Topic: The smartest person on the Internet

[ThePerm]

you know how many unbuilt rocket ship are in landfills?

[broodwars]

I've been wondering this for a while now, but is there a reason we're supposed to care what this Sean Maelstrom guy thinks?

[KDR_11k]

He's got some good reasoning in some of his arguments and when he first showed up nobody understood why the Wii became as big as it is.

[BeautifulShy]

Well first of all broodwars nobody was really explaining the business side of what Nintendo was doing. He has been doing this for 4 years and I don't think anybody else does it better. He sees through what the industry is doing.

[Mop it up]

Hooray, more flawed logic of "Since this is copying something popular, it is going to be EVEN MORE POPULAR!"
If that were true, the SixAxis would be in more homes than the Wii Remote.

[King of Twitch]

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/analyst-says-why-move-will-be-a-success/

Let me see if I can follow Sean Maelstrom's clear, reasoned, logical argument

1) SM mocks analyst Jesse Divinch who says there is nothing wrong with replicating Wii's motion controls since Move evolves that idea

2) PlayStation has always been an imitation

3) This generation is obeying different rules than the previous generations

4) Now, generations are going to be defined by companies stretching out to new markets rather than fighting over one 
     4a) (so haha you hardcore gamers. Your days are over).

5) Analyst: I wouldn’t be embarrassed playing Move when my friends come over; it evolves motion based gaming into environments not capable on the Wii.

6) SM: Though it was true for past consoles, analyst is wrong for assuming the current consoles are competing on similar "values" and "identical philosophies"

7) The Wii is something else.
     7a) Is the motion controller responsible for Wii Fit’s success? No
     7b) Analysts are confusing motion controls with the values of the Wii

8a) Atari 7800 controller imitates the NES controller… yet it gets the values wrong
     8a) NES was a revolution.
     8b) The 7800 was Next Generation of your dad’s console.
     8c) People thought the NES lost its advantage because of Atari's imitation controller and backwards compatibility

9) The Console Wars are defined by the game consoles having symmetrical values.

10) The first Console Wars came during the Atari Era with consoles like the Intellivision or Coleco-vision.

--ACID HIT REQUIRED BEYOND THIS POINT--

11) "But the NES was never competing against any game console. It was competing against disinterest."
   11a) NES controllers were awesome
   
12) Console Wars are boring both for the consumer and for observers.

13) Symmetrical values always hold the incumbents winning in the end.
     13a) Symmetrical values hold that technology and sustaining upgrades will   win.

14) People did not buy the Wii purely for motion control, but to play games in new ways they never did before.
   14a) It's why PS3 failed out of the gates, and why Move will fail.

15) Move is PlayStation 3’s second response to Wii’s motion controls.
   15a) Move is PlayStation 3’s second response to Wii’s motion controls.
      15a-I) Move is PlayStation 3’s second response to Wii’s motion controls.
         15a-II) I'm Sean Maelstrom, did I tell you that Move is PlayStation 3’s second response to Wii’s motion controls?

16) Mocks unnamed hardcore gamers on unnamed forums as kool-aid drinkers and suggests they keep parroting the analyst.

This is the smartest person on the internet?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

After a summary like that, YOU might be the smartest now.

Are you prepared?

[Guitar Smasher]

Zap, you have to have read much of what he's written in the past to really understand what he's saying.  Everything you listed was kind of paraphrased in this specific article because he's covered it more deeply before.  He's certainly a polarizing character, but he presents arguments that you don't hear anywhere else (and they're credible as well).

Now if you really want to question his arguments, then expand on your post and actually say something with respect to those bullet-points.  As it stands, each point is true to an extent but it's not enough to understand their implications.

[King of Twitch]

I need a vacation

[BlackNMild2k1]

I need a vacation

I need another drink...

[King of Twitch]

Zap, you have to have read much of what he's written in the past to really understand what he's saying.  Everything you listed was kind of paraphrased in this specific article because he's covered it more deeply before. 

You mean he is resting on his laurels, and his previous work was far more deep and fleshed out...













THE SAME STUFF HE ACCUSES NINTENDO OF? (LAFF)

[BeautifulShy]

Zap he has kinda stopped writing articles because the responses by Sony and Microsoft are laughable.

He doesn't feel like the "response" from Sony and Microsoft don't warrent an article.
A few days ago when the 3DS was revealed he is likely going to do one on that and he figures that the 3DS will be the start of the 8th generation.

[Guitar Smasher]

Zap, you have to have read much of what he's written in the past to really understand what he's saying.  Everything you listed was kind of paraphrased in this specific article because he's covered it more deeply before. 

You mean he is resting on his laurels, and his previous work was far more deep and fleshed out...













THE SAME STUFF HE ACCUSES NINTENDO OF? (LAFF)

It's a blog.  Do you expect him to write 10 page essays over things he's already gone into detail about?  It originally started out with him examining the business strategy Nintendo was using for Wii.  Now that Nintendo's nearly forced Sony/MS into submission, it's not really interesting to write about (because he already explained why this would happen).  These days he simply comments on relevant news.  There hasn't been any compelling moves made by Sony/MS lately so he only touches on them.

[King of Twitch]

I expect those numbered points to be coherent. And not full of drivel like "People did not buy the Wii purely for motion control, but to play games in new ways they never did before" as if one weren't the same as the other.

If he had said Move won't succeed because we're a year away from the next generation and the cusp of 3D gaming, and the "HD Twins" are too far behind for it to make a difference, and it's too expensive, that would make sense, because it reflects the reality as experienced by planet Earth.

[Guitar Smasher]

I expect those numbered points to be coherent.

They are coherent, if you've been keeping up with his posts.  No need to write a thesis everytime Sony/MS screw up.  Just reference the reasons you explored before.

And not full of drivel like "People did not buy the Wii purely for motion control, but to play games in new ways they never did before" as if one weren't the same as the other.

They are not the same!  WiiFit is not motion control (not in the traditional sense), NSMBWii is not motion control, yet both games alone sold a ton of Wii systems.

If he had said Move won't succeed because we're a year away from the next generation and the cusp of 3D gaming, and the "HD Twins" are too far behind for it to make a difference, and it's too expensive, that would make sense, because it reflects the reality as experienced by planet Earth.

He has covered these things!  This one blog post you read is a response to one analyst's retarded assertions.  He's already gone in depth on Move/Natal, so he only restates the key points earlier explained.  If you don't believe me, check out this example:  http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/is-sony-on-the-move/

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Zap,

Fancy plastic that you wave around isn't the significant part (cuz that's easily copied and reiterated, like we'll see this year), but the idea that you play by... Playing.  When all the "regular people" join in on the fun, their eyes are still fixated on the TV/games, not the controller.

You don't approach Wii to play the Wii Remote, you approach Wii to have those gaming experiences -- is what Sean had been implying since day one.  And when companion interfaces are factored, like "The Wii Fit" (no one mentions "board", lols), the Remote doesn't appear to count as the entire "pie" anymore, only a piece of it.

I know, it's hard for gamers to see it this way, at first.  Console warring all the time, they see the weapon stockpiles before seeing people.

[KDR_11k]

You mean he is resting on his laurels, and his previous work was far more deep and fleshed out...

That's like picking up the third LotR book first and then complaining that the context isn't explained.

[Urkel]

New forum rules: People who don't regularly read his blog aren't allowed to post in this thread.
 
The dude writes a TON of stuff and assumes the reader is familiar with his terminology. You're not going to get the context of what he's saying from a random post of his.

[NWR_insanolord]

New forum rules: People who don't regularly read his blog aren't allowed to post in this thread.
 
The dude writes a TON of stuff and assumes the reader is familiar with his terminology. You're not going to get the context of what he's saying from a random post of his.

I'd go along with this rule if it also meant that people who do regularly read his blog aren't allowed to post about it in any thread except this one.

[Urkel]

I've been wondering this for a while now, but is there a reason we're supposed to care what this Sean Maelstrom guy thinks?

Because apparantly even EA cares about what he thinks.
 
Joe Booth of EA Montreal referenced Malstrom's "Birdmen and the Casual Fallacy" article (as well as other discussion about Disruption and Blue Ocean) at a presentation at the 2009 Montreal International Game Summit.
 
http://sijm.ca/2009/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/joe-booth.pdf
 
Like it or not, Malstrom is relevant.