Corporate Dinosaurs and the Internet Comet

Why is it that I go to wikipedia to find out when new Futurama and House episodes are going to air?

I've been to the respective official homepages of both of these websites all of once each; I either could not find the information I wanted, or had to search to the point that it was a pain in the ass. Sure, there's plenty of fun and interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits, trivia, and cast interviews, and I would positively watch those things every time I visited the respective sites.

But you see, I don't visit the sites. The only reason I ever seem to visit official sites like that is in search of schedule information. I would then be sucked in by the extras, and spend hours at their site, seeing their advertisements, even watching promos for other shows on their networks.

Working in a job so intricately tied to marketing has really made me more aware of various marketing related subjects. One thing that I continually return to is how the big media companies just do not seem to get it. There is a legion of consumers who would happily part with their disposable income in exchange for music, movies, and TV shows, if they felt like they were getting a fair shake...

Yet corporations have let greed and fear alienate the consumer masses. Greed prevents them from offering prices that are conceivably fair, considering how easy it is to illegally obtain the same product for nothing. Fear prevents them from letting consumers truly own their digital property, which is truly its own topic and something I've mentioned before.

Though I am against piracy, I can understand where the general consensus justifying it comes from. My own personal frustrations trying to utilize lawfully purchased software have left me with a very bad impression of DRM, and serves as perhaps the most effective argument against its use; DRM punishes the legitimate consumer, while serving as a delaying strategy at best when it comes to piracy.

And so the big media corporations continue to alienate their legitimate consumers while remaining wholly ineffective at stemming the piracy tide. They also continue to make their official websites cumbersome and annoying, giving ground freely to alternative sites that have information displayed more readily.

I'm left to wonder if it isn't the end of days for media corporations struggling vainly in a post-internet world that daily becomes less hospitable for bureaucratic red-tape giants.

The other side of the coin (Making Excuses)

Back when West Virginia had its most recent mine disaster, I felt that the corporation responsible for operating the site was in the wrong. They were playing fast and loose with safety, they had been penalized for doing so in the past and had failed to fix things, and then we had the worst mine disaster in four decades.

Some people whose families' livelihood depended on those mine operations vehemently disagreed with this opinion, claiming that the miners themselves were more than happy with safety conditions and that it was all a big happy family. If the miners didn't want to work there they could always just quit, they suggested. I never did come to agree with such an opinion.

Now, however, I can perhaps see the other side of the coin. The Bayer Chemical Plant at Institute is phasing out one of their chief and most profitable items manufactured here in West Virginia. This could end up costing a lot of jobs in the local area, and might even affect some members of my family.

On the one hand, chemicals that cause health problems in children? Very bad. But part of me wants to rationalize; they may cause problems. If the application of such chemicals is carefully controlled, then the risk is minimal. And I could go on.

It is very interesting to see how easy and powerful one's ability to rationalize is, at least when something very important to the beholder is at stake.

A friend of mine has pointed out an entirely different concern about the article, however; if it is no longer being used due to unacceptable health risks, why on earth are they phasing it out? Why not shut it down immediately, and destroy the stockpiles?

I wish I could say I'm surprised by such lack of logic from a government regulator, but I figure it is just part of a government plea bargain with the Bayer corporation, and that's the best they could get so they'll take it.

Corporate Currencies

Well, my unannounced New Year's hiatus is over. I've relocated to my old college town to finish up a degree, and am feeling pretty glad to finally be getting this over with.

A while back, I saw an article on Kotaku about yet another corporate currency, this time Sony's Crysta. Many companies have switched to this model of artificial currencies that you first buy with your real money, and then later spend on games. I believe that by removing real currency one step from your actual purchases, they hope that you are distanced from what you're paying and they can sell you more stuff at a more expensive price.

In my opinion, this is never a good thing for the consumer, and never done with the consumer's interest in mind. I would choose to not buy a game rather than be forced to go through the process of dealing with one of these bullshit corporate currencies.

My great grandfather was a coal miner in the Appalachian Mountains. He grew up working in the coal camps, with his family living in company housing. His pay came in company script, which was not real currency, and could only be spent in the company store. Naturally, the company store was making a profit by price gouging, and this whole twisted system was designed to keep the workers basically as slaves.

An extreme example, yes, but this to me is a cautionary tale of how anytime we willingly embrace the idea of a corporate currency, or the idea that a corporation has the regular peoples' interests at heart, we are toying with fire.

What can we as consumers do, though? I'm not a huge console gamer, as I've said before. As a result, I don't know how much of a stranglehold Microsoft has on you with the 360. I do know that if I have to buy Microsoft Points in order to fully enjoy the 360, I never will purchase one.

What do you think? Do you use corporate currencies regularly? What is your experience with the whole situation?

The Big Three: I vote for Nintendo

The Big Three console gaming companies have managed to stay pretty competitive. Sony's PlayStation series and Microsoft's Xbox series, along with whatever latest generation Nintendo has, are generally successful enough to be in no danger of discontinuation.

That said, what's the point of having three consoles that basically do the same thing and, recently, are increasingly offering the same games released across all systems?

Let's start off with a bit of personal history:

I always coveted the Atari gaming system as a child, only rarely getting a chance to play it at a friend's house. Being the tender age of seven, I was not really up to speed on the emerging gaming industry, and was caught completely by surprise when my grandparents bought me a Nintendo Entertainment System for my eighth birthday.

I was hooked immediately, and as soon as the SNES came out, I (my parents) bought one as well. The SNES kept me happy; I didn't ever try out a Sega Genesis, nor did I even look at the PlayStation when it was first released. It wasn't until Final Fantasy 7 that I caved in and bought one.

However, after buying that PS I really got hooked on Sony's game catalog and ended up buying a PS2 early on. It wasn't until Windwaker that I finally got around to buying a Gamecube.

Sadly, that was my last console purchase (aside from portables, which are a whole different subject). These days, I don't even touch the Gamecube, which is stored somewhere in my parents' attic. The PS2, on the other hand, was my constant companion through college and even when I moved to Japan for three years! It was a faithful system which helped me out as a DVD player in addition to a nice change of pace when I got burnt out on PC games.

I've purchased a brand new PC and upgraded my video card once and a monitor twice since my last console purchase. Arguably, any of those purchases could instead have been for a latest generation console, but I always felt it was a better investment to just keep with the PC.

My reasoning was that aside from the occasional console-only game, I already have the hardware, and usually, better/faster hardware, than would be in a console. There was nothing innovative or revolutionary about the game systems to lure me away from my PC.

Until the Wii.

I recall the flurry of disbelief and outrage over what was perceived as a ridiculous and/or stupid name for the newest Nintendo product, but I personally thought it was fine. A bit unusual, but hey, its a Japanese company, and what's Japan known for if not "unusual"?

The main thing to me was the way Nintendo, alone from the Big Three, was actually trying to do something different. Even now they seem to be the only company truly attempting to provide something different in the console world.

The Wii offered motion-sensor game play, which opened up a whole world of new game play concepts and finally brought video gaming as a whole into the truly, unarguably mainstream consumer base. Homemakers and businessmen as well as young adults and kids could all get into the accessibility and intuitive nature of the Wii. Nintendo's stated goal is to make their products accessible and desired by all members of the family, and I'd say they're doing well.

Next, the DS... a portable that used touchscreen technology! Again, innovation. Something revolutionary, not just focusing on the next generation having better graphics and faster processing power. And most recently, the DSi which includes a really crappy camera. Doesn't bring much to the product in my opinion, but it is at least another step towards innovation.

Supposedly, Microsoft and Sony are scrambling to have motion-sensory options in their next gens, but they have definitely lost the lead as far as market-share goes, and I'm guessing that from now on its going to be a game of catch-up as Nintendo continues to refine their ideas and come up with new ones, staying a step ahead of their competitors.

I'm just glad I finally have a reason to own both a PC and a console.

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Update (12/16/2009) - I noticed that Kotaku had an article comparing total sales of the Wii and PS2 in Japan since the release of the various consoles. Looks like the Wii is indeed solidly in control of the market.

Update (12/18/2009) - Another Kotaku article showing the past week's sales in Japan. Nintendo seems to have control of the console market as a whole, including portables.