What's Next For Nintendo

What's Next For Nintendo

Monday October 23, 2023

    On March 3, 2017 Nintendo released the Switch. It has since gone on to sell nearly 130 million units as of the day I’m writing this. It's one of the best selling game consoles of all time now. During that time the console has seen different iterations such as the Switch Lite and the OLED Switch.  It's a console that can be played however you want to.  At home, on the go, and anywhere in between.  It's also a platform that has nearly 40 games exclusive to it that aren’t available anywhere else. 

    Something that can’t be said for Microsoft and Sony, who have struggled this console cycle to put out first party exclusive games that don’t get ported to some other platform.  Needless to say, Nintendo has had a great console generation. Which is great news for Nintendo given their previous attempt with the WiiU which is pretty universally accepted as a failure. Having said all that now there is one burning question gamers and Nintendo fans have been asking.  What’s next for Nintendo?  If history repeats itself then it will likely be a console with a completely different form factor and philosophy. Having said that though Nintendo is unpredictable and could literally do anything at this point.  One thing is for certain though Nintendo will likely not follow suit with what the rest of industry is doing. They’ve always marched to the beat of their own drum. It’s an approach that’s served them well for the most part. As with any other company though, there have been a few missteps along the way.  The WiiU is the most recent example of that. It was a completely different console than the Wii but mysteriously Nintendo essentially pitched it as something more of an add-on to the original Wii.  Which wasn't the case.  Then before we knew it the system was discontinued.  

    The GameCube is another recent example of Nintendo thinking too far outside the box when they chose to adopt mini-disc instead of DVD like the rest of the industry, making it the only system that consumers could not watch their DVD movies when they wanted to. The games were arguably great on the system but it's a console most people slept on when The PS2 and Xbox gave people more flexibility as we started to see more multipurpose devices hitting the market. I predict that Nintendo will likely release a refresh of the Lite console with an OLED screen and more storage then we’ll likely see their next generation home console mid to late next year.  But again, that begs the question, what’s it going to be?  I think we’re going to get something with a very similar form factor of the current Switch but with an upgraded processor. I also think they will run the system at 1080p in handheld mode and then at near 4k with the system docked to a tv.  

    The big change that I think will happen is that they are going to move to solely digital distribution.  Which is definitely controversial but its a move that has been happening gradually over the years.  I will go as far as saying that the entire next generation of game consoles will be solely digital. It’s an approach that I’ve largely fought against over the years but recently I’ve converted more and more to consuming my content digitally. The flexibility of having access to your stuff regardless of where you are is worth the trade off of owning something physical in my opinion.  We’re on the go as a society now more than ever and I am fully on board with this digital future and its a mindset I think Nintendo is going to embrace.  Needless to say it’ll be exciting to see and then it’ll be interesting to see what the rest of the industry does in response afterwards. If nothing else, hopefully it’ll help drive some innovation and competition, because its been something lacking with the current generation and we all know that innovation drives competition and users are the ones that benefit with great games. That about wraps it up for this time guys. Thanks for the support so far and stay tuned for more content coming soon. Next time I’ll be exploring more about digital distribution of media. 

Audio, To The Max

 Audio, To The Max

Monday October 9, 2023

By Joseph Morin

Since I was a young child I’ve been a fan of music. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s I had the privilege to hear so much great music.  Most notably 80’s new wave and 90’s alternative. Phil Collins and Trent Reznor were responsible for some of my favourite songs growing up. The song In The Air Tonight is the first song I can remember ever hearing. It was during the end of an early episode of Miami Vice. Which is still one of my favourite tv shows. Music for me is something special. There are just certain songs that trigger memories and moments for me. This is a feeling you likely share if you enjoy music as well.  

Enough reminiscing about my music memories. We’re here to talk about AirPods Max. Likely one of Apple’s most polarizing products of the last ten years.  Released in late 2020 during the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic the product never received a proper introduction at one of Apple’s signature keynote presentations. It released very quietly to a decidedly mixed reception. Criticisms ranging anywhere from it being overpriced to its less than desirable case. All of those have been well documented and beaten into the ground by several people.  Im here to focus on letting people know about the positive aspects of this product that I’ve experienced during the course of my time owning this product. 

I’ve owned several headphones over the years. Some good , some bad. One thing though that they all had in common was there was always some type of technical issue or some kind of compromise you had to make to use them.  The two main issues have been short cords on wired headphones and poor to mediocre battery life with wireless headphones.  Another key issue with other headphones is poor build quality.  So many headphone are made of cheap plastic that just aren’t worth your money. AirPods Max, in my opinion, are headphones without any major compromises.  Yes the price tag is high (we’re talking rough $800 Canadian before taxes).  But for that price you get an audio experience unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The best way I can describe it is that it's the next best thing to being there live with a band playing.  Spatial audio while cool, isn’t a feature available for every song.

  While you can technically enable it for every song, it doesn’t always work.  Especially if the original audio wasn't recorded for spatial audio.  That's not a fault of the headphones themselves. Its just a lack of a lot of spacial audio on Apple Music itself.  The best way is to just keep it at regular settings and just crank it up.  Noise cancellation on the AirPods Max works incredibly well using eight built in microphones to block out any unwanted sounds. Now when you do want to hear what’s going on around you, there’s the best transparency mode I’ve ever used. I can literally hear more clearly while in this mode than when I’m not even wearing them. It's almost like it's a built in hearing aid. Now let's talk about battery life.  This is an issue I’ve had with ever single other wireless headphones I’ve ever owned.  I listen to music on the way to work, during breaks, and on my way home and I only have to charge them once a week.  I think that’s pretty amazing.  I already listened to a lot of music but thanks to these I get to listen to music wherever I want now.  Also they intelligently switch between your devices if you switch while still wearing them and whenever you hop on one of your devices, they immediately connect without you having to do anything.  

If you have the budget for them, and you are already in the Apple ecosystem, I strongly recommend them.  They’re quite simply the best over the ear noise cancelling headphones for Apple devices. Hopefully Apple will provide a more budget friendly version of these headphones in the same form factor because it would sell like crazy.  That’s it for this time guys.  For those wondering I will be discussing tech topics outside of Apple.  It just so happened I talked about them back to back. Rest assured I’ll be covering anything noteworthy in the tech industry including non Apple stuff.  If you are enjoying the blog please fell free to share these on your social media so more people get a chance to read these.  Thank you. 

iMac? More like iMazing

iMac?  More like iMazing

Friday October 6, 2023

By Joseph Morin

    When I first heard about and saw the new iMac in 2021, I was immediately enthralled with it. In full transparency I am an Apple person through and through.  Going back to the early 90’s and the  early days of Apple computers.  There’s something about their products that differentiates themselves for the rest of the technology industry.  People love their Apple products. I mean truly love them. By that I mean people are physically in love with these pieces of technology unlike anything else out there.  For years I’ve wondered why and people have asked me why.  Why do people love their Apple products so much?  Honestly I’ve always really known why. It's because in the process of making these things the love and the passion that the people put into making the products is reflected to the customer when they see them and use them.  Every time I go to an Apple Store I see it.  People touching these products for the first time or for even possibly the thousandth time have the same reaction. A smile. It's because of this that these products have become so deeply integrated into our lives.  They become part of us. 

     The iMac while still beautiful had been relatively stagnant for over a decade since 2009. The aging Intel chipset felt like it was really holding the product back.  It felt like a really advanced piece of hardware but felt like it was  compromised by the actual electronics inside.  The form factor was eye dropping for its time and was clearly the best looking all in one desktop computer on the market but it was long overdue for a refresh and redesign. Then in November 2020 

Apple revealed the M1 system on a chip.  Now to put things into perspective, let's rewind the clock back to when I first got into computers.  If you wanted a computer that was truly useful at the time you had to custom build  you own.  You had to buy the tower itself, the motherboard, the sound card, the video card, the CPU, the RAM, etc all piece by piece. Plus you had the added headache of having to deal with the early versions of Windows.  Which left a lot to be desired even when it was working properly. Which it often didn’t. Fast forward to today where all the work is done for you with computers that are complete and ready to go right of the box.

    Now with the M1 chip that concept is taken to the next level with the processor, the graphics processor, the ram and the storage has been crammed into a single chip that is only slightly larger than your thumbnail. The result is a computer that can pretty  much take on any task that the typical person needs to do.  Even more interesting is that you can take on more than several tasks at the same time and the computer still has horsepower to spare.  Even as I’m typing this blog I have about ten applications running at the same time and this computer doesn’t miss a beat.  Visually the new iMac is truly something to behold. Especially when you look at it from the side.  It is a mere 11.5mm thin.  (That’s just under half an inch for those in the US).  

    To put that into perspective, that’s thinner than your index finger. It's hard to believe that they can even fit the entire display in there.  Let alone an entire computer.  Then just when you think you’ve stopped being amazed by this computer, you then start it up and start using it. To put it simply, it's the most useful and capable desktop computer for the average person and for creative people who don’t want to spend an exorbitant amount of money. 

    I could spend hours gushing about the numbers and the intricate technical specs especially because I’m a tech junkie and I live that stuff but all you really need to know here is that the iMac is the best all in one desktop computer on the market today and its the best because it does exactly  what you need it to do and it does it without the typical issues and headaches you may be used to with typical desktop computers.  The last thing I need to touch on with this and I almost forgot to mention that these iMac’s come in a variety of different colours that have to be seen to really appreciate.  

  

    It very much harkens back to the days of the original Bondi blue and tangerine colour iMac’s.  These colours really pop and everyone will find a colour that works for them.  Plus also before I forget, it’ll also seamlessly integrate with any other Apple products you have. That’s a feature that also sets Apple apart from the rest of tech industry which is still  struggling to try and match to this day. 

    Being able to seamlessly flow between devices and especially if you’re the creative type its a real game changer. It's a computer that you will fall in love with and that you’ll want to use every day.  Sadly Steve Jobs did leave us in 2011 and some of the soul of company did go away after his death but these iMac’s are something that I can guarantee he would be proud of and live up to the original ideology of the company and its users. Think differently.  Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo and change the world.

Special thanks to Ryan K Bowman who with his current book inspired me to start writing again.