Leisurely Geeks

It’s time for another Nintendo console which means it is time for the predictions of Nintendo’s downfall to come out of the woodwork. Every console since the Super Nintendo has been predicted to be it’s last. It was during the N64 era that it spurned 3rd party developers and lost its leading market share in the console market and it hasn’t gained it back since. Here we are, almost sixteen years after N64′s release and Nintendo is still chugging along. No matter what anyone thinks about the Wii U, chances are it will be successful. I don’t mean successful as in being the market leader in consoles but rather make Nintendo a profit and keep them around for years to come because that is what they have been good at for almost the past twenty years.

Amazon Instant Video is now available on both major consoles along with a slew of other devices. For those of you who don’t know, Amazon’s video service is a place to buy or rent movies and TV. Also when you sign up for Amazon Prime you get access to their Netflix like streaming service as well as free two day shipping on things purchased through Amazon and free eBooks through their lending library. It’s an up front cost of $79 but Netflix cost $95.88 over the same twelve month period. There is a one month free trial of Amazon Prime but unfortunately I used it last year to get free two day shipping on some purchases last year before Amazon had an instant video offering so I can’t do a personal comparison of the two services but a quick Google search did offer up a couple comparative reviews (Swaggrabber, Bodhi Tree Group, PC World.) They all state that Netflix has a much wider selection but they are also at least three months old so I don’t know how true that is today.

     Personally, I am already paying for Netfix and Hulu every month and by all accounts Amazon isn’t at the level of Netflix to justify replacing it. I don’t own a Kindle and I would be too tempted to impulse purchase with free two day shipping so the other offerings of Amazon Prime aren’t compelling enough to justify a $79 yearly fee. Although, it is nice that there is now a competitor to the Zune Marketplace to rent TV shows and movies on my Xbox. Even though I won’t be getting access to Amazon’s Instant Video it’s still good news to me.