Probably the thing I'm looking forward to the most, though, is successfully prosecuting the Great Backlog War of 2012, mostly because I've promised myself an Xbox 360 when my backlog is cleared. "What's this?" you ask. "Locke hasn't had an Xbox since 2005, and he's been behind Nintendo and Sony that whole time!" Well, after watching all of the Big 3's press conferences, I found myself most impressed with Microsoft. Yes, they were relying mostly on the new Halo, Gears of War, and a couple other established franchises, but I appreciated that they weren't trying to divide their player base by introducing or pushing a handheld gaming device (like Sony) or focusing on being the "gimmick console" of the next generation (like Nintendo). Other than announcing new TV offerings and web surfing through Kinect, the only really Big Thing the company introduced was SmartGlass, a multiplatform app that allows you to use any smartphone, tablet, or PC to integrate with an Xbox 360.
I know that won't sound all that impressive to a lot of you, and I can fully empathize with that sentiment. What caught me about this idea was that I don't need to buy any new hardware (other than an Xbox 360, which I was planning to buy anyway) to take advantage of this new technology. No PSVita that will further fracture my software purchases, no WiiU gamepad that will be destroyed by my children within minutes of opening the box. Just my iPod Touch and a free app. I can get behind that. Microsoft is very rarely known for it's remarkable innovations, but this is one idea that I'm really looking forward to. May I find the fortitude and determination to defeat my backlog and reap the reward I desire: a backlog full of Xbox 360 games. :)
And now for something completely different.
I am now officially a kludger. You see, when I was coming up with exactly how I wanted my Xbox 360 scheme to work out, I realized that I would prefer to have the console on my computer desk, possibly hooked up to my computer monitor when I wanted to play. Well, my then-current desktop configuration wouldn't allow that, so I decided to pull my old desk out of storage and sit it next to the old dinner table I was using. Problem solved! More usable storage space and an area for my Xbox to sit. It would be perfect!
And then the desk broke as I was trying to move it out of our storage room. Rather than give in to despair, however, I realized that I could saw the remaining leg off the desk, remove some extraneous pieces of particle board, and make a pretty decent addition to my table-/desktop. It wasn't until after I was finished sawing and reassembling, that I realized just what I was doing. I'd become one of them, those crazy people who make do with what they have when it really would be better to purchase a replacement.
Okay, so it doesn't look as bad as some of those kludges on ThereIFixedIt, but I'm still slightly ashamed of what I turned to in my hour of desperation. But it's not going to keep me from using it, so I suppose I should just accept my fate. I'm a kludger, for better or worse.
P.S. I can't stand the name of Nintendo's new console. Yes, I had some similar feelings when the Wii was first announced, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to think of the WiiU without thinking of Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. Case in point:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9sS7kWpPhM]
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