newly ancient

I am not a big gaming guy. I don’t own any consoles and only occasionally play a PC game or two. Yet, I was amazed by the interaction capable of the Wii. When I visited my cousin, one of the fortunate few who got one, I found the interaction device to be simply amazing. However, the true moment of amazement came when my technologically-inept mother commented on how cool and intuitive it was. While the Wii way may lack the graphics and gaming power of the Xbox and PS3, it makes up for it with simplicity and inuativeness. The Wii is truly a next-generation gaming console which will span generations.

In the competitive world of modern gaming, companies are seeking innovative ways to expand their market base. In an attempt to further expand their market, companies such as Nintendo and Sony have created next-generation input tools. The latest and greatest of these is the Nintendo Wii. This innovative system incorporates motion sensor technology which allows users to play in entirely new ways. It eliminates the classic joystick interaction in favor of users simply waving the controller through the air. Using this technique, even the most inexperienced gamers can engage in duels or conduct an orchestra intuitively. The Wii, codenamed Revolution during development, promises to be just that. Next generation gaming includes innovative new controller styles.

By creating new input devices, gaming companies are trying to expand their market. The gaming market is one of the most competitive ones out there with many titles and consoles out there all vying for your attention. Generally, you are an adolescent male. With this much competition for that demographic, gaming companies are trying to not only get that demographics attention but also expand their market to other demographics. By creating new, intuitive input devices, companies are able to attract people who aren’t stereotypical gamers such as females or seniors. While this may not rock the world, the Wii is posed to generate success in expanding into these new markets. If Nintendo is successful with the Wii, other companies such as Microsoft and Sony are likely to follow along with their own next-generation controllers. This would create a domino effect in which the classic joystick and buttons are completely phased out. Who knows? Maybe when I will someday be going head to head with my grandson in intense gaming… even if I can no longer press keys. Nintendo is posed to create a gaming and social revolution with its next-generation Wii which can span generations.

Caution: This post is 85% rant and 10% information.

I hate floats. The float property is the single most annoying property of CSS. It is very fickle and often has unexpected results. The purpose of a float is to align some element left or right. In the case of an image inside of a text body, it does its job well. In all other cases, it can be very strange in how it does it. Sometimes, other elements are overlaid underneath or over the floated element. Other times, the float simply moves the element to an entirely different place on the page than where you want it.

Despite all their faults, I and every other web designer use floats in all our work. Let’s face it: you often need stuff aligned to the right and left or kept inline with other content. They are especially of use when you want to create a semantic unordered list for navigation. I just wish they would work across all browsers as you want them too. So, instead of trying to squash competitors and expand your market, just make your engine interpret CSS correctly. The rest will float follow.

Wondering where the other 5% from my warning went? The other 5% was simply the need for something to post about since things were getting dull around here since I’m back from Chicago.