Nintendo DS, Music Updates

Good evening,

My first order of business tonight is an expression of concern about an advertising campaign by Nintendo.



Their hand-held game console Nintendo DS is one that I find rather familiar, one that I am used to seeing my peers use and abuse during their time of leisure. However, their recent advertisements have left me a bit confused. I remember not long ago when Beyoncé (age 27) and Liv Tyler (age 32 but a passable under-30) first emerged on my television screen playing those silly games on their Nintendo DS's. The ads painted a picture of someone who, although older, still enjoyed playing video games and now that they were slightly more sophisticated, and it wasn't imposing on any career that they had attained, it was perfectly acceptable to play a little video game on their down time. Now in 2009, these commercials are back, except now with everyday women playing these games, almost painting the followup to the previous message: "successful, famous women can do it and now so can you!" On the other hand, I find that encouraging people and targeting women in particular to play video games at an age well past childhood is a bit disturbing. Our culture, heavily plagued by pointless iPhone applications and plenty of websites (FML, textsfromlastnight, and countless blogs) made to pass the idle time one spends at their work or home desk in front of a computer, is now taking it a step further and telling women, who should either be at work advancing their career, raising their family, studying their craft or a combination of all three, that they should throw all of that aside and instead of reading a book or doing something a bit more productive, that they should choose to play a video game instead. Now they make these video games out to be rather stimulating in the proper sense, using questions and puzzles I remember from all sorts of standardized testing throughout my childhood, and that seems to make it more acceptable. But I am not fooled. I find it repulsive and dangerous to target the core of the next generation of potential leaders and the backbone of the up-and-coming society, the women, with such foolishness.

On to lighter topics:

Mistah F.A.B.'s recent single "Hit Me On Twitter" is a song I am upset to like. The hook of the song, however, is rather infectious and one that easily gets stuck in ones head for hours. See for yourself:

However upset I am that Twitter has a song, and a hip hop song no less, goes out of the window when the catchy "I follow you, you follow me" commences. I disappoint even myself. But everyone is entitled to a guilty pleasure or two.

Panic! Update:

Panic! at the Disco's new single I posted during the premiere finally has a video and I must say I am pleased. For once, the group isn't performing all of the theatrics and are very cool and collected. Plus they know how to wear a suit. But then again who are we kidding, Panic! can do no wrong. Check it out:

Panic! at the Disco - New Perspective



In brief: Nintendo DS's women targeted campaign earns my strong disapproval, however Mistah F.A.B.'s new single "Hit Me On Twitter" and Panic! at the Disco's new video for their single New Perspective both earn my approval.

thank you and goodnight.