Brainroids

Witchfinder General - "Free Country"

A marketing problem can be seen with the upcoming Xbox One console: it has essentially the exact same logo for it as the Xbox 360.  Check out the 3 generations of Xbox's and their logos:

1. original Xbox:

2. Xbox 360 (slightly changed text font, but logo is now a "360 degree" sphere):

3. Xbox One:

Anyone notice that IT"S THE SAME FUCKING LOGO AS THE 360?!? Same exact font (only switching the words "360" to "One"), and same icon except that the 360 sphere is a darker shade of grey.

I'm sure M$ wants to keep a unified look to play off the success of the Xbox 360, but it's going to be harder for gamers to recognize both consoles and their games/peripherals etc. from each other (ie: in stores, magazines, on websites, and other media etc.). 

Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift has pipped both Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One to win the award for Best Hardware/Peripheral in the E3 2013 Game Critics Award.

While Microsoft and Sony were holding large press conferences for their latest consoles, E3 2013 also saw the first public demonstration of a 1080p version of Oculus Rift. The Razr Blade and Nvidia Shield were also nominated in the Best Hardware/Peripheral category.

Last fall I wrote the following:

"If somebody out there can make a completely amazing set of 3D virtual reality goggles for under $1000 that I can hook up to my Xbox 360 and play with Halo 4 etc. in 1080p I WILL TOTALLY BUY THEM! "

I've since been following the very possible realization of this dream of mine, an affordable set of 3D VR gaming goggles I can enjoy in the comfort of my home.  It's name:  The Oculus Rift.

This technology has been hugely praised and supported by gaming design powerhouses like John Carmack, Gabe Newell, and Cliffy B.  The OR will very likely be supported by the Xbox One and PS4, as well as the PC of course.  IMO, the Oculus Rift is FAR more exciting than the new "been there, done that" next-gen consoles coming out, and will be there biggest revolution in video gaming since the Nintendo Wii controller.  One more small step towards the holodeck experience.  BELIEVE IT!

TV sitcoms:  The 1980's.  Cheers, The Cosby Show, Full House, Who's The Boss, Golden Girls etc. How can you top that?

Rock music: The 60's. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the rest of the British Invasion, Beach Boys, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, CCR, The Who, Jimi Hendrix...and basically anyone who played at Woodstock.

Computer games:  The 90's.  Doom, Unreal Tournament, Tie Fighter, a bazillion RPG's and adventure games, X-Com, Half-Life/Counterstrike, Civilization...too many to name!

Blockbuster movies:  The 2000's. There's no argument here: Lord of the Rings trilogy, Harry Potter series, Spider-Man 1 & 2, Batman Begins/Dark Knight + a billion other superhero/comic flicks, crappy but entertaining Star Wars prequels, Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions (hey I liked them), Pixar flicks, Transformers (well they made a lot of money), etc. etc.

Pop music: The 80's. Michael Jackson, Madonna, and so many great 80's pop tunes that dominated the airwaves & did a decent job of killing rock n' roll for the decade until Nirvana made rock cool again.

Hairstyles:  For men, the 60's. Grease it back, pompadour it, or grow it long like a hippy.  For women, the 50's.  Curly hair gone glam, without the beehive weird stuff of the 60's and the prude flat curls of the 20's-40's.

Action movies:  The 80's.  For its time (some films haven't aged well), action flicks were all rage in the 80's as action mega-stars like Arnold (Predator, Terminator), Stallone (Rocky/Rambo flicks), Bruce Willis, and Van Damme etc. were at their peak here.  The 90's were also good and improved production values, but you can't beat the 80's for its time.