 ipod design contest
posted by Christopher on 12.17.2004 - 10:34 am
apple is coming out with a flash memory-based iPod soon, so ipodlounge.com decided to run a contest asking people to "design" it. i'm not sure what the criteria will be, but the prize is some really awesome pair of headphones.
i'm an apple ex-patriot - been burned way too many times, so i decided cast my cynical lot into the pile. here's my entry in all its glory (frankly, i'm surprised those apple zealots posted it, but i'm pretty jazzed about it.) please vote for it at the bottom - how much would it rule to have something like that win? i promise i'll let you listen to the headphones!
btw, i created the iSleight in swift3D and photoshop, much like the 3d backgrounds in the comic.
yeah, yeah, i know... a designer who doesn't like apple... what's this world coming to? sorry, "throw out the old one and drop 3 grand on a new one every six months" is NOT a valid upgrade path in my book.
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PSP - pre-impressions
posted by Christopher on 12.19.2004 - 2:28 pm
when nintendo is set to release a new handheld system, the question is never "should i get one?", but rather "when can i get one?". owning at least one of every revision of the gameboy (with the exception of the Virtual Boy, but that doesn't count), i have learned exactly one thing - it's worth it. Yes, the game system may launch with crappy games, but they always get a LOT better relatively quickly (kinda hard to develop on a beta system, y'know). The hardware is always solid, there might be one or two annoyances (headphone adapter on the SP), but i always play the crap out of the system and the games are FUN.
i've had *exactly* the opposite experience with sony - especially their game division, which is why i'm more than a little worried about the PSP (Playstation Portable). sony is unbelievably good at three things - 1. CRT's (TV's and monitors), 2. aesthetic design, and 3. hype.
their CRT's are good, so i buy them. hype i can deal with. the true problem for me lies in that second one. being a designer by nature (and by trade), it's reallllly hard for me to resist something that looks as sweet as a PSP. i know the first rev is going to suck... i've already read about problems in the japanese version with the controls sticking, the screen just begging to display your fingerprints, the games popping out of the machine when you twist it a little, and the battery life being a measly 3 hours. i also know the games that launch with it (and 99.9999% of the ones to come out after that) are going to suck BAD, and overall i just know it's going to be a pretty major disappointment.
doesn't mean i don't still really want it, because let's face it... it looks AWESOME.
i put way more time into researching this thing than i should have. i think the logical side won out, though... i'm going to wait for the next version that fixes all the hardware issues, and then for some good games to appear... then i'll get it. yeah, that's what i'll keep telling myself. every time i think about breaking down and getting one, i'll just have to remind myself of the PS2, and the two out of fifty-something games i owned or rented for it that were actually any good. or, maybe i should just make a list of every sony product i've bought that's broken in under a year, and put it in my wallet, next to the bank card. at any rate, it will be a test of restraint and self control (and a matter of continuing to be insanely happy with the Nintendo DS). is resistance futile? only time will tell.
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