M.R.I. #15: GFW Radio, A Very Nintendo Apology, and Lo-Def Cables - Features

Aaron gets all random again with some thoughts on the canceled GFW Radio Reunion at PAX 2011, Saturo Iwata's apology to early adopters of the 3DS, and the stupidity of packing low-def cables with hi-def consoles.

Previous M.R.I.'s:

M.R.I. #14 - THQ Montreal and the New Business Casual

M.R.I. #13 - The Brodeo Reunion at PAX '09 Edition

M.R.I. #12 - The E3 Experience and Waiting 4 Milo

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M.R.I. #15: GFW Radio, A Very Nintendo Apology, and Lo-Def Cables

Upon the CGW/GFW Radio Reunion at PAX 2011
It wasn't long after the panel was approved that the CGW/GFW Radio Reunion at PAX Prime 2011 had to be canceled. The crew, I think rightly, has taken an all-or-nothing approach to panel participation.

Everything aligned for the reunion panel in 2009. It was nearly perfect, aside from my use of the word "and" rather than "so" during the intro. It's definitely in my Top 10: Life Moments just for the sheer thrill it provided.

In 2010, the panel fell apart just before zero hour. I just shook my head when I

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looked through the PAX Prime schedule at the show and saw the description sitting there in black and white knowing it wasn't happening.

I was hopeful that this year would bring about the reunion once more. Alas, it was not to be. And in my mind, looking forward to 2012, it might be like trying to bottle lightning. It happened once, maybe that's why it was so

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special when it did happen. Maybe the group is just too fragmented to actually have it happen again. And as Jeff Green has pointed out, will anyone care about GFW Radio if it actually does happen? Would the podcast, the group, still resonate with fans? And for people that had never listened to the podcast, would they even care? Would the panel outnumber the people in the room? while I think that assessment might be an exaggeration, it's a valid point. The last GFW Radio was produced in the early part of September 2008 and a lot has changed since then.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think that the GFW Radio Reunion will never happen again. And I'm reminded of that thought every time I look at my 2009 commemorative poster (the brainchild of Ben Cuzza and drawn by Bill Mudron). Yes, that's why 2009 was so special.

saturo iwata

Upon Apologies
During Nintendo President Saturo Iwata's recent apology to early adopters of the 3DS for the massive price drop less than 6 months after the unit's launch, he indicated that he's personally taking a 50% salary cut.

This seemingly simple act of apologizing and backing up his feelings with some kind of action makes that apology go about a 1,000 miles more than a few words on a page.

It also made me think about the recent troubles with PSN, all that hacking, stealing personal information, and whatnot. There were apologies for sure. And rightly so, but I didn't hear rumblings from the upper echelon that they would slash their salaries. Surely, some jobs were cleaved but that would have been from the pool of lesser execs and tech heads. Still there was no mention of Kazuo Hirai or Jack Tretton apologizing for the PSN debacle with a gesture of goodwill beyond offering a few free games. Imagine what your reaction would have been if either one took the stage at E3 2011 and said, "I'm sorry. To show how sorry I am I will now let retired Oakland Raider punter Ray Guy kick me in the scrotum."

That would take balls, man.

Upon Low-Def Cables
I finally off-loaded my original Xbox 360 and replaced it with a "slim" model. It's extremely quiet in comparison to the old one, the 250 gig hard drive means I'm not constantly juggling space, and it looks a little cooler. It has much to recommend it except for one thing: composite A/V cables.

I want to emphasize this part. Composite A/V cables.

This is the same technology that connected my Super Nintendo Entertainment System to my TV. This was somehow cooler than the RF switch that I had for my NES. The fact the "new" Xbox 360 comes packed with connectors more than a decade out of date and completely incapable of delivering a hi-definition signal to today's televisions is utterly bizarre. My old 360 presented the perfect solution. The output featured connectors for both composite A/V cables and component cables, something Nintendo packs in with the Wii. When the 360 launched, hi-def TVs were xbox 360 composite cable on the rise and the cable perfectly addressed the fact a lot of gamers would still have TVs only capable of delivering a standard def signal, but could easily accommodate those that wanted to show-off a game to friends (i.e. justify the purchase of the new TV).

So, instead of using that as a standard, a decision was made somewhere along the line to downgrade the cable system. Sure, there's an HDMI output on the new 360 but the console doesn't come with packed with a cable capable of providing a "this-gen" experience. It completely undermines their console by ensuring games look only half as good as they could be.

Microsoft isn't alone in this either. From day one, Sony has packed-in these crummy, technologically ancient cables to deliver the fantastic magic that powers the Playstation 3.

The cynical side of me screams that this was simply a matter of dollars and cents.

"We had to include a cheap cable to keep costs down."

Really it's really:

"Hey, if you want your $300 console to deliver the REAL goods, we've got an extra cable for that for a few dollars more."

It's bullshit, plain and simple. The consumer should be demanding packed-in cables that deliver a hi-def experience without having to resort to buying extras so that they might be able to really see what this current generation of consoles can deliver.

- Aaron Simmer
(August 6, 2011)