So the PS4 is shipping with consoles dead on arrival for a number of reasons. This happens whenever a new console launches, but there seem to be a lot of issues this time. Maybe it was rushed manufacturing, unfinished debugging, less than thorough testing, but it certainly looks bad for Sony in the short term. Of course, I'm of the opinion that I'll never trust Microsoft again and refuse to buy an Xbox One after all their attempts at removing control from the user base. Regarding that, I'm just thrilled that the gaming community listened and reacted so fiercely to Microsoft's assumption that they were vegetables who would never notice their rights being taken away. So I won't buy another Microsoft console, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way, but it doesn't mean Sony will win the war. There's plenty of time for the victor to be decided, and that decision will be influenced by price, catalog, exclusives, console features and hardware stability. Since the new Xbox launches today, we'll hear what users think of it soon enough. Though this begs further questions, like whether there will be enough of a change from current generation consoles to justify gamers moving to next generation ones. Arguably, there are enough, but still, this isn't comparing a Nintendo NES to a first gen Playstation. These devices have been glorified computers for years, so all these new machines truly are are consoles with more ram, hard drive space and connectability. I know people like some of the newer gaming features like hands-free controls and online multiplayer, but die hard gamers are either hot or cold about those add-ons, never luke-warm. Myself, I generally don't do hands-free games, with exceptions like Wii bowling and such as they are fun and easy to play with friends and family with no one trying to kill each other. I guess I'm old-school when it comes to multiplayer because if I don't know who I'm playing with or I can't be in the same place as everyone else, why bother? A decade ago, I was in a group of friends that got together every Sunday night and connected our first gen Xboxes so we could do multiplayer Halo. I sucked at it, but no one cared because we were having fun and hanging out. It's nice to have my friends online, but that doesn't beat the experience of hanging out. Maybe it's time to just skip this generation of consoles. My money is on the Steam "boxes" that will be dedicated to gaming only, easy to upgrade and easy to bring wherever you go. If they're cheaper than whatever Sony and Microsoft will be selling, they lose. That said, I'll always have a place in my heart for Nintendo, no matter how bad they screw up.
On to another popular waste of time, I don't watch much television these days, mostly because everyone around me hates it when I do and I don't enjoy watching alone. Their disdain for my presence is cemented by two facts, first that I can pull shows apart by pointing out their flaws, although in my defense I don't do that often and it is the lesser of the evils. The real issue though is that I can predict plotlines from the outset of the program. Give me a few minutes to establish the characters and the reasons for the presence and I can tell you most of their secrets and reasons for their actions. This doesn't work all the time, as shows like The Mentalist can have ridiculous plot twists that only the creators could know, but shows I love like The Closer or Major Crimes, I generally reveal their secrets by the first commercial. It's fun for me, since I feel like I'm being challenged to figure it out before the end, and then I find out of if I was right, close or completely wrong. Where this makes me nuts though is with programs like Scandal and, to a lesser degree, Grey's Anatomy. There are both Shonda Rhimes' productions, and while Grey's does a pretty good balancing job of maintaining their story arcs, there have been so many characters that have left quickly, never come back, never been referred to again, done incredibly stupid things only because they could, suddenly added to the cast, made important despite their questionable natures and just ignored the logic they've spent years building to show who they are that it makes me nuts. I'm sure the argument is that this is how real life is sometimes, but I beg to differ, as life is easier far more complicated or way easier than the situations they pose. I'm not even going to get into specifics, but if you know the show then you know what I'm talking about. And before anyone asks, yes, I watch it, and I used to really like it, though I mostly watch it now because my woman does. As for Scandal though, you've got great characters, you've got detailed storylines, you've got intense plots twists, but you've got weird plot holes here and there that make me want to kill. Why is the girl who keeps asking Huck all the stupid questions still alive? Why didn't he kill her? Why point out details like whose hand appears in a fake political commercial intended to persuade a political adversary to toughen up but not mention the character mentioning the non-existent commercial in a televised interview? Wouldn't you think that mentioning something that doesn't really exist as the impetus for their new found fury would bring unwanted attention to those parties in the show's universe? Why can't the President discuss the true details of secret actions he has participated in with the woman he calls all the time and had an affair with despite being married and was his political fixer and still gives him advice? Presidents, no matter what their amount of insulation, are humans and do stupid human things. You can't tell me everyone else on the show does them but the President wises up when people who are in his trusted circle start talking about important things that could hurt him. You also can't hint that the father of the President and First Lady's child is the President's father if it happened fifteen years earlier and the child was only conceived in the last four or five years. Who are they fooling? Am I obsessed? Am I out of my mind?
Okay, I'm not out of my mind, but I'm focusing to much energy on these points. The real reason for bringing this up is that I feel if you're going to spend the time and money to write an incredibly detailed show, you should try to have less plot holes. Not everyone watches crap like How I Met Your Mother, not everyone will follow it's nutty plot to the end of time, and not everyone really cares for 2 Broke Girls. Also, people still find The Big Bang Theory funny despite it jumping the shark a few times, be it their fault or not. I know I do. My woman tells me to suspend my disbelief, but that's a lot easier when things aren't meant to be realistic. Lost was easy to trip into, and the first season of Desperate Housewives comes to mind as a pleasant jaunt towards unreality, but if you show me your original program based on reality is more nutty than the real world, then I'm just not with you. That's the kind of thing that kills once good programs like Law & Order: SVU or the original Law & Order. I don't know where they think the intelligent viewers have gone, but the only reason they've left is because they're not being treated like the intelligent people they are.
God, I'm a whiny baby sometimes.
Porn. It's not as much fun as it used to be. Whatever happened to the series where the actors seemed to be having fun and not just giving scripted grunts and moans? Am I the only person that remembers and misses the original Shane's World series? No offense to whomever makes them now, but it's just not the same. If I want to watch people copulating, I'd like a more convincing sense of illusion that they're enjoying each other. Even scripted porn in the eighties often achieved this feat, with Alex de Renzy's films coming to mind. Asia Carrera, Kobe Tai, Stephanie Swift, Desiree Cousteau, Candie Evans and many more classic porn stars were good actresses (at least by porn standards, though Asia is quite excellent in her own right) and actually seemed to enjoy their antics to some degree. There are porn stars that seem to enjoy their field of expertise and perform with more conviction than others, but filming everything like a mechanized excuse to get every required position on film along with a huge cum shot to top it off just isn't much fun to watch. I want a return to spontaneity! Where is such a thing? Please, world, tell me! But don't show me, I'll find it if you tell me. Last thing I want is someone "showing me" where to find porn. Finding your porn is a private, if not solitary, exercise in maintaining your mindstate. Go ahead, argue that point, we can have a good discussion about it.
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