Nitendo To Launch Own Network

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Well, it finally happened – Nintendo is doing its own network.  Not clear if it's in time for the Wii U launch or what, but a welcome addition to the company.  Well, in short, it's a needed one.

Of course details seem scarce, but let's be honest – Nintendo has to do this to keep up.  It's not something new, it's something they have no choice but to do.

Now a few things:

  • Is this going to be a minimal-network or are they going to do anything different with it?  Nintendo's "do different" ability has served them well in the past (you think we'd have Kinect without the Wii?).  They may leave people unimpressed or suddenly have competitors scrambling to keep up.
  • They may use this to steal the thunder of competitors.  Watch when the announcements occur.
  • How much is made – and how much has to be built.  There may be job opportunities here.
  • How do you get things distributed between this new network?  Developers should keep up on this.

– Steven Savage

 

 

Ask Steve: Insane Lists of Job Requirements And You

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Thanks to our own Tamara Hecht for noting a need for this post – and it's a chance for me to launch an experimental "Ask A Progeek" section (thinking of having it organized both for individuals and in general).

So it happened.  You found your perfect job, or come to think of it in this economy, any job.  Anyway, you look at the list of requirements, which almost inevitably is some kind of insane wish list, and you realize you don't meet them.  Yet, you still want that job and indeed can do it.

What do you do? 

First, let me put your mind at ease – if you think that that entire list has to be fulfilled perfectly, you're almost inevitably wrong.  Except in the case of certain scientific, engineering, and legal requirements, you don't have to fill the list out perfectly.  Chances are that list has been through so many hands no one actually cares that much.

Keeping that in mind, there's three things to do:

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Netflix Is Back?

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OK they may be still playing juggle-the-rights, but Netflix did pretty well for Q4 (beating expectations), and numbers suggest they might be over that hump of sort of annoying everyone.

They're also abandoning their video game rental plans, which makes total sense.

Frankly this is a bit better than I expected, but as a Netflix booster who got disappointed in some of their activities, I'm not sure I can say "they're back," even though I love the service.  It's a positive sign definitely – and it looks like they're aware that Amazon is coming for them.

Oh, and again, where's OnLive in all of this . . .

– Steven Savage