Thursday, December 28, 2006

Coming up for air

Christmas was peaceful and without much confusion. This is the first year really I didn't have to sell sexual favors in order to get a power ranger toy or make some faustian deal in order to appease a beloved child who ends up playing with the box...

When your children are teenagers, they become easier to reason with. For example, what were the hottest teenage gadgets this Christmas? That's right, - Playstation 3 and that Wii thing. In order for any of my children to request big ticket items like this, I require that they embark on a small research project first, they must be able to answer the following:

Question 1: How much did said company make last year?
Question 2: How much does said CEO make (including stock options - if you don't know what a stock option is go to Question 3);
Question 3 - why do you need to make said CEO richer?

No, I am not being unreasonable. Besides, what could be better than a great book and an iPod (oh, speaking of stock options...)? Believe it or not, they agreed except for the 12 year old. With him, he needed a bit more convincing so I sent him this email.

Wii shipment problems, PS3 delayed again

By INQUIRER newsdesk: Monday 18 December 2006, 13:33

As previously reported by the INQ, Nintendo has offered to replace more than 3.2 million Wii remote straps after users have reported that the connecting cords broke too easily. You can check out the newer version at Nintendo's site, which allows a comparison between the newer straps and the thinner, older offerings. Users need to call customers services on 0870 60 60 247 or send an email to Nintendo, the strap can then be sent back, after which Nintendo will send a replacement.

Nintendo and Chart Track have confirmed that the Wii has become the fastest-selling videogames console ever within the UK, with 105,000 systems already sold. Similar record-breaking success was reported in our PAL-utilising cousins in Australia, where 32,901 Wii units were sold in the four days following the console's launch.

However, it seems Nintendo have also fallen foul to smaller than predicted launch day shipments, although not quite on the scale of Sony.

Gamasutra reports that although Nintendo has not stated a change in shipment plans, the company did retract a small part of an earlier press release which indicated that 600,000 Wii consoles had been sold in the Americas in just eight days. The main shipment figures aren't in dispute, but a sentence at the end of the press release stating "Despite spot shortages in some locations, well more than a million Wii systems will be available in the United States by the end of the year", was later retracted.

The conclusion formed by Gamasutra is that Nintendo is no longer confident of being able to ship the original figures promised this year, and this is supported by the European launch of the console last week which saw less stock then expected being delivered - apparently many pre-orders weren't fulfilled due to Nintendo not shipping the previously promised quantities.

PS3
Bad bad news came for European Sony fans from site CVG this week.

Sony's head of Worldwide Studios Phil Harrison recently told Official PlayStation Magazine that he wouldn't like to make any definitive statements about the March roll-out for PS3.

CVG also claimed that a source has spoken of a PS3 delay as far back as September 2007, pointing at further component shortages.

Fortunately SCEE boss David Reeves specifically told GamesIndustry.biz: "We're still on schedule to launch PS3 in March throughout the PAL territories. All speculation otherwise is without foundation." - Don't expect the rumours to stop anytime soon though.
___________________________

No, I don't think I was being unreasonable. Try it one year.

Anyway, for his Christmas gift, he received 2 Wii controllers and this note from Santa:

Dear Jonathan,

When Nintendo get's their act together and can drop ship some Wiis to the North Pole without me having to ask Mrs. Claus to sell sexual favors and maybe if you play your cards right, your mom will hook you up when Game Stop gets their shipment. In the meantime, here are a coupla controllers just in case you get lucky.

on a different note...

I'm desperately soliciting the blogasphere for a collective mind meld. On Friday, December 29, I report to my local Motor Vehicle Agency to get my driver's license renewed. I've checked their website and learned that I must get one of those digitized versions and therefore I cannot do this by mail and must report in person. I am advised to bring sufficient forms of ID. Their suggested documents list makes me very nervous. Because I've left this very important business to the last possible day of the year before it expires, I've decided to be over prepared. Here's what I'll be bringing:

A. every legal document that has ever been sent to me
B. a pint of blood (for DNA purposes)
C. a urine sample (for infectious disease elimination)
D. video testimonials from my pastor and his wife
E. a letter of recommendation from my local librarian representative from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Wish me luck!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your approach to the PS3 and thw Wii, Deborah!
Hope the DMV visit went well.

Anonymous said...

Mrs Claus selling sexual favors!I laughed my butt off girl.You are too funny.Looks like your gang had a merry one.You got some good lookin guys there.Hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year!

AR said...

It's already Saturday, but hope your dmv appointment went ok. I hate that place. Who doesn't? LOL

You're so funny. Hope you all had a great holiday, and have a happy new year, too! :)

sherry said...

Hope the DMV visit was bodily-fluid-less. Next time you need something like a newly released electronic thing-a-ma-bob you should put it out on the blog-o-sphere (before resorting to sexual favors.) I had an extra one in the house a few weeks ago, and it would have been far better for my karma to pass it on to a blog-pal than to scalp it on eBay. Happy New Year!

Mary Anne said...

Deborah,
thanks for the laughs as I read through this post. Sounds like everyone had a very good holiday.
I hope your DMV appt. went ok without loss of any bodily fluids.
Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Hmm, DMV.
You forgot the chocolate to use as bribes.

Anonymous said...

ROFL at the DMV - but so true. At last renewal they wanted my marriage license cause my last name was different than my birth certificate!! Yes - last name has been different since 1979...... where have y'all been??????? Hilarious!!!