Video Games: Just Consoles, Or Are They Much More?

On Friday, Sony released its much anticipated Sony Playstation 3 Computer System. And today, the new Nintendo Wii (pronounced 'we') was released. XBox 360 has already been on the market for a year now. All three of these game consoles offer more than just playing games, they have taken steps into the future. I will not go into the details or specifics but I'll just talk in general about these three magnificent systems. First up; the XBox 360.

Microsofts XBox 360 was released about a year ago. And because of its early release, the 360 has one large advantage over the Wii and PS3, it already has many game titles out so you won't be bored or have to wait for much. Plus, Microsoft has been able to see any errors and tweak them if needed. Plus the XBox Live has been well used and all adjustments have been made to compete against Sony and Nintendo. Plus, XBox Live will now offer a new feature which allows you to download pay-per-view movies and t.v. shows. The powerhouse Microsoft has created the 360 not only as a gaming console, but as a media center as well to watch movies, listen to music and much more. The 360, with its design would be a great addition to any HDTV or any home theater system. And with the new announcement of an optional HD-DVD drive you can equip to the XBox 360, allows you to watch movies in a whole new form of digital entertainment.

The first thing you notice about Sony's Playstation 3 is its very sleek design. Underneath the beauty of the design is the complex new system which Sony has integrated into what it calls a, "computer system." This computer system contains a Cell Broadband Engine which is basically a very sophisticated chip which can do billions of calculations per second which basically allows for more action and detail to occur in a game. Sony has also revolutionized its games by putting them on Blue-Ray disks which have about ten times more memory space then a regular DVD. The Blue-Ray disks are not just for games; they are for movies as well. And which so much space available, the details created by the PS3 are unbelievable. The PS3's processing power and amount of detail is twice that of the XBox 360. The PS3 also comes with Sony's promise of free online entertainment by offering Wi-Fi on the system. Like the XBox 360, the Playstation 3 also doubles as a home entertainment system, and they both are brought to their true potential when connected to an HDTV.

Nintendo's new Wii is has been overshadowed by the Playstation 3's release. Although the Nintendo Wii is not truly made for an HDTV and will not offer the processing power or graphical detail power of the XBox 360 or PS3, the Wii still remains to be basically a gaming console. The highlight of the Wii is its motion sensor game controllers which allows the player to physically control the movement on the screen with two controls. This sense of being in the game is very exciting. This same option of a motion sensing controller can be found in the PS3's. "six-axis," controller. The Nintendo Wii also has an impressive set of game titles, including many classics, and the newest edition of Zelda which some say to be the greated game every created. The Wii is more family oriented and costs three times less than the 60GB Playstation 3 and half as less as the the XBox 360.

More information can be found on XBox, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii websites where you can get more information. Gaming has taken a new step to fit around the user. Whatever you feel is best for you is the console of your choice. There are many options so it is basically what the person wants out of a system and what their price is.

The Chicago Bears: Champs or Just Lucky Losers?

Are the Chicago Bears a truely great football team, or do they just get lucky and face weak opponents?

The Bears are now 8-1 after their recent victory against the New York Giants. The highlight of the game was after the Giants missed a 52-yard field goal attempt. The Missed field goal was received by the Bears's David Hestner who ran to make a touchdown tieing a record of 108-yards. This record was made almost exactly year ago by the bears. Hester made the touchdown on November 12, 2006 and the record was made on November 13, 2006.

This win is great, but the Bears will return to Giant Stadium to face the New York Jets who recently defeated the might New England Patriots. I believe this Jets win was good because instead of seeing the Jets as a weak team, they will be able to focus more. This is was happened in the game against the Cardinals which almost caused the Bears a loss. They almost lost because they lost focus because they believed the were going against a weak team.

The same thing happened with the Miami Dophins. Some believe that the Dolphins are the cusred team that can only beat the Bears during a winning season, but I believe the Bears saw the Dolphins as a very weak team and they underestimated them; that is why they lost.


The Bears have a few problems in how they play.

1) They need to learn how to hold on to the ball! This I believe is the major reason the Bears are never really able to reach their full potential. They turn the ball over too much and do not seem to be able to hold onto the ball. Whenever I see a Bears player catach the ball or recevie a handoff, I cringe in my seat hoping they don't drop it.


2) The Bears need to get to the first down mark. It seems the bears do not have possession of the ball for too long. They always end up punting the ball and never seem to get to the first down mark. Rex Grossman is a quarterback that specializes in long plays; use him! Don't just keep handing off the ball.

3) They need to focus. No matter who the team, or how good their reputation is; the Bears have to face each opponent with their wins/losses out of the picture. The Bears have to go into each game thinking its the Super Bowl. It's either you win or lose; and there's no room for mistakes.


The Chicago Bears have a lot of potential. They can be more than they are. It seems the Bears just need to keep their head in the game. We'll see how the Bears will do this Sunday against the Jets. It is up to the Bears whether they want to be champions, or just lucky losers.

The Politics of Voting

Technology is supposed to be there to help ease the pain of everyday life. Technology is also there to make a task such as counting votes on paper ballots much easier. But it seems like the U.S. government cannot put a computer to committing itself to complete an easy task such as counting votes.

Websites all over the internet have polls which as questions like, "What is better, apples or bananas?" or "Who was the greatest president of all time?" All you have to do on these website is to click on of the choices and hit the submit button. When that happens the votes are simply counted and the winner is whoever received the most votes.

Even wrestling has taken this age old form of democracy to please viewers. World Wrestling Entertainment Incorporated (WWE) created their own event, Cyber-Sunday in which the viewers go online and decide who they want to see fight each other.

The Midterm elections a couple days ago faced many problems. 80% of the nation was going to be voting via some sort of electronic equipment. But many experienced technical complications. Reports came in of systems crashing, touch screens orientated in ways that when a person touched the name of one candidate, the other was selected. There were also computer errors, computer glitches, and some poll workers were unfamiliar with the electronic voting equipment.

Why is it that the United States cannot create a simple electronic means of voting when there are millions of website on the internet already doing it everyday. Sure there can be problems with things such as computer glitches, overload on the program, and even hacking. But can't all of those things be solved? Such a simple task as voting is being so overcomplicated. Don't you think something should be done. Or maybe we should leave or dependency on technology and move on back to paper voting? But now that would disturb the environmentalists now wouldn't it?

Welcome

This is my first post. And I'll just be talking about different things. Opinions, current events, or anything that anyone wants me to talk about.