A few years ago, the Canadian dollar began taking a tumble in terms of value. I’m not going to try and explain why, as the economics behind the values of each currency mystify me. However, it’s impact on video games has been abundantly clear. For a good stretch of time, the standard price of a disc-based game was $60. Last year, that crept up to $70. Now, $80 is the new norm. This might not even be the end of the increases, as the Canadian dollar shows no signs of improving in the immediate future.
video game culture
Using Console Sales to Define Success
“I’m holdin’ all the cards and ****** wanna play chess now” – Drake, Pound Cake
In the annals of history, we as gamers have used console sales as a measure of success. Oftentimes, we use that as the primary factor in terms of who “won”. These home console winners include the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, the PlayStation, the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo Wii. Gamers always use sales as the primary measuring stick for why the NES or the PlayStation 2 won their respective generations.
Yet when gamers talk about the Wii/Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era, the fact that the Wii outsold its competitors by a wide margin no longer matters. All you have to do is scour through one of many online threads about the matter to find all sorts of creative ways that people will spin the situation in Sony and Microsoft’s favour. The ways in which people always move the goal posts in this argument sickens me.
The Opportunity Budget
As an advertising industry professional by day, I hear my clients sometimes refer to something they call the opportunity budget. This bucket of money is meant to fund other marketing communications initiatives that are outside of the core plan. For instance, this could be used to promote a product that wasn’t originally going to get any marketing support. Or, this could be used to provide additional support to an existing plan.
As a gaming enthusiast, this concept is one that I apply to my spending habits. There are games that I know I’ll be buying within a given year that I can plan to purchase when the time comes. Then there are the games that I buy that deviate from that plan. In particular, these opportunity cost games are titles that I pick up as a means of expanding my horizons.
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Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddess Review
Having gone to two Video Games Live shows to date, I figured that my experience with The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddess would be very similar to that. Despite both being orchestral shows, they’re very different in feel. In the case of the latter, having a narrower scope to work with definitely worked in its favour.
Just Got Back From Fan Expo 2013!
This might have been the best Fan Expo I’ve been to yet. I’ve got lots to write about, which I’ll hopefully capture into posts within the next few days. Stay tuned!
And I’m Off To Fan Expo 2013
Today marks the beginning of Fan Expo 2013! Steff and I will be attending all 4 days of the event, which should be a blast of nerdy entertainment. Not sure how I’m going to recap it, though you can check out some things I wrote about last year’s event here!
Salty Bet: The Ultimate Realization of CPU vs. CPU Play
As a kid, I had a weird fascination with CPU vs. CPU play. Though I never understood the point of including this as an option, I’d always run it at least once in every game that supported it just to see what happened. Sometimes the ensuing action was as dull as watching paint dry. Other times, it led to a few solid hours of entertainment. In particular, the classic wrestling games from THQ for the Nintendo 64 were my favourites for simulated gaming action, as those fights almost always were legendary.
It’s funny now seeing this phenomenon manifest in new ways on a much larger scale thanks to the efforts of the VGCW and Salty Bet; the latter of whom may have reached the ultimate end game for CPU vs. CPU play.
Please Donate to Child’s Play Charity This Holiday Season
With the holidays quickly approaching, now is a great time to donate to Child’s Play Charity. Since 2003, they’ve helped provide hospitalized children across North America with toys and games. This is a cause that I feel is very easy for us as gamers to get behind, and I personally have donated to the cause for the last few years. If you can provide some support, you can donate through the official Child’s Play website, or one of the many fundraising events for the cause.
2012 Year in Review: Jett X Splitkick
Up until this year, writing for any other publication other than my own was never in the cards. I have no ambitions to make a career out of this, and all of my efforts leading up to that point were strictly for personal enjoyment. I’ve been approached in the past to contribute In Third Person content to other websites, but none of those offers felt right to me.
However, when Splitkick approached me regarding the possibility of joining their writing staff as a contributor, it was an easier decision to make. I was genuinely excited to join a team of gaming enthusiasts that take their writing craft seriously. After submitting a few pieces as a contributor, I formally joined on as a staff writer.
Fan Expo 2012: Quick Notes
Fan Expo is in the books. It was an eventful one for Steff, and I. Here’s some notes from the show!
In Third Person 