One thing I’ve noticed in the case of both setting up the Wii Homebrew channel and, now, DVD playback: Available instructions suck.

What I never found anywhere regarding the Homebrew Channel is that if the first Zelda save game freezes your console, reboot, launch the game, and try the second savegame.

Instructions for DVD playback are even more nebulous.  The MPlayer provided alongside the DVD playback installer is very similar but not identical to the MPlayer provided in the Wii Pack Generator.  I assume that the DVD playback installer works only in conjunction with this particular version of the MPlayer.  In any event, both versions of the MPlayer are installed in my Homebrew Channel.

For that matter, why did I have to download two files, then execute one before executing the other?  How about one file, one program?

The DVD player functionality, while certainly interesting, froze while I was watching Braveheart.  The amount of polish on some of the Wii Homebrew software tells me there’s enthusiasm here, and that leaves me optimistic that the DVD player will receive bugfixes over time.  Still, the Wii hardware is capable of only 480p output.  It won’t be taking over DVD duties from my 1080p-capable Xbox 360.  Ever.

Meanwhile, Bungie has produced a podcast almost weekly since July of 2007. I have followed Bungie.net pretty closely since before Halo 2 launched, mostly because of Halo 2′s integration with the Bungie website. I didn’t give the podcast a listen until shortly after I got my hands on Halo 3. I think I was working on my Halo 3 Emblem Chooser™ but didn’t want to stop soaking up Halo 3 goodness.

The podcast has three regular contributors: Frank O’Connor, Brian Jarrard, and Luke Smith. Luke is new to Bungie, having come over from 1UP.com only in April of 2007. In January 2007, Luke interviewed game developer/producer David Jaffe, who was still Creative Director of Sony Santa Monica at the time. This interview was recorded for the 1UP Show, and is still available on GameVideos.com at this link (embedding screwed up my css). I have graciously embedded the video after the break. Luke asked one question in particular caught my attention:

A lot of these guys — like look at the Bungie situation. They made Halo. Halo’s a hit. That’s all they make now. That’s all they’re making, and you have sort of — you’ve ducked out of that. Like God of War was a hit and well, you’re still — I mean — you’re still painting on top of it, but you’re not — it’s not your grind. It’s not the only thing that you get to work on, like some of those guys. How’d you swing that?

Luke starts his question at about 9:05 into the interview, if you care to skip ahead.

The design needs some work, but I’ve put together a fully functional Halo 3 Emblem Chooser.  Check it out.

So the current machine runs fine — it doesn’t freeze while playing Gears of War. That’s a nice feature. However, whenever the DVD drive stops spinning (like when I quit a game up to the dashboard) the 360 lets out a noise uncannily similar to the noise made by a Tusken Raider. A Tusken Raider repeats the noise a few times, but my Xbox 360 just makes the noise once. I’m afraid that one of these days I’m going to press the eject button and a smoldering puddle of plastic that used to be a game disc will pop out. But my fingers are crossed so that won’t happen.

The only quirky thing I’v noticed so far is that the music play displays a “shuffle” icon when you’re in standard play mode, and a “standard” play icon when you’re in shuffle mode. So the button shows what you might want to choose, instead of the current status. This seems backwards to me, but whatever.

You can clearly see a blurry Warthog in the background, and the Master Chief is dual-wielding sub-machine guns. (But they look very small to me.) You also might notice the bullet holes/dents all over the Chief’s armor. It would be very interesting if marks on players’ armor reflects the precise spot where an opponent’s bullet struck.

[UPDATE] And the Chief might just be busting the Halo 2 cover pose …

The beauty of Xbox Live is that it offers so much that is not available anywhere else. (At least not on a console.) Fostering innovation seems like the only choice here.

I’d probably pay for a few episodes based on the gimmick factor alone.

The Core System isn’t worth it. I’d probably be spending $200 extra on the stuff not included with it. Hopefully I won’t buy it over Christmas in Allegany and then have to lug it back to Atlanta in my suitcase.

Then I went to SuperTarget to get the AeroBed. Of course, the first department I visited was the video games department. They had Play & Charge Kits and Hard Drives (Hard Drives!). I picked up a Plug & Charge Kit. And felt very sad.

While I was at SuperTarget I spotted CNN personality Kyra Phillips. Also, I bought several sweaters.

So the fact that Target had hard drives makes me second-guess my Premium-or-none stance on the Xbox 360. Maybe I should have gotten a Core system, and then I could have gotten the hard drive and a wireless controller and I’d be all set. I’d have that unsightly wired controller, but I suppose I could have sold it to Gamestop for $20 bucks or so … maybe I made the wrong choice. Still, at some point over the next month or two I’ll get a Premium System and you can bet I’ll be patting myself on the back.

Until then, I’ll be able to look back and know that I was bored. And felt very sad.

About 35 minutes ago I drove over to my nearest Wal-Mart. There was a small group of guys standing and/or sitting outside the main entrance. “Are you in line for the Xbox?” I asked.

“Yeah,” the last in line replied. “They’ve got ten — and you’re number ten.”

Hot.

“But they’ve got two premium systems,” he continued, “and eight core packages.”

FTW.

That was about 11:53. I waited, thinking that perhaps the people standing out in the cold were somehow misinformed, or that an ill-intentioned Wal-Mart employee had fed them a line. At 12:01, the person in charge came out, locked half of the doors, counted us, and told us that there were ten systems. I yelled up to him, “Do you only have two premium systems?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I stood there for about one more minute, then decided to catch up with number eleven in line (who had left, dejected) and give him my spot. I haven’t waited for this just to get a Core System, then blow another $140 bucks on a hard drive and a wireless controller, just to have people come over to my crib and ask why my disc tray isn’t chromed out.

So I drove to Best Buy. Behind the automatic sliding doors employees had affixed black sheets to hide the magic inside from onlookers. I guess. Or maybe they do that every night. A couple of people were asking for jumper cables, and then an employee asked me if I was there for the Xbox 360. “Yeah.”

“Talk to the man in there.”

I started for the narrow gap in one set of sliding doors. Before I got too close, a man emerged from behind the black curtain. “You’re here for the Xbox 360?”

“Yep.”

“What’s your name?”

“Daniel.”

“Your last name?”

“Premo.”

“D-a-n-i-e-l-P-r-i-m-o?”

“P-r-e-m-o.” Members of the Premo family are accustomed to this sort of exchange.

“P-r-e-m-o. Okay. I’ll put your name on the list.”

“What do I have to do?”

“At six AM we’ll be handing out tickets based on the order your name is on the list. Then at nine we’ll be opening the doors and giving systems to people with tickets.”

“Will it be a premium system or a core system?”

“That depends on the other people on the list. This store is getting 58 systems.”

“So 55 out of 58 — that’s probably going to be a core system.”

“I’d say probably” — and the guy hesitates for a second, like there’s even the possibility that this store got 55 premium systems and only three core packages — “it’ll be a core package.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Thank you.”

So I won’t be getting up bright and early to go to Best Buy. I refuse to buy a core system, even if I have to wait until January. Supposedly more systems will be shipped every week. I won’t be surprised to get a premium pack next week. God knows Gamespot and Joystiq will commit coverage to additional shipments through Christmas.