So you don’t hear as much about Nintendo these days…well…compared to Xbox and Playstation. To some people, if you mention Nintendo, they’ll think a gaming system they used to have back in their childhood or adolescence. But maybe we’re giving them too little credit.
According to their most recent financial statements, Nintendo Wii U sales have almost doubled in the last quarter, from 160,000 sales to 300,000 sales. Their hand held gaming devices are doing well too (how many are old enough to remember Game Boy?). Nintendo 3DS and 3DSXL sold 2 million consoles. And they have their big game launches to come: Pokemon and Monster Hunter. They also have high expectations of Nintendo 2DS. Not all the news was good. Overall Wii U sales are still way below expectations. This leads to a loss of $88 million dollars of expected profits.
This being Nintendo, this is a good start. I know I’ve done blogs where Nintendo looked like it was lagging way behind the gaming race. Maybe it is. Nintendo Wii seems to be more family friendly then their competitors. I have cousins who have a Wii and their kids love it. They won’t even bring other consoles. Nintendo does a good job in the held held device market. Keep in mind you can get all kinds of games on any hand held devices. So they should get props. Is Nintendo making a come up?
For years, that title belonged to Coca-Cola. The soda pop brand that has become a part of the global psyche has been knocked off it’s 13 year perch. Now, this long standing computer brand is the most valuable one.
The report hints that Apple changes lives with it’s character as well as it’s products. And the fact that Apple ended 2012 worth $98 billion dollars, compared to Coca-Cola’s 79.2 billion may have something to do with it. Interbrand was the one who produced this list. It’s chief executive Jez Frampton, credits Apple for leading the way in marketing today. Google followed Apple as a contestant 2nd, while Coca-Cola fell to third. Frampton says Apple are changing the way we communicate and even speak to each other. Other tech based companies dominated the top 10: I.B.M., Microsoft, Samsung and Intel all made it that far.
I can kind of see why Apple made the list. That company has become a staple of our lifestyle. Look at how many people ran out and got the latest Apple product. But personally, I think Google should be called the Most Valuable Brand. Yes, we live with Apple products; I can’t imagine us living without Google. Apple’s stock is around $478 today. Google stock is $876. Apple is always looking over their shoulder for competitors like Android. Google is leaving their competitors in the dust. Do you watch You Tube? Do you use Google Maps? Do you use Zagat, Waze, Motorola Mobility, Like.com, Global IP Solutions, or Double Click? You’re using a Google based good or service. Okay, so Google doesn’t advertise the way Apple does. That’s because they don’t need to; they do so well this empire advertises itself! What do you think is America’s Most Valuable brand?
In honor of the recent death of Nintendo founder Hiroshima Yamauchi, I’m naming my personal favorite Nintendo games of all-time. I’m old school, so all of these games are classics. I lost interest in Nintendo around the Wii era.
10. Final Fight (Super Nintendo): Not many people remember this one, but this was the flag game of Super Nintendo. The graphics and storyline were a lot better than Double Dragon, and the weapons, like knives and? pipes, were cool too.
9. Duck Hunt (Nintendo): The original NES flag game. I liked this game and put it on the list because you didn’t even need a remote. You shot the ducks with a toy gun. That dog got heck of annoying!
8. Mike Tyson Punch Out (Nintendo): One of the first, if not the first game modeled after a celebrity athlete. I took a while for me to get past King Hippo, but I never even made it to Mike Tyson. From what I saw, few people beat the game because with one punch, Tyson knocked you out. So like real life.
7. Tetris (Game Boy): One of the most addictive games of all-time. You play with blocks and get them to fit together, and the blocks speed up, so does the music. It’s a simple concept. I didn’t say it was an easy one.
6.Metroid (Nintendo): I put this one up for it’s theme music alone. It was a space game that told a great story, and the fact that it’s so out there kept me and other kids coming back.
5. Super Mario Kart (Super Nintendo): This gets my cute award. All the Super Mario characters race against each other on various courses. It’s addicting and one that’s easy to conquer.
4. Super Mario Brothers 2(Super Nintendo): My favorite version of the Super Mario series. It’s Super Mario meets Alice in Wonderland, giving it a trippy feeling. You could skip half the game to beat the game. At the game’s end, you’ll find out where that trip comes from.
3. Street Fighter (Super Nintendo): Fighting games were an early 90s craze, and Street Fighter was one of the best. Just 8-11 characters fighting to the death to beat the game. Who was your favorite character to play? Harrrraahh you Ken!
2. Mortal Kombat (Super Nintendo): This game was so violent that it inspired a video game rating system(E, E10, T, M, AO). Any game with the finishing move of tearing someone’s heart, spine, or brains out is going to cause buzz. Who was your favorite character to play? Get over here!
1. Legend of Zelda (Nintendo): It was one of the first game you could save, and you had to. If you didn’t, you’d be playing for hundreds of hours straight. The storyline was just that tight! The music was engaging. There was a surprise at every corner. It was challenging, but engaging. It took me years to overcome this game, but it was well worth it. And for 25 years, the Zelda saga continues.
Past or present, what are your favorite Nintendo games?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, for parents of school aged children, as well as the kids going to college. Here are some great apps for kids of all ages.
10. Encyclopedia Britannica: Yes, they have encyclopedias on all devices available for apps. Yes, people still do use encyclopedias to do papers.
9. Mint.com: This is a good tool to teach your jr. high or high school kid about the importance of budgeting. This is a great tool for working high school and college students who are putting budgeting into action.
8. Slate Math for Kids: Perfect for elementary school kids. Math is something that is needed by all and if you get behind in your elementary school years, may God help by the time?they get to Algebra and Geometry. Slate Math for Kids keeps them ahead.
7. Kid Science: This one is also geared toward elementary school kids. It makes science fun and easy to learn. You know this is going to be good when the founder of the app studies bacteria.
6. Dragon Dictation: This is heaven sent for writing papers. If you ask me, this app also helps with listening and speaking skills.
5. KNO: Apparently, the days of hand held textbooks are numbered. They serve schools and publishers as well as students. They even serve publishers. But what’s really cool about KNO is they donate $1 of every purchase to classes in need.
4. Graphing Calculator: When in college, I had to pay hundreds for these graphic calculators and still came out confused. Now they got free apps for that and free guides too. Sometimes kids today have it too easy.
3. Court Smart E-Textbooks: Not only do they offer textbooks at 60% lower than the paper books, but you got to love their tools, like cut and paste and search topics.
2. Evernote: This free app offers it all. You can take notes with the app. You can remind yourself of homework assignments and projects. You can even remember all those connections you’re making on campus.
1. Dictionary.com: This should be self-explanatory. It’s always good to carry a dictionary with you. But now, you can carry one on your device.
In ‘celebration’ of Jobs and The Intern, I think we need to remember the worst tech based movies. Guess who made the list?
10. Lawnmower Man 2-Beyond Cyberspace: The motto is “God made him simple. Science made him a god. Now he wants revenge.” I’m not the only one who went ‘huh’. The movie grossed only 2 1/2 million dollars in it’s pathetic run.
9. Jobs: Critics didn’t like this so-called biography of Steve Jobs. Audiences agreed, not even making $7 million in it’s opening weekend. It focused more on the company, and Kutcher and Wozinak can’t stand each other.
8. Matrix Revolutions: Sometimes it’s just better to leave well enough alone. It was too predictable and special effects took over movie development. Thankfully, this was the last Matrix made.
7. The Intern: Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn usually hit it out of the park, but not this time. I guess 40-somethings competing with 20-somethings for jobs happen so much in today’s world not even these comic geniuses make can make it funny.
6. Transformers-Revenge of the Fallen: Once again, they depended more on special effects and less on the actual plots. It’s poor attempt at humor didn’t help matters much.
5. Dreamcatcher: It was supposed to be a sci-fi movie. But this turned into a minstrel show. Aliens coming out of?people’s behind sounds more like a Southpark plot than a Stephen King masterpiece.
4. Plan 9 From Outer Space: This 1959 classic?is more like screen slapstick than screen suspense.?This is what I call, “It’s so bad it’s good”. Check out the trailer.
3. Highlander 2-The Quickning: The fact that it has 4 different time scenarios would make anybody’s head hurt. The only? redeeming quality?of this preachy environment movie?is?Sean Connery. The killing scenes were fun, too.
2. The Happening: M. Night Shyamalan and Mark Whalberg strike out. A movie that starts out with mass suicide has a great hook. Then it just stops making sense.
1. Battlefield Earth: Where do I start??Only 1000 year old technology can save the human?race from?advanced aliens. The aliens enslave humans because of gold.?The special effects remind me of an Atari 2600 game. ?Even Travolta’s acting is cheesy. It’s supposed to be a serious sci-fi movie.?This doesn’t even pass off as comedy. ?It’s so bad I can’t stop watching.
While the Internet and social media have been the source of many blessings, it can be the source of many curses, from cyber bullying to the NSA scandals. Now there’s another evil lurking.
It’s called sextortion. Hackers break into unsuspecting people’s computers and smartphones. Then they see and take pictures of all your intimate moments. Then they come and make demands…do what we want and give us what we want or we’ll post the pictures. Don’t think it can happen? Just ask Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf. Someone had slipped technology called RAT, Remote Administration Tool, and snapped pictures of her in her room. According to Ms. Wolf, the light wasn’t even on and she didn’t even know she was being filmed. The hacker threated to expose them if she didn’t give into his demands. The last time I checked, the FBI identified a suspect.
Unfortunately, Cassidy Wolf’s ordeal isn’t unique. Celebrities from Mila Kunis to Scarlett Johansson have been victimized. But you don’t have to be a celebrity to fall prey to this sickness. A Glendale, CA man got 350 women to show him naked pictures. Now what are we going to do about it? Cassidy Wolf is taking bold steps to address sextortion as part of her platform during her Miss Teen USA reign. She’s also educating other teens about these dangers. We can keep the sextortion story in the media and in the public eye. They more we do this the more we demand computer makers?and ?security companies to build better things to combat this gross invasion. We can also stay on our lawmakers and political leaders to pass laws against sextortion. There are people serving 10 year prison sentences for this perpetration. ?And we need to educate, educate and educate! The hackers and criminals are getting smarter. Shouldn’t we?
