PSP = Pretty Shoddy Pixels

I'll admit it: I'm a Nintendo man. I've owned every Nintendo console since the original NES, including the ill-fated Virtual Boy. (Which wasn't that bad, especially seeing as how I bought it for $30 and sold it eight years later for nearly $100. It was a bit hard on the eyes though.)

I do dabble in the works of other manufacturers. The Gamecube has a good number of titles that mostly sell at top-notch prices, but who could resist the sheer multiplicity (and corresponding economy) of titles available for the PS2? I always come back to Nintendo in the end, but Sony has done a good job of pushing its way to the front of the home video game pack with a so-so console and a lot of muscle.

Now Sony has introduced its new handheld system, the PlayStation Portable, or PSP. (I wish they'd show a little more imagination in naming their consoles.) I welcome the PSP, because frankly I think Nintendo needs the competition as incentive to keep innovating. Too long they've been the king of the hill with the Gameboy systems, and while the Gameboy Advance (particularly the SP version) is a great system, I have yet to see a game for the new DS (Dual Screen) system that makes me want to run out and buy one. Maybe the PSP will inspire Nintendo to new heights of Gameboydom.

That doesn't mean, however, that I'm not happy to see Sony stumble a bit with the PSP's introduction. According to this article, the PSP has some serious problems with dying pixels on its little LCD screen. Inconsistent warranty policies between resellers and an hazy message from Sony about which units qualify for replacement have led to a significant number of unhappy users and some bad press for Sony. Not that this is anything new; Sony has long had a history of releasing shoddy first-version products and then ignoring the customers who buy them while quietly improving the next models to come off the line. Anyone who ever had to turn an original Sony Playstation upside-down to get the games to play properly can tell you that.

It is continued warning to the vidiots, however: stay away from anything by Sony marked "1.0."

Surviving The Amazing Race

How is it that a pair of contestants who were so unlikable on one reality show have become an indispensable part of another? Naturally I'm writing about Rob and Amber, whose domination of a previous season of Survivor seemed like a cheat -- Rob was such a weasel, and Amber a parasite who didn't even have the class to attach herself to a higher order of animal than a weasel. In the end, however, the weasel and parasite did end up winning a million bucks. It's difficult to argue with success, but it's easy to feel bitter about it.

On The Amazing Race, however, the team we loved to hate became the team we love to watch -- mostly because the way they connive and scheme their way to the front of the pack with honest street smarts, brilliant psychological tactics, and old-fashioned hustle. The fact that this twosome is despised by most of the other teams adds to their underdog appeal, but the real secret to their popularity in our TV-viewing household is their relentlessly positive attitude. Rob and Amber may talk a little trash and show a bit of arrogance from time to time, but (like the under-appreciated Kris & Jon in the previous season of Amazing Race) they never bicker and rarely betray pessimistic feelings. How can you not like people who grin like giddy cheerleaders at their mere inclusion in a competition, even as they bribe bus drivers to delay other contestants?

There is some bizarre TV stereotype fulfillment going on in the fact that Rob and Amber's most bitter rivals are Alex and Lynn, this season's token gay couple. The way they overuse the word "bitch" (or worse, "biatch") and say catty things about other contestants, it's clear that these gents don't want to make your gaydar go "ping." They want to grab that bell and shake the clapper loose. In any other season Alex & Lynn might have been front-runners in my picks for contestants I wanted to see win, but their outright hatred for the former Survivor contestants -- apparently for no other reason than that they've already had their fifteen minutes of fame on another show -- has cast them in a light uglier than any bad hair day.

The unloved blog

It's true, I've really sucked at keeping this blog updated. Between my new duties at Cult DVD Zone, my job search, B-Movies Quarterly, and the absorbing hobby that is Geocaching, Blue Glow and Stomp Tokyo have both suffered miserably.

The good news is that Scott and I are beginning to put the focus back on Stomp Tokyo. His move into his new home is complete, and I'm zeroing in on a job and trying to stay away from the Geocaching site during the business week. (I know, a pastime that involves being outside and getting exercise -- it's unlike me.) We have two reviews in the hopper and I'm hoping we can get back on a schedule of three or four reviews a month.

Another bit of good news is that B-Movies Quarterly #5 just shipped, so if you're a fan of our little print rag, you can pick up a copy of the new edition right away.

Stay tuned; I might even talk about movies or television here soon.