity. It’s a waste to supe it up and stroll around town with extra thin rims. Just one man’s opinion. Here are some pics:

The stratosphere in the background


The off road course



Mark, Jeremy and I in front of one of the display cars

Looks like the games for the PS3 are going to run 75+ dollars when the system launches later this year in Japan. You’ve got to be kidding me. Japan will pay the premium, but if this doesn’t fall by the time the system hits the U.S., I think there’s going to be some serious backlash (1/4 of Sony’s global game related sales are from Japan so perhaps they don’t care too much). Here’s the post from the article I found:

A report on Japanese website Impress Watch indicates that games for the Playstation 3 may be significantly higher than titles for the Playstation 2 or competing consoles Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. While official pricing has not been announced yet, the site quotes “multiple” sources who put game pricing in the range of 8800 to 9800 Yen – or $75 to $84. The reason for the price hike: Rising development cost, according to Impress Watch.

So far, the increase appears to be limited to Japan; U.S. retailers such as EB Games list game prices of about $60 on their PS3 preview pages.

Of course there will be a core group of people who buy the system at the U.S. launch – the hardcore gamers (with a lot of disposable income). The same people sat in line for hours last year and paid a HUGE premium for the XBox360. That was more of a supply/demand issue, which eventually worked itself out. What about Sony’s situation? They’ve already said there’s going to be a shortage, so what can we expect, 3000 dollars for a new Sony system? I’m really interested in seeing how this pans out.

I’m not the only one writing about Sony. Engadget posted this article, which brings together quite a few different news bits relating to the PS3. If you have some time, check them out.

If you are someone who loves to spend tons of cash on games, despite having better alternatives out there (i.e., a dope stereo system), check out this speaker setup for the PSP. Damn, you could really thump with that.

And to change it up a bit, here are some pics I took of the strip (this place has changed a lot).

The Venetian


The Fashion Show Mall


The outdoor promenade of the Fashion Show Mall


The Treasure Island’s Pirate Ship (The hotel now goes by the moniker “TI”)

Another interesting article regarding Sony’s PS3. I’ve been talking about this a lot lately, but what can I say, I’m a video game fan who’s interested in seeing how all this plays out. A friend of mine gave me some interesting figures regarding per-unit loss Sony is expecting with the new system. When he sends me that information, I’ll post it.

In other news – despite my previous rants regarding Vegas, I’ve been having a pretty good time catching up with friends, seeing my family, watching movies (what I missed while working in Japan this summer); basically just chilling before school starts next week. One SLIGHT problem, however – last night, while on my way to see Mystere (Cirque du Soleil), my car jerked suddenly, and I started hearing a strange clanking sound in one of my gears. I assumed, at first, it was the clutch starting to slip (something I’ve been expecting), but after a bit more driving, I realized it was my transmission. I dropped my car off at the shop this morning, and my assumptions were confirmed: transmission is shot and I need a new one. Downside, I am in Vegas so I’ll be missing a couple of days of school since they probably won’t finish with it until next Thursday. Also, it’s going to run me about 1500 dollars. Ouch. Upside: as I mentioned, I was going to need a new clutch soon so now that they’re going to pull everything out of the car, I only have to pay for the parts. And I get to spend more time with my mom and brother. Never a bad thing. Oh well, shit happens, right? Just one of life’s little bumps.

Maybe it’s just a temporary trend, but it seems like cars are getting smaller. Cars that are very popular in Japan (small, fast, functional and amazingly roomy) are now quite common in the U.S. (Prius, Fit, etc.), which is nice to see. Toyota just keeps rolling them out, too. How much longer before they become the world’s definitive number 1? During the earlier part of the summer, when I was still in Japan, I saw a news report on water powered cars. Still very experimental, but in an attempt to test them and market them at the same time, one of the prefectures uses a few for official business. I wonder how practical something like this is. In my opinion, biodiesel seems to be the way to go, at least in the short term. Even more so than hybrids (I still wonder whether the associated “benefits” outweight the costs of having a huge battery in your car, but I’ve heard arguments from both sides). Regarding biodiesel and its short term potential, the biggest plus is that the current technology can handle the “bio” fuel – no upgrades to your car needed. The only real issue is availability and access; it’s far too limited and a lot of companies will void warranties if people use the alternative fuel. Where are the incentives then?

While not related to the PSP or PS3, looks like Sony has more issues to deal with. I still think their brand is solid, and who can argue with their design features? If anyone wants to argue this point with me, visit the Sony Plaza in Tokyo first, and then we’ll chat (the functionality of their products is just amazing). The problem lies within their lack of support for other formats (something I’ve mentioned before).

Assuming Sony actually releases it’s newest system as planned, here is my prediction for 3rd generation consoles (in terms of market share).

1. MS
2. Nintendo
3. Sony

MS had the “first to market” advantage, and while there were supply issues last year, I bet that’s not an issue this holiday shopping system. They also have a few games in the line-up which look phenomenal. Not that Sony doesn’t have comparable “fun factor” games, but 700 dollars for a system that includes a technology (blu-ray) which isn’t proven and is still very very expensive just isn’t going to fly. I could buy an Xbox360 and a Wii for the same price as one PS3. When you consider the timing of the PS2′s release, DVD technology was already on the market for a few years and it was relatively cheap. But blu-ray is expensive, and the current market battle feels a lot like the beta-vhs battle from back in the day. I think Sony is making a huge gamble, and while the Sony brand is still hot, I think they’ve dropped a bit in recent years (mostly as a result of their root kit, DRM music issues, etc.).

And once again, I think Nintendo is going to be the better system. I’ve said this time and time again, but it’s all about playability.

Wii–pronounced “we” and meant to conjure the idea of fun for everyone–will be going head-to-head against PlayStation 3, the upgrade from industry leader Sony, to woo game fans during holiday shopping.

“We want to propose a new lifestyle with Wii,” Iwata said. “We want everyone in the family to play with it everyday.”

Wii is considerably cheaper than PlayStation 3, set to sell for $499 and $599, depending on the features, and 59,800 yen in Japan.

More critically, PlayStation 3, initially planned for earlier this year, has been postponed twice. The decision to delay PlayStation 3 in Europe for four months until March was announced last week.

Plans were unchanged for US and Japan sales, but far fewer consoles are expected to be available at the launch, with about 400,000 PlayStation 3 machines when they go on sale in the US Nov. 17, and 100,000 on the Nov. 11 Japan launch date.

In a demonstration Thursday, Nintendo showed Wii will come with an Internet browser, and can be used to look at and edit digital photos on a TV monitor.

What they lack in “power,” they’re making up for with “fun.”

Wii can also be used to get weather forecasts and news reports, features that are meant to widen the machine’s appeal to people not used to games, Iwata said. Games for older Nintendo consoles will be offered as downloads, he said.

Another appeal of Wii is that users will be able to create their own game characters. Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto played a game of tennis on Wii with Japanese tennis star Ai Sugiyama, swinging the remote controller like a racket on the stage. And the characters playing tennis on the monitor were created to resemble Miyamoto and Sugiyama.

The handheld controller vibrates in time to the virtual racket hitting the ball, and the slapping sounds are also synchronized with the moves.

Nintendo says Wii, which offers easy-playing games, meant to appeal to people regardless of gender, age or skills, won’t be competing directly against PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 because Wii targets a different audience.

Another interesting article regarding Sony and Wii.