just click news. its not on the front page yet.

Nintendo's power is unquestionable with this phenomenon. I wonder if the Wii will surpass 20 million by christmas.

I have another rival. Hmm. Interesting development.

I am an elitist?

Me? This guy who is looking forward to Wii Fit & totally dug its concept and demographics aim from the very beginning? Me? This guy who doesn't downrank Wii Fit as a tech demo & sees it as a true game worth its value (especially the Billiards)? Me? This guy who is actually interested in concepts like Flash Focus and Face Training as games to take gaming in new directions? Me? This guy who is interested in ideas like Scene It for the 360 & Eye of Judgment for the PS3?

Now it's true I've been playing games since 1980. Damn near 30 years, you're right. But I've been flexible through all of gaming's changes. I didn't hate the Playstation. When the 1st Playstation came out I actually wanted one. All of the franchises I liked went over there and I wanted to keep up with them. And then there were games like Bushido Blade & the original Grand Theft Auto that to me were just mind-blowing ideas. Not to mention Abe's Oddysee & Parappa the Rapper. I just didn't have the money back then but I liked the original Playstation though it had no influence on me not liking the N64. I always dig Nintendo's work.

When the Playstation 2 came out I actually wanted THAT. And the main reason I wanted it because of its backward compatibility so that I could catch up on all of the PS1 goodness I missed out on. Plus I would get to see the new PS2 material on top of that. I was glad Sony brought game prices down with their CDs & that they set backwards compatibility as a standard in gaming machines. I wanted a Dreamcast back then too. So when my money & my space was right I would snap up these two consoles.

Problem was Dreamcast went out of business & I eventually learned that PS2 had unreliable hardware problems. I could not excuse that. One thing I don't like is stuff that breaks down so easliy after paying big money for it. I got a Mario's Cement Factory Game & Watch Tabletop from 1984 that still works to this day. A Pac-Man Coleco Tabletop from 1985 that does the same. All I need to do is put C batteries in and it's as good as new. I got systems older than some college students right now. And they work. Everything I buy I expect to last. I got an GE digital alarm clock I had since I was 6 in 1982 that I STILL use.

That's what turned me against PS2. Not the content but rather the quality of the system. The same thing I don't like the 360 for. Meanwhile my Nintendo systems were as reliable as ever. I didn't even have to worry about them breaking. Their track record was so good you didn't even think about it. If my system dropped on the floor violently I would say "It's OK. It's a Nintendo." And it would be. My cousin asked me to prove this point by dropping my Gamecube on the floor. I stand 6 feet tall & held it above my head level putting it closer to 7 feet. Then I dropped it. And of course it was fine. You could call me an elitist when it comes to craftsmanship but we should ALL be finicky about things like that. Why pay all this money for something that's not gonna last? That's what wrong with the American car industry. Disposable hunks of shoddy fiberglass.

Now back to the point. This uncharacteristic outburst from me was a reflection of me not doing what I usually do and seeing the big picture. I was so caught up in the frenzy and anticipation for SMG that I blinded myself and became shortsighted. It's embarrassing no doubt because I never like to jump the gun like this preferring to see events in the broader aspect. It didn't register until after I said it that Wii Fit could be gumming up the works for SMG sales. I didn't think about Nintendo slowing supply to Japan to give The Americas more units in this jerry-rigged mechanism taking the rare supply (not including those set aside for Holidays) and shifting them from region to region where necessary. I didn't think about people saving their money for Wii Fit preferring to buy it all there instead of on Galaxy. Didn't occur to me about the commercials Nintendo had been putting out. I knew they were promoting it over there and I still didn't factor that in when I made that outburst. Just saw Galaxy not receive sales and frenzy that I expected it to receive and lost perspective.

It's something I've been trying to break myself out of the past few years because I used to doubt Nintendo in the past on certain things. Being out of the loop on the gamescene for awhile I totally didn't understand the purpose of the DS when the GBA was still going strong. Also didn't realize the PSP had been released. Didn't fully get this "third pillar" strategy knowing the eventual reality that DS would render GBA obsolete. This did happen but I didn't realize the purpose behind the strategy back then. Didn't understand the art style for Wind Waker at first. Didn't understand them making Metroid in 1st person perspective at first. And I was proven absolutely wrong on every count. This is when I started reexamining MY beliefs and MY viewpoints on how things run making an effort to step a little more out of conventional thinking than I did back then. I was always open to new ideas but every now and then I expected things to be only a certain way and that was limiting.

That Galaxy outburst was another example of that kind of thinking I've spent the past few years breaking myself out of. I allowed myself to get so attached to the game that I lost my perspective. And so when it didn't do what I expected in this region out came those words. I failed to put it in the larger perspective and to understand the totally of what caused that to be. It is an excellent game and will do just fine in Japan but I have to recognize the larger picture before jumping to conclusions.

I'm just a gameplayer. Some people call it a gamer. I like 'em complex & I like 'em simple. I love state of the art graphics. And I love illustrative minimalism. I can play "adult" fare and "childish" content just the same. All I ask for is for the game to be engaging fun and unique. I don't know what "Casual" or "Hardcore" even means. I just play.

Call me Long-Time Gamer, sure. But never call me Hardcore. I'm the guy who loved the idea of Animal Crossing upon first sight. Yet Timesplitters appealed to me with all of its comic violence. And I loved making detailed maps on it too.

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

John Lucas