How an electronics leader such as Sony can have fallen from grace over the years is beyond me. Lemme rephrase it, it is simply a failure on their part to forsee the future and capitalize on emerging trends. CD player murdered by the MP3 player. More specifically, murdered by the Ipod. The CD player is not dead just yet but as more and more automakers and automobile aftermarket parts maker begin to shift away from in dash multidisk changers in favor of MP3 player docks, again more specifically Ipod docks and other MP3 player variants, you will see the eventual demise of the CD player as a primary or even secondary media player. Instead it will fall to the wayside as a media delivery tool until something much better than the optical drive emerges. And no, solid state memory will not be that mdia delivery tool for those wondering. If I were the electronics giant Sony, with all my divisions and businesses and seemingly bottomless money purse, I would begin making convergence devices that combine its combined strengths. More to the point I would combine the Walkman/Diskman brand, Playstation brand,Bravia brand and Erricson brand. It would seem as if it would be a nobrainer to combine the awesomeness of the Bravia television brand with a built in Playstation 3. The Bravia branded televisions are some of the best performing and looking flat panel televisions out there and combining them with the solution of a build in, full featured (think first generation hardware PS3 with full backward compatibility) PS3 (BD drive included) and my friends you have a legitimate reason for people to seriously go buy a large expensive television, expensive Blue Ray movies and expensive Blue Ray PS3 titles. Am I the only person to see the logic in a move like this? Flat panel television prices steadlily come down and yet, even thought the tv's are still expensive, people are still going out and buying them. When they get to the point where they are no more expensive than standard definition CRT's, what harm could adding more value to them by releasing a much more featured set that costs what current flat tv's cost. I own nothing Sony and never have but I would buy a Bravia PS3 version TV as it would save me the need to buy more devices to clutter up my entertainemnt area. Now lets talk portable devices. The easiest way to spur sales of these devices is to combine features/ The Erricson line of phones is solid and pretty good when it comes to quality. But when compared to its competitors it pales in comparison in terms of features, design and functionality. Instead of just making redesigned and more powerful phones which cannot hope to stand up to the behemoths such as LG, Nokia, Motorola, etc., why not seriously merge two of their best know brans into one and advertise the hell out of them; I am of course talking about merging the Erricson and Diskman. The Erricson Diskman or whatever sony calls their MP3 players would be an instant threat to any music phone. If you take it one step further and include the very small success that is the PSP and incorporate it into the design you have a superthreat to all portable devices. People have shown that they are not to concerned with the size of their media devices so long as you pack tons of features into the smallest form factor you can. The N-Gage failed primarily because it tried to do something it was il-equiped to do, namely portable gaming. Their is no future/profit to be had in cell phone games when there are much better alternatives such as the DS for gaming and a cell phone such as the Iphone for music and phone. Imagine if the Iphone had screens on both sides and opened up like a DS and played DS games? You could take the previous size of a DS, which was not at all to large, smooth it out, add phone capabilities and media playback (lets not forget capacity for storing the music/movies) and you have a device that is what everybody wants. I see the demise of their position as a world leader in electronics without clear vision.

Lots of people would have you believe that gaming in Japan is not relavent in the grand scheme of things since more games are sold in the US. For the past year I have been following closely the developments of several games and the state of game hardware sales and have come to the following conclusion. It should be noted that I have had the opportunity to live in Japan for the past year. My conclusion is as follows: If a game does well in Japan, it probably will do well in all other territories. A systems spec sheet does not make a system a best seller, innovation and fun do. Any kind of game, with the right amount of development time and care, can work on any system, don't beleive me, look at all the top selling titles on each system and while there are games that sell huge initially, their sales fall off dramatically after the first month or two while conversely, games just as great on systems that supposedly do not matter in the grand scheme of huge hardware specs sell very very well over time and eventually sell more units than titles with bigger marketing push (looking at Halo vs. lots of other franchises). My conclusion is simply this, games that are fun and innovative sell systems, and such innovation can often be found integral with some systems more so than others.

So the house that Sonic built is contemplating bringing Nights into Dreams to the VC. As excited about this prospect as I am, my response to the rumor is WHO CARES! Anybody that wanted to play that game all those years ago already played it and I can guarantee that they kept it in their closets with a still functioning Saturn. I guess this company does not fully understand how to make money anymore like they did in the Genesis era. This is a company that very nearly brought the biggest and baddest of all gaming companies to its knees, I am refering to Nintendo of course, in the late 80's early 90's. Somebody should remind them that it is about the games, something it appeared they had learned with the Dreamcast, and yet they still failed to capitalize on the success of launching ahead of the competition. They may wanna flex their creative muscles and creat all new great IP's but without money, whats the point. I guess what I am trying to get at here is simply this, if they wanna ever even dream of returning to the greatness they once had they need to stop being so stupid and go after the millions of fans they abandoned so many times. And go after them with a vengeance. Night's on the Wii VC will be a good start but what they really should do, while the time is right, is develop a sequel to that game using the innovative controller like the Wiimote that only makes sense. Anybody that wanted to play that game, I guarantee, already has a copy and a working Saturn to play it on. What advice could a lowly gamer like me possibly have for Sega? SImple, develop some sequels to the games that made you the company you are today. And I do not mean develop a game that has the name of one of your old franchises (Project Altered Beast, PS2), how about an Altered Beast 2. How about a new vigilante game, heres an idea Streets of Rage, New York. Oh my god, even a Mystic Defender 2 would be awesome. Hey now, Last Battle 2 would even be welcome. Oh boy, here is an idea, how about making a sequel to the Grandaddy of all RTS games, I of course am speaking of Herzog Zwei. Seriously, who comes up with the ideas for games from that company? By not making sequels to games that should have had sequels, you simply alienate your fanbase. Oh crap, heres one ESWAT 2. I could go on naming hundreds of games from my memories of my golden era of gaming that I would buy, hell, anybody with fond memories of playing these games, would buy sequels for. Look at the crap that people buy sequels to these days, Spiderman 3 for gods sake. They continue to milk Virtua Fighter and Sonic but neglect the rest. Heres a given fighting game that deserved many a sequel, Fighting Vipers. Another fihting game from their past that would have excellent value today if updated to todays 3D standard would be Eternal Champions. They game Shinobi new life a few years ago and where is he now, long since forgotten because of a lack of a sequel. And his return was short lived because when his main competitor came back they hid that series away like a scare ddog. I am of course talking Ninja Gaiden. I remember a time when Shinobi would have slapped the **** out of that series with a sequel that would bury all the competition and leave the fans salivating like Pavlovs dog wanting more. Hell, there are even more than a dozen games for the Saturn and Dreamcast that a few sequels would make them the respected game company they once were. They need only look to companies they once fought fiercly with to know that sequels do sell. Companies like EA, Nintendo, Capcom, Tecmo, Namco, etc. I don't know if I can take much more neglect from this company and still remain a loyal fan.

  So here we are, two full months removed from Christmas holiday shopping beginning tax preparation season, and time to buy things you may have missd out in during the holidays due to not being in stock. It has been a common occurance since January to walk into a store and see PS3's on the shelf for purchase in limited numbers, Wii's, being scarce, and 360's being very abundant. Now, I only noticed this this week, PS3's are available for purchase online for the first time withou having to be purchased as a part of a bundle. I thought to myself that this is awesome for me. Then in typical fashion I began looking at the angle and pondered, this may spell trouble for the Sony company. Its a given that American consumers with disposable income will buy one if they see one on a shelf, in regards to electronics buying we tend to be mindless sheep that find shiny new toys irresistable. At the same time, looking at its competition and its continued availability issues and continued lining up of consumers trying to get a Wii, this may spell out a bigger issue for the Playstation company. While it is true that people with disposable income will purchase a PS3, how will the general American consumer, I.S. the holiday shopper and bargain shopper, reactto this abundance? I am guessing that unless PS3 has some super stellar, exclusive, titles in the works for the notoriously slow period of game sales between the yearly holiday spending spree most consumers participate in, their sales will be very soft this spring, summer and early fall. Its a given that when I allign my moneys correctly I will be buying one but not for the reason most of the Playstation faithful will be buying one. I never owned a PS2 so I always played other peples PS2's and I see this as a golden opportunity for me to get the shiny new machine and puchase CHEAP new and used PS2 and Playstation games I never played but always wanted to. I will probably only buy the must have PS3 games when they become available because I am not a big fan of te new game prices, so used games will be a norm for me. Also, I am not gonna purchase any HD DVD or Blue Ray movies as I donot have a HDTV nor will I until prices for the TV's come way down and the prices for the new media formats come down to normal, current DVD prices. And I am sure the average American will be very slow to adopt the new format of DVD also when they can get a perfectly good, very high quallity, super clear clarity, standard and widescreen DVD for 20 dollars or less, new. And I still refuse to purchase a Xbox 360 until the backwards compatibiluy issue has been solved in its entirety. My Xbox was a huge investmentn in my entertainment so I will not be getting rid of any of the games and will never purchase a360 until I can play all my games from my Xbox on it. Then there is the Wii. I am not a huge fan of the soft looking lineup of games from 3rd party developers yet but the 1st party titles look and play amazingly, which is why that will be my system of choice, plus it plays all my Gamecube games, another significant investment in my entertainment, which is a selling point for me. All the unique features of the system, motion sensing, WiiConnect 24, are just added bonuses for me. And this machine seems to be the heir apparent to the Playstation, not PS2, era or popularity as it price point, uniqueness, and general fun to play focus point are gonna be hard to beat. And if anybody quotes the US sales figures of the 360 as gospel or a reference point then obviously they are not real game trend researchers. In its initial two months to market it appears to have sold, not shipped, 2 million units. Which means they are well near their goal of having the 4 millin sold in their own self imposed time frame. Which will also be nearly half the amount of 360 units SOLD, not shipped, worldwide. That means that even with all its fancy gadgetry built in, the 360 has a real chance of being the other console come this holiday season while the PS3 and Wii rule the roost. I say PS3 because come the next holiday season of sales, their manufacturing process will be fully operational and their immense brand popularity and loyalty will once again see them atop of the sales charts when compared to their competitors. Plus, as I am living in Japan, I can see first hand that the 360, is not a very popular machine and will never really take off here no matter how much money they spend on it. So, thats my two cents of the recent abundance of available PS3's, the Wii's eventual beating of the 360, and the 360 needing to kick itself in =to high gear to keep up.

There have been firmware updates left and right for home consoles and the PSP. My big question has to be this, now that the Wii has received its first firmware update, how long will it be before the DS gets one as it no doubtedly will need one for the eventual connection between it and the Wii as has been promised. As a DS owner I am a little curious as to when I should expect it.

I am all for women in every industry as they oftentimes have very good ideas and imagination that guys lack. But at the same time I hate to hear the long drawn out lectures, which I often consider whining, about how it is more difficult for them to balance family with career. I would never tell a woman she could not have a family or a career but is it really up to the employer to help the individual out in striking a balance? Lets face it, at some point a choice will have to be made in regards to what is most important and it is up to an individual to sort through his/her own issues based on their individual needs. If you make concessions for one gender then it will be seen as unfair by the other. In my profession, which is military, oftentimes women will not be liked by the men as they get privileges that guys will not, which is understandable because of physical limitations and special circumstances such as child birth. But is it fair to include them in a military workforce knowing that there will come a time when they will not be able to perform the same duties as a guy? In my opinion no because they are not held to the same standard as their male counterpart. Can a female do the job a male can yes. A guy may not have to sacrifice the same thing as a female, but he does make a sacrifice which is just as important such as time spent with his family, a personal life, health. At what point does it become equal? In my own opinion, which does not speak for anyone else, women need to strike their own balance and depend less on the employer to find a balance for them as it is not a fair thing to their male counterparts.