Henry Phish

I caught an article the other day on how Nintendo is expecting shortages in it’s Wii production through the holidays. This has been a problem for the last three years.

Historically, Nintendo tends to be a little conservative in it’s production, no doubt due to it’s smaller size, it can’t afford over production like many of the big companies such as Sony or Microsoft; still, Nintendo has years of experience in the industry, and it’s a little surprising that they are having difficulty meeting demand after three years of sales. It just goes to show however that the innovative nature of the Wii is a great selling point, and shouldn’t be underestimated. Sales for this system just keep going up and up.

The thing about retail and the seasonal shopping season is this, most retailers do not turn a profit until after the holiday season. Without adequate and in demand products on the shelves, sales numbers go down because retailers don’t have anything to sell. Retailers don’t like this, and may give you less favorable shelf space in favor of products they can sell more of…reducing your marketability.

Further, Nintendo in their infinite wisdom has lost the sale of the Wii’s it couldn’t produce, which is less money for them initially, and more on the back end since they’ve failed to sell any periphreals or games for those systems. Also, if a customer decides to buy a X-Box or Playstation instead, then the entry cost for that customer has just gone up…because it’s going to take a lot more marketing dollars to get them back.

Near as I can figure, that’s why X-Box 360 is the number one system right now, since the system is cheaper and more available than the rest.

Honestly though, I think I’d rather have a Wii…they make it look fun.

Wii shortages expected through holidays…again

I stumbled upon an article the other day about the creator or Super Mario Bros and Zelda. Apparently Nintendo has issued a gag order against him talking about his out of work activities because many of his hobbies have been turned into award winning games worth millions of dollars. It’s fun to see this kind of success come so naturally from someone.

Check it out:

Mario Creator Gagged by Nintendo Brass

Seriously this has to be one of the craziest things I’ve seen on the web.  I’ve seen skateboarding videos before, and there’s a lot of impressive people out there, but this video puts all of those to shame.

Ryan Simonetti: Skateboarding Stunt Reel

If this guy doesn’t die tragically before the age of forty I’ll be really impressed.

I wish I still had the kind of free time that this would have taken to create.

Lincoln Coin Mosaic Video

Absolutely genius. Do you think this would work with other coins or possibly dollar bills?

Back in highschool I had a friend that built a potato gun out of a black PVC pipe, an igniter, and a can of hairspray.  You’d put the potato in the front end and it would create a seal, then you’d fill the back end with hairspray, screw the cap on, and whoola, a home-made bomb…I mean spud cannon.  Keep in mind that these things are dangerous, and I in no way condone their use, except under the guidance of resposible adult supervision…we had more than our fair share of incidents, everything from burnt hair, to our back cap blowing off and narrowly missing one of our group…they can be dangerous, so if you’re so inclined to build one, please take precautions.  That said, they are really cool to see in use, and it’s a great way to learn about the science of things…well combustion anyway. 

For a simple example, check out this site.  It’s similar to the gun we made in school…though hopefully these guys were a little bit smarter about it than we were…though by the looks of it, I wouldn’t count on it…

For those of you that think you’re beyond this stuff…well…just check out this page and dare to reconsider. 

Some people just have too much time on their hands…like me, for maintaining this blog…but as they say, people need to have their hobbies, for some that’s stamp collecting, for others that’s astronomy, and for still others, there’s pencil carving.  This stuff is pretty amazing…though I think I’ll stick to filmaking and blogging and leave the hard stuff to other people…

Pencil Carving