02.13.07
Now, Paranoia Radio!
Have a listen to this commentary piece that I heard on Morning Edition yesterday on the way in to work. I like NPR in general, but to be honest, this one is basically just fishing for some fire. The gist is that a mother is concerned that her kids’ burgeoning addiction to Wii Sports is crippling their sense of self-worth, by convincing them (insidiously!) that playing tennis is just as easy as flailing literally aimlessly. “Kids will never learn what a real level playing field is,” she says.
Sure they will, as soon as they wind up out of high school. In the meantime, it’s your job, lady, to tell them that what they’re doing isn’t necessarily real, and leave the rest of us who can tell fantasy from reality alone. Because if you complain that Wii Sports isn’t real enough, then all video games are going to get more realistic, including the gory horror games and shooters that, in about two years, you’ll be complaining about. Heck, as soon as Manhunt 2 hits the Wii, you’re probably going to buy that thinking “It’s on the Wii, so it must be OK for my kids”.
I thought that NPR catered to the ‘intelligent’ crowd. Maybe they are, and I’m supposed to be as amused by this as I am.
Incidentally, Kid Icarus and Kirby’s Adventure dropped on the VC yesterday. I myself was kind of hoping for a later-gen title or two this week but these are good picks. Ice Climbers rounds out the set, which I don’t see many people buying… Hrm. Kirby, Ice Climbers, and Kid Icarus. Mayhap some news on Super Smash Bros. Brawl is on its way this week? We shall see, won’t we?
Also, though it’s of practically no use to anyone but me, I’ve started tinkering with Greasemonkey a little bit, crafting some custom scripts for those times when I’d really like to mess with how someone else wrote their site. So far… one (plus two admin-related ones that are for my use). But more, eventually.