I’ve been giving a lot of thought to some of the new gaming consoles recently, specifically the PSP and the Xbox 360. And I already have some design ideas on how to improve them. Provided free of charge, below, are my design ideas.

PSP
The PSP is one damn cool handheld gaming wonder. Who would have thought something so small could pack such a punch. It plays games that look as good as it’s cousin, the PS2. It plays movies in widescreen, near-HD quality. Its memory card expansion makes it a versatile media player. I’ve already talked about the good and bad of the PSP and where it could be improved, from a software and infrastructure standpoint, but let me get to the one fatal flaw of the PSP.

It’s sucks to play games on it.

The PSP is a complete violation of “form meets function”. Whoever came up with the control layout must have had no bones in their hands and could stretch their fingers like Mr. Fantastic, because a normal human would have a bitch of a time playing games for any extended amount of time. I think this is why Lumines is so popular, because the limited button scheme allows people to do the one thing it was meant for them to do with it, that is actually play it. The D-Pad is at just the right height for comfortable control.

Now take a game like WipEout Pure. This game is awesome, but is suffers from poor placement of the buttons. The analog nub has its own problems. For instance, since the nub “floats” on the actual case of the PSP, heated gaming sessions cause resistance and make it feel “sticky”. In WipEout Pure, you have to push your thumb down to the analog nub while extending your index finger to the shoulder button. That’s just the left hand. The right hand sits up a little higher for the standard four-button layout. So in order to get some comfort, you have to tilt the PSP away from you, reducing visibility on the screen. And by doing this, you don’t have a great grip on the PSP itself, so you jeopardize losing your $250 investment because this thing wasn’t designed for humans. I use my white strap as insurance, but even then I have to pull it aside and tuck it in my right palm so it doesn’t get in the way of my grip. Ridge Racer controls much better, because you don’t have to constantly press both shoulder buttons. But try a platformer like Ape Escape, and the flaws become even more evident. Move the character with the analog nub on the left hand, action buttons with the right hand, and camera controls with the D-Pad and shoulder buttons. It’s an impossible task to maintain a manageable camera angle, and it’s enough to drive a circus performer mad.

So how can this be fixed? Nothing short of a complete redesign. First, the analog nub needs to be moved up, no question. And it can’t be a nub anymore; it has to be a stick. Not anything that would stick up much from the front of the console, but something that would provide lean and clear direction, while eliminating the friction with the surface. I’m thinking of something like a mini version of what was on the very first design of the PSOne dual analog controller. That stick had a concaved surface, but no texture so it was a little slick. Add the texture and some mild resistance so it doesn’t feel so floaty.

When I say it needs to be moved up, I say open up the four buttons on the D-Pad and place the analog stick right in the middle. It would be impossible for a game to use both the analog and D-Pad buttons for main control functions, but for ancillary functions, such as inventory or specialized access, they are only a thumb-slide away. Then the entire button/stick layout could be centered onto the widest point of the console and would fit comfortably in one’s hand.

Now for the right side where the action buttons (triangle, square, circle, cross) are, there absolutely positively needs to be another analog stick. This would be used to control the camera in third-person titles or the “look” function in first-person shooters, and judging from the first wave of software, it’s almost a necessity. Maybe the left and right button layouts should be slightly off-center from one-another, the way dual analog sticks for the Gamecube or Xbox are for more logical controls.

The shoulder buttons aren’t safe from redesign, either. My idea is to move them from the top to the back of the console, on either side of the UMD slot, where the index fingers are likely to rest. Consideration for keeping the console thin must be made, so maybe the buttons extend just slightly from the back. They aren’t pressure-sensitive, so one click is all it takes.

And for the love of God, make an expansion port for TV-out or the ability to plug in an external gamepad. My last request would be a foldout stand from the back so it could rest by itself, for watching movies or listening to MP3s.

And that’s it – with these changes the PSP would become the ultimate gaming machine. No royalties necessary, I’ll be happy as long as it’s done. Oh one more thing – make a trade-in program so people stuck with the inferior first-generation release can upgrade at minimal cost.

Xbox 360
What, you say? The 360 isn’t even out yet and it already needs a design change? Not necessarily a design change, but an idea nonetheless. There’s been a lot of talk about the 360 not having an HD-DVD drive. Rumblings from development camps say they are unhappy because the minimum 720p requirements span games across multiple DVDs. Now, the 360 could integrate an HD-DVD drive, which would end up being proprietary since it’s going to get trounced by Sony’s Blu Ray technology. Or Microsoft could give Sony pennies on every dollar toward the cost of manufacturing a 360 by going with a Blu Ray drive, which isn’t going to happen.

So instead of going with a drive at all, why not implement a PC approach – sell a larger capacity hard drive. Right now the drive is 20GB. I say make it 100GB. Hard drive space is cheap nowadays anyway. Then, since Microsoft is ultimately in the software business, create a high-compression algorithm to compress and decompress video from a conventional DVD. What would happen is the game would “install” necessary high-definition videos to the hard drive, and then play them off the hard drive during the game. This would also free up the DVD drive during video playback for other things, like spooling textures and loading levels, or even integrating graphics right into the video. And since it’s not necessary game data, it can be removed and reinstalled at any time. Perhaps the games themselves would “clean up” the hard drive when they are done with a video, to allow other titles to use the hard drive in the same capacity. Plus I would imagine it would be faster to read from the hard drive than to stream from disc.

Two hours of high-definition video is about 25GB on a Blu Ray disc, and realistically only a fraction of this space would be needed at any given time. I might not be a software engineer or game designer but it seems like in theory it could work. Microsoft could even sell the hard drive in several capacities, depending on the gamer’s needs.

Of course, as consoles approach near-rendered graphics, the need for high definition video might be a moot point. The only reason Sony is big on the idea is to push the format in the way the PS2 did for DVD. In that case, just create real-time cutscenes rendered in 720p. All that’s needed is texture space that’s probably being used in the game anyway, so it’s not redundant data. If you want to watch a movie, do it on your stand-alone DVD player.

So no royalties are necessary. I offer them up free for the love of gaming and the benefit of gamers everywhere. Just send me a thank you note, and maybe an all-expense paid trip to TGS next year…

Yesterday I posted my comments surrounding the huge potential of distributing niche programming via iTunes.

After I made my comments, I instantly looked toward my PSP. Now here is a device, supported by a giant electronics manufacturer, that can do everything the iPod Video can, with some advantages. First, it has the ability to display higher quality video. It can play PS2-quality games. It has the support of a very successful proprietary video format, UMD. And the amount of storage it can hold can be upgraded. Right now, it looks like the maximum size memory card is 2GB, but as personal budgets can allow, storage can be spread across an infinite number of memory cards and storage devices.

It is as sleek and sexy as the iPod, albeit a little larger, but still portable. It can play MP3s and, obviously, videos from a memory card. Its battery life is just as long when watching video (slightly longer if streaming from the memory card).

But there are two glaring discrepancies which make the PSP inferior to the iPod Video: video conversion and distribution.

Anyone who owns a PSP would know, converting video for playback is a royal pain. There are a couple free applications which convert video, such as 3GP and the user-friendly PSP Video 9, but as these are homegrown applications and not supported by Sony, they still have a few framerate and resolution issues. Video playback is a bit of a secret, since some of the higher resolutions aren’t supported for converted video, and to create the highest quality video using these maximum resolution rates can get pretty complex and confusing. It would be nice if Sony provided a free tool (they have a tool for purchase at $20, which doesn’t even come close to offering the same functionality as the two free products mentioned above) that made video conversion simple and offered all available parameters for maximum quality and performance.

From a distribution standpoint, Sony has attempted to offer video downloads specifically for the PSP – in Japan. The site, P-TV.jp, offers free and subscription-based video downloads of movies, music video, television programming and trailers. Given the complexity of converting a video, this may be a more welcomed approach. The problem is, it’s not offered for PSP owners in the US. And it’s all in Japanese, which doesn’t do most of us stateside any good. Granted, the PSP isn’t a video player; it’s main function is for playing games, but looking at the latest figures for UMD sales, I’d say the majority of PSP owners aren’t just playing games on it. I will guarantee the iPod Video will sell more devices than the PSP for the ability of playing video alone, and it would be wise for Sony to piggyback on this trend. Even as Gamespot has a site dedicated to providing PSP-compatible media, it doesn’t represent all the videos the site produces on a daily basis. Not even close.

Given the above arguments, wouldn’t videocasting niche programming, such as gaming, make sense in the hands of a gamer? Sony’s almost there, and with just a few small improvements they could be in the process of making something with a very big impact.

G4 sucks.

It’s a sad day, the day a true gamer finally puts aside his or her pride and accepts the truth. I do not want The Whip Set, Fastlane or The Man Show on my “TV for Gamers”. Video games are a multi-billion dollar business, so why resort to failed television shows unrelated to video games but targeting the demographic? Is it for advertising? Because last time I watched, the only advertisements are for university gaming programs with a question of legitimacy and foreign actors advertising some obscure anti-virus software that no one has ever used (or even heard of).

And how can a network self-described “for Gamers” can be conspicuously absent of any true gamers itself? The only person I could call a true gamer would be Adam Sessler, who has been hosting X-Play, and Extended Play before that, for years. Kevin Pereira? I wouldn’t call him a gamer as much I would call him a talking head, albeit a loud one. I think the next closest would be Tina Wood, and I don’t think she does it as much for the love of the game as she does for the love of the paycheck.

So as G4 approaches a much dumber, less-serious TechTV (you know, the network it acquired only to destroy), I say farewell. Farewell to Icons, Cinematech, and of course, X-Play, the only real gaming shows left on the network. And good riddance to the rest.

However, there is a beacon of light, a true “TV for Gamers” on the horizon. GameSpot.com recently relaunched a feature called “Today on GameSpot”, a daily video recapping breaking news, reviews, and other gaming information. Although only a few minutes in length, it provides more gaming insight than a week’s worth of programming on G4.

GameSpot Editors Greg Kasavin, Jeff Gerstmann, et all, are gamers first and foremost. Their reviews are regarded as the most unbiased and objective in all of videogame journalism. And they’ve had experience with producing a television show in the past, having done a few Cinematech episodes that were far and away the best episodes ever produced for that series. Simply put? These are gamers who know how to produce programming for other gamers.

This simple daily video could have huge potential. If GameSpot decided to expand their programming, they could present a serious challenge to G4′s stake in the potential gaming audience. As GameSpot is part of the CNET Network, they have some real muscle behind them if they decided to enter a cable or satellite television venture. CNET is no stranger to television programming, having produced a series of shows for USA Networks in the late ’90s.

What could be a bigger Trojan horse, however, is the introduction of Apple’s new Video iPod. Quite frankly, this is going to do for videocasting what the original iPod did for podcasting, or even MP3 distribution for that matter. As GameSpot is already producing their own video bits for daily news, reviews and features, they are poised for global distribution via iTunes. This may be the nail in G4′s coffin – directly distributing video to the hands of the gaming audience, thereby eliminating the need for conventional broadcasting to a niche market, and at a much cheaper cost to boot. Even more destructive could be the availability of amateur programming production, catering to the gaming audience, and distributed via videocasting. Former TechTV host Kevin Rose has started his own videocast called SYSTM, and it’s only a matter of time before shows like this catch fire.

So gamers, hope is not all lost. Today’s the day we should all turn off G4 for good, and support (or even produce) alternatives that represent the “true” gamer.

It’s been a while since the last Cracking the Myth column, so it’s due time for me to get something else off my chest – the two Xbox 360 SKUs available at launch.

I don’t know if we can call it debate, since the argument has been largely one-sided coming from the mouthpieces of the internet fanboys and videogame “journalists”, but most people think it’s a bad idea for Microsoft to launch the Xbox 360 in two flavors. For those of you who may not be aware, they are:

Xbox 360 ($399 MSRP), bundled with:
- Wireless Controller
- Hard Drive
- Headset
- Component HD Cable
- Ethernet Cable
- Media Remote

Xbox 360 Core ($299 MSRP), bundled with:
- (Wired) Controller
- Composite AV Cable

The reason behind this is because Microsoft desparately wanted to make the Xbox 360 affordable at launch for the mainstream gamer. With the Core bundle, they are able to offer a bare-bones package for this very reason. The hardcore gamers are going to go with the “full” package regardless, and this is from where the vocal outcry comes. I’ve seen quotes like, “Why would anyone want a bare-bones package?” and “Microsoft is screwing themselves just so that little Johnny’s Mom can buy him an Xbox for Christmas.” Uh, yeah…

Unknown to the legion of basement dwellers who cringe at the sight of leaving their parents’ basements for outdoor activities such as showering, there is a market for this. A very big market. The Core bundle is for people who may not be able to take full advantage of what the Xbox 360 has to offer, for a variety of reasons. Probably the main reason is financial. It takes a very big investment to squeeze everything out of the 360 – high definition television, broadband internet, surround sound stereo. Not many people have the money to allocate toward such a gaming experience. For those, the Core product is just fine. There are other people that just behind the curve in accepting new technology, such as broadband internet. Buying the Core bundle would work just as well for them as well. And then there are those who just don’t want to spend the $400 on a new gaming system. For them, the Xbox 360 isn’t going to be their main gaming console. Maybe their allegiance is to the PS2, or the current generation Xbox. To them, the Xbox 360 just isn’t worth $400. And they know once the Xbox 360 becomes the staple of their gaming experience, they can always upgrade down the road.

What everyone has to keep in mind is that, essentially, there isn’t much difference between the two bundles. Both play the same Xbox 360 games. Both provide Xbox Live support. The extras are merely incidentals. Microsoft has made it perfectly clear to developers they cannot rely on the hard drive for core gaming functions. That means its main function will be to store game saves, music for customization, downloads, and perhaps the closest thing to core functionality is enhanced performance through caching and streaming data. Microsoft has already addressed the last argument by increasing the speed of the DVD drive for faster direct access, so the need for this may be limited out of the box. Not relying on the hard drive also means Microsoft can produce the console cheaper, and in effect stay profitable as the price drops throughout the next generation. Let me remind you – price dops work for the consumer as well.

What about the component versus composite cables? The only difference is if the Xbox 360 is hooking up to a high definition television, which not everyone has. What about the headset and ethernet cable? Xbox Live support is available in both bundles, so it really is a matter of who is planning on using Xbox Live at the onset versus those who might want to wait until they are sold on the idea of an extra subscription fee. What about the media remote? Most likely everyone has a DVD player already, and they aren’t buying an Xbox 360 to watch movies. Wireless controller? Works the same as the wired one, and it’s just a matter of convenience and preference.

Are all the extra accessories are worth the $100? When added up separately, yes. But if I’m not going to use Xbox Live, then that’s $100 wasted that could have been spent elsewhere. Just so everyone knows, I will be getting the “full” Xbox 360 package, because that caters to my gaming expectations.

So kudos for Microsoft for not forcing us into paying $400 for the console, and giving us a choice as to how we want our gaming experience to be. After all, Microsoft wants to own the next generation of gaming, and what better way to do that than to give the consumer a choice?

Despite my recommendation of Joss Whedon’s sci-fi film Serenity, not to mention general praise from the majority of film critics across the country, it failed to grab the attention of the movie-going public. Over the past weekend Serenity fell to a distant ninth place, grossing just under $5 million for the weekend and bringing its total to $17.6 million in ten days.

Although the point may be lost at this point, as this was Friday’s news, Universal has made the first nine minutes of the film available on the internet via streaming video. Just point your browsers to the following link:

http://video.vividas.com/CDN1/3929_Serenity/web/index.html

All hope may not be completely lost – although the poor showing at the box office speaks against a planned trilogy of Firefly theatrical films, foreign box office and DVD sales may allow the trilogy to continue in the straight-to-DVD (the huge Family Guy numbers for the Stewie movie indicate a potential audience) or made-for-TV (the original series had respectable ratings in repeats on the Sci-Fi Channel) market.

Last weekend was my first experience with the crew of Serenity. Even with slightly heightened expectations from all the hype the movie has been receiving over the past few months, I was completely blown away at just how good this movie was. Sure, the emphasis is on the great cast of characters, but it seemed like the backstory of the characters as well as the entire universe was so fully defined, that at any time, the smallest detail could be pulled out and used to progress a major plot point at a moment’s notice.

Having such depth available was the most impressive part of the film, and it makes sense considering Serenity is famously based on Writer/Director Joss Whedon‘s cancelled sci-fi TV series Firefly (of which I hadn’t yet watched prior to the feature film). Influences fly around like space debris – Asian culture is fused with the Wild Wild West, with a pinch of Star Wars. But as I watched, I couldn’t help but connect the real influence behind Serenity – Cowboy Bebop.

Yes, the circle is complete. A movie, based on a TV show, heavily influenced by – and almost blatantly borrowing from – one of the greatest Japanese Anime shows ever. Seems tailor made for a SpotAnime.com expose.

The similarities are staggering. Let me break them down:

Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds vs. Spike Spiegel – Both are space “cowboys”, so to speak, but Whedon would probably rather call them referred to as “ronin” defined by Wikipedia as a masterless samurai. It also states, “Ronin might be hired as yojimbo, bodyguards or mercenary fighters”. Both the Serenity and Bebop crews wandered the galaxy as just that, bouncing from one bounty to another just to keep food on the table, lead by their always-stubborn leaders (Mal and Spike), but at the same time haunted by a sense of conscience to do good.

Their scruples are probably a result of a past they would rather forget. Mal was a Captain who is haunted by the lives of the many casualties he lead during a universe-wide civil war. Spike’s history is much more mysterious, consisting of disjointed flashbacks as a member of the Japanese Yazuka (Mafia) and ties to a Syndicate leader named Vicious.

Both have broken hearts – Mal’s courtesy of Inara, and Spike’s thanks to a “vicious” love triangle with Julia – but their pride gets in the way from any outward appearance of it.

It is funny that Yojimbo was an Akira Kurosawa film, remade as a spaghetti western in A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood. To add to that, Shinichiro Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop, directed Samurai Champloo as his follow-up project, about…you guessed it, a band of wandering samurai. Talk about going full circle and slamming it in reverse.

Jayne vs. Jet Black – Both characters can be consider the “muscle” of their respective crews, although Jet seems to have more of a substantial background. Former member of the Inter Solar Systems Police, enhanced by cybernetics, and the owner of the crew’s vessel, the Bebop (coincidentally, both “captains” are not the original owners of their respective ships they command – Serenity was Inara’s ship). Both Jayne and Jet seem to be connected primarily by rock-hard physical attributes and gruff personalities.

Zoe vs. Faye Valentine – Both women would rather carry a gun than a makeup bag, but can still turn a man’s head as fast as they can throw a kick to it. Beauty and brawns are the name of the game for these two, although Zoe has her head on much straighter than Faye.

Kaylee/Mr. Universe vs. Edward – On Bebop, Edward was part-Engineer, part-computer hacker. Separate those two parts and you get Kaylee and Mr. Universe. This might not seem like much of a similarity, but dig a little deeper and you can find more solid connections. Ed as a teenaged girl and Kaylee as a young woman, both act immature, both talk more than they should, and both have a knack for tinkering. And just like Mr. Universe, both have never found a computer they couldn’t hack and have a constant need for companionship.

Shepard vs. Laughing Bull – Laughing Bull is a Shaman who provides Spike with guidance and shelter throughout the series and movie. Shepard is a Shaman who provides Mal with guidance and shelter throughout the series and movie. You can’t get much closer there. And especially when a Shaman is a supporting character in both universes, the influence is obvious.

The Operative vs. Vicious – Hmmm…both are mercenaries with clever names, seemingly indestructible and carry katanas as their weapon of choice. It may be a stretch, but I doubt a villian as cool as Vicious would go unnoticed by Whedon.

River vs. Melfina – For Bebop fans, who is Melfina you ask? Well, she’s not a Bebop character at all, but a character from the other Bebop…the poor-man’s Bebop…Outlaw Star. And it’s interesting to trace back the main plot of Serenity and think how Whedon, as a (presumed) fan of Cowboy Bebop, could also be a fan of Outlaw Star.

In Outlaw Star, Melfina was an experiment created for a group of merciless galactic rulers called the Kei Pirates. She is part-human, part-machine, created from an ancient genome from a being known as the “maiden”. The maiden is the only one capable of finding, and navigating the way to the Galactic Leyline. The maiden is also the only one capable of accessing its great powers (source). A ship, the Outlaw Star, was created specifically for Melfina to link up with and navigate to the Galactic Leyline. A desperate, ragtag group of space journeymen (I said it was the poor man’s Bebop) find themselves in the possession of the ship, and Melfina, after a job; and on a journey to the far reaches of the galaxy to uncover the riches of the Galactic Leyline, all the while in pursuit by the Kei Pirates.

In comparison, the crew of Serenity find themselves in the possession of River Tam, a reader who has escaped the experimentation and captivity of the Alliance. By reading the minds of Alliance officials while in captivity, River “is the only one capable of finding, and navigating the way” to the hidden planet of Miranda and the secrets it holds. The crew of Serenity set forth to Miranda, all the while in pursuit by the Alliance.

Sound familiar?

Serenity vs. Bebop – To say the two ships share similarities is like saying a Passat is a lot like an Accord. Cars don’t deviate from the basic form much – they have doors, windows, an engine in the front, four wheels, etc. So I can’t go much on physical characteristics between the two. But I think any fan of Firefly would say Serenity is as much of a character as any of the actors, and that can be said as much about the Bebop. As well as the Millennium Falcon, to which Serenity has also been compared.

Just as the cowboy-samurai association mentioned above, the mythos surrounding Cowboy Bebop and Serenity are well connected – “Cowboy” Bebop meets the very Wild Wild West of Serenity; how the characters in both use conventional, even antiquated, weapons; and how every city is decorated and adorned with Japanese and Chinese lettering and culture (although, to be honest, the cities in Bebop look decidedly American, but the anime/Serenity link can still be associated).

I think the facts above are evidence enough of Bebop’s influence on Serenity. And this isn’t a knock on Whedon’s creative abilities, because he still delivered one fun movie. But or those of you who haven’t been “cross-cultured” by Serenity or Bebop, now is a perfect chance to do so.

Giving credit where credit is due, The Millennial Abyss has posted an article about a recent interview with Lance Hendriksen, aka The Coolest Actor Alive, and his thoughts on a possible Millennium feature film:

Will Millennium ever make the move to the big screen? Lance Henriksen still hopes so, and he’s continuing to push to see that it happens. The Sci-Fi Wire is reporting that during a recent interview the Millennium star spoke once more about bringing back Frank Black.

You’re gonna have to go to the source of the article to read the full story. And while you’re there hopefully you’ll get hooked enough to buy the series DVDs, if you haven’t already.

If you are a regular reader, you by now have found out I am a person of conviction. And also a person of crusades for those convictions. I am fearful that favorite things of mine, like TV shows Millennium, Threshold and Night Stalker; and video games WipEout and Shenmue, may go to their graves without the full attention they truly deserve. Well, my fellow readers, I have another crusade to champion – that of Joss Whedon’s great sci-fi movie Serenity.

My friends, Serenity needs your help. After a hard and valiant marketing push by its studio, Universal, Serenity opened to critical acceptance but couldn’t achieve its equal in box office performance. It’s opening weekend bow at $10 million, in a not-quite-wide 2,188 screens (in contrast, the number one movie Flightplan was shown on 3,424 screens*), represents those hard-core fans who connected well with the film’s marketing and advertising. They are the ones who loved the TV show (Firefly), or those who were familiar with the show but were carried to the theater by word-of-mouth from Firefly die-hards. I fall clearly in the second camp. Although I never saw the TV show when it originally aired or when it was released on DVD, I was familiar with it – the hype machine regarding the film’s “phenomenon” in preview showings earlier this year had me hook, line and sinker.

The hype clearly had everyone – media, studio execs, even the show’s creator and Serenity director Whedon – thinking they just might have something big on their hands. Brandon Gray of BoxOfficeMojo.com wrote:

Universal’s head of distribution, Nikki Rocco, was hopeful that positive word-of-mouth will broaden Serenity’s audience beyond fans of Firefly, the 2002 series on which the movie is based. The picture scored an “A” grade from CinemaScore, which polls opening night moviegoers.

But after the weekend tally, an obviously different tone:

“We are satisfied,” Rocco said. “The opening is where we thought it would be. The fan base turned out. We’re hoping more will turn out in the future. I think over $10 million is a lot of business for a niche appeal picture, and I think the ancillary [DVD, etc.] will be spectacular. I’d say over 40 percent [of moviegoers] were the fans. And there was probably another 30 percent that had not watched the show but had heard of it.” Rocco highlighted San Francisco and Seattle among the cities that had strong turn outs, although she would not speculate on whether Serenity was successful enough to merit a sequel.

Whedon wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. Forum poster Azeledge quoted Whedon’s passionate words from official Serenity fan site The Browncoats:

We all know this remains an uphill battle. We all know that next weekend is crucial — and a lot of it will rest on us. A lot will rest on the studio reaching people we can’t. And factors we can’t see coming. But I don’t especially appreciate people calling Time of Death while I’m still operating. I don’t like smug defeatism. And nobody disses the ‘coats without me wading in. That’s all.

So why, as a casual fan, would I jump on the campaign trail for Serenity? Because for one, I always root for the underdog, the one that deserves so much more attention and recognition than it receives. Serenity might not command as much at face value, but when it’s taken in it delivers entertainment in spades. After seeing this weekend’s box office numbers, it seems as if it just never had the audience to experience this firsthand. And two, I’m an advocate for quality and intelligent entertainment. I know that sounds like most everyone would echo this obvious statement, but seeing the junk that Hollywood churns out on a regular basis, Serenity was the shot of creativity the industry desperately needed. Its success might also show Hollywood that other franchises which didn’t receive a fair shot initially might be worth taking another look at.

Laying all that out, it could be a seismic creative disaster if the experiment that is Serenity fails. So if you haven’t seen Serenity, please do yourself a favor and treat yourself to the movie this weekend. Take a friend, and tell a few others. Most likely, you’re like everyone else who is on the fence; but as the end credits roll, the majority of you will have thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

After all, it is for a good cause.

* Box office figures and counts, BoxOfficeMojo.com

The November Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) has quite a few whoppers in their Rumor Mole column. Below are some of the most notable along with my comments:

F.E.A.R. and Hellgate, two PC shooters, are making their way onto the Xbox 360. I had mentioned after playing the F.E.A.R. demo this was perfect for porting to the 360, and now it looks like I’m getting my wish. Good thing I didn’t pre-order the PC version. The Mole says Monolith already has it “barely” running on the 360, since they’ve already got the dev kits for Condemned – which, as we know, doesn’t mean anything because a lot of companies have dev kits for systems they don’t support, such as Square having development kits for the Xbox (or was it Dreamcast?).

Midway is working on an Area 51 sequel using the Unreal 3 engine. Considering how awesome the first one looked on current-generation consoles, I’d say this is one to look forward to.

Halo 2 will be automatically upconverted to 720p on the 360. I had noticed on Halo 2 how the textures seemed to scale down based on system performance, and you can actually see the texture definition and effects being turned down during a scene, then being bumped up again. At first I was thinking how Halo 2 was made for one of those super overpowered modded Xboxes like the Friendtech DreamX-1480 (benefitting from a 1.4GHz CPU, double that of the stock 733MHz CPU). Now I just see that it was Microsoft’s trojan horse all along. It also seems all but confirmed thanks to an official post on Bungie’s website, quoting, “We have some cool stuff coming up for you in the next couple of weeks, including … a look (well, maybe more of a discussion) at Halo 2 running on 360, so look out for that.” Very sweet, indeed.

System Shock sequel coming to the Xbox 360. Irrational Games announced Bio Shock, the sequel to the awesome PC game System Shock 2, about a year ago. Since then, news has been pretty quiet. Although the news of Xbox 360 support obviously isn’t confirmed, it is definitely exciting. A port of System Shock 2 was one of those titles nearly finished for the Dreamcast but never made it to retail, being sent to the Game Graveyards before its time, so this makes it the first time a System Shock title makes it to a console. In glorious 720p and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Gentlemen, I think we’ve got a challenger to F.E.A.R. for most intense gaming experience…

City of Heroes flying on the Xbox 360. NCSoft says “no comment,” but being that Marvel has announced a MMORPG of their own, it would only make sense for a seasoned veteran of the MMORPG to swoop in and fight for gamer’s monthly subscription fees. MMORPGs are a no-brainer on Xbox Live because of the online infrastructure. Too bad we didn’t get any for the Xbox aside from PSO, but that looks like it’s going to change pretty quickly.