Couple of quick things on my mind today;
-Gas Prices. They're incredibly high again. Meanwhile oil companies are having skyrocketing profits. Does anyone other than me see these two things and not wonder what the hell is going on? I've heard that some people are pushing for probes into price fixing, and I fully support this. Hell, I even believe some of the politicians (some, not all) that claim they are trying to help. Even greedy bastards don't like to see the economy suffer. That is, unless you're one of the greedy bastards from this current administration with powerful ties to Big Oil, who are probably a large reason as for why Exxon and pals are rolling in the green.
- As a gamer, I'm a little nervous about all this talk to disband FEMA and make something better. Once I hear that Walton Simons is appointed leader, I'm running for the hills (+1 if you get the joke. Classic, classic game right there folks).
- Am I the only one who thinks that this new Coalition of Canadian artists against DRM is nothing more than a publicity stunt? Look at the list of artists who support it, and tell me they are more than just talking heads. When Avril lets people buy her new album with no copy protection, then I'll believe that this is legit.
- If you haven't heard, Nintendo has given us the official name for the Revolution. Its now called the Wii, pronounced "we". I suppose I'll join the rest of the Internet trolls in saying I don't like it, though not becasue "omfg! itsl ike sooO gay!!" In fact, I find that the name makes a lot of sense considering Nintendo's vision for the console. My problem with it stems from two things
1) The Revolution was a badass name. It had balls to it, and it was obvious from the get go just what this system was all about. I suppose Nintendo was a bit afraid that calling it the Revolution meant that they really had to step up to the plate, but the fact that it calls up much more potent imagery than Wii makes it a better name in my opinion.
2) Console names generally suck, and they don't always tell you what you're getting, but one of the key aspects of most names is that they're unique in the context of electronics. There's no device you're going to confuse with the Xbox or the Playstation in your home theatre. Saturn may be a car company, but in the land of gizmos and gadgets it was another unique name. Same for Gamecube, Dreamcast, Genesis etc.
But the Wii? If I told someone I was about to go play with my Wii they wouldn't know what I was talking about (or they'd think I was going to go masturbate). While the name fits the vision, it cannot stand out at all when it is pronounced like one of the most common words in the English language. I'm very curious to see the opinions of the non-Internet public about this name. Either it is really brilliant or really silly.
2 comments:
I'd have to say I definitely disagree with you on the Canadian Music Coalition.
Your argument based on Avril, however, is uncontestable and I cannot contest that :-)
In reality, however, I am really of the opinion that the majority of artists have this opinion (Metallica included - they got such a bad rap back in the Napster days). It really bothers me that the Recording Industry big-wigs claim to be protecting artists' rights when they are entirly in it for the almighty dollar.
You should have heard Shinedown on 98 Rock yesterday talking about why they don't do music videos. They said that when they make a music video it costs the record company about $300k, and they have to sell about 5 million records to make enough money to pay the record company back.
It is widely known that recording contracts are largely skewed in favor of the monoliths that write them, I just didn't know how bad.
And so what if its a publicity stunt? The message is absolutely correct. Who cares if Avril sells a few more records because people think she has a soul.
Its all well and good if the "message" gets out, but that means little to me unless something comes of it. If a bunch of stars who really don't care say a couple of words against this issue and no one pays attention, then what's the point? Meanwhile if they make bolde statements with their music and albums, then I'll believe them.
I'm just remaining skeptical until I see something come of it.
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