First Impressions

The first thing you’ll notice out of the box is that the new MacBook has the impression of being much more solid than the previous ones. This can be chalked up to Apple’s brand new unibody design process, where the main body of the notebook is carved from a solid block of aluminum. Another thing to note is that the MacBook looks significantly thinner due to the tapered edges of the screen bezel and the body (similar to those found on the MacBook Air and the iPhone 3G).

Open up the laptop and you’ll be presented with a black chicklet keyboard, which actually looks very similar in color contrast to the Titanium PowerBook G4. A new larger touchpad is also visible, but where did the button go? It’s actually still around, and better than ever, but we’ll get to that later.

Move on up to the bezel, and you’ll notice flush glass covered glossy display. Power on the computer and you’ll notice a beautiful LED backlight and a vibrant screen. Using the trackpad, you’ll notice that the bottom of the trackpad clicks down as a hinge. And did I mention that the trackpad was multitouch? Your iPhone gestures also work, such as the pinch and the flick, in many applications. In addition, there are new 3 finger gestures, and 4 finger gestures for Exposé. Go into the Keyboard and Mouse Preferences and you will also have the option of configuring a secondary click area (Windows users: this means you can have your right click back).

In addition, the new MacBook also has a brand new chipset architecture under the hood. Apple decided to eschew the Intel GMA X1300 chipset in favor of a new nVIDIA 9400M chipset with 256MB shared video memory, initially built exclusively for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. This means that many users that were originally considering going with the MacBook Pro might be able to settle for the MacBook, as it now has enough graphical power for light to moderate use of professional applications. If you’re an actual professional though, the MacBook Pro is still available with a dedicated option, which adds either a 256MB or 512MB 9600M GT video chipset in addition to the 9400M, and you have the option of switching between these 2 based on whether you need power or battery life at a given time.

Another feature new to the MacBook, but previously available in the Pro, is the ambient light sensor. This works remarkably well, if anything, possibly too well (as this new sensor responds IMMEDIATELY upon a change, even really small changes in light, so don’t be surprised if the sun comes out and all of a sudden the screen lights up). If you get the 2.4GHz MacBook or better, you’ll also get a backlit keyboard.

Caveats

Unfortunately, the new MacBook is not perfect, at least not for some people. While I personally love the glass display, people who want a matte option, have no choice. None of the new MacBooks are available with matte displays.

The second thing that might annoy people is the multitouch touchpad. While I personally don’t find it much different than the one button touchpad on older MacBooks in terms of usage, I’m sure there will be some people that will have trouble with it. Also, you may find that you have to handle the touchpad a bit differently to ensure that clicks register properly, if you’re the type that uses your whole thumb to depress the button. I’ve also noticed that sometimes I’ll accidentally perform the pinch gesture when I’m not paying attention. Still, I personally find the new touchpad a vast improvement over the old one.

The third thing that will be a deal breaker for many people, especially in the professional segment, is that FireWire 400 was axed, so no FireWire on the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro’s FireWire connectivity is now limited to one FW 800 connector. So if you have a FireWire camera and were looking at buying a MacBook, too bad, you’re shelling out an extra $700 for the Pro. If you’re the type that has a camera connected to FW 400 while writing to a hard disk enclosure on FireWire 800, too bad, it’s not happening. That said, for me, these weren’t deal breakers, so I went for the MacBook.

Conclusion

All in all, if you can live with the compromises you have to make with the new MacBook, which I would say 80% of Apple’s market can, you will more than likely be happy with the new MacBook or MacBook Pro. If not, the old MacBook can be had for as little as $999 brand, and the old MacBook Pro as low as $1700, so it might be best to pick one of those up and wait to see if and how Apple addresses these issues.

Wii Sells Through 600k [IGN]

“A small number of older High Definition television sets found in the United States only have 1080i inputs for HD signals. Those televisions will currently only play some PS3 titles at 480p resolution. PS3 games render images at either 720p or 1080p for High Definition, and you need 720p input on the TV to play select games that do not support 1080p. This is an issue on the side of the individual television sets, which do not accept 720p input, so when a game outputs an HD signal only at 720p, these select TVs have to display the game at 480p instead.”

Is there any valid reason why the PS3 shouldn’t be able to output 1080i? HDTV in general isn’t that old, at least as far as widespread adoption is concerned. The Xbox 360 did 1080i fine, so I don’t see any valid reason why the PS3 shouldn’t have supported this in the first place, and I get the feeling it would have probably gone unnoticed if it weren’t for the bad publicity Sony received over the issue.

GameDaily BIZ: SCEA Comments on PS3 Resolution on Older HDTVs [GameDaily via EvilAvatar]

200k Wii units for US retail per week - analyst [GamesIndustry.biz]

Graphics

The Wii uses a version of ATi’s “Flipper” GPU, the same one that powered the GameCube. So as you can expect, the Wii is certainly no PS3 or Xbox 360, and the graphics don’t look anywhere near as advanced as those consoles in terms of pushing polygons or netting high frame rates.

However, before you decide not to buy the Wii based on graphics, I must say that the games do in fact look very good even with the console’s limited horsepower. For example, despite what certain Wii haters may say about it, the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a great looking game, despite not even coming anywhere close to the Wii’s hardware capabilities. If you can get past the fact that you are playing at 480p using old graphics hardware, the Wii will definitely be more than enough graphically.

The Controller

The Wii’s major innovation is the new controller. This is where the console really shines, and it alone is probably the reason to buy the console over anything else. For the uninitiated, the Wii is controlled using a remote controller with your digital control pad and the majority of the buttons, which is typically held in the right hand, as well as an attachment called the “nunchuck”, which features the analog stick and some triggers, and is typically is held using the left hand. Both controllers are motion sensitive, and depending on the game the motion sensitivity could be responsible for anywhere between 0 and 100 percent of the control for the entire game.

One of the games I played was Wii Sports, which is included with the console. Wii Sports is controlled predominantly using the motion sensitivity of the Wii remote, and uses all of the axes of motion sensitivity the controller supports. For example, one of the games featured in Wii Sports is Wii bowling, in which the speed of the ball and direction of the ball is determined by the speed and direction at which you “bowl” the remote toward the screen, and the hook of the ball is determined by the positioning of the wrist when you do the bowling action. To be more blunt, Wii Sports bowling feels a lot like real bowling because of how intuitive the control scheme is.

In terms of learning curve, the new control scheme does have one. In fact, I might go so far as to call it an “unlearning curve”. The motion sensor is actually extremely sensitive, and at first it’s too easy to overexert your actions. People that have little prior experience with gaming don’t seem to notice this. As such, don’t be surprised if you initially end up losing to people that are terrible at video games. After you get over the initial learning curve, the control is actually very solid. And for games like first person shooters and real time strategy that were traditionally difficult to play with consoles at the same precision as the PC, the innovative Wii control scheme opens up new possibilities.

Overall Impression

If you are interested in a completely new innovative gameplay experience, buy the Wii. If you are interested in a fun console that people can get into with minimal effort even without prior gameplay experience, get the Wii. If you want a party console, get the Wii. If you want a console that won’t break the bank, the Wii is it. If you want more of the same old presentation over gameplay trend going on these days, then by all means, buy the 360 or the PS3, the Wii is not for you.

Over here in ice cold Windsor Ontario, the Corvillus crew are camping out in front of the local Best Buy, which, unlike some of their other stores, is happy to accomodate the console fanboys. As you can see, we have an elaborate hobo community set up outside the store. More photos after the jump.

After hearing about this and the backwards compatibility issue, I for one am glad that I decided to wait a while before making any decisions about purchasing. It appears that Sony is continuing their tradition of launching with buggy hardware. Oh well, unlike the faulty optical drives that plagued the initial release of the PSX and PS2, at least this one could probably be resolved with a firmware update from Sony rather than a hardware repair.

PS3 Downscales 720p on Incapable TVs [IGN via 1UP]

Lycos plans to make this a platform for delivering full length movies and TV shows along with user-generated content. In addition, a chat functionality is also included, allowing viewers of the same video to talk to each other through multiple different rooms.

Personally, I don’t think this service really stands a chance. The first thing that comes to mind is the obvious issue of copyright infringement. YouTube is already having enough trouble with this as is, and they have a 10 minute limit on video uploads. On this service, users can upload full length movies, which is great, except for the small fact that users will upload full length movies they don’t own the copyright to. YouTube is limited to clips, and at worst, split TV shows.

Another issue that comes to mind with this is bandwidth. The average YouTube user spends about half an hour on the site on any given day they visit. Now, YouTube is not profitable; far from it. The only reason it can continue to survive is because Google was willing to take the losses. Now, if Cinema gets the same amount of visits as YouTube, one could estimate that there would be about an hour and a half per day for the average visit. Using some simple math, one could then deduce that Cinema would use triple the bandwidth and therefore have triple the operating costs of YouTube.

The third issue is that YouTube owns the market. Why would I want to use Cinema when the content is already on YouTube? (Aside from being easier to pirate content on, of course.) There’s simply no reason for the majority of users to switch. Chat? I came to watch videos, not to chat with random people.

Lycos Cinema ties chat to movies; content library, technical details disappoint [Ars Technica]

Yet another Wii trailer. Every time I see one of these it makes me more excited for the console. The Wii control scheme just looks more interesting every time I see it.

[via Go Nintendo]

That’s how it works in theory anyway. Japanese gamers found out the hard way that it works very differently in practice. From the article:

Japan’s Cnet.com reports backwards compatibility problems for over 196 PlayStation 2 titles. This figure counts multiple versions of the same game (budget versions, limited editions, etc.) as a single entity and includes the full range of problems, from simple sound issues to more dramatic freezing issues.

In response to these issues, Sony’s PR department pointed out that it, from the start, expected backwards compatibility to be less than 100%. It was also good enough to point out that some people can put up with playing games that lack sound.

So basically, there’s at least 196 games that don’t work properly. Also, sound clearly is not an important part of the gaming experience. It must be true! Sony says so. Everyone, sell all your speakers, you’ll need the money to pay off that credit card bill the you’ll be racking up from that PS3 purchase!

Sony Comments on Backwards Compatibility [IGN via Evil Avatar]