Magic Mushrooms #12: Royal Flush

Royal Flush
Written by James

"The third man watches them bickering, with a faint smile of amusement. The other two are too focused on surmounting each other to care about his cards."

For the last month, I feel like I've been watching an elaborate poker game.

Picture it. A poker game with three players: one a loud-mouthed American, talking much and saying little, and two Japanese businessmen. One in a sharp suit with his cards in one hand and champagne in the other, with the third dressed in bright purple, keeping his cards very close to his chest and saying little.

Imagine the American man first, studying his cards. He mutters something about having the "Zen of hands" and how his cards are an extension of his body, with the other two men watching him closely, waiting for their overconfident contender to make his move. He lays down his hand, grinning at the others, certain of victory. There's silence for a few moments � and, with a chuckle, the well dressed businessman reveals his cards. A better hand. The American knocks all the cards off the table in a rage, aces and kings and twos flying everywhere. Arguments ensue, and all attention rests on the two rowing players.

The third man watches them bickering, with a faint smile of amusement. The other two are too focused on surmounting each other to care about his cards. But that suits him fine � he'll just wait for the pair to calm down before revealing his hand.

Unlike the two squabbling opponents, the gaming community are expecting a lot from Nintendo. With their DS experiencing more success than anyone could have imagined, proving to be as revolutionary as Mr Fils-Aime claimed at E3 2004, everyone is expecting a repeat performance from the company's upcoming "Revolution" console. The supposedly revolutionary aspect of the controller is being kept under wraps, leaving gamers desperately waiting for Nintendo to show their cards. It's a clever move, certainly � had they unveiled it at this year's E3, the console could easily have been overshadowed by the might of Sony and Microsoft. In waiting, they're attracting much more attention to their console, to their hand.

But we're going to be disappointed, and I'd be prepared to put money on that. When Nintendo initially shows us what they have in store for us, we are all going to step back and go, 'what the hell are they playing at? How is that supposed to be revolutionary?' We're going to feel let down, because it isn't going to be something that makes us reel in shock. Initially, it won't seem like Nintendo are being revolutionary at all. Look at the DS � the very first we heard about it was the two screens. We all thought Nintendo had gone mad. The revelation of the touch screen was dismissed by many as a gimmick, and the microphone completely unnecessary. Looking at the success of that machine now, with its huge sales and highly innovative software, it's hard to believe that so many people initially wrote off the handheld in favour of the successful GBA.

I think that Nintendo are going to do the same again. With all this talk of VR, gyroscopes and built in toasters surrounding their new console, we will probably be struck by something so simple, so obvious, that we'll be surprised that the gaming world couldn't already have figured it out. Many will dismiss it at first, undoubtedly. It might seem like a gimmick, unnecessarily tacked on and marketed as revolutionary. But if I'm right, and the controller is made out of Play-Doh or something equally ridiculous, don't write it off straight away. Remember the two screens. Nintendo might just have another ace up their sleeves.

The cheating bastards.

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